Flowering currant, ivy, Portuguese laurel, and woad might all have grown in a medieval garden, but it would have taken special expertise to extract and create rich blue and purple pigments from them. Humans have been extracting dyes and inks from natural materials for millennia, and the practice was firmly established during the medieval era, recorded in man ... Show More
Apr 11
Margaret Heffernan, "Embracing Uncertainty: How Writers, Musicians and Artists Thrive In An Unpredictable World" (Policy Press, 2025)
Most people hate and fear uncertainty. It causes such stress and anxiety that we often choose certain surrender over doubt, becoming passive, dependent, addicted―and more anxious than ever. Doubling down on the certainties promised by technology and micro-management only makes th ... Show More
1h 11m
Apr 8
Karen L. Bowen and Dirk Imhof, "The Burgeoning European Print Trade: The Distribution of Prints Via the Plantin-Moretus Press of Antwerp" (Harvey Miller, 2025)
Karen L. Bowen and Dirk Imhof join Jana Byars to talk about their new book, The Burgeoning European Print Trade: The Distribution of Prints Via the Plantin-Moretus Press of Antwerp (Harvey Miller, 2025). The European print trade is an evocative topic. Not only art historians, but ... Show More
44m 50s
Sep 2024
Episode 606 - Dmitry Samarov
Artist Dmitry Samarov returns to the show to bail me out after a stressful couple of weeks and to explore his fantastic new book, MAKING PICTURES IS HOW I TALK TO THE WORLD, a survey of his art from the '80s to today. We talk about the process of selecting pieces for the book, wh ... Show More
1h 35m
Oct 2024
Johanna Hedva, "How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom" (Zando-Hillman Grad Books, 2024)
The long-awaited essay collection from one of the most influential voices in disability activism that detonates a bomb in our collective understanding of care and illness, showing us that sickness is a fact of life.
In the wake of the 2014 Ferguson riots, and sick with a chronic ... Show More
57m 22s
Dec 2024
James Joyce - "The dead" - 1914
❄️🍷 James Joyce – "The Dead" (1914) 🕯️✨
A tender exploration of love, memory, and impermanence, set amidst the cozy yet wistful atmosphere of an Irish Christmas gathering. 🎄🕊️ Gabriel Conroy, a quiet and introspective man, finds himself confronted with the unspoken depths of ... Show More
1h 31m
Jul 2024
A brush with... Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Craig-Martin talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work. Craig-Martin was born in Dublin in 1941, and grew up in the US, but has been based in London for ... Show More
57m 43s
Sep 2024
A brush with… Robert Longo
Robert Longo talks to Ben Luke about his influences—from writers to musicians, film-makers and, of course, other artists—and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work. Born in 1953 in Brooklyn, Longo was a key figure in what was called the Pictures generation of ... Show More
1h 3m
Sep 2025
Lulwah Al Homoud & Rafa Nasiri | Discover Arab Artists – The Misk Art Library Podcast
In this episode of The Misk Art Library Podcast Series, we sit down with two experts on art in the Arab world: Lulwah Al Homoud, an artist featured in the Misk Art Library series, and Dr. Nada Shabout, who speaks about the work of Iraqi artist Rafa Nasiri. We discuss Nasiri's leg ... Show More
53m 59s
Oct 2025
Salah Elmur | Discover Arab Artists – The Misk Art Library Podcast
This episode of The Misk Art Library Podcast brings Sudanese painter Salah Elmur who talks about memory, imagination, and artistic identity. Elmur reflects on his Sudanese upbringing, his dreamlike paintings, and his reluctance to label himself as an artist. He explores how memor ... Show More
18m 16s