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The Art of Resistance

The Art of Resistance

Amy Lee Lillard 22 Episodes Jun 22, 2026

A podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. It explores historical examples of artistic resistance, from Gran Fury to Riot Grrrl, Emory Douglas to Zitkála-Šá, and Samizdat to W.I.T.C.H. Each episode examines how artists have used their work to push back against dominant culture and what we can learn from them to make art as resistance today. The show also encourages listeners to sign up at RebelYellCreative.com for art, resistance news, and creative tools and support.

Episodes

The Art of Manifestos
The Art of Manifestos Jun 22, 2026 21:00 Today: Five manifestos from radical groups across time and mission.This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Lee Lillard.To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com._____Get full episode transcript and sources at RebelYellC
The Category is: The Art of Ballroom and Drag
The Category is: The Art of Ballroom and Drag Jun 8, 2026 28:26 How did this particular form of queer art and culture come to be? How did queer people across centuries find solace and support in these underground and public scenes? And how did the magnificent art of ballroom, and the houses that formed around it, create a powerful form of resistance that continues to defy anyone who tries to erase it?This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing
Apartheid Art: Afrapix and South African Artists, 1950s-80s
Apartheid Art: Afrapix and South African Artists, 1950s-80s May 25, 2026 26:05 How did artists empower silenced people? How did photographers use access and international press to tell the truth about a country’s atrocities? And how did individuals, and groups like Afrapix, defy the crushing machine of apartheid in South Africa, and send the government tumbling down?This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status
Rock Rebellion: The Plastic People of the Universe in Soviet Czechoslovakia, 1970s
Rock Rebellion: The Plastic People of the Universe in Soviet Czechoslovakia, 1970s May 11, 2026 22:41 How did a band in Soviet Czechoslovakia kick off a revolt against repression? How did young Czech people in the 1970s look to the counter culture of the U.S. for inspiration? And what can we learn from the band The Plastic People of the Universe, and their role in the Velvet Revolution, about the role of art in resistance?This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all
Eating Fire: The Lesbian Avengers, 1991+
Eating Fire: The Lesbian Avengers, 1991+ Mar 9, 2026 24:19 How did a group of women change the narrative for LGBTQ representation and equality in the early 90s? How did street performance and circus acts turn the invisible visible? And what can we learn from the Lesbian Avengers and fierce pussy about making art as resistance?This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is mad
“Look at it”: Dorothea Lange's photography and the Japanese Internment, 1930s-40s
“Look at it”: Dorothea Lange's photography and the Japanese Internment, 1930s-40s Feb 23, 2026 24:31 How did one woman take pictures so powerful that they were both celebrated and banned? How did a worker with unprecedented access create a living visual library that showed our country’s desperate injustice? And what can we learn from Dorothea Lange and her photos of migrants in the 1930s, and incarcerated Japanese-Americans in the 1940s, about making art as resistance?This is The Art of Resistanc
Sewing the truth: Arpilleras in Pinochet's Chile, 1973-1989
Sewing the truth: Arpilleras in Pinochet's Chile, 1973-1989 Feb 9, 2026 27:59 How did handsewn crafts help desperate women fight back against a dictatorship? How did communal creative groups empower one another? And what can we learn from the arpilleras from Chile about how to make art as resistance, today and tomorrow?This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative a
Working 9 to 5: A Movie and a Movement, 1980
Working 9 to 5: A Movie and a Movement, 1980 Jan 26, 2026 25:06 How did a small group of women activists influence Hollywood? How did a comedy smash tap into hidden truths about the workplace? And what can we learn from the movie 9 to 5, and its partnership with a labor movement of working women, about the power of art as resistance?This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is m
Singing the Terrible Truth: Billie Holiday and "Strange Fruit," 1939
Singing the Terrible Truth: Billie Holiday and "Strange Fruit," 1939 Jan 12, 2026 22:14 How has one song stunned for nearly a century? How was it so powerful that the federal government targeted the singer for decades? And what can we learn from the story of “Strange Fruit” and Billie Holiday about how art is resistance?This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Le
Speaking the Word: The art of Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey
Speaking the Word: The art of Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey Dec 1, 2025 16:08 In this bonus series we're looking at modern artists using art as a tool of resistance. Today: Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey. Connect with Caleb at TheNegroArtist.comThis is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Lee Lillard. Get full episode transcript and sources at RebelYellCre
Introducing...Performing the Revolution
Introducing...Performing the Revolution Nov 24, 2025 46:22 Performing the Revolution comes from the team at Radical Evolution. Check out the first episode here, then listen to the full four-episode series in your favorite podcast player.In this episode: Meet Jana Natya Manch aka Janam, one of India's storied street theatre companies. We follow their journey from one of their most crucial, catalyzing and tragic moments in the 1980's, all the way through to
B-Boy Rebellion: The art of Chuy Renteria
B-Boy Rebellion: The art of Chuy Renteria Nov 17, 2025 10:22 In this bonus series we're looking at modern artists using art as a tool of resistance. Today: Chuy Renteria. Connect with Chuy at chuyrenteria.bsky.social and Little Village magazine.This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Lee Lillard. Get full episode transcript and sources

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