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To celebrate one year of the Bad Art Pod, we ask the question: why Bad Art? What is this podcast about anyway?!
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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:
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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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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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.
Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock
Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p
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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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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
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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
Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock
Creative Commons License: https://tinyurl.com/y9dj772p
Music from #Uppbeat
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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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https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel
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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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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.
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
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In anticipation of the Super Bowl, and in response to conservative outrage over the selection of artist Bad Bunny as halftime performer, we present a deep dive into the history and politics of the NFL’s halftime show.
Major Sections Include:
Introducing the episode 00-1:30
Reflecting on current events 1:31-15:00
Recurring halftime themes and the identity of the NFL 15:00-24:52
The history of the halftime show 24:52-34:38
Nipplegate 38:48-49:16
Racial politics in the NFL 49:16-70:00
Michael Jackson’s Unprecedented Super Bowl Spectacular 70:00-74:46
The 2020s 74:46-78:27
Bad Bunny 78:27-end
We used clips from:
Super Bowl XXVI “winter magic”: https://youtu.be/6wMXHxWO4ns?si=wtqMFHe45ts4SE37
Up With People at Super Bowl XIV https://youtu.be/2ruQ1tj4MDA?si=KfMAbNwTtfnBk_Ab
Michael Jackson – Super Bowl XXVII 1993 Halftime Show: https://youtu.be/EsopN7JKUVs?si=oVd7-bkO338aXluL
References:
As N.F.L. Fights Racism and Sexism, Team Owners Undercut the Message. New York Times. 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/25/sports/football/woody-johnson-trump-jets.html
Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, Kiana Cox and Kiely Hurst. 2025. “Views of Race, Policing and Black Lives Matter in the 5 Years Since George Floyd’s Killing.” Pew Research Center. May 7. https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2025/05/07/views-of-race-policing-and-black-lives-matter-in-the-5-years-since-george-floyds-killing/
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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Honestly, we just wanted to do a normal episode that didn’t react to current events. We thought that the War on Terror would be a somewhat stable historical artifact. – Then Trump invaded Venezuela, kidnapped its president, and stole its oil. So this episode is unexpectedly relevant. While we don’t comment on Venezuela directly, there are some important themes in thinking about the aesthetics of war that are unfortunately topical.
References
Ronak Kapadia. “Insurgent Aesthetics: Security and the Queer Life of the Forever War.” https://www.dukeupress.edu/insurgent-aesthetics
Hirst Appologizes for Calling 9/11 ‘A Work of Art.’” The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/19/september11.usa
Leerom Medovoi. “Dogma Line Racism: Islamophobia and the Second Axis of Race.” https://read.dukeupress.edu/social-text/article-abstract/30/2%20(111)/43/33720/Dogma-Line-RacismIslamophobia-and-the-Second-Axis?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Jean Baudrillard. “The Gulf War Did Not Take Place.” https://www.amazon.com/Gulf-War-Did-Take-Place/dp/090995223X
Rumsfeld clip from “Control Room.” 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCgfMdvk2n8&t=1390s
Committee to Protect Journalists. Dataset of Journalists and Media Workers Killed. https://cpj.org/data/killed/country/?status=Killed&motiveConfirmed%5B%5D=Confirmed&motiveUnconfirmed%5B%5D=Unconfirmed&type%5B%5D=Journalist&type%5B%5D=Media%20Worker&start_year=1992&end_year=2026&group_by=year
Caecilia Pieri. “Can T-Wall Murals Really Beautify the Fragmented Baghdad? https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/30661
“Michael Rackowitz Brings Destroyed Iraqi Art Back To Life.” Northwestern University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jXG1cXxE1Y
Joshua Craze. “Junk Empire.” https://canopycanopycanopy.com/contents/junk-empire
Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel
License code: DNUZSKHSHWIM3J1Q
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
Episode Artwork: Berghan Oil Fire. Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bergan_oil_field_fire.jpg
