Was the famous sculptor Carl Andre involved in the death of his up-and-coming artist wife Ana Mendieta? For over 35 years, accusations of murder shrouded one of the art world’s most storied couples. They were a textbook case of opposites attract. Andre was famous, rich, white, and within the small coterie of the artworld, powerful. Mendieta was a Cuban refugee, a woman, working at the edge of the Avant Garde. Just months after their wedding, Andre called 911 saying they had a fight and Mendieta “went out the window” of their 34th floor apartment. Andre was charged with murder and the art world split in two. Host Helen Molesworth revisits Mendieta’s death and the trial that followed, and interrogates both the silence and the protest that have accompanied this story ever since. Death of an Artist is a co-production between Pushkin Industries, Somethin’ Else, and Sony Music Entertainment.
Episode 1: Dear Honeys
DISCLAIMER: This podcast is about suicide. Listener discretion is advised
"When Michael and I got together some 40 plus years ago, we’d always planned on checking out together."
In February of 2024, a letter arrived at the pharmacy in Astoria, Oregon. It was from local residents Petra and Michael Mathers, and they wanted to let the pharmacists know that they had died—by suicide. Petra was a celebrated children’s book author and illustrator. Michael was a photographer. And as police investigated their deaths, they discovered a whole network of people around the country who had received similar letters.
Journalists Leon Neyfakh and Alice Gregory, who have themselves been married for more than 10 years, visit Oregon to begin putting together the pieces of Petra and Michael’s shared life: the start of their love story, and the end. And they set out to interview everyone who received a letter from Michael and Petra, to try to understand why a couple who was seemingly so happy and in love would want to end their lives.
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