How 300,000 people mine cobalt with bare hands in the Congo while we charge our phones—and why the 1780s slave ship Zorg sparked the first abolition movement. Siddharth Kara exposes the blood mineral economy powering AI, EVs, and tech, connecting colonial slavery's horrors to modern supply chain atrocities. On any given day, approximately 300,000 people—including roughly 30,000 children—mine cobalt in the Congo with bare hands and shovels in conditions classified as absolute slavery.