Podcasts Government On The Record What Makes a Firework Work?

What Makes a Firework Work?

Published: July 1, 2019, 2:01 p.m.

What makes a firework … work? On the cusp of Independence Day we speak with Jason Farrell, the fireworks coordinator in charge of the design and detonation of hundreds of pounds of fireworks for the Fourth of July celebration at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. And we meet John Conkling, a chemist and former American Pyrotechnic Association director, who describes what goes inside fireworks to make audiences say oooh and aaaah!