Tag: Art

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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Pod logo based on photo by Ted Timmons, Edited by Colin McLaughlin-Alcock

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Bad Art’s Halftime Spectacular E10

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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

 

Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel
License code: U1D0INK9CQ8QRL8S

 

 

 

Aesthetic Violence: Art in the War on Terror. E09.

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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

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

Public Art On Trial E04

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Public Art On Trial:

In this episode, we examine the ways that major funders of public art in the US have often sought to use public art as a tool of social engineering. What did these funders hope that public art would achieve? And were they successful in their efforts to transform the social life of American cities? We will look at a number of high profile public art projects and controversies and attempt to evaluate the goals and impacts of public art in the US.

References:

Richard Serra Interview 1983: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgtcyuXQ4T4

The Trial of Tilted Arc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxyhgUAYvB4

Kwon, Miwon. “One Place After Another: Site Specific Art and Locational Identity.” https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262612029/one-place-after-another/

For info on urban renewal and Calder Plaza: Michigan Live: Awash in concrete: How Calder Plaza came to be: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2016/10/grand_rapids_urban_renewal_exp.html

 

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: UKJ7UN6PM4ANCNM9

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