Ep. 1: Monuments: The Art of Un-Monumenting and Cancellation

In this episode of El Speakeasy, the hosts dig into Monuments: The Art of Un-Monumenting and Cancellation, using the MOCA / The Brick exhibition as a starting point for a wide-ranging conversation about statues, power, and how societies confront racist histories.

With differing reactions, the three amigos debate the show before moving into broader questions about Confederate monument removal, cancellation, and consequence — including a personal story that complicates easy narratives about accountability. Through candid debate and lived experience, the episode examines what it means to take something down, how to reckon with the past, and who is affected in the process.

Monuments runs until May 3rd 2026 in Los Angeles at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA/The Brick.

At the end of this episode, Bill, Francisco, and Juan share their recommendations for the week.

• Bill Kelley Jr. loves Shop Class as Soulcraft dives into why rolling up your sleeves and doing hands-on work is kind of a game-changer in our tech-heavy world. It covers the changing nature, and consequences, of our public education's shift from manual labor to cognitive labor.
• Francisco Ortega swears by Yoga Beyond Belief by Ganga White who has been a teacher and practitioner of Yoga for over 50 years. This book has a foreword by the musician Sting and gives a detailed view of the origins of yoga and a roadmap to the current practice of Hatha Yoga.
• Juan Devis was moved by the works of the 2025 Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Hungarian writer, Lazlo Krasznahorkai for his visionary oeuvre, and his novel The Last Wolf & Herman which details the account of a weary writer drawn into the tale of the final wolf hunted in the desolate Spanish region of Extremadura.