Blog No. 278: Amy Goodman Documentary Steal This Story, Please!, The Whitney Biennial 2026, The Tailor Bird and Other Nest Weavers

April 19, 2026

Amy Goodman,
Steal This Story, Please!

Amy Goodman, courtesy Democracy Now and Amy Goodman

Click to hear a Q&A with Amy Goodman and the filmmakers at the Hamptons Film Festival.

Tireless, intrepid, gutsy, moral, unrelenting...these are words that come to mind when I think about journalist (and national treasure) Amy Goodman, founder of the independent media company Democracy Now.

Goodman has been in the trenches her whole life, growing up in a political family, always eager to spotlight the underdog and let the voices of the people silenced by corporate media be heard. In honor of her commitment, unbeholden to corporate America, Directors Carl Deal and Tina Lessin have produced a documentary entitled Steal This Story, Please! which is as much a profile of this incredible individual as well as a portrait of the news organization she created: Democracy Now. The filmmakers follow her into war zones, protest marches, world political conferences, and corporate boardrooms, overseas and at home, where she relentlessly calls out the powers that be, bearing witness fearlessly, broadening the spotlight to include real life people whose voices have been too often ignored by mainstream media. "Independent media is the oxygen of a democracy...It is critical that we expose what is done in our name."

Beginning first as a radio show in 1996, Democracy Now soon expanded the radio show into television. It is now one of the leading U.S.-based independent news broadcasts in the world, produced daily as an hour long international news program. Look for it and if you don't find it on radio or TV, ask for it from your local stations. Goodman goes where others don't. Her information and footage is often quoted in other news organizations who no longer have boots on the ground due to profit margins...

Don't miss the documentary--hopefully coming soon to a theatre near you and catch the daily news broadcast to hear news you won't get anywhere else. On the east coast it airs live at 8am...and is available online too.

The Whitney Biennial

I went to the Whitney Biennial today and was surprised that there was so much art that I found interesting this year, which has not been the case in many previous years. It is a show that is always controversial--and you will always find so many varying opinions good and bad. Here is the review in The New Yorker and another from the New York Times. I am going to share with you some artists whose work held my interest:

Kamrooz Aram, Born 1978, Shiraz, Iran. Lives in NYC

Oswaldo Maciá, born Cartagena de Indias, Columbia, lives in Santa Fe, NM and London

Andrea Fraser, born in Billings, Montana, lives in Los Angeles

Taína H. Cruz, born in NYC, lives in New Haven, Connecticut

Emilie Louise Gossiaux, born New Orleans, Louisiana, lives in NYC

Teresa Baker, born 1985 Watford, North Dakota, lives in Livingston, Montana

Kimowan Metchewais, born Saskatchewan, Canada, died Saint Paul, AB, Canada Cree, Cold Lake First Nations

Jasmin Sian, born in 1969, The Philippines, lives in NYC

Pat Oleszko, born Detroit, Michigan, lives in NYC

The Tailor Bird and other Nest Weavers

The nest of a Tailor Bird. Click to see this master constructor

Have you ever really looked at a bird nest and realized the engineering that goes into its construction. The main goal for a bird is to create a place safe from predators and well camouflaged in order to protect its babies. Some birds create very elaborate structures and one example of that is the tailorbird, who actually sews its nest using cotton lint, plant fibers, and silk from cocoons and spider webs. Notoriously difficult to study because they are tiny and very well camouflaged, thanks to the Museum of Natural History we have a pretty good idea of how these tailorbirds build their nests: "The female tailorbird carefully chooses a broad, strong, supple leaf which can provide good structural support once folded... A leaf in the middle of thick foliage is usually chosen to avoid the nest being seen, and at the end of a branch to reduce the possibility of a predator entering the nest. The female wraps the leaf around herself to make sure it is the right size. If it isn’t, she adds another one or two leaves. She then uses her feet to pull the leaf together and pierces a series of miniscule holes along the leaf’s edge, using her long, slender beak, which is shaped like a needle. The holes are so tiny that the leaf holds its shape, and it doesn’t go brown. The female threads plant fibres, such as cotton or lint, or silk from insects, such as cobwebs or caterpillar cocoons, through the holes."

To explore other birds and their incredible nests, click here

Painting of the Week

Pam Smilow. Flower Power Series: Blue Bird. mixed media on paper. $1500

Charity of the Week:
ACLU

Book of the Week

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

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