Artists in Horror Movies: Candyman with Kate Robertson

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In the 1992 horror film, Candyman, the Candyman monster is an artist whose painting hand was cut off and replaced by a hook. In the 2021 remake, the Candyman haunts a clique of arists, art dealers, and critics in contemporary Chicago. Using the Candyman films as a jumping off point, we discuss the surprisingly deep history of murderous art and artists in the horror genre, from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Oval Portrait” through the present.

We’re joined by Kate Robertson, author of “Blood Lust: Realism, Violent Inspiration, and the Artist in Horror Cinema.” Learn more about Kate’s work here: https://katerobertson.me/about/

Clips from:

Candyman (1992)

and Candyman (2021)

We also discuss House of Wax (1953)

 

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9-11 Memorials

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Even before it opened, the 9/11 memorial and museum at the world trade center site was already controversial, condemned by survivor families for commercializing the tragedy. The museum’s gift shop, offering a commemorative 9/11 cheese board, seemed especially grotesque to many. (But, as George Bush said, days after 9/11, the way to defeat the terrorists was to “go shopping.”) Examining controversies around various 9/11 commemorations we ask how this memory shapes the US today. What political projects do 9/11 memorials serve, and who is excluded from commemoration.

Special thanks to Claire Panetta for guiding us through the museum.

We also drew on Benjamin Smith’s MERIP article “The Great Ports Panic of 2006” and Setha Low’s article “The Memorialization of 9/11” for background on debates and controversies.

We played clips from The Budweiser 9/11 Super Bowl commercial and U2’s bizarre post 9/11 Super Bowl halftime show.

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Islamic Art and Cultural Activism in the United States with Dustin Craun E17

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Dustin Craun is a Muslim cultural activist, founder of the Center for Global Muslim Life and co-founder of MPower Change. As a leader in these organizations, Dustin has been developing community art projects, public memory initiatives, and monument campaigns, which celebrate the often underappreciated role of Muslims in the civic life of the United States. He often strives for multiethnic collaboration and has worked closely with migrants and undocumented youth at the US Mexico border and indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest. His projects show Muslims as part of a rich, vibrant, multiethnic community enlivening cultural life within the United States.

Learn more about Dustin’s work here:

GlobalMuslimLife.com

BeyondBordersArts.Com

 

In our conversation, Dustin mentions the following books and articles:

“Return of the Mecca: The Art of Islam and Hip-Hop” by Sohail Daulatzai.

“Muslim Cool: Race, Religion, and Hip Hop in the United States” by Su’ad Abdul Khabeer.

“Islam and the Cultural Imperative” Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah

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Invited to Witness: Jennifer Lynn Kelly on Solidarity Tourism E16

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Colin talks with Jennifer Lynn Kelly, author of “Invited to Witness: Solidarity Tourism Across Occupied Palestine” to learn about the promise and pitfalls of solidarity tourism. On the one hand, solidarity tourism can be used to imagine and build a just future. On the other hand, it often recreates or reinforces structures of colonial inequality.

—

Please check out Invited to Witness, available [here]

Kelly also talked in depth about the following:

Sophia Azeb: “Who Will We Be When We Are Free?” The Funambulist.

Dean Spade: “Impossibility Now: A Trans Politics Manifesto.”

Tanya Habjouqa: “Occupied Pleasures.”

Sophia Stamatopolou-Robbins: “The Joys and Dangers of Solidarity in Palestine: Prosthetic Engagement in an Age of Reparations.” The New Centennial Review.

And Colin mentioned:

Dina Matar and Venetia Porter eds. “Archiving Gaza in the Present.”

In our conversation, Kelly was diligent to note several people who have supported her work. Since not all of those shoutouts made it into the final edit, we’ll note that she credited Barbara Harlow, Ann Laura Stoller, and Ella Shohat.

 

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America’s Birthday Parties Then and Now E15

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We look back at the man who called himself the “bicentennial president” — Richard M. Nixon — and the 1976 celebration he helped to plan. Examining the politics of past U.S. birthday parties, we ask what they can tell us about the present. How much has changed? We also spend some time talking about the World Cup and how much more fun it is than the Semiquincentennial. Yay 250!

Episode research draws heavily on two books:

Bicentennial! A Revolutionary History of the 1970s. by Marc Stein.

and

America, USA. How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries. by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.

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Oh The Inhumanity: On A.I. Art. E14

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Today we take on A.I. art.

We discuss the following references:

Duesterberg, James. 2023. “Neither Governed Nor Free.” Boston Review. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/neither-governed-nor-free/

Crabapple, Molly. 2026. “Is AI The Greatest Art Heist in History?” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/apr/12/is-ai-the-greatest-art-heist-in-history

Winegar, Jessica. 2008. “The Humanity Game: Art, Islam, and the War on Terror.” Anthropological Quarterly. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/247134

 

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“Relooted,” The Art Heist and Repatriation Video Game. With guest Akil Fletcher. E13

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We’re joined by Akil Fletcher, an anthropologist who studies the intersection of video gaming and race. We discuss “Relooted,” an exciting new art heist video game, where players raid Western art collections in order to steal art and repatriate that art to Africa.

For more about Akil or to read his scholarship: https://www.akilfletcher.com/

Mariel reads from the book “Mumbo Jumbo” by Ishmael Reed

 

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

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Social Death: on the social mediatization of atrocity E12

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Reflecting on current events, Mariel and Colin discuss the proliferation of atrocity images on social media. What is at stake when these images are treated as a tool of political mobilization?

References:

Sontag, Susan. 2003. Regarding the Pain of Others.

Eubanks, W. Ralph. 2025. Emmett Till Then and Now. in Bulletin by Monument Lab.

Hernandez, Joe. 2021. “Read this powerful statement from Darnella Frazier, who filmed George Floyd’s murder.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/1000475344/read-this-powerful-statement-from-darnella-frazier-who-filmed-george-floyds-murd

Jackson, Jenn. 2022. “The Militancy of (Black) Memory ” SAQ. https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-9825933

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Can Art Solve Poverty? – (The Creative City Episode) E11

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This episode is a deep dive into the “creative city” model of urban planning. We talk about the ways that influential urban planners like Richard Florida and Charles Landry have promoted investment in the arts as a way to solve urban problems. We will answer the question, can art solve poverty? (Answer: No).

 

Key Sources:

Florida, Richard. The Rise of the Creative Class.

Landry, Charles. The Creative City A Toolkit for Innovators.

Melamed, Samantha. “Can this tiny storefront save Philly’s most drug-ravaged neighborhood?” Philadelphia Inquirer. March 30, 2017.

Denmead, Tyler. The Creative Underclass: Youth, Race, and the Gentrifying City.

Mould, Oli. Urban Subversion and the Creative City.

Montgomery, Alesia. “Reappearance of the Public. Placemaking, Minoritization, and Resistance in Detroit.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 2016.

 

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