About the Show
About the Show
Art Against Empire is a documentary podcast about artists who use creative practices as resistance. Each episode combines interviews, archival audio, and original research to tell stories about the places where making things and fighting power overlap.
The show covers textile workers' strikes and guerrilla street art, Indigenous craft sovereignty and anti-capitalist maker spaces, climate embroidery and quilts that process collective grief. Season 1 launched in January 2026 with new episodes every two weeks.
The Host
Ian Capstick is a textile artist working in quilting, weaving, and banner making in Montréal. Before turning to textiles, he spent twenty years in Canadian politics and media — as a political analyst on CBC's Power & Politics, as founder of digital communications firm MediaStyle, and as Chief Impact & Communications Officer at Animikii Indigenous Technology. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania's Centre for Social Impact Strategy.
His textile work includes the Colours of Pride series of wearable quilts and a collection of quilted protest banners. He hosts the LGBTQIA+ room at Zak Foster's Quilty Nook.
iancapstick.net · @iancapstickquilts
Listen
Art Against Empire is available wherever you get podcasts:
Newsletter
Extended interviews, maker profiles, event listings, readings, and early access to upcoming episodes. Subscribe at our Beehiiv newsletter.
Support
Art Against Empire is independently produced. If you'd like to support the show, visit Ko-fi.
Press & Contact
For press inquiries, guest suggestions, or collaboration proposals: ian@secretagents.ca
Art Against Empire has been featured in Convergence Magazine.