The Scent of Scandal
Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid
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Narrated by:
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Gary D. MacFadden
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By:
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Craig Pittman
About this listen
After its Peruvian discovery in 2002, Phragmipedium kovachii became the rarest and most sought-after orchid in the world. Prices soared to $10,000 on the black market. Then one showed up at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, where every year more than 100,000 people visit. They come for the lush landscape on Sarasota Bay and for Selby's vast orchid collection, one of the most magnificent in the world.
The collision between Selby's scientists and the smugglers of Phrag. kovachii, a rare ladyslipper orchid hailed as the most significant and beautiful new species discovered in a century, led to search warrants, a grand jury investigation, and criminal charges. It made headlines around the country, cost the gardens hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations, and led to tremendous internal turmoil.
Investigative journalist Craig Pittman unravels this tangled web to shine a spotlight on flaws in the international treaties governing trade in endangered wildlife-which may protect individual plants and animals in shipping but do little to halt the destruction of whole colonies in the wild.
The Scent of Scandal unspools like a riveting mystery novel, stranger than anything in Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief or the film Adaptation. Pittman shows how some people can become so obsessed-with beauty, with profit, with fame-that they will ignore everything, even the law.
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When Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail in 2009, Browder cast aside his business career and made it his life’s mission to pursue justice for Sergei. One of the first steps of that mission was to uncover who had killed Sergei and profited from the $230 million corruption scheme that he had exposed. As Browder and his team tracked the money that flowed out of Russia—through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas—they discovered that Vladimir Putin himself was one of the beneficiaries of the crime.
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Red Notice Part II —- The Empire Struck Out
- By R. Alembik on 04-16-22
By: Bill Browder
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Killing the Dream
- James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
- By: Gerald Posner
- Narrated by: Brian Holsopple
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In the three decades since April 4, 1968, when Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot to death in Memphis, scores of books and articles have questioned whether James Earl Ray, King's killer, acted alone or was part of a larger conspiracy. Now, based on explosive new interviews, confidential files, and previously undisclosed evidence, best-selling author Gerald Posner finally resolves the simple truth of the last great political murder mystery of the 1960s, definitively proving that Ray acted alone.
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Enlightening
- By Thornton Mellon on 05-19-19
By: Gerald Posner
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Tangled Webs
- How False Statements are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff
- By: James B. Stewart
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In Tangled Webs, James B. Stewart reveals in vivid detail the consequences of the perjury epidemic that has swept our country, undermining the very foundation of our courts.With many prosecutors, investigators, and participants speaking for the first time, Tangled Webs goes behind the scene of the trials of media and homemaking entrepreneur Martha Stewart; top White House political adviser Lewis "Scooter" Libby; home-run king Barry Bonds; and Wall Street money manager Bernard Madoff. Tangled Webs reaffirms the importance of truth.
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in great detail
- By Andy on 06-22-11
By: James B. Stewart
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Missing Man
- The American Spy Who Vanished in Iran
- By: Barry Meier
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In late 2013, Americans were shocked to learn that a former FBI agent turned private investigator who disappeared in Iran in 2007 was there on a mission for the CIA. The missing man, Robert Levinson, appeared in pictures dressed like a Guantánamo prisoner and pleaded in a video for help from the United States.
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Important story
- By Richard F. Callahan on 08-03-16
By: Barry Meier
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Dreamers and Deceivers
- True and Untold Stories of the Heroes and Villains Who Made America
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Jeremy Lowell
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The new nonfiction from number-one best-selling author and popular radio and television host Glenn Beck.
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Astounding History stories gather life
- By Gil on 11-13-14
By: Glenn Beck
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The Fall of the House of Zeus
- The Rise and Ruin of America's Most Powerful Trial Lawyer
- By: Curtis Wilkie
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The Fall of the House of Zeus tells the story of Dickie Scruggs, arguably the most successful plaintiff's lawyer in America. A brother-in-law of Trent Lott, the former U.S. Senate majority leader, Scruggs made a fortune taking on mass tort lawsuits against "Big Tobacco" and the asbestos industries. He was hailed by Newsweek as a latter-day Robin Hood and portrayed in the movie The Insider as a dapper aviator-lawyer.
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The title says it all - The fall of Scruggs
- By Placeholder on 03-11-12
By: Curtis Wilkie
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Hack Attack
- The Inside Story of How the Truth Caught Up with Rupert Murdoch
- By: Nick Davies
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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At first it seemed like a small story. The royal editor of the News of the World was caught listening to the voicemail messages of staff at Buckingham Palace. He and a private investigator were jailed, and the case was closed. But Nick Davies, special correspondent for the Guardian, knew it didn't add up. He began to investigate and ended up exposing a world of crime and cover-up, of fear and favor--the long shadow of Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
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Everyone should listen to this
- By RickN on 07-24-20
By: Nick Davies
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Provenance
- How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art
- By: Laney Salisbury, Aly Sujo
- Narrated by: Marty Peterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is a tautly paced investigation of one the 20th century's most audacious art frauds, which generated hundreds of forgeries - many of them still hanging in prominent museums and private collections today. Provenance is the extraordinary narrative of one of the most far-reaching and elaborate deceptions in art history.
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Fabulous story, terrible narration almost ruined
- By Sharonia on 02-24-13
By: Laney Salisbury, and others
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The Lizard King
- The True Crimes and Passions of the World's Greatest Reptile Smugglers
- By: Bryan Christy
- Narrated by: Tony Ward
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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When Bryan Christy began to investigate the world of reptile smuggling, he had no idea what he would be in for. In the course of his research, he was bitten between the eyes by a blood python, chased by a mother alligator, and sprayed by a bird-eating tarantula. But perhaps more dangerous was coming face to face with Michael J. Van Nostrand, owner of Strictly Reptiles, a thriving family business in Hollywood, Florida.
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Snakes on a plane!!!
- By Kim on 02-13-14
By: Bryan Christy
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Class Action
- The Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law
- By: Clara Bingham, Laura Leedy Gansler
- Narrated by: Gabrielle De Cuir
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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When the local iron mine began hiring women in 1975, Lois Jenson, a single mother on welfare, didn't think twice about accepting the grueling but well-paid job. What she hadn't considered was that she was entering a male-dominated society that fiercely resisted the inclusion of women, a prejudice born out in the brutal harassment of every female miner.
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infuriating
- By Ron on 05-20-06
By: Clara Bingham, and others
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Going Clear
- Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
- By: Lawrence Wright
- Narrated by: Morton Sellers
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, the now-classic study of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—both famous and less well known—and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology.
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Shockingly Great
- By Michael on 01-27-13
By: Lawrence Wright
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The Bettencourt Affair
- The World's Richest Woman and the Scandal That Rocked Paris
- By: Tom Sancton
- Narrated by: Amanda Carlin
- Length: 13 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Heiress to the nearly 40-billion-dollar L’Oréal fortune, Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman and the 14th wealthiest person. But her gilded life took a dark yet fascinating turn in the past decade. At 94, she was embroiled in what has been called the Bettencourt Affair, a scandal that dominated the headlines in France. Why? It’s a tangled web of hidden secrets, divided loyalties, frayed relationships, and fractured families, set in the most romantic city - and involving the most glamorous industry - in the world.
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A Juicy Chronicle
- By Jean on 10-24-17
By: Tom Sancton
What listeners say about The Scent of Scandal
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- robert
- 10-06-22
Captivating
This book was a pleasant surprise. A lot of colorful characters chasing orchids. Narrator was fine 5 stars.
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- Linda
- 02-04-13
Amazing World of Unethical Dirtbags No Pun Inended
As an avocational horticulturalist, I was shocked at the levels that the "professionals" will stoop to for glory and the almighty buck. If you love orchids, and nature in general, this book will make you sad, angry, and disgusted. Read it anyway, and bocott the scoundrels. Do your research and know where your money is going if you are an orchidist.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Cindy Schillig
- 04-02-21
Great tale about an hour too long
This would have been much better if the last hour or so, the individual legal battles, were condensed. It drug on a bit at the end.
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- H
- 02-21-13
I smell a good book!
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
In the Scent of Scandal, Craig Pittman perfectly balances the craziness of Florida (damn those transplants) the zealotry of protecting and promoting the image of cash soaked and starved nonprofits and those who love and support them and their causes and a little science, just to move the story along.Craig is a great storyteller. His understanding and love (as only a native can) appreciation of all that is Florida and what it does to people coupled with his knowledge of the environmental sector and their unique narrow-mindedness helps explain how this kind of thing could happen and how it shouldn't. Craig makes no judgements which helps keep the story in context and at the same time lets the participants "explain" themselves in their own words, but does not absolve them of responsibility for their actions.The story moves along in an efficient way, no "flowery" language not curtailing the narrative.This is a good book about people getting caught up in their own nonsense, about reaching for greed or fame and about the enforcement of rules and regulations that are sometimes focused on the wrong things.I hope his next book is about pythons.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Vas Sladek
- 02-22-16
Brilliant if you like plants and gardening....
What did you love best about The Scent of Scandal?
The idea that some people are so into orchids they are willing to ignore rules and risk jail.
Who was your favorite character and why?
The guy who stole the rare orchid and had it named after him; the name could not be changed.
What does Gary D. MacFadden bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
NO IDEA
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
People's lives get ruined
Any additional comments?
A lot of intrigue over a rare plant, bizarre
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2 people found this helpful