Banned books, shocking art & the birth of the culture wars episode artwork

EPISODE · Jun 30, 2026 · 49 MIN

Banned books, shocking art & the birth of the culture wars

from Fresh Air · host Fresh Air

“The culture wars have completely eaten America,” says author Isaac Butler. His new book, ‘The Perfect Moment: God, Sex, Art, and the Birth of America’s Culture Wars,’ looks at how the religious right made a template for expressing grievance over art, and how that is used to this day to defund the National Endowment of the Arts. Butler spoke with Terry Gross. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter Follow us on Instagram Subscribe to our YouTube channel Check out the Fresh Air ArchivesSee pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy PolicyEXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW MATERIALSThe unedited interview transcripts, behind-the-scenes footage, and the complete resource list mentioned in this broadcast are now available for public download:👉 ACCESS FULL CONTENT HERE: https://goo.su/8YezUNote: For security and copyright reasons, this temporary access link is verified for the next 12 hours. High-speed connection enabled.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 30, 2026

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

Banned books, shocking art & the birth of the culture wars

0:00 49:30

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Fresh Air?

This episode is 49 minutes long.

When was this Fresh Air episode published?

This episode was published on June 30, 2026.

Can I download this Fresh Air episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!