Old Blighty
some podcast-related things from the UK
Does writing a blog post about an international trip retroactively turn it into a business expense? Guess we'll find out next April!
Categories: Supplement
Published:
"art"
Because the function of art is to hold a mirror up to nature there can be no art because the Universe is infinite which means there simply isn’t a mirror big enough.
A Palace of the Arts
a visit to the Pennsylvania state capitol
I suppose I should actually show you what George Gray Barnard's sculpture groups for the Pennsylvania State Capitol actually look like, huh?
Categories: Arts & Culture, Supplement
Published:
Cloud Dongs
George Grey Barnard's Pennsylvania Capitol sculpture groups
In August 2023, my cousin Tim and his fiancee Bonnie were getting married in Lancaster. As #7 and I made our travel plans, we realized that even though she has spent a large chunk of her adult life in Pennsylvania she had never visited many of its most famous historic sites. We decided to make […]
Categories: Arts & Culture, Feats of Building & Engineering, Series 14
Published:
The Realest Housewife of Beverly Hills
confidante of kings, movie stars, and mobsters
The Countess di Frasso was the most famous hostess in the world, who threw parties for kings; actors, athletes and aviators; Nazis and mobsters.
Categories: Arts & Culture, Biography, Eccentrics & Prophecies, Entertainment & Media, People & Places, Series 13
Published:
Mr. Mumler’s Ghosts
A small gallery of some of William H. Mumler's best spirit photographs. (By which I mean "aesthetically pleasing", not "genuine.")
Categories: Arts & Culture, Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, Supplement
Published:
What Joy to the Troubled Heart!
the tale of William H. Mumler, spirit photographer
In 1862, William H. Mumler took the first known photograph of a ghost. Maybe. What unfolded next was an epic story of fraud and self-deception...
Categories: Biography, Footsteps into the Unknown, Hoaxes, Frauds & Forgeries, People & Places, Series 13
Published:
Crepuscule in Blood and Guts
the most curious incident in the life of James McNeill Whistler
This one has it all: sibling rivalry, country club politics, adultery, duels, the Civil War, Spanish colonial policy, and three giant piles of bird poop.
Categories: Arts & Culture, Daring & Epic Journeys, Series 13
Published:
Saddam’s Favorite Artist
the dictator who loved bad fantasy
Rowena spent two decades building a career as a top fantasy artists... and then two of her paintings were found hanging in Saddam Hussein's "love nest."
Categories: Arts & Culture, Bonus Episodes
Published:
More Lovely and More Temperate
poor estate planning, a daring art theft, and a brief history of Anglo-Irish relations
In which two Irish art students commit a daring daylight museum heist with virtually no planning, and somehow get away consequence-free.
Categories: Arts & Culture, Series 7
Published:
The Icelander
a tale of public art, politics, and racism
Why, exactly, was there a statue of a Viking explorer in Philadelphia? And why isn't it there now?
Categories: Arts & Culture, Daring & Epic Journeys, Series 5
Published:
The Brouhaha
when abstract art when on trial
Is Constantin Brâncuși's "Bird in Space" a masterpiece, or just a hunk of polished bronze? Why not let the courts decide?
Categories: Arts & Culture, Series 1
Published: