History Book: From cement to cinema

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, October 21st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, the WORLD History Book. Today, an archbishop spends a lifetime advocating for what he considered social reform, and a shooting three years ago raises questions of safety on movie sets.

EICHER: But first, the invention of one of the most common building materials in our modern world. Here’s WORLD Radio Reporter Emma Perley:

EMMA PERLEY: What is the most widely used material on earth? You might think it’s plastic. Here’s a hint: the sounds you hear are of a construction site, where workers are pouring cement for the foundation of a house.

Second only to water, everyone the world over comes into contact with more concrete than anything else—more than three tons of concrete a year  per person just by walking on sidewalks and driving on roads. Author J. Winn writes: “We’ve had the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. From the dawn of the twentieth century is the Concrete Age.”

The infrastructure of our modern world is thanks to one man: Joseph Aspdin who 200 years ago today, patents Portland cement.

Aspdin made his living as a bricklayer in Britain, often using a mixture of clay and limestone in his projects. But that kind of cement was fairly weak; it took a long time to dry and was prone to water damage. So Aspdin cooked up a new and improved recipe in his own kitchen. Audio here from TimeFrame Tales.

AUDIO: His process of calcining limestone with clay in a kiln at high temperatures, and then grinding the resultant clinker into a fine powder, created a binding material that was unparalleled at the time.

He named his invention Portland cement because it resembled the popular and high quality stones found in Portland, England. Aspdin opened a factory for manufacturing and distribution. His cement became the most widely used building material in the world.

Next, 80 years ago on October 26th, Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple passes away after years of political activism in Britain.

During World War II, Temple made wartime radio broadcasts—both to pray for the nation and call for social reform. Audio of Temple leading a national prayer here from Reuters.

AUDIO: Oh God, our Father,  guide our King and all who bear all in the United Nations. Be with our sailors, soldiers, and army, upholding their courage …

As a political socialist and leader of England’s state church, Temple strongly believed that the government should expand on the church’s social reform efforts. He often used his position to influence Parliament members pushing them toward more socialist policies. Audio here from Temple’s 1942 lecture in London, courtesy of British Pathe.

AUDIO: We are here to affirm the right and the duty of the church to declare its judgment upon social facts and social movements.

Temple’s most popular book was Christianity and the Social Order published in 1942. He argued that biblical ethics required that men should love one another because they are children of God… and social equality was a natural outworking of that love.

However, author and professor Anthony Williams critiques Temple’s Christian Socialism. He writes that the Bible separates believers from unbelievers, and “Christ clearly states that those who oppose Him cannot claim to have God as their Father.”

Williams also accuses Christian Socialists like Temple of reading their own political ideology into Scripture, warning against the danger of replacing the good news of salvation for social justice advocacy.

But Temple’s ideas for reform influenced economist William Beveridge, who advocated for government-led healthcare. And in 1945, Prime Minister Clement Attlee implemented the Welfare State based on Beveridge’s reports. They included the earliest establishment of universal healthcare and subsidized housing, two British institutions that have failed to live up to Temple’s ideals.

Finally, on October 21st, 2021, actor Alec Baldwin accidentally discharges a prop gun on the set of the Western film Rust.

OPERATOR: 911, what’s the location of your emergency?

MAMIE MITCHELL: We need a — we need an ambulance out at Bonanza Creek Ranch right now. We’ve had two people shot on a movie set accidentally.

ABC News interviewed Baldwin in 2021.

BALDWIN: I’m handed a gun and someone declares, they say, ‘This is a cold gun.’ In my years on the sets of film, hot gun meant that there was a charge in there and cold gun meant there was nothing in there.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins directs Baldwin where to point the gun while rehearsing the scene. Baldwin ends up pointing it directly at her. He says later that he asked her if she wanted him to cock the gun for the camera. She said yes.

BALDWIN: And I cock the gun, and I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’ And then I let go of the hammer of the gun and the gun goes off.

Hutchins is fatally shot, and the bullet also wounds director Joel Souza. Baldwin denies pulling the trigger. But a firearms expert later claims that the gun could only be fired if the trigger was pulled. Audio here from AP News as emergency services arrive on the scene.

MEDIC: How’s it going sir? So my understanding, um, is you were in the room when the lady was shot?

BALDWIN: I was the one holding the gun, yeah, what do you need?

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed handled the weapons for the film. She was eventually charged with involuntary manslaughter for her carelessness. Assistant director David Halls was also charged with negligence.

The Hutchins family filed multiple lawsuits against Baldwin, including wrongful death and civil negligence. Both were eventually settled. The incident sparked heated debate over using real guns on movie sets.

An online petition to ban real guns and live ammunition reached more than 100,000 signatures. But the effort has yet to change any laws. Many in the industry have said that the problem is not with guns, but with making sure existing safety laws are enforced.

BALDWIN: And believe me, I would do anything in my power … I would do anything in my power to undo what was done.

Filming resumed in 2023 and Rust will premiere in a Polish international film festival this November.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Emma Perley.

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