Art Against Empire

About Art Against Empire

Art Against Empire examines the intersection of creativity and politics through conversations with artists, craftspeople, and activists who use making as a form of resistance. Hosted by recovering political pundit and textile artist Ian Danger Capstick, each episode dives into the radical history of craft traditions, profiles contemporary makers disrupting systems, and shares practical projects that merge beauty with dissent. From textile workers' strikes to guerrilla street art, from Indigenous craft sovereignty to anti-capitalist maker spaces...we explore how human creativity has always been a tool for liberation. Art Against Empire is produced and edited by Shawn Dearn, and is a production of Secret Agents.

Publisher

Ian Danger Capstick

Category

arts · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Nov 2025

Latest episode

8 May 2026

Latest episodes

14 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 May 2026

   Sports & Queer Spirits Featuring Maria Molteni

   A queer artist in Boston crochets basketball nets and paints whole courts like quilts. This is what happens next. Maria Molteni makes hand-crocheted basketball nets and paints full-size basketball courts at the kind of scale you can only see from a drone. Their courts have won a National Public Art Award. Their collective, NCAA (New Craft Artists in Action), has collaborators around the world. They sell the pattern book by donation and give it away free to anyone who can't pay. Maria is also a Shaker scholar. Their family farm in Tennessee sat thirty minutes from South Union Shaker Village in Kentucky, and their grandparents were competitive square dancers doing moves that weren't far from the Shakers' own formal shape dancing. Basketball, Shakers, Keith Haring, yarn bombing, and the tension between practical and visionary. Featuring throughline voices from AJ Young and Zak Foster. Art Against Empire is hosted by Ian Danger Capstick, co-created and edited by Shawn Dearn, and is a production of Secret Agents. New episodes every two weeks. Visit artagainstempire.net for show notes, images and much more. Produced by Secret Agents.

2. 

   24 Apr 2026

   Looms and Algorithms (1946-Present)

   This is Part 3 of 3 of our documentary. The Freedom Quilting Bee, where sixty Black women in Alabama built a cooperative while fighting for the right to vote. The AIDS Memorial Quilt, forty-four thousand panels on the National Mall. Gilbert Baker's rainbow flag. Palestinian tatreez. Rana Plaza, where the locked door was the same locked door from the Triangle fire a century earlier. And then the turn: Potemkin AI, the Cricut Revolt, farmers jailbreaking their own tractors, and what happens when the Empire stops coming for the fabric and starts coming for the software. Featuring Cleve Jones, Grace Rother, Sara Trail, Shug Munich, Gavin Mueller, Jathan Sadowski, Kim Werker, Carrie Reichardt, Kimmie Dearest, Stephen Towns, Paul Yore, and Catherine West. Art Against Empire is co-created and edited by Shawn Dearn and is a production of Secret Agents. Visit ArtAgainstEmpire.net for photos, episode notes, and resources.

3. 

   11 Apr 2026

   Cleave Jones: Creator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt

   A Queer Legends × Art Against Empire crossover. Ian Danger Capstick sits down with Cleve Jones, the activist who conceived the AIDS Memorial Quilt on a cold November night in 1985 with a stack of posterboard and Harvey Milk's old bullhorn, given to Cleve after Harvey was assassinated. The two talk about the afternoon Cleve first walked into Castro Camera, the morning Gilbert Baker raised the first rainbow flag, the grandmothers who could not find the words, and Seven Days in June, the mobilization Cleve is building to mark forty-five years of HIV and AIDS. Close to an hour, close to uncut, and one of the most important conversations either show has had this year.

4. 

   27 Mar 2026

   Live Working or Die Fighting (1901-1945)

   Part two of our three-part documentary special picks up where "Who Owns the Cloth" left off and traces textile resistance from the turn of the twentieth century through the end of World War II. From global factory uprisings in Lodz, Rio Blanco, and Bengal, to Clara Lemlich's famous call to strike in 1909, plus the impacts of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, suffragette banners stitched behind prison walls, Mother Jones and the March of the Mill Children, the Bread and Roses strike in Lawrence, and Gandhi's spinning wheel taking on the British Empire. Featuring archival recordings from the U.S. Library of Congress, Frances Perkins at Cornell, Christabel Pankhurst, and Alice Paul, alongside interviews with Sunny, Gavin Mueller, Kimmie Dearest, AJ Young, and Stephen Towns. Written and hosted by Ian Capstick. Historical narration and technical production by Shawn Dearn. Produced by Secret Agents. Learn more at artagainstempire.net. Signup for the Art Against Empire newsletter and remember: Our hands know how to build the world we want.

5. 

   13 Mar 2026

   The Loom and the Empire (1600-1900)

   This is Part 1 of a three-episode documentary special tracing seven centuries of the same fight: who owns the cloth? Co-creator Shawn Dearn narrates the history while actors read from primary sources, including Lord Byron's furious defence of the Luddites, Charity Clarke's 1769 letter about "a fighting army of amazones, armed with spinning wheels," and Queen Liliuokalani's memoir from inside her occupied palace. From medieval Flanders to the Jacquard loom's punch cards to a deposed Hawaiian queen stitching the dates of her overthrow into a quilt. Featuring: Zak Foster, Stephen Towns, Sara Trail, AJ Young, Carrie Reichardt, Gavin Mueller, Jathan Sadowski, Grace Rother, and Mary Burgess. With readings by Nancy O'Fallon, David McNeill, Nathan Ashcroft, Lauree Ashcom, Nancy Adams, and Barrie Kealoha. Art Against Empire is edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit ArtAgainstEmpire.net for photos, episode notes, and resources. Our hands know how to build the world we want.

6. 

   27 Feb 2026

   Carrie Reichardt: Politics of Permanence

   It takes "quite an act of violence" to remove a mosaic from a wall. For twenty-five years, Carrie Reichardt has used that fact as political strategy — cementing memorials for death row inmates across four continents, covering her London home floor-to-roof in mosaic, and building a truck-mounted monument to a man executed by the state of Texas that ended up in the Victoria and Albert Museum. This episode is an audio monograph — a critical argument about an artist's work and its place in history. From Marshall McLuhan to William Morris, from a pen pal letter that changed everything to a death mask made in a cabin in the Texas woods…we trace how Reichardt came to understand that her medium isn't incidental to her message. It is the message. Someone recently tried to burn one of her mosaics down. The cement cracked. The ceramics popped off the wall. But the ceramics were fine — they'd been in a kiln. The empire builds its monuments in bronze. Carrie Reichardt builds hers in clay, glass, and cement — and dares the world to try and take them down. Art Against Empire is hosted by Ian Danger Capstick, edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit ArtAgainstEmpire.net for photos, episode notes, and other resources.

7. 

   13 Feb 2026

   Community Care with The Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths

   In 2018, eleven women blacksmiths gathered in Oregon to build together. They didn't plan to start an organization. But the conversation kept going and the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths was born. Their motto is: "Everyone has something to offer, everyone has something to learn." This episode explores what happens when craft communities decide to take care of each other. From medieval guild statutes that paid sick members "whether lasting or only temporary" to a Kansas City Instagram call for quilt blocks that went from one twin quilt to three, we trace the long history of mutual aid through fire and thread. We also explore the history of blacksmithing and touch on the politics of exclusion along the way. You'll learn about moments in metalworking history often forgotten or erased by men. Featuring blacksmiths Joy Fire, Lisa Geertsen, and Olivia Hall of the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths and SPARC, alongside quilters Zak Foster, Nathan Ford, Maret Miller, and illustrator-activist Kimmie Dearest. Art Against Empire is edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit ArtAgainstEmpire.net for photos, episode notes, and resources. And remember, our hands know how to build the world we want.

8. 

   30 Jan 2026

   Memory, Grief and the Politics of Remembering

   After her partner died, Mary Burgess wove herself a blanket from his clothes and the jacket she wore to his funeral. When she finished, she thought: I could do this for other people. This episode asks a question that haunts empires: whose deaths count? Philosopher Judith Butler argues that to grieve publicly is to insist a life mattered — which is why authoritarian regimes have always tried to suppress mourning. Stalin forbade families from grieving. The Tiananmen Mothers are placed under surveillance before each anniversary. Franco's government exhumed 33,000 bodies and reburied them anonymously. Scholars call all of this "memoricide", the murder of memory itself. And we're going to explore how textiles and craft can prevent memoricide. Because cloth survives. Cloth can be hidden, smuggled, or hidden quietly until it's safer. Textiles also remind us of those who've passed, Mary in Australia weaves the clothes of the dead into blankets for the living. In Brooklyn, Michael Sylvan Robinson is an activist and artist who volunteers with Gays Against Guns. We also meet quilter Zak Foster for the first time, he has a view on life that is worth lifting up. Featuring: Mary Burgess, Michael Sylvan Robinson, Zak Foster Art Against Empire is hosted by Ian Danger Capstick, edited by Shawn Dearn and is a production of Secret Agents. Visit ArtAgainstEmpire.net for photos, episode notes, and resources. This episode is dedicated in memory of Terrance Dearn, a lifelong maker, Dad and father-in-law who is missed a lot.

9. 

   16 Jan 2026

   Art as Witness to Climate Crimes

   Artists have always responded to their environment, but what happens when it changes? Art Against Empire's fifth episode goes to Michigan, where an artist embroiders glacier data onto silk and we check in on Minneapolis, where strangers gather in a library basement to make a crazy quilt from surgical bandages and childhood dish towels. This episode explores how artists respond to environmental crisis — from creating Dust Bowl quilts to the first Earth Day, we track the history of environmental activism and art. This episode features Bonnie Peterson who works with glaciologists to translate their research into embroidery, and Shug Munich, whose community quilting project asks: "How do we hold climate grief together?" And we meet Paul Yore, an iconoclastic artist from Australia. Featuring archival audio of Rachel Carson, Greta Thunberg, David Attenborough, and more. Art Against Empire is edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit ArtAgainstEmpire.net for photos, episode notes, and resources.

10. 

    2 Jan 2026

    Perfect Is Boring: Failure As Resistance

    Episode 4 of Art Against Empire explores how perfectionism is used as a tool of oppression. This episode features an interview with Kim Werker who is a weaver, creator of the Mighty Ugly project and a craft entrepreneur; as well as an anecdote from Catherine West of Significant Seams in the United Kingdom. Both guests use workshops to help people overcome perfectionism that is holding them back. They both discovered that the fear of making something "ugly" or "imperfect" reveals deeper fears about using our voices and taking creative risks. This episode explores how you can embrace imperfection: using craft, in your art practice and in your life so it becomes an act of resistance. Art Against Empire is edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit ArtAgainstEmpire.net for photos, transcripts, and resources. And in the spirit of "embracing imperfection," don't miss our BONUS, blooper reel after the credits of this episode. You're welcome.

11. 

    24 Dec 2025

    Stephen Towns: Uncovering the Invisible

    Welcome to Episode 3 of Art Against Empire! Stephen Towns paints and quilts the histories that America tried to erase, from Nat Turner's rebellion to forgotten spaces of Black joy. In 2018, Stephen became the first African American artist-in-residence at Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Not 1968, 2018! There, he created a portrait of Elsie Henderson, the Black woman who ran that famous house for decades yet whose story had been reduced to footnotes. Stephen's journey began with a quilt inspired by his sister's words: "How can you disrespect me when my grandmother literally fed your grandfather?" We explore his research process: visiting rebellion sites, interviewing descendants, and recovering stories that refuse to stay buried. Plus, you'll hear Stephen's first major curator, Kilolo Luckett, on uplifting Black voices in the current political moment. Art Against Empire is edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit artagainstempire.net for photos, transcripts, and resources.

12. 

    24 Dec 2025

    Quilting as Collective Storytelling

    Welcome to Episode 2 of Art Against Empire! Quilting as Collective Storytelling weaves together the stories of the AIDS quilt, the Abolition Sewing Bee and features the work of Sara Trail who founded the Social Justice Sewing Academy in Oakland, Californnia. Sara's putting needle and thread into the hands of young people from marginalized communities. They've stitched portraits of police violence victims, documented gentrification through a child's eyes, and created memorial quilts that travel the country. In this episode, Sara names the hidden barriers to quilting: the spare bedroom studio, fifteen-dollar fabric, the socioeconomic privilege the industry won't discuss and shares how her "Robin Hood" model redistributes resources to young makers. We trace the lineage she draws from: freedom quilts, the improvisational brilliance of Gee's Bend, and the AIDS Memorial Quilt. We also hear from Grace Rother on the Abolition Quilting Bee. Art Against Empire is edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit artagainstempire.net for photos, transcripts, and resources.

13. 

    24 Dec 2025

    Our Hands Know How to Build the World We Want

    Quilters, blacksmiths, weavers, embroiderers - 25 artists across four countries using craft to fight systems of power. Welcome to Art Against Empire! This series introduction launches a 16-episode journey featuring over two dozen artists, craftspeople, and theorists across four countries. You'll hear from quilters stitching memorials to police violence victims, blacksmiths forging tools as acts of reclamation, embroiderers translating climate data into thread, and weavers who building queer community. Host Ian Capstick is a recovering political pundit turned textile artist, he traces why empires from Rome to Britain built their wealth on controlling cloth, and why makers have always fought back. The history runs from the 1378 Ciompi Revolt through Gandhi's spinning wheel to the AIDS Memorial Quilt that covered America's National Mall. Featuring 25 voices, including: Sara Trail (Social Justice Sewing Academy), Stephen Towns (painter and quilter of erased Black history), Grace Rother (Abolition Quilting Bee), Joy Fire (Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths), Gavin Mueller (author of Breaking Things at Work), and many more. Art Against Empire is edited by Shawn Dearn and produced by Secret Agents. Visit artagainstempire.net for photos, transcripts, and resources.

14. 

    10 Nov 2025

    Art Against Empire - Trailer

    Art Against Empire examines the intersection of creativity and politics through conversations with artists, craftspeople, and activists who use making as a form of resistance. Hosted by recovering political pundit and textile artist Ian Danger Capstick, each episode dives into the radical history of craft traditions, profiles contemporary makers disrupting systems, and shares practical projects that merge beauty with dissent. From textile workers' strikes to guerrilla street art, from Indigenous craft sovereignty to anti-capitalist maker spaces...we explore how human creativity has always been a tool for liberation. Art Against Empire is produced and edited by Shawn Dearn, and is a production of Secret Agents.

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

19 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.