Bad Art

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 https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: YAP7TI2AQAAXNTJR

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

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   — 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

Colin and Mariel watch “Style Wars,” a classic documentary about New York City graffiti in 1982, and explore what this documentary can tell us about the politics of today.   References: Style Wars (1982): https://youtu.be/CO9YgJXzRmk?si=Alsm22cBTOlZxOY1 Footage of the Burning of the Bronx from the 1977 World Series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnVH-BE9CUo Interview with Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant. Hip Hop Slam: https://www.hiphopslam.com/articles/artic_StyleWarsDVD.html Map: “How the Burning of the Bronx led to the Birth of Hip Hop,” originally from “Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas” Joshua Jelly-Shapiro and Rebecca Solnit eds. Featured on Independent Lens. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/how-the-burning-of-the-bronx-led-to-the-birth-of-hip-hop/ Rahn, Janice. “Painting Without Permission” https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/painting-without-permission-9780897898102/   Music from #Uppbeat https://uppbeat.io/t/night-drift/pastel License code: TBDYWEHRAAIK7W26   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  

The internationally famous graffiti artist, Banksy, has made 3 trips to Palestine, where he has attempted to use graffiti art to build solidarity with the Palestinian cause. What are the possibilities and limits of this form of artistic solidarity?   References: Dan Brooks “Banksy and the Problem with Sarcastic Art.” NYT. Sept 10 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/magazine/banksy-and-the-problem-with-sarcastic-art.html Amahl Bishara. “Backstories: U.S. News Production and Palestinian Politics.” 2012. https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/back-stories Shuruq Harb: “Don’t Confuse Me With The Monkey: On Banksy’s Walled Off Hotel.” Ocula. July 21 2017. https://ocula.com/magazine/spotlights/dont-confuse-me-with-the-monkey-on-banksys-wa/ Jennifer Lynn Kelly. “Invited To Witness: Solidarity Tourism Across Occupied Palestine.” 2023. https://www.dukeupress.edu/invited-to-witness Channel 4 News. “Banksy documentary: Welcome to the Banksy art hotel in Bethlehem.” 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMS6Ds3qryY&ab_channel=Channel4News BanksyFilm. “Make this the year YOU discover a new destination.” 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e2dShY8jIo&ab_channel=banksyfilm The Guardian. “After Banksy: The Parkour Guide to Gaza.” 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuHsRm5FBvA&ab_channel=TheGuardian — Episode Photo By Maureen from Buffalo, USA – West Bank wall at Kalandia, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=118005802 Cover 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: KGPS35V2S9VLBQSZ    

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