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The AIH Transcript for March 6, 2018

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello, I'm Carol Off.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Good evening, I'm Jeff Douglas. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight…

CO: Mystery repeats itself. At this point no one's sure whether a former Russian spy in critical condition was poisoned — and even Marina Litvinenko whose husband Alexander was likely murdered by the Kremlin is being cautious.

JD: Regecide effect. Well obviously a teenager in New Zealand did not succeed in assassinating the Queen but until a local journalist uncovered the story officials had succeeded in keeping the attempt quiet for more than 36 years.

CO: More like tariff-ic. While other business owners are upset about the U.S. president's tariff threats, Canadian steel tube magnate Barry Zekelman is upbeat, offering his workers an annual bonus if those tariffs become official.

JD: Paying their respects. He was a Minnesota school cafeteria worker killed by police in 2016, and now a fundraising effort in the name of the late Philando Castile will cover the lunch debts of every student in St. Paul.

CO: Alpha mail order. A truly horrifying robot is successfully protecting Japanese crops from pests with its automated howls and growls — and soon you'll be able to send away for your very own Super Monster Wolf.

JD: And…A big honking deal. You may call it a conch, you may call it a conk but whatever you choose you'd better call Mary Lou Smith the queen of it. And tonight we're going to get the Florida retiree on the horn. As It Happens: The Tuesday Edition. Radio that knows to get sounds of shells you have to make a conscious effort.

[Music: Theme]

Back To Top »

Part 1: Marina Litvinenko, Trump Tariff: CEO, Queen of Conch

Marina Litvinenko

Guest: Marina Litvinenko

JD: A former Russian spy and his daughter are still in hospital in critical condition — and there are still a lot of unanswered questions about why they are there. As we told you last night Sergei and Yulia Skripal both fell suddenly ill after ingesting an unknown substance. Now the British government is openly acknowledging the possibility that Mr. Skripal may have been poisoned by the Kremlin. It would not be the first time. In 2006 Alexander Litvinenko, another former Russian intelligence officer living in the UK, was poisoned. In his case the dose was fatal. An inquiry later concluded that his death was likely ordered by the Russian government. Marina Litvinenko is Alexander Litvinenko’s Widow. We reached her in Berlin.

CO: Ms. Litvinenko, what went through your mind when you heard what had happened to Sergei Skripal?

MARINA LITVINENKO: First of all, I was really shocked because I believed after what we achieved after the public inquiry it never happened again in the UK or whatever. But unfortunately yesterday I realized it was not enough. Of course it was quite early to say what really happened because it's the very, beginning of the investigation, but what happened to these people is just very sad.

CO: And as you point out we don't know yet, this is still under investigation as to what happened to Mr. Skripal and his daughter Yulia found on a bench and apparently poisoned. I know that there are very different backgrounds between what happened to your husband Sasha and with Sergei Skripal, the man who's very ill and possibly poisoned. I know there's different background to these two cases. What is similar between what happened to your husband Sasha and what happened to Sergei and his daughter?

ML: I think the biggest similarity of these two cases is it’s two men who were seeking security and protection in UK had not been safe. Unfortunately my husband has died and I hope Sergei will recover. But it looks — when people are looking for this safe place in England, it doesn't look really safe.

CO: The poison that killed your husband, Polonium-210, was as far as we understand, it was put into something he drank, possibly his tea. And this was done in a restaurant. It seems that Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia had been in a restaurant, maybe a couple of different venues before they were found on a bench slumped over. What does that tell you? What parallels do you see between those situations?

ML: But again when we are talking about Sergei's case it's just two days since we have all this news and we still don't have any official statement or anything from police investigation. It's still quite difficult to talk about this case.

CO: We do know that Mr. Skripal seemed to have been afraid for his life. He had been living in the United Kingdom after he had served part of his sentence in Russia for spying, for espionage and he had been given refuge in the UK. We also know that his relatives have died in recent years, his wife and his son both died under mysterious circumstances. What do you make of all that, what does that say to you?

ML: Sergei particularly did work for security service of UK he was supposed to be protected. And he, I believe, was sure he would be protected. And if something happened to him it's a very big responsibility of the state who gives this protection to Sergei but was not able to provide it.

CO: It took 10 years and a public inquiry before it was established that your husband had been had been assassinated, had been killed by Russia's spy service. How important is Mr. Skripal and his daughter’s survival to this investigation?

ML: It’s very important. Yes, I did spend almost 10 years to achieve this result. But that means for Sergei and for his daughter, they don't need to do this. Because how it started, very quick police was involved. If you remember in my case we were fighting and asking for two-and-a-half weeks in hospital to be checking for poisoning and nobody cared about it — now it's not happened. And how long it took to bring this case for public inquiry, it's another three years — it will not happen again, I'm absolutely sure. And all investigation if it need to be some justice it will be much faster because the public is ready.

CO: Because there's no skepticism now. People were skeptical of the claims and now there isn't — so there's very little doubt. But how important is it that that their testimony, that hearing with Mr. Skripal and his daughter might be able to tell investigators? How crucial is that to actually being able to find out what happened?

ML: It it's a very important for the investigation to take testimony from Sergei and his daughter. It's a very, very important because more and more details would be difficult to find without this help. But with them, if they're able to speak it will be very important. Because in Sasha's case he was able to talk, before he died he gave a lot of interviews. It was very difficult but because he did it, it helped to investigate this case is out. Without his interview it probably would not be possible.

CO: Ms. Litvinenko, as you say, we don't have all the answers yet. We're going to be following this story. I appreciate what insights you brought today. Thank you.

ML: Thank you very much.

CO: Bye-bye.

ML: Bye.

CO: Marina Litvinenko’s late husband Alexander, or Sasha as she calls him, is believed to have been murdered by the Kremlin in 2006. We reached Ms. Litvinenko in Berlin.

[Music: Guitar Strums]

Trump Tariff: CEO

Guest: Barry Zekelman

JD: The Canadian government was hard at work in D.C. today lobbying anyone and everyone who would listen in an effort to avoid Donald Trump's promised tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel. But Barry Zekelman is happy — he is so happy about the tariffs in fact that he is promising his employees a thousand dollar bonus for every year that those tariffs are in place. Mr. Zekelman runs Zekelman Industries, that North America's largest independent steel tube manufacturer, with plants on both sides of the border. We reached him in Sharon, Pennsylvania.

CO: Mr. Zekelman, what signal are you sending with this $1,000 bonus?

BARRY ZEKELMAN: Well, the signal we're sending is, you know, we're happy that the administration is taking a very hard stance on illegally traded imports. We certainly expect our volumes to increase and certainly expect that our profitability would increase along with those volumes, so, you know, it's not all about just the company and the ownership of the company it's about her teammates who help us get there every day. So they should benefit from this as well. They've endured enough.

CO: So it’s not just a message to your workers that Thank you very much, it’s a message to governments?

BZ: Yeah, I think so too. I think it's a message that, you know, thank you for listening. I mean, we've been fighting this fight, not only in the U.S. in Canada as well, Canada has the exact same problems and issues that the U.S. does with these countries that disregard and cheat our trade laws and circumvent our duties.

CO: Do you think that Canada should be doing what Mr. Trump is and putting a big tariff on steel imports from other countries?

BZ: 100 per cent, yeah absolutely. As a matter of fact, some of the tariffs that the Trump administration has proposed don't go far enough. There are some, you know, rogue countries in there that we refer to them as the ‘Dirty Dozen’ that are really the primary problem. Canada has the exact same problem with the exact same countries. You know, we've had two steel mills in Canada go in and out of bankruptcy for a couple of decades and it's ridiculous. Those are great mills, great assets with fantastic workers and there was no reason for them ever to go into CCAA.

CO: So the same countries, the ‘Dirty Dozen’ as you call them. These are the countries that are dumping in Canada as well in the United States when it comes to steel and aluminium exports?

BZ: Yeah, absolutely. My expertise is on the steel side. You know, we're not a steel producer we’re a steel consumer. So, you know, we've seen this we've had to buy domestic steel make it into our product and compete against dumped product in our own space, the finished product. And we've seen dumped steel come in, you know, that competes with the steel mills so we know their plight and we certainly know our plight. And, you know, there's points made that China isn't the big importer of steel into the U.S. they're tiny. That's really not the case, people need to pull back the curtain and look behind it and see what China does. China ships their steel to many other countries, ships it through there, transforms it into other products in those countries that then make its way into the U.S. and Canada. You know, in the steel world they're the purveyor of all evil, right. And they create huge market distortions and displacements around the world with their excess capacity. And it really puts other countries in bad positions that then seek to move their steel into foreign markets at really low prices that distort economics.

CO: Okay, anyone who's listening to this and knows Barry Zekelman, knows he lives in Canada, knows you’re a Canadian, a Windsor man, and you have companies, you have a plant in Canada, you've got business here manufacturing also in the states and they're saying well Barry wait a second here, what about Canada's caught is this, we’re not one of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ that you're describing, and we're being dinged. What do you say to them?

BZ: Yeah, well I don't disagree with that. I, you know, I would hope that cooler heads prevail. And, you know, Canada is a wonderful trading partner with the U.S. and the U.S. is a wonderful trading partner with Canada. In steel in particular there is excellent two way trade. Pricing isn't an issue and volume isn’t an issue, as a matter of fact, the U.S. is a net exporter of steel to Canada. So we're a big market for them. And, you know, there's no reason to really include Canada in this. You know, I think I think it's pretty safe to say that at some point time cooler heads will prevail and Canada will be excluded from this in an appropriate manner. And, you know, President Trump is a businessman and businessmen don't act like politicians, right. We're used to getting things done and getting them done quickly, you know. And he's posturing and he's using every bit of leverage that he can, like any businessman would, you know. I don't know why people find this so shocking.

CO: What do you say to workers in Canada who can't afford to be laid off and some U.S. workers too, from what we're hearing from some of the industries, who can't afford to be laid off while Donald Trump is working on the deal that he wants to cut with the rest of us?

BZ: Has anybody been laid off? No. No one's been laid off and the notion that someone will get laid off in the U.S. because steel tariffs are crazy, all right. And let me put it in perspective, the steel industry is about 120 million tonnes a year, if the price of steel goes up three hundred dollars a tonne that's $36 billion. Just oil going up from 2015 at a low of $30 a barrel today at 62, that's a $200 billion annual increase to consumers. I think everything's been pretty damn good since 2015, has it not. Economies are roaring, jobs are being created, everybody is doing well and they absorbed a $200 billion increase a year in the U.S. So for steel to go to $36 billion increase in price and get absorbed, I don't think it's an issue — it's an absolute nonissue. We've seen it with oil, it creates other jobs. The economy can absorb it. It's a little bit of inflation while the headline is a 25 per cent increase. It's a 25 per cent increase from what? An artificially low starting point, which was caused by dumped and legally traded goods into our country. So while people don't like the fact that the steel price might increase by 25 per cent it's because they've been addicted to crack cocaine, which is the cheap steel from China, for last 20 years destroying our industrial base. That has to stop.

CO: Is it enough to put the blocks to the ‘Dirty Dozen’ as you call it? Will it make a difference for that dumping?

BZ: I think if you put meaningful blocks on the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and I don't think 25 per cent is enough. I think it has to be 50 per cent or more because they'll manipulate the currency to get around it. Quite frankly, I'd like quotas. I'd like them to block the ‘Dirty Dozen’ completely out.

CO: Mr. Zekelman, thank you very much for speaking with us.

BZ: You got it. Thank you.

JD: Barry Zekelman is the CEO of Zekelman Industries, North America's largest independent steel tube manufacturer. We reached him in Sharon, Pennsylvania. And while Mr. Trump's tariffs may not be official yet they do appear to have already cost one person their job. Gary Cohen had reportedly staked his future as the U.S. president's chief economic adviser on scrapping the tariff proposal. On this evening the White House announced that Mr. Cowen would be stepping down.

[Music: Ambient Tones]

Queen of Conch

Guest: Mary Lou Smith

JD: Mary Lou Smith is tooting her own horn — and deservedly so. This past weekend the Florida retiree took top honours at a competition in Key West that involved the blowing into a big shell. What shell? Well, it’s hard to say. I know how I say it but it's just some people are a ‘conch’ person and some people are ‘conk’ people, kind of depends on who you ask. So we are about to ask Mary Lou Smith. We reached her in Panama City Beach, Florida.

CO: Mary Lou, congratulations on your win.

MARY LOU SMITH: Well, thank you so much.

CO: Now we can't go further until we solve a problem.

MLS: A problem? What might that be.

CO: How do you say it? We say conch, or I say conch.

MLS: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's ‘conk, conk.’

CO: Now does everyone say ‘conk’ there? No one says conch?

MLS: Well, a lot of people that don't know say ‘conch’. However, the Florida Keys is known as the ‘Conk Republic.’

CO: And is that because it rhymes of honk?

[LAUGHTER]

MLS: No, because they’re noted for conch shells.

CO: What is it that you did that got you number one, that got to the first place?

MLS: Well, this was a 56th annual contest. And I first read about it here in our local paper in Panama City Beach in 2003, and I thought well maybe someday I'll get down there for this contest. It did happen in 2008 and this trip was a sixth time and they say have several judges, anyone can get in the contest. There are different age groups, kids get in it and they judge you on the length of your sound, the loudness and also the novelty — some people can actually play a tune.

CO: And what did you do to win first place?

MLS: I flew four different shells to show the different sounds and I blew for length and also for loudness.

CO: Did you both tunes?

MLS: No I don't know tunes.

[LAUGHTER]

CO: And how do you do it? It’s Not just any shell, you can’t just pick up a conk off the beach and start honking.

MLS: Exactly, exactly. So on the shells, you know, how they get the conch meat out of the shell. They usually bang it and put a hole in it and that releases the snail. So you cannot have a shell that's got that hole in it and then someone has to cut the end off just right, and that serves as a mouthpiece for making the sound. It's a vibration just like a horn.

CO: Okay, and did you that yourself or did someone make those for you?

MLS: An old scuba diver I met in the village of St. Andrews, Panama City knew just where to cut them off. I bought my shell from him and he subsequently taught me how to blow and that you blow to give glory to the creator four times for good luck and good health as the sun is setting.

CO: And you do that every night?

MLS: Almost every night, almost every night.

CO: Because you get a sunset that’s worth honking for, we don’t.

[LAUGHTER]

CO: Now something else happened at this event besides you winning in first place. Do you want to tell us about that?

MLS: Oh my gosh, I can just feel it happening again. So my boyfriend of just two-and–a-half years, I've been training him to sound the conch shell. So he also competed in the men's division. So of course I was near the stage taking pictures of him and I walked back to my seat. And they called me back up there, we were supposed to do some kind of our conch duet. And I'm looking questioningly at Rick saying what’s happening. You know, I don't know anything about this. And he gets down on his knee, he's got the conch shell in one hand and he's got his old CB ring because he wants me to pick out my own ring, and he gets down on his knee and he proposed to me.

CO: Like marriage.

MLS: As in a marriage proposal, yes.

CO: And your answer?

MLS: I was, I was just so floored I didn't know what to do so I just blew the conch shell.

[LAUGHTER]

MLS: That was my yes.

CO: He took that as a yes?

MLS: He took it as a yes. And then he got up and we both blew our shells together. It was great.

CO: How did people respond to that?

MLS: Oh my gosh, they were clapping and crying and congratulating us and they were just blown away. It was just a remarkable day.

CO: Congratulations again.

MLS: Thank you so much, Carol.

CO: And when's the happy day going to be?

MLS: We're not quite sure. We're just going to enjoy a little engagement time and I'm going to go pick out a ring and we'll just see what happens — maybe June.

CO: And any special things planned for that? I would imagine conch blowing will be part of this ceremony.

[LAUGHTER]

MLS: There probably will be.

CO: Well, I hope it's a very happy day and happy conk-honking.

MLS: Oh thank you so much. I hope we'll be conk-honking for many years to come.

CO: Thanks Mary Lou.

MLS: Thanks Carol. Bye-bye.

JD: Mary Lou Smith was the winner of the women's division at the 56th annual conch shell blowing contest in Key West this weekend. We reached her in Panama City Beach, Florida.

[Music: Luau Music ]

Super Monster Wolf

JD: Oh no. You spent a whole year growing chestnuts only to find that they have been eaten by wild boars — we have all been there. And we have all fallen to our knees surrounded by empty chestnut shells and we have all called out to the sky, ‘Is there not some kind of very frightening robot that can prevent rude hairy pigs from eating my crops?’ Introducing Super Monster Wolf.

SOUNDCLIP

WOLF HOWLING

JD: Super Monster Wolf is 65 centimetrse long, about two feet, and 50 centimetres tall, about one-and-a-half feet. It looks sort of like a squat sawhorse with fur, a rubber Wolf mask and pupil-less scarlet eyes that run on solar powered batteries. It was developed by researchers from Hokkaido University and the University of Tokyo. How does it work? Simple, it is the scariest thing ever built by humans. Simply install Super Monster Wolf in your garden, orchard or field, then go into the house, pull the blinds, get in the closet and stuff your ears with cotton. Because of any animal approaches your crops Super Monster Wolf’s eyes will light up red and it will emit a howl, or this terrible sound.

SOUNDCLIP

ANIMAL SCREECHING

JD: How do I know it works, you ask? Also I hate looking at it. Great question and statement. You know it works because Japanese rice and chestnut farmers have been testing Super Monster Wolf since last July, and local agricultural authorities say it has significantly cut down on crop losses by scaring away hungry pests. Where can I get one, you ask? And what will I do about the nightmares? In answer to your second question, we don't know but Super Monster Wolf is going into mass production now and soon you'll be able to pick one up for just over $6,000 Canadian. That's Super Monster Wolf, a crop saving technological breakthrough that will probably never develop a taste for human blood.

Back To Top »

Part 2: Queen Assassination, Philando Castile Lunches

Queen Assassination

Guest: Hamish McNeilly

JD: Breaking news, a teenager in New Zealand tried to kill the Queen. To be clear, the attempted assassination did happen back in 1981. The reason it's breaking, is that intelligence documents confirming the attempt on Queen Elizabeth's life are just coming to light now — 36 years later — which perhaps understandably, has led some to accuse officials of trying to cover it up. A journalist named Hamish McNeilly is responsible for the investigation that led to this belated scoop. We reached him in Dunedin, New Zealand.

CO: Hamish, what led you to start investigating this assassination attempt on the Queen?

HM: It came up as one of those little briefs you see in a newspaper about unusual events in history. And it came up about this man that was convicted of murder and then I looked into the case and found out some interesting things about it and have been trying for quite a few years to get all the documents on the case, which proved to be quite difficult.

CO: And eventually you didn't get all the documents and this man had actually had been a boy at the time of this attempt on the Queen's life. Who is this fellow?

HM: 17-year-old Christopher John Lewis and he was expelled from kindergarten for pushing kids off a slide, he was expelled from primary school because of various altercations. He tried to hang his neighbour at a very young age, a young girl. He committed all sorts of crimes as a teenager.

CO: So on the day of the assassination attempt, what actually happened?

HM: Well it’s taken a while to piece together what has happened. We understand his original plan was to shoot Queen Elizabeth when she was in The Octagon, which is the central part of the Dunedin’s business district. So he was planning to go up on a building shoot down with a .22 which he’d stolen a month or so earlier. The range would have been about 50 metres, bear in mind this is a kid that could shoot seagulls out of the sky, so he was it was quite a good shot, by all accounts. When it came to the Queen's visit he couldn't get access to the top of the building. So he ended up going to a slightly elevated place in a doorway lined up a shot. I think she was wearing a teal jacket and woolen hat, he had her in his sights, was about to pull the trigger and then two policemen, still some distance away from him, appeared between him and the shot. So he had to go it to his plan B and that was when he jumped on his ten-speed bicycle and biked about two kilometres north to the university area where she was to appear again for another opening after her lunch and he entered the fifth floor of a university building accessed a toilet block, stuck the gun out of the window and just waited.

CO: And he got one shot off?

HM: Potentially two, we’ve had one confirmed. And certainly what we do know is that the shot was heard at the exact moment that she exited the motorcade, I think she was in a Rolls Royce. So she gets out, the crowd erupts and then ‘bang’ people hear the sound of gunfire and people are looking around going ‘What just happened?’

CO: And the public statement initially it was that some billboard fell over or there had been a firecracker. The authorities would never say that there had actually been a gunshot.

HM: No they didn't. But secretly it turns out they were looking at this that actually involved the Secret Service in New Zealand as well. They knew that a gunshot had sounded, media were asking the questions. Police officially told them hey it was a sign falling over or was firecrackers. But unbeknownst to the media the police were taking statements from witnesses and they're investigating reports of this gunshot but they didn't have a clue where it came from or who the perpetrator was.

CO: About ten days later they caught him, is that right.

HM: Indeed. It's almost a stroke of luck in some ways but also it was good police work and they were just investigating an audacious armed robbery. And they were looking for hidden crims and they couldn’t find anyone who did this. Turns out it was three 17-year-old school kids of which Christopher Lewis was the ringleader. So they were going door-to-door in the suburb in Dunedin, happened to come across a kid wearing a similar jacket that was mentioned in the robbery and he became nervous when questioned so they brought him into the police HQ for questioning here and they end up getting his two accomplices and then suddenly they've got this kid saying ‘I shot at the Queen. You can find the missing weapon on the fifth floor of the Adam's building.’ They found the weapon, they found a spent cartridge. And this is when I think they went into panic stations and escalated their investigations over this.

CO: But at the same time, covering it up. Why did they go to such lengths to cover it up?

HM: Well, it was downplayed in court. And then when the three appeared on the armed robbery charges media asked if these guys were being held in connection with the attempted assassination of the Queen and police denied it. Looking back they were sort of right, but they're also playing semantics as well. There's a suggestion there from a former cop that claims he interviewed him first and that transcript was destroyed. He claims that police just didn't want to know they had received orders from up top, and that implies that it was the prime minister of the time, Sir Robert Muldoon, and that has been confirmed by a former lawyer who acted for Christopher Lewis said enormous heat came on the case, the charge was suddenly downgraded from treason or attempted treason, which in New Zealand at the time carried the death penalty. It was downgraded to just discharging a firearm.

CO: And so he did some time, he did what, three years?

HM: Yes three years. And all accounts, I've read his memoir, which was published after his death. But it was hard for him. He was sent to a youth prison here in New Zealand, he was given solitary confinement, he clearly had underlying mental issues and didn't really seek treatment for them until, I think, his final third and final year when he was sent to a psychiatric hospital. But it was there when he tried to actually break out to kill Prince Charles, who was a famous royal too I think was one of the first of Charles and Diana with a young son William at the time. Clearly he was fixated on achieving some sort of notoriety.

CO: And what became of him?

HM: Well, what didn't become of him? It reads like a movie that you wouldn't believe the plot. He says he became a trained ninja, he went on the run, did more armed robberies. He spent most of his 20s in prison and then seemed to go clean, suddenly selling like vegan pet food and doing yoga classes. This huge about turn in this career criminal’s life, and then suddenly he is fingered for a murder. He denied it, he said it was a prison informant who was paid by New Zealand police. $30,000 for testifying against him, had stitched him up. He killed himself three days after sending his memoir off to be published.

CO: Since you have put this in the public domain, what's been the reaction in New Zealand?

HM: The final night before publication, often as media do, they hold back some of the questions to the authorities in the hope that we're going to get a, you know, an interesting response from them. In this case police said ‘Thanks for the questions. Yes, there's something in this, yes we're going to re-examine it. It doesn't look right.’

CO: Well, maybe the people who are scripting the episodes of The Crown will have to do some rewriting?

HM: Maybe I could get a job offer, right.

CO: You've revealed a plot line they probably didn't have before you did this. Hamish, I appreciate talking to you, thank you.

HM: Thanks a lot. Cheers

JD: Spoiler alert, that was Hamish McNeilly journalist for the online publication Stuff. He first broke the story of an attempted assassination of Queen Elizabeth in 1981. We reached Mr. McNeilly in Dunedin, New Zealand. You can find more about this case and see photographs of the Queen's visit on our website: www.cbc.ca/aih.

[Music: Marching Band]

Trevor Baylis obit

JD: Trevor Baylis was an inventor, but before that he was a stuntman — and before that he was in the British Army, and before that he just missed qualifying for the 1956 Olympics in swimming. You see Mr. Baylis was both the Jack of, and what is much more rare, the master of all trades. And in his role as inventor his mastery resulted in an invention that changed a lot of people's lives — the first ever wind up radio. Trevor Baylis died yesterday. He was 80 years old. In 1994 Michael Enright spoke with Mr. Baylis on this program. Here's part of their conversation about the wind up radio from our archives.

SOUNDCLIP

MICHAEL ENRIGHT: Mr. Baylis, this sounds like a terrific idea. How did you come up with it?

TREVOR BAYLIS: Well, it's rather strange. I watching a program concerning the spread of AIDS in Africa. The trouble was that people weren't listening to their radios for more than half-an-hour a day, and in consequence they weren't getting these important messages. The other thing is they said that in fact people couldn't afford batteries. So I thought well there's got to be a way of making a radio work without the use of batteries. And I thought to myself if you can actually get sound from one megaphone by dragging a rusty nail around a piece of Bakelite, there's got to be enough power in a spring to run an electric motor.

ME: A spring that you would wind up, is that it?

TB: That's right. You just wind the thing up and as the thing unwinds so it generates electricity.

ME: How long does it produce sound for?

TB: Well, it depends on the size of the spring.

ME: So if it use the spring, for example, in Big Ben it would last for years, is that the idea?

TB: Exactly, you’ve got it, but it wouldn't be very portable, would it.

ME: No. Oh I see. Would this be called the Baylis wind-up radio?

TB: I would call it a Baylis generator because truly that’s what it is. It could be a Baylis radio, if you see the word Baylis on it , it would mean of course you wind the thing up if you want the thing to work. I’m asking you guys over the other side of the pond if there are some big cats over there who would like to run with the ball and just remember the old inventor then all they've got to do is contact me here in England.

ME: In Twickenham.

TB: In Twickenham.

JD: Trevor Baylis speaking with former As It Happens host Michael Enright in 1994. They were talking about the wind up radio that Mr. Baylis had invented, which he hoped would enable people in Africa who didn't have batteries to hear the news — and it did. Trevor Baylis died yesterday. He was 80 years old.

Philando Castile Lunches

Guest: Pam Fergus

JD: When Philando Castile was shot and killed during a police traffic stop in 2016 his community was overcome with grief. Mr Castile was a school nutrition supervisor at a public school in St. Paul, Minnesota. And those who knew him said that he was smart, he was cheerful, he was well liked by the students and the staff — and so the people in his community wanted to do something to honour his memory. Now a fundraising campaign in Mr. Castile’s memory has gathered enough money to pay the outstanding lunch debt of every student in the St. Paul Public School System. Pam Fergus organized the fundraiser. We reached Minneapolis.

CO: Pam, what do you think it would have meant to Philando Castile to know that no student in St. Paul's School has to worry about paying their lunch debt?

PAM FERGUS: Well, according to his mother, because I went through her before we ever started any of this, she said this is exactly what Philando would like because it's it that benefits the kids ultimately. You know, other parents might have whatever reasons that they can't afford it or they’re, you know, whether they're good with money or not, you know, in the end kids need to be fed and not embarrassed in the lunchroom. So I think he'd be pretty happy.

CO: What have you learned about Philando since his death, and about his generosity and the way he would help kids

PF: Learning that, so much of that came directly from his mother, where she said, you know, he started working in the nutrition department for St. Paul Public School. He really loved working in the elementary schools and being around those small kids. He worked his way up to being the supervisor of the J.J. Hill Montessori School. And, you know, that was just his thing. He was he was, I guess, a dietitian and the kind of, you know, he was a lunchroom person that kind of put the cool into lunchroom, you know. You know, he was just simply a good guy. It was all about making sure those kids were well-fed.

CO: I just want to remind people because people will know his face, this person, we saw him in an extraordinary, very disturbing live Facebook stream video when he was shot by police while trying to cooperate with them. His girlfriend Diamond Reynolds, with her 4-year-old in the back, people remember this video clearly I'm sure. She videoed his last moments as she was held by police as well.

PF: And, you know, the tragedy of that event — because he didn't die quickly, you know, five of the seven bullets entered his chest and she live streamed him, you know, bleeding out and just trying to get help because help wasn't there. You know, between her phone video and then the police dash cam, I think the public has a pretty good picture of exactly what happened.

CO: It was very disturbing and now we've learned that this is the man who died in that car, Philando Castile, this man who was helping all these kids. So when did you decide to start this fundraiser?

PF: You know, it evolved over a summer because last summer was the one year anniversary of his death so there were a lot of memorial events. It was also his birthday and all of that happened within a few days of the trial. The police officer not charged with murder and he was acquitted. So the first thing I did was try to get a hold of Philando’s mother Valerie Castile. I wanted to make just commemorative buttons, a button with his face on it. And then at the end of the summer I was planning the curriculum basically, for one of the classes that I teach at Metro State University, and it's a Diversity and Ethics class and the students have to do a diversity project. And in one of the conversations with Valerie where she had told me that, you know, a lot of the kids can't pay for lunch and they get behind in their lunch fees and that Philando would pay out of his pocket for those kids. You know, he'll take three bucks out of his pocket and put it in the cash register. I just, you know, I asked her could we develop some kind of fund so that his students a J.J. Hill don't have to worry about that anymore. And she said that she herself had been thinking about doing something like that. And so I just asked her if my class and I could take that on.

CO: So your goal your goal was to raise $5,000 dollars to pay the debt at the school where Mr. Castile worked. How much money did you finally raise, to date what have you raised?

PF: Well, it's ongoing. Last time I looked, which was probably an hour ago, it was at just a smidge under $170,000.

CO: And so in the end how many kids are going to be able to have hot lunches because of what you've done?

PF: In the end, all of them, you know. It's a big debt that gets paid off in, you know, different portions. But, you know, our goal isn't to ever punish a kid because they owe money. You know, the worst comments I've gotten about all of this are people who say ‘well those parents just need to learn to be responsible, and those parents need to quit spending money on this and that instead.’ Well the fact is that none of that is the kid’s fault, you know, K through 12, it's not their fault. So we're going to do our best to pay it all and continue paying it. And I teach this class every semester and we're going to take it on.

CO: And all in the name in of Philando Castile.

PF: Yeah, just a nice guy that the kids loved, who was willing to, you know, put his own money from his own pocket into lunch.

CO: Pam, it's a great endeavor and I wish you great success with it. I Appreciate speaking with you, thank you.

PF: Thank you so much.

JD: Pam Fergus organized the Philando Feeds The Children Fund. We reached Ms. Fergus in Minneapolis.

[Music: Lo-fi Bass]

Big Cheese Festival

JD: Plethora is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as quote “a very large amount, quantity or variety.” Dictionary dot com says a plethora is a quote, “over-abundance or quote excess.” So everyone who bought a ticket to the Big Cheese Festival in Brighton UK this past Saturday was expecting a large amount of cheese or an amount so large it was too much of cheese — because the festival website claimed quote, “The event will feature a plethora of the finest international cheese makers and mongers showcasing their amazing cheeses.” Paucity is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as quote, “the presence of something in only small amounts,” and Dictionary dotcoms says a paucity is a quote, “smallness of quantity, scarcity scantiness,” and unfortunately for the people who did fork over 22 pounds to attend the big cheese festival, about 40 bucks Canadian, they get a paucity instead of a plethora. Where there were supposed to be 35 stalls offering a multitude of cheeses, there were apparently anywhere from two to five. One attendee tweeted “Very bleak at the Brighton Cheese Festival. Five stalls isn't quite to my definition of big. But there is plenty of mud.” Other comments included quote, “What an absolute shambles” quote, “At no point did you think to use some of that money to get some cheese.” And, perhaps most heartbreakingly, quote, “was expecting more cheese.” Now facing this plethora of complaints organizers offered a paucity of apologies. But after blaming bad weather for preventing some cheesemongers from making it, they offered half price tickets for next year's event to anyone disappointed by this year's. And they will probably be more careful about throwing the word plethora around because even fancy language can't disguise the fact that they were up to no Gouda.

Les Grands Ballets

JD: Les Grands Ballets in Montreal is promising that its 62^nd season will put women in the spotlight. Their entire program will be dedicated to women with the centrepiece being a three part production called Femmes. Thing is though, there will be lots of women dancing in this tribute to women — all the choreographers however, will be guys. And that prompted Toronto-based choreographer Kathleen Rae to start a petition. She spoke to CBC Montreal's Daybreak this morning.

SOUNDCLIP

KATHLEEN RAE: There's a massive paradigm shift in terms of women's issues in our culture right now. So to create a program that's an homage to women that's going to be choreographed by three men and to use language such as the program will be looking at the general symbol that is women. Many women are standing up and saying ‘Hey, I'm not a symbol, I'm an actual person with stories to tell and I want to have my own voice in this program.’

MIKE FINNERTY: Kathleen, it does feel very macho, I know it’s kind of a dated word maybe, but it does it feels very macho, the approach. Is that emblematic of the world of classical dance still in 2018?

KR: Yes it is, unfortunately. When I danced at the National Ballet Company of Canada, out of the 50 or so ballets I danced only one was choreographed by a woman. Twenty years later I'm hoping I think that the ballet world is starting to change, I'm hoping. And then when I saw this program announced I'm like wow they really aren't stepping up to the change that's happening in society. And the board of directors in many of the big classical companies in Canada are predominantly made up of white men. And the white men usually hire white male artistic directors, who then usually hire white male choreographers. So I think the change really needs to happen in the board of directors level.

MF: Why do you think it takes an outsider to raise the issue?

KR: I'm actually not an outsider. And this is a great career risk for me to start this petition, and many of the people who have come forward in the front page news today are coming forward anonymously because they're afraid it would ruin their career. My love for ballet is so great and my desire for this beautiful expressive form to move into the Me Too era successfully is much greater than my worry about losing my career. I actually am here to create positive change. So I am taking the risk and I hope it pays off.

MF: You really think there's a risk that you might suffer from this?

KR: Absolutely.

MF: How do you think?

KR: Choreographic commissions. The person who stands up and says ‘Hey, wait this isn't right,’ and if it's a woman especially, they become that woman. That woman who ran for office, that woman who spoke up against harassment, that woman — and a lot of people don't hire that woman and so there's the risk that that will happen to me.

JD: Choreographer and one time national ballet dancer Kathleen Rae speaking to Mike Finnerty on CBC Montreal's Daybreak. Ms. Rae says that Les Grands Ballets has gotten in touch and they're going to have a meeting about her suggestions on Monday.

California Driverless Cars

JD: Dateline California.

[Music: Dateline Theme]

JD: After California announced new guidelines paving the way for driverless cars some feared a dystopian future — and the villains in their minds were the mindless soulless automatons — the cars. John Simpson of the group Consumer Watchdog said quote “A remote test operator will be allowed to monitor and attempt to control the robot car from afar. It will be just like playing a video game except lives will be at stake.” In the early stages however it seems that Mr. Simpson's concern is somewhat misplaced because it is not humans who are suffering. Under California regulations any mishap involving a driverless car must be reported. And the L.A. Times is sharing the very few incidents that have occurred so far this year. In fact, there have been six in total and in two of those six cases the villain was made of meat rather than metal. In one case in San Francisco a self-driving car was waiting at a light when a human man quote “Ran across Valencia Street against the do not walk symbol shouting and struck the left side of the rear bumper and hatch with his entire body.” The human man damaged a tail light. And in the other, also in San Francisco quote “The driver of a taxi exited his vehicle approached the self-driving car and slapped the front passenger window causing a scratch.” The other four accidents were, according to the Times, of the fender bender variety. They caused no injuries and little or no damage. So that is evil cars zero, angry humans two. Because so far the problem isn't the mystery of what is driving the vehicles, but what is driving the people.

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Part 3: Nova Scotia Rescue, Italian Election

Nova Scotia Rescue

Guest: Martin Lalli

JD: On the weekend Mr. Ward made a late night connection between a photograph of a wrecked car and reports of a missing teenager — and then he jumped into action. We reached Brian Ward in Westville.

CO: Brian, I know this started with a picture that was sent to you by a friend. What was that picture?

BRIAN WARD: The picture was a car that was down over an embankment that was all smashed to pieces.

CO: Why did he send you that picture?

BW: I do towing and he was wondering if I got the call to recover the car out of the drain.

CO: What did the two of you think about that, what did you think how that car got there or what was doing there?

BW: Well I thought it was very strange that the car was still over the embankment. Normally the police are pretty quick to be on top of things to have stuff removed out of the ditch.

CO: What made you start to think twice about what might be the story there, what later on happened?

BW: Well, after my friend sent me the picture of the car over the embankment I really didn't think much more about it because obviously there were no injuries. There was nobody — to my knowledge, there were no injuries, nobody was around. So I just kept going about my day until later on that night we were laying in bed and my wife went on Facebook. It seemed that there was a 19-year-old boy missing from a New Glasgow pub and it had a description of his car. And when she read off the description of the car I jumped out of bed because that's the car that my friend sent me a picture of earlier on in the day. So I jumped out of bed and I said to my wife ‘Come on we have to go.’ She had no idea why we were getting out of bed. So I called my friend Chriss Seally and I said ‘That car that Owen sent us a picture of today, what's the chances of that being the car of this 19-year-old boy?’ I said ‘let's go check it out.’

CO: So you went out in the dark and you knew where to look. What did you see when you arrived?

BW: Well, when we pulled up we just were shining the flashlight over the ditch as we were driving along and sure enough we spotted the car and there was the license plate, the young fellow’s license plate was laying right there.

CO: And was he in the car?

BW: No, he was nowhere around. Soon as we realized it was the license plate that was on Facebook we called 911 and told them that we spotted the car that was missing, the young fellow was driving down over the embankment Central West River. At that time while we were waiting for them we were searching trying to find the young fellow because we honestly didn't think that we're going to find anybody alive because the car was totally mangled. The steering wheel was in the tree.

CO: And so you were there in the dark looking through that area, through the swampy area and no sign of the young fellow?

BW: No, none. Where the young fellow was laying was a very wet area.

CO: Well tell us how they found him?

BW: Well, when the RCMP arrived there was probably five or six RCMP officers and then my wife and I and my friend Chris, were all searching the area but we couldn't find him. So the RCMP decided to call in the canine and once the canine arrived on scene it was not even two minutes. The dog handler and the dog found the young fellow.

CO: Where was he?

BW: He was approximately 100 feet from the car and it looks like he crawled to safety and sat on a tree that was a windfall and just fell over backwards. So he was in between two trees. The RCMP officer shined his flashlight into the boy's face and he moved his head so the RCMP officer knew that he was still alive.

CO: So does it look like he was thrown from the vehicle or just tried to get to the wreck?

BW: No, there was no possible way that he could have been thrown the distance that he was.

CO: He got out and then he tried to get someplace and that's as far as he got before he fell over.

BW: Yeah, I'm guessing he was just trying to get away from the car for safety.

CO: How long do you think he had been there, how long had since that accident happened?

BW: They're guessing 19 to 20 hours that he was in the ditch.

CO: How is he?

BW: To our knowledge he's in critical condition in Halifax Hospital.

CO: When you were there, you and your wife and the sniffer dogs found the boy, what did they tell you? Did they tell you how he looked?

BW: We were right there.

CO: How did he seem to you?

BW: Myself and Chris and my wife all took our coats off so they could cover the boy up because he's been there so long he had frostbite on one foot, which we didn't know they had frostbite until around 3:30 in the morning we went to the hospital to see how he was doing, they come out and said that he had frostbite on one foot. But it was the strangest thing, we just walked in sat in the waiting area at the hospital. We never said a word. And they came out and looked at us and said ‘oh my you guys came’ and we just looked at each other because it was — we never said a word. But they knew that we were there.

CO: So you and your wife went home after all that crawled back into bed. What did you say to each other?

BW: We actually we just crawled in bed and we couldn't believe it. We said now we can't believe this happened. It's just amazing. And the funny thing was, it was my birthday.

CO: It's quite the birthday gift.

BW: Yeah, it was quite the birthday gift.

CO: You saved a life.

BW: Yeah, it'll be hard to top that.

CO: Brian, I'm so glad this happened for that young fellow.

BW: Yes, me too.

CO: Thanks for telling us about it.

BW: No problem.

CO: Take care.

BW: You too. Thank you. Bye-bye.

JD: We reached Brian Ward in Westville, Nova Scotia.

[Music: Whimsical Strings & Piano]

Luke Strimbold charges

JD: If you don't happen to know it Burns Lake is a small village in British Columbia. It's about a 12 hour drive north of Vancouver. There's about 2,800 residents and most of them are in shock surrounding the allegations surrounding their former mayor. Luke Strimbold has been charged with two-dozen counts of sex-related offences. Some of the victims allegedly involved were under 16 years old. The allegations have been not proven in court. Yesterday Susan Schienbein spoke with the CBC's Andrew Kurjata. Ms Schienbein is a member of the village of Burns Lake Council. She worked with Mr. Strimbold here's part of that interview.

SOUNDCLIP

SUSAN SCHIENBEIN: My reaction was that I was completely shocked and very sadden by the recent events. Well, I'm aware that there are just allegations and, I guess, as a leader particularly with things that have been going on in the world, you know, I'm hoping that people are getting the help that they need and the support that they need and making sure they're finding somebody safe to talk to you.

ANDREW KURJATA: You were on council with Strimbold, I mean, is that going through your mind?

SS: I think it probably goes through everybody's mind, you know, where we're wondering. I mean, it's a shock, it's a complete shock. My thoughts right now are with the families and the individuals that are affected by these events and, you know, I hope that they're getting the support that they need. And, you know, I also, I mean, I have to be confident that the RCMP and the justice system are going to do what's necessary to resolve this.

AK: Can you give me a sense of how wide-reaching this is within Burns Lake?

SS: Well, I think this probably affects, well, the entire community and I think that's part of the reason why people are really afraid to say anything and, you know, nobody knows what to say. Nobody knows what to think. People are just shocked, and it is a small community in a tight knit community so it's difficult.

JD: That was Burns Lake Village councillor Susan Schienbein speaking with the CBC's Andrew Kurjata.

Ryan Arcand obit

SOUNDCLIP

PIANO BALLAD

JD: That is Ryan Arcand playing at a public piano in Edmonton. At the time Mr. Arcand was homeless and he was struggling with addiction and the piano was his escape. Three years ago a curious passerby noticed him playing this song, which he composed himself, and he decided to record it. The video was posted on YouTube — it has since been viewed more than 11 million times. And all that attention blew Mr. Arcand away. After came out he was accepted into one of Edmonton's supportive housing projects. CBC has learned that Ryan Arcand died this week. The piece we're hearing is called The Beginning. Mr. Arcand once said that he dedicated it to quote “the homeless that have passed on.”

Italian Election

JD: Italian politics is always turbulent and, well, verging on chaos. But even by that standard the recent election has left the country in turmoil. Italy's voters have delivered a hung parliament with the leaders of the two main anti-establishment parties both staking a claim on power. The Euro sceptic populist Five Star Movement was the biggest single party with a third of the vote, but the centre right coalition made up of the anti-immigrant League party and former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party got 37 per cent of the vote. So the only clear conclusion is that Italians were not happy with the leadership of the centrist Democratic Party, which had been in power since 2013. For whatever clarity we can get we have reached Lorenzo Pregliasco article. He is a professor of political science at Balogna University. We reached him in Turin.

CO: Professor Pregliasco, why did Italian voters seem to turn against the political establishment in this election?

PROFESSOR LORENZO PREGLIASCO: Many observers link this to the growing disaffection with politics and if you look at numbers the results for the Five Star were exceedingly high in the south of the country where the economic and social situation is more critical, and this may have contributed to some extent to be result.

CO: And why did the League do so well?

LP: Well, the idea is that the League benefited from the public discourse and the public debates during the campaign being mostly about immigration. They have a tough stance on immigration and on the illegal immigrants. They call for deportation of illegal immigrants and so they were successful in promoting their conservative right-wing agenda. In fact, they even drew some support from the Democratic party, the centre left party in traditional strongholds in central Italy, which many observers link to the credibility on the immigration issue.

CO: And the Democratic party got only about 18.7 per cent of the vote. How does that compare with its previous accomplishments?

LP: Well, five years ago they got 25.5 per cent. It was seen as a very negative result. After that in 2014 there was the European elections with a significant landslide victory by Mr. Renzi, where he got 40 per cent of votes. Basically half the percentage he had in the elections of 2014.

CO: And what are we to make of how Silvio Berlusconi's party did, which is 14 per cent in this election. And, of course, he's very compromised by his own legal problems and criminal charges and so what do you make of the results for Forza Italia?

LP: Forza Italia got 14 per cent of votes, which is still a remarkable figure. It was to some extent unexpected that the league would take the lead in the coalition. So it was kind of disappointment from the school and although he may well play a role in post-election negotiations, which will lead to new government or repeat elections being called for 2019.

CO: The coalition you just mentioned, The League, which is this anti-immigrant party with the 17 per cent and then Berlusconi's party of Forza Italia, they could have or should have, I suppose, formed a strong enough majority, or a strong enough showing to form the government. Is that going to be the case or is it still up in the air?

LP: Well, in terms of seats in the Parliament the centre right won it’s not an outright majotiry, which means that they will likely try to form a government by appealing to and MPs elected in other parties. But it's not sure that this coalition will resist. And so one of the possible outcomes is actually a coalition between centre left and the Five Star, so excluding the right and the centre-right or I would say not very likely in political terms, but it is still on the table a coalition between Five Star and The League, which would in a way put two of them the centre-right coalition between Forza Italia and The League.

CO: What are the chances that that might happen?

LP: Well the Five Star plus League coalition was seen before the election as the worst possible outcome by investors and international observers. But in terms of likelihood, I would say not so likely because the Five Star has a base of support which comes from the political left, and at least one third of the newly elected MPs from the Five Star comes from the left. So it will be quite difficult for them having a left-wing background to join a coalition with a right-wing party such as The League. I see it feasible in terms of numbers but more difficult to achieve in terms of politics.

CO: And where does the Five Star movement, where does it sit on the whole issue of immigration and the issue of the 600,000 people who have come into your country in recent years?

LP: Well they are not as powerful as The League on immigration but I would say they are in a way in the middle between the left and the centre-right on this matter. So they are in a way more in line with the League when it comes to criticizing the European Union than they are in terms of the immigration policy.

CO: Has the movement itself stopped being a movement, is it settling into a more established pattern and established kind of politics?

LP: To some degree, yes. In fact in 2013 they started the political journey being led by a well-known comedian Beppe Grillo, and now Grillo has disappeared and a new generation of leaders have taken its place. So basically they are reshaping their profile into a more traditional party, which is in a way unavoidable when you take 32 or 33 per cent support nationwide and even between 40 and 50 per cent in many southern regions of the country.

CO: Just finally, so if you were going to put money on one outcome or another, what do you think will be the result? What coalition of these parties might ultimately form the government in Italy?

LP: It’s not an easy call, but probably I would say that there are a couple of other outcomes which are likely than others. One is an agreement between the Five Star and parts of the centre-left and the left, so this could be an option. Another option could be a centre-right trying to get the majority by appealing to MPs elected elsewhere. And one final option we cannot exclude is a repeat election if no agreement is reached.

CO: All right, we'll be watching. Professor Pregliasco, appreciate speaking with you. Thank you.

LP: Thank you. Thank you very much.

JD: That was the Lorenzo Pregliasco ,a professor of political science at Balogna University. We reached him in Turin.

Alexa Cackling

JD: If you ask her, Amazon's digital assistant claims that she has no noticeable sense of humour.

SOUNDCLIP

ENGINEER: Alexa laugh.

ALEXA: I don’t laugh out loud, but I laugh on the inside all the time.

JD: Yeah. Well normally we would take Alexa at her word, wouldn't we. Except that over the past few days and weeks many Alexa users are claiming that the embodied internet connected speaker has been laughing — and not on command. One Alexa user says their Amazon Echo issued a quote “Chilling witch-like laugh. It scared the wife and my 5-year-old so badly that we unplugged her,” unquote. Another reported quote “It started laughing like she was being tickled. It was bone chillingly-creepy,” unquote. And one person managed to capture the unprompted laugh on tape.

SOUNDCLIP

ALEXA’S LAUGHTER

[/sc]

JD: Okay. That is not something I want to hear coming from my living room in the middle of the night. Amazon has offered no explanation for Alexa's spontaneous cackling — but whatever you're doing — Alexa stop.

Martin Shkreli

JD: There are many, many reasons why people hate Martin Shkreli. Pharma-bro has aggressively hiked the price of potentially life-saving drugs. And while on bail awaiting sentencing for a fraud conviction he decided to post a cash on his Facebook page for a strand of Hillary Clinton's hair. So this may be satisfying to you. As part of his fraud sentence he has been ordered to hand over a bundle of assets worth $7.3 million U.S. dollars. And in amongst the eclectic bounty is a Picasso and a Wu-Tang Clan album purchased for 2 million U.S. dollars. And even at Mr. Shkreli prices that could buy a lot of essential medication. The double 2016 album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin by the Staten Island rap group is the only one in existence. It is housed in an ornate silver box. At the time Wu-Tang explained that they want to see the value put back into music. As the winning buyer Mr. Shkreli was forbidden from releasing the album for 88 years. Now its immediate future is as unclear as his.

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March 6, 2017 episode transcript

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