President of the National Civic Art Society, a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. that promotes the classical and humanistic tradition in public art and architecture. Eleventh Chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency comprising seven presidential appointees who are the aesthetic guardians of Washington.
On May 16, 2025, European broadcaster ARTE interviewed me for a Reportage segment on “Washington vs. MAGA.” The discussion centered on the architecture of the nation’s capital and the civic ideals it expresses. I drew a sharp contrast between the city’s classical … Continue reading
On May 29, 2025, I appeared on the Who Versus podcast for a fun and freewheeling discussion about architecture, power, and the values embedded in our public buildings. What began as a discussion of Brutalism and the movie The Brutalist … Continue reading
On February 24, 2025, I appeared on Greg Kelly Reports on Newsmax TV to discuss Brutalism, the much-loathed mid-century architectural style of many federal government buildings in Washington, D.C., including the headquarters of the FBI, Department of Health and Human … Continue reading
The New York Times gave me some good quotes in a February 22, 2025 article on the politics of Brutalism under Trump: The [Brutalist] buildings’ very association with government is sinister to people in Mr. Trump’s orbit, like Justin Shubow, … Continue reading
On January 31, 2025, I published an article for City Journal, a publication of the Manhattan Institute, titled “Trump Is Right: America’s New Buildings Are Ugly.” To quote: President Donald Trump has made it clear that the aesthetics of government … Continue reading
What should we do with the blight of Brutalist buildings, especially in Washington, D.C.? On January 18, 2025, CBS Saturday Morning aired a segment on the subject, interviewing me. The host conceded that the majority of people dislike the buildings … Continue reading
Bradley Devlin, politics editor of the Daily Signal, interviewed me on the Signal Sitdown podcast. It was a wide-ranging conversation that included President Trump’s desire to beautify federal architecture, the new National Eisenhower Memorial (bad), the new National World War … Continue reading
Joe Grogan, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council in the Trump administration, interviewed me on the DC EKG podcast. I spoke at length about the magnificent new classical National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C. I also … Continue reading
I was glad to sit down with Johnny Burtka, president and CEO of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), for an interview about my work at the National Civic Art Society. I discussed how beauty, art, and architecture shape a flourishing … Continue reading
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Saurabh Sharma, President of American Moment, on his organization’s podcast “Moment of Truth.” We discussed President Trump and the politics of architecture, sustainability, historic preservation, the new National World War I Memorial, … Continue reading