Urgent Matter

Urgent Matter: Cold Take

Arts EN ↓ 7 episodes

Urgent Matter: Cold Take is a weekly breakdown of the biggest art-world headlines—minus the artspeak. Journalist Adam Schrader, founder of Urgent Matter, reports from the front seat of his car to Colton Crews, a Texas-based outside observer with zero ties to the art world. Recorded over Zoom and minimally edited, each episode digs into the law, crime, labor, and general absurdities of the industry. For the document-driven reporting behind the talk, visit www.urgentmatter.press.

Author

Urgent Matter

Episodes

Cold Take Ep. 7: A Jailed Artist, a Nude Portrait, and a Guide to Art Theft 28.06.2026 55:28

Happy Father's Day. Colton surprises Adam with a relic from a past life — the faded Brainbat skull shirt from back when Adam went by "Brainbat" and made art instead of reporting on it. They open in China, where a court delays the verdict for jailed artist Gao Zhen by three more months. Adam breaks down how the 70-year-old, a U.S. permanent resident, was detained on a visit home and c...

Cold Take Ep. 6: The World's Worst Photographer, the Obamas' Double Portrait and a Vinyl Archive 22.06.2026 33:03

Urgent Matter founder and editor Adam Schrader and longtime friend Colton Crews — a Texas-based everyman and musician with the bands Burning Slow and American Sycamore — return for a loose, lightly edited run through the week's art news, trading artspeak for direct, skeptical takes. The episode opens with Icelandair's "Really Bad Photographer" contest, an open call built on the p...

Cold Take Ep. 5: The MILF Magnet, the Whale Mural and MoMA’s Mystery List 11.06.2026 36:09

Adam Schrader and Colton Crews run through a strange week in art-world news, starting with the Vagina Museum’s repeatedly stolen MILF magnet and what museums can do when visitors turn an exhibit into an accidental gift-shop opportunity. They then discuss artist Wyland’s lawsuit over the destruction of his longtime Dallas whale mural, weighing public art, property rights and FIFA’s role in the Worl...

Cold Take Ep. 4: Art Crime, War Photography and A.I. Ansel Adams 03.06.2026 33:46

Adam Schrader and Colton Crews return for another loose, mildly prepared episode of Cold Take, the Urgent Matter podcast about art-world news, lawsuits, crime, culture and whatever else. This week, Adam talks through Urgent Matter’s recent FOIA work, an NPR interview tied to his reporting on a censored UNT show, Giles Duley’s thoughts on war photography, and an artist in Gaza making work amid deva...

Cold Take Ep. 3: Epstein Files, Space Art and Censorship Fights 16.05.2026 42:57

In the third episode of Cold Take , Urgent Matter founder and editor Adam Schrader is joined again by longtime friend Colton Crews for a loose, skeptical conversation about art, public records, censorship and propaganda. The episode opens with a New York reading room filled with printed copies of the Epstein files — a project Adam and Colton discuss as part archive, part political provocation and...

Cold Take Ep. 2: A Demolition, an Epstein Resignation and a Murder Trial 07.05.2026 52:07

In the second episode of Cold Take, Urgent Matter founder and editor Adam Schrader once again records from the front seat of his car while his kids sleep, joined by longtime friend Colton Crews for a loose, skeptical breakdown of the week’s art news. The episode opens at the Venice Biennale, where geopolitical tensions and cultural backlash continue to collide. After Iran’s withdrawal from this ye...

Cold Take Ep. 1: A Freaky Tourist, a Fake Museum, and Other Headlines 30.04.2026 44:57

In the debut episode of Cold Take, Urgent Matter founder and editor Adam Schrader records from the front seat of his car while his kids are asleep, joined by his longtime friend Colton Crews for a raw, lightly edited breakdown of the week’s art news. Framed as an “everyman” perspective, Texas-based Colton—an outsider to the New York art world—reacts in real time as Adam walks through the headlines...