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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
