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Randall White

@randallwhite

Theatre artist, writer, and longtime arts advocate exploring how creativity shapes democracy and public life. https://randallwhite.com

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21.12.2023
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Latest posts by Randall White @randallwhite

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Artists Know This Loneliness. It Has Nothing to Do With Being Alone. On creative isolation, the hunger for other minds, and what becomes possible when we find each other.

Artists of all disciplines are celebrated for their work but unseen as thinkers. That's the loneliness I mean.

Let's do something about that.

open.substack.com/pub/randallw...

09.03.2026 22:05 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Why many Americans would trade democracy for more money A new study shows how financial stress can weaken democratic commitment and boost support for authoritarianΒ leaders

"Replacing the three F-15E jets that were shot down over Kuwait will cost the equivalent of food for 125,000 Americans, or health care for 100,000 children, over the course of a year."

www.salon.com/2026/03/08/w...

09.03.2026 01:50 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities

#QuitGPT

ChatGPT has been weaponized in more ways than one.

OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman and his wife donated $25 million to a Super PAC supporting Donald Trump (MAGA Inc.).

CEO Sam Altman also contributed to Trump's 2025 Inaugural Fund.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/a...

08.03.2026 10:59 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Book Review: "The Alibi of Capital" - Accept No Excuses - The Arts Fuse Stealing the future and concealing the theft β€” capitalism’s method, which, according to this well-argued book, is incompatible with sustaining the global climate and democracy.

"Stealing the future and concealing the theft β€” capitalism’s method, which, according to this well-argued book, is incompatible with sustaining the global climate and democracy."

artsfuse.org/325311/book-...

08.03.2026 10:35 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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A working artist (a painter, a poet, a composer, a choreographer, a novelist) recognized and even celebrated in their field can still feel completely unseen as a thinker.

The discipline rewards the output, not the mind behind it.

Let's do something about that.

randallwhite.substack.com

07.03.2026 20:03 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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In 'Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910–1945,' hope and fear do not feel mutually exclusive, but rather a collective response to the authoritarianism and repression being exerted on the country.

The exhibition opens March 7, 2026 in Minneapolis.

bringmethenews.com/tag/minneapo...

07.03.2026 04:14 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Exiled Belarus Free Theatre Brings Exhibition on Authoritarianism to the Venice Biennale | Artnet News Belarus Free Theatre will present a Venice Biennale exhibition highlighting artists working under censorship and political repression.

Cult-favorite art collective #Belarus Free #Theatre will stage a landmark exhibition about the effects of authoritarianism on artistic expression at this year’s 61st Venice #Biennale.

Let's go.

news.artnet.com/art-world/ex...

07.03.2026 02:29 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator
A Day in the Life of an Ensh*ttificator YouTube video by ForbrukerrΓ₯det - Norwegian Consumer Council

This is pretty funny ... and accurate. #makeitshitty.

youtu.be/T4Upf_B9RLQ?...

06.03.2026 15:07 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Anthropic’s Claude overtakes ChatGPT in App Store as users boycott over OpenAI’s $200 million Pentagon contract | Fortune Protest campaigns across Reddit and X may have helped drive users away from OpenAI.

fortune.com/2026/03/02/a...

06.03.2026 13:56 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Quit ChatGPT now, your subscription is bankrolling authoritarianism As a historian, I’ve studied the major consumer boycotts of history. We can take down ChatGPT and send a powerful signal to Silicon Valley

It took a newspaper from another country to get my attention on this and clearly define why we should delete ChatGPT.

The AI platform has been useful for me but its owners are bankrolling MAGA and it plays a significant role as a technology weapon for authoritarianism.

Buh-bye, fascists.

06.03.2026 13:21 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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When you put on a song that opens something in you, when you let it do what it is trying to do, when you rise up and move to it or weep to it or laugh out loud at how perfectly it says the thing you could not say.

open.substack.com/pub/randallw...

06.03.2026 01:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Joy Is a Political Act Every song is a small rebellion.

A person with a voice or an instrument and a feeling can reach through time, find you in your car or in your cups or in your Thursday afternoon, and take hold of you long enough to lift you up.

open.substack.com/pub/randallw...

05.03.2026 21:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

He's getting back at all those kids of color who intimidated him as a kid, isn't he?

05.03.2026 15:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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"In a time of destruction, create something." β€” Maxine Hong Kingston

Thank you for this quote of the day, @janisian.bsky.social

05.03.2026 15:25 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Inside the 2026 Whitney Biennial: Politics, Memory, Unexpected Emotion The 2026 Whitney Biennial opens this weekend at New York's Whitney Museum of American Art, featuring 56 artists, duos, and collectives.

"Under the second administration of President Donald Trump, there has been a growing fear that museums are self-censoring...The Whitney Biennial, at least, is not obeying in advance."

The arts have power.

β€œWhitney Biennial 2026,” Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Mar 8–Aug 23, 2026.

05.03.2026 12:24 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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'What is hate speech?': Political Wagga artist explains latest controversial storefront artwork | Region Riverina Political artist and Advision owner Michael Agzarian has explained the meaning behind his most recent artworks and why he continues…

"'It’s a parody of the Creation of Adam,' he said. 'I’ve got a lot of white world leaders who are destroying this planet, and they are put in place of God.'"

And this provocative work has them riled up in New South Wales.

regionriverina.com.au/what-is-hate...

05.03.2026 01:21 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Visual Art Commentary: Silence Is Complicity - Why Museums Must Use Their Voice to Defend Democracy - The Arts Fuse At a moment when arts and culture, public education, historical memory, and American democracy itself are under coordinated attack, silence is not a neutral posture. It is a decision with consequences...

"At a moment when arts and culture, public education, historical memory, and American democracy itself are under coordinated attack, silence is not a neutral posture. It is a decision with consequences."

artsfuse.org/324474/visua...

04.03.2026 23:54 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Montclair Author Explores Authoritarian Future in New Novel Explore Michael Laser's novel 'Futura' that imagines a dystopian America under authoritarian rule with compelling characters.

"After the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Donald Trump supporters sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, Montclair writer Michael Laser began work on a novel imagining a dystopian United States ruled by authoritarianism.

04.03.2026 23:40 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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This new Seattle play is discomforting β€” in a good way Thalia’s Umbrella discomforts audiences (in a good way) with this play about making theater in an authoritarian state.

"Holcroft’s story, about theater artists working in a country where art is censored by the government, feels not like a static Gordian knot but something slippery and alive."
www.seattletimes.com/entertainmen...

04.03.2026 23:32 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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U.S. Opens Military Action in Ecuador Against β€˜Terrorist Organizations’

"America first" my ass.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u...

04.03.2026 03:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Democracy and the Transformation of Public Space | Countercurrents Democracy does not exist only in constitutions, ballots, and courtrooms. It lives in streets, parks, campuses, marketplaces, newspapers, and now in digital platforms. Public space is where citizenship...

"Public space is where citizenship becomes visible, where disagreement acquires form, and where power encounters scrutiny.

"The transformation of public space over the past century has therefore reshaped not only how democracies function, but how they are experienced by ordinary people."

04.03.2026 02:08 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Spray-Painting Politics: From Bed-Stuy to La Boca - Brown Political Review In this photo collection, Leyad Zavriyev explores street art and graffiti from neighborhoods across the world – from Buenos Aires and San Juan, to Marrakech and Brooklyn. These walls tell stories of s...

"In this photo collection, Leyad Zavriyev explores street art and graffiti from neighborhoods across the world – from Buenos Aires and San Juan, to Marrakech and Brooklyn."

brownpoliticalreview.org/spray-painti...

04.03.2026 00:08 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Read all of "This Is a Banana," follow, or subscribe (it's free) to my Substack at randallwhite.substack.com I write about how creativity shapes democracy and public life.

For insights about misinformation currently being spread by US military leaders in Iran, see: www.militaryreligiousfreedom.org

03.03.2026 17:33 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Arkansas, North Carolina and my own state of #Texas have political primary #elections today. Let's vote our way out of this trainwreck.

03.03.2026 14:27 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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03.03.2026 03:55 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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REPLY REQUESTED. Please name one song or musical composition -- in any genre -- that brings you joy. I'm writing a piece for randallwhite.substack.com about the power of music to lift us up ... especially when it feels like the world wants to drag us down. THANK YOU!

02.03.2026 21:02 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I can't with these boys...

02.03.2026 20:43 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

He has a girlfriend?

02.03.2026 20:42 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Artists of all disciplines, I hope you will read my latest Substack. β€œThis Is a Banana: How creative people become essential witnesses when the lie is the point” open.substack.com/pub/randallw...

02.03.2026 17:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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3 U.S. Planes Are Shot Down in β€˜Friendly Fire’ in Kuwait, U.S. Military Says

Hegseth thinks he's playing Counter-Strike 2, doesn't he?

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/w...

02.03.2026 13:20 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0