The Art of Resistance

Eating Fire: The Lesbian Avengers and fierce pussy, 1991+

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0500

How did a group of women change the narrative for LGBTQ representation and equality in the early 90s? How did street performance and circus acts turn the invisible visible? And what can we learn from the Lesbian Avengers and fierce pussy about making art as resistance?

This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Lee Lillard.

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

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Mentioned in the episode:

Watch the Lesbian Avengers eating fire
Download fierce pussy posters and art
Get full episode transcript and sources at RebelYellCreative.com.

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We're taking a break!

Now’s a perfect time to catch up on old episodes. We’re taking a mid season break, and will back in a few weeks. During the break – head over to RebelYellCreative.com for a free resistance library. You’ll find free guides and how-tos on making art as resistance, recommended reading, and much more. And, you’ll find analog art kits, including guided journals you can use to find your path to making art as resistance.

“Look at it”: Dorothea Lange's photography and the Japanese Internment, 1930s-40s

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0500

How did one woman take pictures so powerful that they were both celebrated and banned? How did a worker with unprecedented access create a living visual library that showed our country’s desperate injustice? And what can we learn from Dorothea Lange and her photos of migrants in the 1930s, and incarcerated Japanese-Americans in the 1940s, about making art as resistance?

This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Lee Lillard. Get full episode transcript and sources at RebelYellCreative.com.

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

We know art is resistance. So…how can you make it? I’ve put together a list of 40 ways to make art as resistance. And you can download it for free when you sign up at rebelyellcreative.com. You’ll get a newsletter with more from this show, ideas and insights, and even opportunities to connect with others. Sign up at rebelyellcreative.com to get your free guide. And let’s make art as resistance.

Sewing the truth: Arpilleras in Pinochet's Chile, 1973-1989

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -0500

How did handsewn crafts help desperate women fight back against a dictatorship? How did communal creative groups empower one another? And what can we learn from the arpilleras from Chile about how to make art as resistance, today and tomorrow?

This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Lee Lillard.

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

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Get full episode transcript and sources at RebelYellCreative.com.

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Check out Art Against Empire

This episode is presented by another podcast I think you’ll love. Art Against Empire dives into the radical history of craft. Host Ian Danger Capstick, a delightful person with an even better name, talks to artists, craftspeople, and activists who use making as a form of resistance. From textile workers' strikes to guerrilla street art, from Indigenous craft sovereignty to anti-capitalist maker spaces—the show explores how human creativity has always been a tool for liberation. Listen to Art Against Empire wherever you get your podcasts.

Working 9 to 5: A Movie and a Movement, 1980

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

How did a small group of women activists influence Hollywood? How did a comedy smash tap into hidden truths about the workplace? And what can we learn from the movie 9 to 5, and its partnership with a labor movement of working women, about the power of art as resistance?

This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Lee Lillard.

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

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Get full episode transcript and sources at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Singing the Terrible Truth: Billie Holiday and "Strange Fruit," 1939

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0500

How has one song stunned for nearly a century? How was it so powerful that the federal government targeted the singer for decades? And what can we learn from the story of “Strange Fruit” and Billie Holiday about how art is resistance?

This is The Art of Resistance, a podcast about using writing, music, and all kinds of art to resist the status quo. The show is made by Rebel Yell Creative and Amy Lee Lillard.

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

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Watch the performance of "Strange Fruit" from 1956, mentioned in this episode.

Get full episode transcript and sources at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Introducing...Performing the Revolution

Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Performing the Revolution comes from the team at Radical Evolution. Check out the first episode here, then listen to the full four-episode series in your favorite podcast player.

In this episode: Meet Jana Natya Manch aka Janam, one of India's storied street theatre companies. We follow their journey from one of their most crucial, catalyzing and tragic moments in the 1980's, all the way through to the work they make today.

Learn more about the show!

And big thanks to Remoy Phillip and Meropi Peponides for reaching out, and for creating this wonderful show!

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To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

“Sacklers Lie, Thousands Die”: The art of Nan Goldin and P.A.I.N.

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

This is a special bonus episode of The Art of Resistance, focusing on modern artists creating writing, music, and more to resist the status quo.

What can we learn from the story of Nan Goldin and Prescription Addiction Intervention Now, or P.A.I.N., about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Hexing the Patriarchy: The art of W.I.T.C.H., 1968+

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How did ancient and primal fears provide the perfect imagery for women’s rights? How did radical feminists use theater and artistic play to channel their anger and make an impact? And what can we learn from the Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell, or W.I.T.C.H., about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Indigenous truths: The art of Zitkála-Šá, 1900-1936

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How did writing empower a community? How did truth-telling defy the powers that be, and embolden generations to come? And what can we learn from Zitkála-Šá about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Un Encuentro Para Libertad: Chicana Artivistas making art with the Zapatistas, 1997

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How did a creative workshop across borders and across languages further a revolution? How did music, one-act plays, poems, murals and more connect humans more thoroughly than anything else? And what can we learn from the Chicana art scene in East LA in the 90s and their alliance with the indigenous Zapatistas in Mexico about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Writers underground: Soviet Samizdat, 1967-1982

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How did writing threaten the Russian status quo? How did hand-typed publications of facts, passed hand to hand, make a massive dent in the USSR regime? And what can we learn from Samizdat about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Black pride and revolt: Emory Douglas and the art of the Black Panthers, 1967-1979

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How did illustrations embolden a community? How did caricatures, portraits, and parody empower a movement and terrify the FBI? And what can we learn from the art of Emory Douglas and the Black Panther newspaper about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Queer surrealists vs. Nazis: The art of Cahun & Moore, 1940-1944

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How did small, anonymous art and writing make a dent in the Nazi machine? How did playing on our assumptions about what older women do help them resist for years? And what can we learn from Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Punk feminists and teen girls: The art of Riot Grrrl, 1990-1996

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How did making music serve as resistance to the status quo? How did attending shows, making zines, and even just talking help girls across the U.S. fight hopelessness? And what can we learn from Riot Grrrl about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Making art in a plague: Gran Fury and ACT UP, 1987-1992

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 -0500

How did a handful of artists kick start and script a seismic shift in AIDS awareness and policy? How did their creative skills drive a movement? And what can we learn from the story of Gran Fury about how to make art as resistance today and tomorrow?

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.

Mentioned in this episode:

Get the free guide: 40 Ways to Make Art as Resistance

Coming September 1: The Art of Resistance

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0500

To make art that matters, every creative person needs support. Find yours at RebelYellCreative.com.