Episode · Stuff You Should Know · 2026-09-18
Books mentioned on SYSK Gets Weird Playlist: The Story of the Nuclear Boy Scout
David Hahn was a kid who was really into science. So much that he built a nuclear reactor in his mother's potting shed.
Josh Clark discussed The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein and The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments by Robert Brent.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Radioactive Boy Scout
The Radioactive Boy Scout by Ken Silverstein is a chilling true crime and investigative journalism book detailing the story of David Hahn, a teenage boy who attempted to build a nuclear reactor in his backyard shed.
Discussed“this story was... may have just gone fairly unnoticed as a pretty localized local newspaper item. If it hadn't have been found by a gentleman named Ken Silverstein who ended up writing a very large piece in Harper's Magazine and then a book called The Radioactive Boy Scout Colon, The True Story of a Boy in His Backyard Nuclear Reactor.”
Where to get it
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The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments
The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments by Robert Brent is an illustrated children's science book that outlines various hands-on chemical projects and laboratory techniques.
Discussed“He gave little David a book called The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments and little David was fascinated with science and chemistry but in particular with the stories of Mary and Pierre Curie and their radium discovery”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (1) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
Passing The Radioactive Boy Scout
“well thankfully we don't have to end it on that sad note because Livia found this other great story of a kid named Taylor Wilson who got the radioactive Boy Scout book from his grandmother as an 11 year old science kid and operating under supervision and oversight and getting real experts to help actually became the youngest person to”