Decoder Ring | We Are Monumentally Bad at Statues

2026-07-01 · 49 min · 14 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ hosted by Slate Audio person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Slate Audio
→ discusses Society & Culture concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
→ discusses News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: News
→ discusses History website

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
→ discusses Documentary concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Documentary
→ discusses Politics concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Politics
→ hosted by Slate Podcasts company

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Slate Podcasts

Entities found in this episode

concepts 8

mentioned Society & Culture concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
mentioned Documentary concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Documentary
mentioned Politics concept

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Politics
mentioned We Are Monumentally Bad at Statues concept

0.42

evidence rules-v5
Decoder Ring | We Are Monumentally Bad at Statues
discusses Society & Culture concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Society & Culture
discusses News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: News
discusses Documentary concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Documentary
discusses Politics concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Politics

companys 2

mentioned Slate Podcasts company

0.70

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Slate Podcasts
hosted by Slate Podcasts company

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Slate Podcasts

persons 2

mentioned Slate Audio person

0.70

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Slate Audio
hosted by Slate Audio person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Slate Audio

websites 2

mentioned History website

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History
discusses History website

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: History

Episode description as stored

It seems like the only time you hear about new statues these days is when something goes horribly wrong. Unfortunate bronze renditions of Lucille Ball, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dwayne Wade, and many others are always going viral, becoming a fixture of late-night shows and mocking comment sections. Is the internet too harsh a critic? Or is American statuary a total bust? In this episode of Decoder Ring, host Willa Paskin talks to artist Atalanta Arden-Miller about what’s happened to one of the oldest artistic traditions in the world—why so many contemporary statues turn out off-center, off-kilter, and off-putting. The answer takes us from ancient Greece to Nazi Germany to North Korea. This episode was written by Willa Paskin. It was produced by Max Freedman. It was edited by Josh Levin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder. Special thanks to the Works in Progress Podcast , where we first heard Atalanta talk about the dismal state of statuary today. If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281. Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify . Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen. Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.