Podcast Summary: Criminal — “The Formula”

Host: Phoebe Judge
Guest Expert: Deborah Blum (Journalist and author)
Date: March 27, 2026
Podcast Network: Vox Media Podcast Network

Episode Overview

In “The Formula,” Phoebe Judge explores one of the most chilling and little-known stories of American Prohibition: the federal government’s decision to deliberately poison industrial alcohol to deter illegal drinking. The episode unpacks the rise of toxic liquors, the desperate ingenuity of drinkers, the consequential human toll, and the moral controversies that erupted. Through the expertise of journalist Deborah Blum, the episode weaves together science, crime, and public health, offering a gripping narrative about a government policy that led to thousands of deaths.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Prologue: An Outbreak at Bellevue Hospital

[00:55 – 02:19]

• Christmas Eve, 1926: Bellevue Hospital in New York is bustling with holiday generosity until an emergency unfolds: multiple people arrive with bizarre, severe symptoms—hallucinations, blindness, convulsions, and death.
• Memorable Quote:
  • “People are struggling to breathe. They cannot see very well. They're acutely nauseated...They simply collapse on the spot and go into convulsions.” — Deborah Blum [01:45]
• These symptoms begin to repeat citywide, with bodies even found on the street. By New Year’s Day, the hospital morgue is overflowing.

The Culprit: Wood Alcohol (Methanol)

[03:06 – 05:54]

• Forensic pioneers Charles Norris and Alexander Gettler recognize the symptoms as methanol poisoning, linked to people drinking industrial or home-distilled alcohol during Prohibition.
• Methanol (wood alcohol) is toxic, but hard to distinguish from regular (ethanol) alcohol. It only takes two teaspoons to cause blindness; as little as an eighth of a cup can kill.
• Insight: Everyday materials—even shoes and tree branches—were fermented by desperate individuals trying to make alcoholic drinks at home.
• Quote:
  • “People distilled their shoes. And that says something to me about how much they were determined to drink no matter what.” — Deborah Blum [07:25]

Early Warnings & Social Inequalities

[07:38 – 08:47]

• Norris and Gettler opposed Prohibition from the start, warning that making alcohol illegal would harm the most vulnerable—mainly the poor.
• Quote:
  • “This is a program that is going to most harm people who have no voice, little power, and little money.” — Deborah Blum [08:37]

The Culture of Prohibition

[08:47 – 13:00]

• The night before Prohibition, New Yorkers held mock-funeral parties, signaling the social importance of alcohol.
• The law did little to stop drinking; instead, it fueled black markets and dangerous improvisation.
• Illegal alcohol came from homebrew, small-scale criminals, and dangerous “medicines” like Jamaican ginger (“Jake”). When bootleggers added a plasticizer to Jake, it caused paralysis—“Jake leg”—affecting tens of thousands.

Bootlegging and Dangerous Innovations

[15:59 – 18:32]

• Criminal enterprises and local gangs grew powerful, trafficking in both genuine and illicitly reconditioned industrial alcohol.
• Chemists hired by these outfits tried to remove toxic additives, not always successfully.
• “The big criminal gangs like Al Capone were in total stealing about 60 million gallons of industrial alcohol a year...and selling it as various, you know, faux whiskeys.” — Deborah Blum [17:20]
• New cocktails were invented at speakeasies to mask the taste of bad liquor (e.g., the Bee's Knees, the South Side).

Government Policy: The Chemical War on Drinkers

[19:51 – 22:41]

• Frustrated by ineffective enforcement, the US government resorts to “chemical enforcement”—mandating more toxic and unpleasant substances in industrial alcohol to deter drinking.
• The pivotal decision in 1926 saw the government increase the methanol content in industrial alcohol up to 5–10% (Formula One), making it lethally toxic and impossible for bootleg chemists to remove reliably.
• Quote:
  • “They ramp it up to Formula One requirements ... and at that amount it becomes really, really, really poisonous.” — Deborah Blum [22:41]

Aftermath: The Toll, The Outcry, The Moral Debate

[26:24 – 33:23]

• Norris and Gettler publicize the government’s actions and the mounting death toll, declaring, "The United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the death that poison liquor causes." — Charles Norris [26:54]
• The Anti Saloon League retorts that drinkers “were in the same category as the man who walks into a drugstore, buys a bottle with a label on it marked poisonous and drinks the contents.” [26:54]
• Major newspapers condemn the policy as barbaric.
• Many of those dying didn’t know the risks: “I think a lot of the people who died post this government poisoning program were people who just didn't know how dangerous it was.” — Deborah Blum [29:05]
• As deaths continue, backlash grows. By 1930, officials admit the toll and start exploring less lethal forms of denaturing (e.g., making alcohol taste and smell bad).
• Quote:
  • “We just can't keep on murdering people.” — Deborah Blum [31:18]

Epilogue: The End of Prohibition

[33:23 – 33:20]

• Prohibition ends in December 1933, 13 years after it began. New Yorkers line up to buy legal alcohol, bringing the “noble experiment” to a close.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “You start just finding bodies in the street.” — Deborah Blum [02:44]
• “Because think about it, it's leather. It's an organic material. People distilled their shoes.” — Deborah Blum [07:25]
• “This report pretty much says the US Government is killing people.” — Deborah Blum [28:21]
• “It is only in the curious fanaticism of prohibition that any means, however barbarous, are considered justified.” — Chicago Tribune editorial read by Phoebe Judge [28:29]
• “To think that a government can just decide you can't drink anymore ... is pretty naive.” — Phoebe Judge [33:18]

Timestamps for Significant Segments

• [00:55] — First hospital cases of mass alcohol poisoning
• [03:06] — Historical context: Norris and Gettler’s warnings
• [05:45] — Lethality of methanol
• [08:47] — Night of Prohibition; social and class divides
• [12:18] — Bootlegging methods and Jamaican ginger (“Jake leg”) illness
• [15:59] — Rise of organized crime in alcohol trade
• [18:32] — Speakeasies, cocktails, and raids
• [21:50] — The decision to poison (denature) industrial alcohol
• [22:41] — “Formula One” and increased methanol content
• [26:54] — Norris’s public denunciation of government policy
• [28:29] — Media and public condemnation
• [31:18] — State-level political backlash
• [33:23] — The end of Prohibition

Episode Takeaways

• Prohibition’s battle against alcohol consumption led to policymakers targeting the supply with scientific and, ultimately, lethal means.
• The government’s “chemical enforcement” killed thousands—mostly poor, marginalized drinkers who often never knew the risk they were taking.
• The episode expertly reveals the intersections of science, public health, ethics, and unintended consequences—and the tragic outcomes of “noble” experiments in social control.

Recommended for listeners interested in:
American history, forensic science, public policy, true crime, social justice, and the dark side of government interventions.

Further Reading:

• Deborah Blum’s book: The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
• Additional resources and illustrations at thisiscriminal.com