Pirates, Feminism, and the Future of Care

You’re listening to What Rough Beast!

We are Virginia Heffernan and Stephen Metcalf, and today we’re talking with Nika Dubrovsky, artist, author and founder of the Museum of Care with her late husband, the anthropologist David Graeber. We discuss:

⭐️ The collapse of empires: Nika draws fascinating parallels between the fall of the Soviet Union and current trends in American society, suggesting we may be witnessing the collapse of the American empire similar to how the Soviet system unexpectedly disappeared "from one day to another."

⭐️ The Museum of Care: An innovative project Nika conceived with her late husband David Graeber during COVID, reimagining museum spaces as networks of care rather than consumption, with a physical location now developing in St. Vincent using an abandoned ship.

⭐️ Decolonizing the Enlightenment: Exploring how Enlightenment ideas weren't solely Western European inventions but developed through conversations with indigenous populations and in places like Madagascar, challenging traditional historical narratives.

⭐️ Feminist economic theory: Nika shares David Graeber's perspective that "the best thing that happened in the 20th century is feminism," explaining how their work recognizes the undervalued care work primarily performed by women in cultural institutions.

⭐️ Finding community amid collapse: Even as empires fall, we can create meaningful communities based on "solidarity and mutual aid" rather than utopian ideals.

To hear our discussion, you’ll need to be a paid Magic + Loss subscriber. So if you’re not a subscriber, please sign up now! Subscriptions are $6 per month or $60 for the year. (Can’t afford a subscription? Send us an email and we’ll give you a freebie, no questions asked.)

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiaheffernan.substack.com/subscribe