TEASER - Art is Survival: Churchill the Artist

Gaslit Nation

Trump, Politics, Left, Democracy, Resistance, News, Society & Culture, Progressive, Liberal, Kendzior, Chalupa, Resist

4.8 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 28 December 2024

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Great Britain was woefully unprepared when Hitler's Nazis invaded nearly half of Europe. As the country faced the relentless terror of the Blitz—where cities were bombed like Ukraine is being bombed today by Putin—Churchill was tasked with turning the tide. In the midst of this devastation, he turned to his favorite act of self-care: creating art.

In our ongoing discussion, Robert Schmuhl, author of Mr. Churchill in the White House, explores how painting was a profound source of solace and strength for Churchill. This personal outlet helped shape his leadership during Europe's darkest hour, influencing the fate of the free world. As we always say on Gaslit Nation, art is survival. If you have artwork you’d like to share with our community, we’d love to feature it on our socials. Email us at [email protected]! For music, we’re happy to play your song on the show—just submit your work using the link in our show notes!

This Monday, during our Gaslit Nation salon on Zoom with our Patreon community, we’re thrilled to welcome disinformation researcher Dr. Emma Briant. Dr. Briant played a pivotal role in exposing the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal and is a co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of the Influence Industry, which includes a chapter on lawfare by Andrea’s sister, Alexandra Chalupa. Dr. Briant will walk us through the mechanics of influence campaigns—how they work, their effects, and, most importantly, how we can fight back. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from one of the leading experts in the field!

Show Notes:

The song featured in this week’s episode is “Free” by Aaron Espe: https://open.spotify.com/track/3M7xHMsoIeNKLkrJ2wY4i6

Submit your song to be featured on Gaslit Nation: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeS7TftV6Vfnw-iasFLepL6FpIj_KFORDLrAlZGH3nLg7i8lA/viewform

Mr. Churchill in the White House The Untold Story of a Prime Minister and Two Presidents https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324093428

Clip: The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exABCiPBAVE

Want to enjoy Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, ad-free episodes, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit!

Transcript

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0:28.6	It was a delight and it took him into a whole new life, a whole new life inspiration and imagination
0:36.6	for him. As a child, Churchill didn't really show any indication that painting or the arts in general
0:43.3	were of interest to him.
0:45.3	Winston Churchill came late to painting at age 40, in 1915, after he was forced to resign his position
0:52.3	as first Lord of the Admiralty.
0:54.5	After the disastrous Dardanelles campaign at Gallipoli, Churchill took the blame.
0:59.5	He retreated then in despair, somewhat depressed, to Ho Farm
1:04.5	and shared that cottage with his brother Jack and his sister-in-law, Gwendolyn,
1:09.0	who encouraged Churchill to pick up a brush. From that point,
1:12.4	1915 had a love affair with painting and did 530 plus canvases.
1:17.6	In one of the paintings in this lovely show here called Terrace at Trent Park, it's a beautiful painting with light streaming through.
1:26.6	He says in a little book he wrote called Painting as a Past Time
1:30.3	that before he started painting, he had just looked at nature and landscapes in a general sort of way.
1:36.3	And he never realized it and never appreciated it as much as when he had painted.
1:41.3	Churchill never studied formally.
1:43.3	He boldly went into it on his own as he did so many things in life.
1:48.0	One painting in particular, done in 1938, called Beach at Walmer,
1:52.0	is a terrific example of the overlapping worlds of Churchill's painting and Churchill's politics.
1:58.0	It didn't happen often in this family bathing in the sand,
2:01.6	often the distance across the English Channel you can imagine a looming Nazi threat.
	...

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