Radical playwright Valerie Solanas, author of the SCUM Manifesto (for the ‘Society of Cutting Up Men’) attempted to assassinate pop artist Andy Warhol at The Factory on 3rd June, 1968.

As a result, Warhol wore a corset for the rest of his life; security had to be introduced at the previously open-door environment of The Factory; and Solanas’ name went down in infamy.

In this episode, Olly, Arion and Rebecca ask whether her feminist writing would carry more weight if she’d never committed this violent act; consider the ethics of wannabe-assassins becoming celebrities, and wonder whether her SCUM Manifesto reads more like Jane Austen or Germaine Greer…

Content Warning: mental health, paranoid schizophrenia, injury detail

Further Reading:

• ‘I Shot Andy Warhol’ trailer (1996): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAQRCcQlXXE

• ‘The SCUM Manifesto’ on Northeastern University’s website: 

https://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/rants/scum.html

• ‘This Is Why a Radical Playwright Shot Andy Warhol’ (Time, 2015): 

https://time.com/3901488/andy-warhol-valerie-solanas/

This episode was first published in 2021

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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: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.

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