How a 1989 art scandal helped ignite America’s culture wars
This preview, based on the episode notes, points to a conversation about the NEA, Andres Serrano’s controversial photograph and the Christian right’s response. Isaac Butler joins Gilbert Cruz to connect those flashpoints to the broader culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s.
This episode appears to be a show-notes-based deep dive into a defining clash over art, religion and public money. The setup begins in April 1989, when Rev. Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association received a newspaper clipping about an art exhibit partly funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. The exhibit included Andres Serrano’s photograph of a crucifix submerged in urine, and Wildmon’s reaction — mailing the image to every member of Congress — is presented as a spark for a much larger political and cultural fight. According to the notes, host Gilbert Cruz speaks with author and cultural historian Isaac Butler about his book, *The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art and the Birth of America’s Culture Wars*. If you’re interested in how disputes over contemporary art became proxy battles over morality, censorship and federal funding, this sounds like a strong fit. The episode also seems poised to explore not just the public controversy, but what those conflicts meant for the artists caught inside them. The notes suggest Butler frames these 1980s and 1990s battles as newly relevant, saying he began the book when it felt like those culture wars were repeating. That makes this episode likely appealing for listeners who want historical context for current debates, especially through the lens of books, art and criticism rather than campaign politics alone. Also mentioned are several related books and even Shakespeare’s *Measure for Measure*, hinting at a wide-ranging literary and cultural conversation rather than a narrow case study.
About this episode
<p>In April 1989, a newspaper clipping about an art exhibit landed in the mailbox of the Rev. Donald Wildmon, the founder of a conservative evangelical group, the American Family Association.</p> <p>Partly funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the exhibit included a now-infamous photograph by Andres Serrano that showed a crucifix submerged in Serrano’s own urine. Incensed, Wildmon sent a copy of the photo to every member of Congress, setting off a battle led by the Christian right over what contemporary art could be and who should receive federal funding for it.</p> <p>Isaac Butler, an author and cultural historian, walks through this and other pivotal moments in the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s in his new book, “The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art and the Birth of America’s Culture Wars.”</p> <p>Butler spoke to the Book Review’s editor, Gilbert Cruz, about how these fights unfolded and what they meant for the artists themselves. He sat down to write the book, he said, when “it really felt like the culture wars of the ’80s and ’90s that I grew up in were repeating again.”</p> <p><strong>Books and plays discussed on this episode:</strong></p> <p>“The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art and the Birth of America’s Culture Wars,” by Isaac Butler</p> <p>“Measure for Measure,” by William Shakespeare</p> <p>“Transgressions: The Offences of Art,” by Anthony Julius</p> <p>“It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic,” by Jack Lowery</p> <p>“The Devil Finds Work,” by James Baldwin</p> <p>“Fire in the Belly: The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz,” by Cynthia Carr</p> <p>“Elia Kazan: A Life,” by Elia Kazan</p> <p>“Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War and the Fight to End Slavery,” by Richard Kreitner</p> <p>“The Kindness of Strangers,” by Salka Viertel</p> <p>“The Talmud: A Biography,” by Barry Scott Wimpfheimer</p> <p>“My Last Sigh,” by Luis Buñuel</p> <p>Listen to and Follow ‘The Book Review’</p> <p>Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube | iHeartRadio</p> <p>Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts, and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.</p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>