Dr. Erin Thompson is a professor of art crime at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and is a leading expert in the legal, political, and social issues involved in such battles. As America’s only professor of art crime, Dr. Thompson studies the black market for looted antiquities, art forgery, museum theft, and the ethics of digital reproductions of US cultural heritage.

Dr. Thompson’s new book Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America’s Public Monuments and her upcoming presentation at Smithsonian Associates are the subjects of our conversation today. More details are found on our website and at Smithsonian Associates with links in our show notes.

A timely and fractious national debate over public monuments has erupted in America. Some people risk imprisonment to tear down long-ignored hunks of marble; others form armed patrols to defend them. Why do we care so much about statues? And who gets to decide which ones should stay up and which should come down? America holds thousands of historical monuments…

That of course is our guest today, author Erin L. Thompson as she traces the turbulent history of American monuments and its ironies—starting with the enslaved Black man who helped make the statue of Freedom that still sits atop the U.S. Capitol—and explores the surprising motivations behind such contemporary flashpoints as the toppling of a statue of Columbus at the Minnesota State Capitol in 2020.

Please join me in welcoming to The Not Old Better Show Smithsonian Associate’s interview series on radio and podcast, author, professor of art crime, and Smithsonian Associate Dr. Erin Thompson.

My thanks to Dr. Erin Thompson. Dr. Thompson will be appearing at the Smithsonian Associates via Zoom and you can find more details on our website, NotOld-Better.com and Smithsonian Associates website in our show notes today. My thanks always to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show, and my thanks to you, my wonderful Not Old Better Show audience. Please be well, stay safe, be gentle and kind to one another and remember, let’s talk about better. The Not Old Better Show on radio and podcast. Thanks, everybody.