Category: Trump

“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

 

 

Weird Little Architects E06

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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

Episode 01: Very Fine Statues on Both Sides

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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