Category: Art Controversies

“It’s Brutal!” Trump, Architecture, and American Authoritarianism. (Weird Little Architects Part II). E08.

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“It’s Brutal!” Trump, Architecture, and American Authoritarianism. (Weird Little Architects Part II). E08.

In this follow up to our episode on Trump’s “Weird Little Architects” (E06) we examine the ways that architecture has been instrumentalized by the Trump administration. Through a close look at the Executive Order “Making Federal Architecture Beautiful Again,” and at administration comments around the renovation of the White House, we show how architecture is used by the administration to advance its authoritarian and white supremacist projects.

Major sections include:

Trump’s Architecture Program. 00-37:00

Fascist Aesthetics and the Demolition of the White House. 37:00-56:00

Brutalism and Modernism as a Contrast to the Trump Agenda. 56:00-81:00

 

We used clips from:

“Justin Shubow Interviewed About Brutalism on Newsmax – Greg Kelly Reports” https://youtu.be/OFRpqpdCikw?si=clvtWq8TSQEO1viR

“Stephen Miller: East Wing was Cheaply Built, Long Overdue for Renovation.” https://www.foxnews.com/video/6383815895112

Zoolander (2001)

 

References:

Krugman, Paul. 2025. “Trump’s Gilded Ballroom and the Fall of the American Republic.” https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trumps-gilded-ballroom-and-the-fall

Koldehoff, Stephen and Tobias Timm. 2025. Donald Trump Has a History of Pulverizing Historic Buildings. Artnet. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/donald-trump-bonwit-teller-friezes-met-2132673

Benjamin, Walter. 1935. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.”

Medovoi, Leerom. 2012.
“Dogma-Line Racism: Islamophobia and the Second Axis of Race.” Social Text. 30 (2 (111)): 43–74. https://doi.org/10.1215/01642472-1541754

Compagnon, Madeline. 2020. “What Makes a ‘Beautiful’ Federal Building?” JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/what-makes-a-beautiful-federal-building/

Volner, Ian. 2020. “Trump Can’t Make Architecture Great Again Without an Infrastructure Plan.” Artnews. https://www.artnews.com/art-in-america/columns/trump-make-architecture-great-again-maga-classicism-1202677813/

 

We used a quotation: “The Democrat Party’s main constituency are made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals,” which should be attributed to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

 

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: TPBUUIJWTSHGYJQ9

 

 

The Reactionary Politics of “The Best American Poetry” – with guest Nick Sturm. E07

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We invited Nick Sturm to join us to tell us about his recent Defector article, “Good Riddance to The Best American Poetry.” Nick tells us about the reactionary ideals which shaped the poetry anthology series and how these reactionary ideals influence American politics and the wider world of poetry.

Nick Sturm teaches at Georgia State University in Atlanta. His book “Publishing the New York School: Small Press Communities and American Poetry” will be published by Columbia University Press. Nick is also in the research stage on another book-length project, “The Poetry Business,” that examines the role of the state, nonprofits, universities, and philanthropy in the professionalization of American poetry. A few other forthcoming projects include a chapter on poet Frank O’Hara’s publishing history in “Frank O’Hara in Context” from Cambridge University Press; editing “The Collected Poems of Jim Brodey” for Nightboat Books; and a chapter on the relationship between federal arts funding and small press editorial practices in “The Bloomsbury Handbook of Literary Editing.”

You can find Nick’s article, “Good Riddance to The Best American Poetry” here: https://defector.com/good-riddance-to-the-best-american-poetry

In our conversation, Nick mentions Jonathan White’s article, “Thinking Generations:” https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/49483/1/White_thinking_generations.pdf

 

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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

Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel
License code: KRQMGNARPJLX0ICN