About us
Do you love listening to podcasts and want to discuss interesting topics with others? Want to discover interesting new shows and delve into interesting topics? Join us for podcast club--like a book club but for podcasts!
We are a community of engaged podcast listeners: we bring people together for thoughtful discussion around a theme. Every month we explore a theme by way of 2-5 hours of podcast listening selections. It’s truly like book club, but for podcasts: members listen to the episode selections on their own time and then meet in person to discuss.
We typically follow the Podcast Brunch Club listening lists covering a different topic each month. Listening lists are composed of episode selections related to the month's theme and are pulled from a variety of shows. And we love to include some recommendations too!
Finishing the recommended listening list is not a requirement to attend. We have an unstructured, informal discussion of the selections and the month's theme.
You can also get monthly playlists delivered directly to your inbox by signing up here: https://podcastbrunchclub.com/sf-eastbay/
Upcoming events
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May Podcast Club Discussion: Art Crimes
Sante Adairius Oakland, 460 8th Street, Oakland, CA, USIn May, we're talking about Art Crimes: From graffiti and forged paintings to looted antiquities, stolen comics, and NFT scams, this playlist looks at the many ways visual art can become entangled with money, status, and crime. Looking forward to discussing this topic with you all!
How It Works:
- We often follow the Podcast Brunch Club listening lists covering a different topic each month. Members can also make suggestions for future topics. Be sure to check the monthly Meetup event to see what we're listening to!
- Listening lists are composed of episode selections related to the month's theme and are pulled from a variety of shows. And we love to include some recommendations too!
- Finishing the recommended listening list is not a requirement to attend. Listen to as many or few of the suggested episodes as you would like.
- We will have an unstructured, informal discussion of the selections and the month's theme.
This Month's Topic:
These episodes travel through street art, galleries, museums, private collections, and digital marketplaces, revealing how value gets assigned, who gets protected, and who gets exploited when images and objects become powerful commodities.Here's a link to the Spotify playlist:
https://bit.ly/spotify-artcrimesThe Playlist - Suggested Episodes:
- The Economics of Everyday Things: “26. Grafitti” (November 2023, 14 min)
A brisk look at graffiti’s origins, evolution, and economics, asking how one person’s vandalism becomes another’s public art. - Reveal: “Fancy Galleries, Fake Art” (December 2025, 58 min)
This episode investigates a massive art forgery scandal involving fake paintings sold through high-end New York galleries as works by major artists. It also follows the trail of a Nazi-looted painting, showing how questions of provenance, ownership, and accountability continue to haunt the art world. - Dynamite Doug: “Episode 1: Greatest Art Heist” (February 2023, 27 min)
This episode traces Douglas Latchford’s rise in the world of Cambodian antiquities as stolen cultural heritage made its way into elite Western collections. It shows how looting can be recast as prestige collecting when museums, dealers, and wealthy buyers help legitimize the trade. - Stealing Superman: “Episode 01 – Beads of Sweat” (November 2022, 48 min)
When a rare and enormously valuable comic disappears from Nicolas Cage’s collection, the theft kicks off a strange and compelling mystery. The episode expands the idea of art crime beyond galleries and museums, into the world of collectibles, fandom, and celebrity. - The Art of Crime: “The Adventure of the Libelous Painter (Crimes of New York)” (November 2024, 44 min)
This historical episode follows a feud between a painter and his patron that escalates when the artist creates and auctions off an insulting portrait. What follows is a fascinating case in which visual art becomes the basis for criminal libel.
Bonus Episodes:
- WSJ Tech News Briefing: “NFT Art Presents New Frontier for Fraudsters” (August 2021, 14 min)
A short look at how NFT art opened up new opportunities for scams and fraud, proving that even in digital spaces, the old art-world problems still apply. - Freakonomics Radio: “The Case of the $4 Million Dollar Gold Coffin” (May 2023, 53 min)
A sharp, investigative look at how a looted Egyptian antiquity ended up at the Met, using repatriation, celebrity, and museum power to expose how stolen cultural heritage gets legitimized. - Empty Frames: “New // Louvre Heist” (November 2025, 32 min)
This episode breaks down a recent Louvre jewel heist with enough detail to feel grounded, while the hosts’ conversational style keeps the story moving. - Hashtag History: “EP44: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Theft” (September 2020, 43 min)
Despite its tangents, this episode gives the most detailed and accessible overview on the list of the infamous Gardner Museum theft, still the largest unsolved art heist in history. - Art Crime Podcast: “The Georgia O’Keeffe 10th Episode Spectacular!” (March 2021, 47 min)
Less focused on the theft itself than the others, this episode is most interesting for the way it connects Georgia O’Keeffe’s stolen work to larger questions about gender, visibility, and which art crimes get remembered. - Wine & Crime Podcast: “Ep80 Art Theft” (August 2018, 1 hr 39 min)
This loose, funny, and very long episode closes out the bonus list with a broader, boozier tour through cultural property theft and the strange stories that surround it.
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Past events
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