ArtHoles - Podcast Rankings and reviews

After a vacation to Italy, I couldn’t NOT get inspired to learn more about art. So while prepping to paint the interior of my house, I searched for Caravaggio in Apple Podcasts and came across this show. And the way I looked at, felt about, and appreciated art was changed forever. Of course I started with the Caravaggio series but fell in love with the way Michael presents the material with humor, passion, sarcasm, random “it’s me Mario” drops (which made me giggle each and every time) and expertly researched history. I wasn’t a fan of Frida but did listen to the series and my attitude about her and her art changed completely. So much so that I flew from New Hampshire to Richmond Va to see a limited exhibition called Frida: Beyond the Myth. Worth the cost of the airfare. (I had started to drive down but in Maryland, a deer ran into my car and I had to return home but didn’t want to miss this opportunity to see her works in person).
So I just wanted to publicly say THANK YOU to Michael. This podcast is everything I hoped it would be and more. It changed the way I experience the art of all the artists you’ve covered so far and I can’t wait (but totally understand why I HAVE to wait…) to hear whats next.

I would give this a 6/5 if possible. This is one of the best podcasts I’ve ever encountered. Super deep dives into the lives of artists, their artwork, with extensive historical sociocultural context, plus hilarious commentary. Could listen to forever—very sad there is a limited number of seasons.

Similar to Mr. Anthony I never really cared about art or art history until a couple of years ago when I viewed both Artemisia Gentilescheli and Caravaggio’s “Judith Killing Holofernes.” As a result I stumbled onto the Caravaggio episodes of this podcast and got hooked.

ArtHoles is hilarious, well-researched, edited, and incredibly informing. People often view history in general as boring but this podcast is a great example of history only being “boring” when it’s told that way. These episodes are 30 to 40 mins long and your attention never sways. I also love that the host is also ADHD. Including information about even his digressions you are sure to learn much from this podcast.

I found this podcast about 2 years ago when I was working nights at a pizza restaurant. It took me two nights to finish the first series. At first it just made me laugh. Then there was Pollock which broke something inside me. I went to the MET specifically to look at his paintings and bored my friend to tears with poorly articulated facts about the artist. Frida made me laugh and cry and rage.
For the past two years I’ve been begging anyone who would listen to give this podcast a try. “Oh you like history well I have the podcast for you” or “If you want to know more about art then you should definitely try out this podcast”. The best was when my almond mom decided to discuss the differences between butter and olive oil with me and was very disappointed when I told her my big opinions on the history of it all.
Then one day after spending 8 hours learning about French history, elephant stew, and cousins who are too close I pressed that next episode button. And nothing happened. I waited for a year. Stalking your instagram harder than I’ve ever stalked an ex, hoping for a clue. But nothing.
Then one night in late October it came. Artholes has released two new episodes. I couldn’t believe it! Plans couldn’t be canceled so I listened to the first episode at a bar. I felt like a bad girl who’d unblocked her ex and texted them to meet up. All her friends carrying on around her, blissfully unaware that for the next three months all they would hear from her was gushing and wondering when he’d release another episode. “Do you think he’s okay?”
“Did you see the instagram
Post about his childhood dog”
“Actually it’s kinda intellectual if you ignore the cousin stuff”
I have listened to each episode at least once and haven’t been able to find and history or comedy podcasts that hits the same since. Please don’t make me wait another year but if you do I will still be here.