The Wu-Tang Scamster
<p>Martin Shkreli, ‘the most hated man in America’, purchased the one extant copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s concept album ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ for $2 million on 3rd May, 2015.&nbsp;</p><br><p>In seeking to sell their record in an auction, the hip-hop collective had been inspired by the concept of wealthy patrons funding Renaissance artists - but hadn’t counted on the winning bidder being the ‘pharma bro’ notorious for raising the price of toxoplasmosis drug Daraprim by a factor of 56.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether Shkreli’s ‘price gouging’ antics made him an (in)appropriate buyer; ask whether it can <em>really</em> be true that the multimillionaire didn’t even bother listening to his purchase; and explain what happened to the CD after Shkreli was imprisoned for fraud…</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• Everything I Know About the Wu-Tang Album from Hanging Out with Martin Shkreli (VICE, 2016): <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/3bjmq9/everything-i-know-about-the-wu-tang-clan-album-from-hanging-out-with-martin-shkreli" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.vice.com/en/article/3bjmq9/everything-i-know-about-the-wu-tang-clan-album-from-hanging-out-with-martin-shkreli</a></p><p>• ‘Wu-Tang clap back, dissing Martin Shkreli on new track’ (The Guardian, 2017): <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/22/wu-tang-clan-martin-shkreli-track" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/22/wu-tang-clan-martin-shkreli-track</a></p><p>• ‘Martin Shkreli on Drug Price Hikes and Playing the World’s Villain’ (VICE, 2016): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PCb9mnrU1g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PCb9mnrU1g</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Alexa Weissman.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
Today In History with The Retrospectors
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Show Notes
Martin Shkreli, ‘the most hated man in America’, purchased the one extant copy of the Wu-Tang Clan’s concept album ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ for $2 million on 3rd May, 2015.
In seeking to sell their record in an auction, the hip-hop collective had been inspired by the concept of wealthy patrons funding Renaissance artists - but hadn’t counted on the winning bidder being the ‘pharma bro’ notorious for raising the price of toxoplasmosis drug Daraprim by a factor of 56.
In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether Shkreli’s ‘price gouging’ antics made him an (in)appropriate buyer; ask whether it can really be true that the multimillionaire didn’t even bother listening to his purchase; and explain what happened to the CD after Shkreli was imprisoned for fraud…
Further Reading:
• Everything I Know About the Wu-Tang Album from Hanging Out with Martin Shkreli (VICE, 2016): https://www.vice.com/en/article/3bjmq9/everything-i-know-about-the-wu-tang-clan-album-from-hanging-out-with-martin-shkreli
• ‘Wu-Tang clap back, dissing Martin Shkreli on new track’ (The Guardian, 2017): https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/sep/22/wu-tang-clan-martin-shkreli-track
• ‘Martin Shkreli on Drug Price Hikes and Playing the World’s Villain’ (VICE, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PCb9mnrU1g
For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors
We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors
The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.
Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Alexa Weissman.
Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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