https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/death-of-an-artist

I had no idea “Anita de Monte Laughs Last” was based on a true story.

Turns out minimalist Carl Andre pushed his artist wife Ana Mendieta out the window and got off and lived… Happily ever after?

What you’ve got here is Helen Molesworth, a curator who lost her job at MOCA, telling the story. And it’s not deep history, it all went down in the eighties.

Molesworth sets the scene, very clearly, and then there’s the trial.

Really, it’s riveting until…

There’s a heavy dose of feminism and MeToo that ultimately overshadows the story in the later episodes, but the podcast does recenter.

I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with talking about feminism and MeToo, it’s just that it makes Molesworth look somewhat myopic, it takes the focus off what’s most important here, Andre’s bad behavior and how he got away with it.

As for the vagaries of the legal system, they’re involved in every trial. Molesworth has a hard time believing someone who is obviously guilty gets off. She starts debating “beyond a reasonable doubt”… This is what lay people don’t understand about the law, emotion doesn’t come into play, there are rules, which must be abided (unless, of course, you’re the Supreme Court).

Molesworth is frustrated that Andre escaped unharmed and Ana and her work were buried. But in truth, Mendieta’s star has been rising for decades. Seems like the truth always outs.

And there’s a lot of insight into how the art world works, how it’s a closed community almost exclusively run by white men.

But when Molesworth becomes conversational and introspective at the end… This is the problem with too many podcasts, they’re focused on the hosts as opposed to the subject/guests. When Molesworth talks at the end about her feelings… They do not have the gravitas or the meaning that the raw facts of the story have. Like how could Ana have fallen out of the window when the ledge was up around her chest and she was short and had a legendary fear of heights?

But not everything could be introduced at trial. There are rules of evidence.

But despite all of Andre’s buddies rallying around him, he may not have ended up in jail, but he definitely paid a price.

This is very good work. I’m just pointing out some of the flaws so you don’t come back to me and complain.

Also, like too many true crime podcasts, there’s overproduction. With the music, the dramatic sounds. Podcasts are a storytelling format, the facts should be enough, the audience doesn’t really want a return to radio dramas, never mind these elements give the feeling of “Dateline,” a lowbrow production that focuses on sensationalism and has none of the ultimate effect of “60 Minutes,” never mind print.

But if you do listen to this podcast, you will have to endure the commercials read by Malcolm Gladwell, a principal in Pushkin Industries, the producer of this podcast.

I’ve been down on Gladwell ever since he excoriated Bowdoin College and was wrong and wouldn’t admit it, he doubled-down.

And I like him better as a writer than a podcaster. But people go where the money is, irrelevant of their talents.

And then there was Gladwell saying that L.A. is known for its luxurious golf courses. I’ve lived in L.A. for decades, and I’ve never ever heard ANYBODY say this.

So Gladwell’s credibility is cratering. He fits the facts to his theories. But why I’m mentioning him at all is the tone of his voice. An orator who knows more than you do, who is coming down from the mountaintop to deign you with his brilliance. The elocution is so offensive. Just talk like a regular person. Furthermore, when you use this fake gravitas in support of your sponsors, it makes my stomach turn. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.

P.S. My original post on the book “Anna de Monte Laughs Last”: https://lefsetz.com/wordpress/2024/08/21/anita-de-monte-laughs-last/

P.P.S. “Death of an Artist – Season 1” is available on all podcast platforms, just search.