Stuff about Things: An Art History Podcast

Come to learn about the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner and her museum, stay in spite of the purring and the ludicrous number of chimneys. C’est mon plaisir. See images and sources over at StuffAboutThingsPodcast.com. And if you're feeling spicy, you can buy Lindsay (that's me) a coffee at buymeacoffee.com/stuffaboutthingspodcast. All contributions are deeply appreciated and go towards the maintenance and production of the p...

**busts through wall** SHE’S BACK WITH A HALLOWEEN TREAT! That is, if you’re into 3.5-hour podcast episodes about stolen art. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, mostly because it never ends. This episode covers all 13 works stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in March 1990. Come for rarely shared information about 13 fascinating works of art and glace plombier, stay in spite of the amateur audio editi...

**PART II is still coming! It'll be worth the wait. Should be up by late September-ish** IT’S HAPPENING. That’s right. I’m (finally) doing it. You asked, and I have answered. Put on your cop costumes, stick on that wax mustache, and buzz that buzzer. We’ve got some heistin’ to do. Except not, because we care about art and museums and, y’know, the law. Please join me for my longest episode ever. C...

Anne of Cleves or Anne of Catfish? This minisode pays homage to Anne of Cleves, wifey #4 to King Henry VIII—namely the portrait of her by Hans Holbein the Younger. Was Anne really the most unattractive of Henry’s wives? Did Holbein really pull one over on his murdery boss by engaging in too much Renaissance face-tuning? How many people died as a result? Come for the thumb ring, stay in spite of Henry VIII's weird defini...

THE QUEEN IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! This episode is a deep dive into one of the few oil paintings that can claim TikTok fame: the Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche, which has been a beloved fixture of the National Gallery in London for decades. Come for the so-called Nine Days’ Queen, stay in spite of the 15-minute tangent about the Third Act of Succession.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)...

This episode is a deep dive into the so-called “Holy Grail of Shipwrecks”: the San Jose Galleon. Come for the Dutch gin bottles and hypothetical emeralds, stay in spite of the monster demon fish (dolphins) and my meltdown over dodgy research methodologies.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

 "Enigmatic and Alluring" by Universfield (Freesound)

"Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro),...

An ancient shipwreck, filled with magnificent treasures from around the world--every maritime archaeologist's dream, right? But when does dream become delusion? Join me for the podcast's longest (!) ever (!!) episode (!!!), during which we take a DEEP DIVE (ha) into Damien Hirst and the 2017 Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable exhibition. Come for the blow-by-blow of the documentary, stay in spite of my wine-induced gullib...

**insert Jaws theme song here** A new episode swimmin’ straight for you! This one features the classic trio: sharks, death, and formaldehyde. That is to say, it is a deep dive (ha) into Damien Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, AKA The Shark One. Come for facts about optimal methods for shark taxidermy, stay in spite of the bleeped f-bombs. Please note that this track contains the...

🌊🗿 🌊🗿🌊 The emojis say it all: this episode is a deep dive into the monolithic moai of Rapa Nui—also known as Easter Island. Come for the in-depth discussion of how generations of Rapanui (i.e. the people of Rapa Nui) made and moved moai; stay in spite of the bad puns about 🌋 volcanoes 🌋. The wave noises are courtesy of Tim Kahn via FreeSound.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

"Brandenburg Concerto No...

As R.L. Stein would say, “Say 🧀 and ☠️!” In this episode, it’s more like “The 💀👻 say 🧀!” This episode explores the strange world of spirit photography, a whacky offshoot of early photography that had its heyday in the 1860s and 1870s. Come for the lite sarcasm regarding Spiritualism, stay in spite of the primordial ooze.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

"Brandenburg Concerto No....

Ahoy hoy! A new minisode is upon thee: the early history of photography! Come for the history, stay in spite of the science (or vice versa). Episode 38 will follow in about 3 weeks. Until then, your girl is headed on vacation.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

"Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0...

All aboard! This minisode covers a trifecta of Titanic gemstones and the diamond links that may--or may not--bind them. Come for information about a movie prop and its replicas, stay in spite of the very bad dramatic rendition of the interlude from Britney Spears's 2000 masterpiece of a music video, Oops I Did It Again!

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

"Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV ...

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Marilyn Monroe and Madonna told me so! That is… unless those diamonds are cursed! This episode is a deep-dive into the Hope Diamond, a 45.52 carat blue diamond in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Come for an almost too-thorough history, stay for stories about a blingy great dane named Mike.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

"Brandenburg C...

This episodes is a deep-dive into the mysterious (and, as of 1945, missing) Amber Room. Come for the in-depth research into the Amber Room's 300-year existence, stay in spite of the unhinged reference to the lickability of its peanut-brittle-esque panels.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

"Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creativ...

Bonjour, mes bijoux! Yes, that's you--my jewels. Speaking of a jewel... this minisode celebrates an art historical jewel known as the Clothilde Missal, an early twentieth-century illuminated manuscript by Clothilde Coulaux in the collection of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. Come for the jewel-toned escapism into an idealized version of the Middle Ages, stay in spite of the toxic white lead.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooks...

This episode covers the wonderful, majestic, so-detailed-it-almost-hurts Book of Kells, from cover to cover and page to page. Come for the resolution to Episode 34's reference to "pendulous breasts," stay in spite of a rant about mis-matched mustache and beard colors. Slainte, friends!

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

"Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech...

Dia dhuit! That means "hello!" in Old Irish. This episode is the first in a two-part series on the world's most famous book: The Book of Kells. Part I focuses on the uncertain history of the book, a history that may (or may not, but probably does...) go back 1,200 years. That's real old, y'all. Come for the into-the-weeds tramp through the book's history, stay in spite of Scottish women throwing chairs.

Music credits:

"Success Dream"...

This minisode is dedicated to the illuminated manuscript, an art form whose heyday stretched from the 5th to the 15th centuries. Come for the cover-to-cover breakdown of the manuscript production process, stay in spite of the Silence of the Calves joke.

Music credits:

"Success Dream" (Hooksounds.com)

"Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G, Movement I (Allegro), BWV 1049"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative ...