The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter
The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter

The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter

Rob Lee

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Episodes

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The Truth In This Art with Rob Lee is an arts and culture interview podcast. They share their work, ideas, and what inspires them. Listeners get to hear stories that matter from people who are making waves in arts and culture today.

Recent Episodes

74 - How Does 'Black Arms to Hold You Up' Carry Humor, History, and Resistance at Once? | Ben Passmore
NOV 19, 2025
74 - How Does 'Black Arms to Hold You Up' Carry Humor, History, and Resistance at Once? | Ben Passmore

Ben Passmore closes out this season of The Truth in This Art.


Ben Passmore (DAYGLOAYHOLE, Your Black Friend, Sports Is Hell, BTTM FDRS; contributor to The Nib) joins Rob Lee to discuss his new book, Black Arms to Hold You Up: A History of Black Resistance.

An award-winning cartoonist whose work ranges from the fantastical to the autobiographical, Passmore brings sharp, often humorous social commentary on politics, activism, white supremacy, sports, and the Black American experience.

In this episode, Passmore shares the story behind Black Arms to Hold You Up—why he chose graphic nonfiction, how he approached making it, and the care required when drawing real people and histories. He breaks down craft decisions that make complex ideas legible without flattening them, and how he balances clarity, intention, and voice.


The conversation also digs into audience and context: making art in rooms where you’re often the only Black person, how perception shifts outside community, and what cultural moments reveal about how we frame Black artists. It’s about how comics can carry culture, memory, and critique—connecting personal storytelling to broader histories while inviting readers to keep learning.

Topics Covered:

  • Exploring intent, process, and responsibility in nonfiction comics with Black Arms to Hold You Up
  • Working across fantastical and autobiographical modes with social commentary
  • Navigating audience, context, and perception in art spaces
  • Making complex ideas accessible without losing nuance

Make the conversation count: buy Black Arms to Hold You Up. Passmore’s new graphic nonfiction holds contradiction with care, keeps the humor respectful, and carries history without flattening it.


Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

  • Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
  • Edited by Daniel Alexis
  • Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

  • Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
  • Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

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76 MIN
73 - How Did Precious Rubbish Take Shape? | Kayla E. (award-winning artist, Precious Rubbish, Fantagraphics)
NOV 12, 2025
73 - How Did Precious Rubbish Take Shape? | Kayla E. (award-winning artist, Precious Rubbish, Fantagraphics)

Kayla E. joins The Truth In This Art to discuss Precious Rubbish.

Kayla E. (award-winning artist, Creative Director at Fantagraphics, 2023–2024 Princeton Hotter Fellow) joins Rob Lee to discuss her debut full-length graphic memoir, Precious Rubbish.


An award-winning artist whose practice spans comics and fine art—textiles, sculpture, video performance art, painting, and drawing—Kayla E. brings candid, instinct-driven storytelling about life, family, and making work on her own terms.


In this episode, Kayla E. shares the story behind Precious Rubbish—why she made it for herself with no plan to publish, how every decision was guided by pure instinct, and how the book’s distinctive color palette was lifted from vintage “Komic Kards.”

The conversation also digs into audience and context: setting aside what’s proper, traditional, or would sell; focusing on truth over convention; and connecting the memoir to a broader art practice across mediums. It’s about how comics and fine art can hold difficult life stories while inviting readers to look closer.

Topics Covered:

  • Making a memoir with no intent to publish—letting instinct lead form and content
  • Lifting the color palette of Precious Rubbish from vintage comic cards
  • Collecting ephemera and old stuff as an aesthetic engine
  • Balancing honesty and care when depicting a terrifying family history
  • From comics to fine art: textile, sculpture, video performance art, painting, drawing

Make the conversation count: read Precious Rubbish—grab it from your library, Amazon, or thriftbooks.com. Kayla E.'s graphic memoir stays true to lived experience, trusts instinct, and turns memory into art without sanding off its edges.


Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

  • Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
  • Edited by Daniel Alexis
  • Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

  • Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
  • Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

Support the podcast

★ Support this podcast ★
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77 MIN
72 - What's New With the Maryland Film Festival for 2025 | KJ Mohr
NOV 5, 2025
72 - What's New With the Maryland Film Festival for 2025 | KJ Mohr

Professional film curator and educator KJ Mohr returns to The Truth In This Art to talk about the Maryland Film Festival (MdFF) and Baltimore’s indie film scene at the SNF Parkway!

In the conversation we explore the 2025 Maryland Film Festival (MdFF)—what’s new, including the amazing new website and Festival Journeys—what still matters, and how a festival can truly feel like home. As director of the Festival and year-round programming, KJ shares how listening to instinct and inviting many voices into the process shape a lineup that feels authentically Baltimore and true to independent film. A large, local screening committee helps build the program from the ground up, and the Parkway’s communal vibe keeps people talking long after the credits roll. From indie film discoveries to community-centered conversations, MdFF 2025 champions Baltimore’s film scene at the SNF Parkway.

Festival Journeys: Four clear entry points—MdFF Pride (like I Was Born This Way), Black Voices (like Sun Ra: Do the Impossible and Kouté vwa), She/They (like Bay to Baltimore featuring ultramarathon open‑water swimmer and painter—and Truth in This Art alum—Katie Pumphrey), and WTF (like Fuck Toys)—to help audiences navigate with ease.

CineTech: Free-with-registration demos and conversations highlighting gaming and interactive, choose‑your‑own‑adventure storytelling, expanding how audiences experience moving images and connect across creative communities.


Student Films: Expanded to five days to make more room for student work, with student and local films threaded through most programs—spotlighting the next wave of filmmakers.

Mission and SNF Parkway’s future: A welcoming home base where films, filmmakers, and audiences connect—an inclusive, community‑rooted space that reflects Baltimore while linking to the wider film world.


Join us at the SNF Parkway for a robust week of programming—screenings, shorts, conversations, and in‑the‑room moments—and, most of all, a chance to be in community with Baltimore’s arts, film, and culture, and the independent film community that calls the SNF Parkway home. Explore the new website, pick a Journey, and come be part of it.


Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

  • Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
  • Edited by Daniel Alexis
  • Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

  • Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
  • Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

Support the podcast

★ Support this podcast ★
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48 MIN
FEED DROP - TALES FROM THE HOOD (1995) A Film Retrospective with Lea Anderson
OCT 31, 2025
FEED DROP - TALES FROM THE HOOD (1995) A Film Retrospective with Lea Anderson

Chill or Be Chilled. Let's Watch It Again is back!

Rob Lee is joined by Lea Anderson to discuss the 1995 cult classic Tales from the Hood!

Tales from the Hood (1995) is a Black horror anthology directed by Rusty Cundieff, framed by a late-night visit to a funeral home where a mortician guides three men through four supernatural morality tales addressing police brutality, domestic abuse, racism, and gang violence.


In this retrospective, host Rob Lee and horror scholar Lea Anderson (Truth in This Art alum; FANGORIA columnist, SHUDDER contributor) examine the film’s construction, cultural context, and legacy in Black horror.

Topics include:

  • The anthology’s frame narrative and how it threads the segments together
  • Segment-by-segment themes and social commentary
  • Key performances, including Clarence Williams III and David Alan Grier
  • Practical effects, puppetry, and memorable set pieces
  • Production and release context: 1995 box office, competition (Casper, Braveheart, Johnny Mnemonic), and reception
  • The film’s enduring relevance and place in the horror canon

Check out the episode on the Let's Watch It Again Feed


Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

  • Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
  • Edited by Daniel Alexis
  • Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

  • Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
  • Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

Support the podcast

★ Support this podcast ★
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80 MIN
71 - Make Something Pretty or Make Something Real? | Genesis Rodriguez
OCT 29, 2025
71 - Make Something Pretty or Make Something Real? | Genesis Rodriguez

Genesis Rodriguez joins The Truth in This Art for her first public deep-dive into her work and process.

A Philadelphia-area Latina mixed media artist known for blending bold color with striking realism, Genesis explores themes of femininity, natural beauty, and identity while bringing a thoughtful “emotional IQ” to both her visual art and emerging music practice.

In this episode, Genesis discusses her current “building era” of laying a strong creative foundation, what it means to engage with art beyond surface-level reposting, and how honesty and integrity shape the work. She also reflects on sharing her story for the first time, navigating visibility as an emerging artist, and the value of choosing depth over aesthetics.

This conversation explores the connection between art and community, focusing on authenticity, meaningful engagement, and the discipline it takes to build a sustainable creative practice.

Topics Covered:

  • Genesis’s first public conversation about her work and process
  • Blending bold color and realism to explore femininity, natural beauty, and identity
  • The “building era”: structure, foundation, and sustaining a practice
  • Engaging with art beyond the surface—thinking and sharing with intention
  • Balancing visual art with an emerging music practice and creative growth

Thank you for listening to this conversation with Genesis Rodriguez. Explore more episodes of The Truth in This Art for discussions that spotlight creativity, culture, and the voices shaping our communities.


Host: Rob Lee
Music: Original music by Daniel Alexis Music with additional music from Chipzard and TeTresSeis.
Production:

  • Produced by Rob Lee & Daniel Alexis
  • Edited by Daniel Alexis
  • Show Notes courtesy of Rob Lee and Transistor

Photos:

  • Rob Lee photos by Vicente Martin for The Truth In This Art and Contrarian Aquarian Media.
  • Guest photos courtesy of the guest, unless otherwise noted.

Support the podcast

★ Support this podcast ★
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56 MIN