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In this episode, we tell you about the weird little architects in Trump’s orbit and their plans to remake DC.

 

References

The National Civic Art Society: www.civicart.org

Website for Michael Curtis, the artist member of the NCAS https://theclassicalartist.com/statues

Video: Washington the Classical City: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LkKnhtOPnc

“Hegel’s Aesthetics.” In the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-aesthetics/

Cole, Bruce. Art From the Swamp: How Washington Bureaucrats Squander Millions on Awful Art. https://www.amazon.com/Art-Swamp-Washington-Bureaucrats-Squander/dp/1594039968

Video: Roger Scruton: Why Beauty Matters. https://vimeo.com/549715999

 

Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock

Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p

Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel

License code: RIGCP4AT5FQFWIGO

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Colin and Mariel watch “Style Wars,” a classic documentary about New York City graffiti in 1982, and explore what this documentary can tell us about the politics of today.

 

References:

Style Wars (1982): https://youtu.be/CO9YgJXzRmk?si=Alsm22cBTOlZxOY1

Footage of the Burning of the Bronx from the 1977 World Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnVH-BE9CUo

Interview with Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant. Hip Hop Slam: https://www.hiphopslam.com/articles/artic_StyleWarsDVD.html

Map: “How the Burning of the Bronx led to the Birth of Hip Hop,” originally from  “Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas” Joshua Jelly-Shapiro and Rebecca Solnit eds. Featured on Independent Lens. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/how-the-burning-of-the-bronx-led-to-the-birth-of-hip-hop/

Rahn, Janice. “Painting Without Permission” https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/painting-without-permission-9780897898102/

 

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel

License code: TBDYWEHRAAIK7W26

 

Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k

Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock

Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p

 

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Public Art On Trial:

In this episode, we examine the ways that major funders of public art in the US have often sought to use public art as a tool of social engineering. What did these funders hope that public art would achieve? And were they successful in their efforts to transform the social life of American cities? We will look at a number of high profile public art projects and controversies and attempt to evaluate the goals and impacts of public art in the US.

References:

Richard Serra Interview 1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgtcyuXQ4T4

The Trial of Tilted Arc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxyhgUAYvB4

Kwon, Miwon. “One Place After Another: Site Specific Art and Locational Identity.” https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262612029/one-place-after-another/

For info on urban renewal and Calder Plaza: Michigan Live: Awash in concrete: How Calder Plaza came to be: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2016/10/grand_rapids_urban_renewal_exp.html

 

Header image based on photo by Gary Coronado: https://tinyurl.com/kdzxt5k

Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock

Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p

 

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel

License code: UKJ7UN6PM4ANCNM9

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The internationally famous graffiti artist, Banksy, has made 3 trips to Palestine, where he has attempted to use graffiti art to build solidarity with the Palestinian cause. What are the possibilities and limits of this form of artistic solidarity?

 

References:

Dan Brooks “Banksy and the Problem with Sarcastic Art.” NYT. Sept 10 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/magazine/banksy-and-the-problem-with-sarcastic-art.html

Amahl Bishara. “Backstories: U.S. News Production and Palestinian Politics.” 2012. https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/back-stories

Shuruq Harb: “Don’t Confuse Me With The Monkey: On Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel.” Ocula. July 21 2017. https://ocula.com/magazine/spotlights/dont-confuse-me-with-the-monkey-on-banksys-wa/

Jennifer Lynn Kelly. “Invited To Witness: Solidarity Tourism Across Occupied Palestine.” 2023. https://www.dukeupress.edu/invited-to-witness

Channel 4 News. “Banksy documentary: Welcome to the Banksy art hotel in Bethlehem.” 2017.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMS6Ds3qryY&ab_channel=Channel4News

BanksyFilm. “Make this the year YOU discover a new destination.” 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e2dShY8jIo&ab_channel=banksyfilm

The Guardian. “After Banksy: The Parkour Guide to Gaza.” 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuHsRm5FBvA&ab_channel=TheGuardian

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Episode Photo By Maureen from Buffalo, USA – West Bank wall at Kalandia, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118005802

Cover Photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel

License code: KGPS35V2S9VLBQSZ

 

 

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Colin interviews Leesa Kelly and Amira McLendon of Memorialize the Movement about their experiences as Black activists working to preserve art from the 2020 uprising in Minneapolis. Kelly and McLendon offer insight into the racial politics of art preservation.

Links and References:

Memorialize the Movement: https://www.memorializethemovement.com/

Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517918989/art-and-artifact/

Preservation for the People Podcast: https://blackartconservators.com/podcast/

Monument Lab’s National Monument Audit: https://monumentlab.com/audit

Jenn M. Jackson: “The Militancy of (Black) Memory: Theorizing Black-Led Movements as Disjunctures in the Normativity of White Ignorance.” https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-9825933

 

Cover Photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock

Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p

 

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel

License code: WOMBEWKJI6OOODDO

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:13:13 — 67.0MB) | Embed

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On Trump’s obsession with and confederate statues. Recorded before the announcement that Trump would restore the confederate monument at Arlington and other monuments taken down in 2020.

References:

Cox, Karen.2019. Dixies Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and The Preservation of Confederate Culture. UP Florida. https://upf.com/book.asp?id=9780813064130

Southern Poverty Law Center map of confederate symbols, “Whose Heritage”: https://www.splcenter.org/whose-heritage-map/

A Pinterest of statue toppling images from 2020: https://pin.it/1vCPFbp6F

Clips:

CNN: Trump on Removal of Confederate General: Is George Washington Next? Aug 15 2017 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10157182610776509

CNBC: President Donald Trump on Charlottesville: You Had Very Fine People on Both Sides. Aug 15 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmaZR8E12bs

 

Cover Photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock

Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel

License code: GQDFBFKOAKOQWZM5

 

 

 

 

Coming Soon: A new podcast about the politics of art in the 21st century with Colin McLaughlin-Alcock and Mariel Gruszko.

Art and Gentrification • Art and Authoritarianism • Art and Violence

Art and Poverty • Art and Diplomacy • Art and Genocide • Art and Race

Art and Class • Art and Gender • Art and Resistance

Art and Revolution • Art and Justice