Do Go On - 116 - Frida Kahlo

Episode Date: January 10, 2018

Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is one of the most famous artists of the 20th Century. She also had a crazy and somwhat tragic life, all stemming from an accident when she was a teenager. As well as creating masterpieces, Kahlo married the most well known Mexican artist of her day, Diego Rivera... both of whom had had dozens of affairs. She always spoke her mind and is now an icon for the LGBTI community, feminists and people living with disabilities. Support the show and get rewards like bonus episodes:www.patreon.com/DoGoOnPodSubmit a topic idea directly to the hat: http://bit.ly/DoGoOnHat Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: [e-mail] references and further reading on Frida Kahlo:https://www.biography.com/people/diego-rivera-9459446https://www.diegorivera.org/creation.jsphttps://www.brainpickings.org/2014/05/22/diego-rivera-frida-kahlo-meeting/https://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org/biography.htmlhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Frida-Kahlohttp://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/life/https://www.biography.com/people/frida-kahlo-9359496https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/1995/09/frida-kahlo-diego-rivera-art-diaryhttps://www.fridakahlo.org/frida-kahlo-biography.jsphttp://www.lesbiannews.com/a-bisexual-affair-frida-kahlo-and-josephine-baker/http://www.fridakahlostory.com/frida-blog/the-accident-that-changed-fridas-life-forever-life-begins-tomorrowhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/12/artnews.arthttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/diego-rivera-about-the-artist/64/https://www.fridakahlo.org/self-portrait-the-frame.jspDiego Rivera, Jimmy Souter, Published October 1st 2009 by Parkstone Press USA, LimitedMy Art, My Life: An Autobiography, Diego Rivera and Gladys March, Citadel Press 1960 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melbourne and Canada, we got exciting news for you. And we should also say this is 2026. Jess, what year is it? 2026. Thank God you're here. Right now, I'm in Melbourne doing my show with Serenji Amarna, 630 each night at the Cooper's Inn Hotel, having so much fun. We'd love to see you there.

Canada, we are visiting you in September this year. If you've somehow missed the news, we are heading up Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, and Toronto for shows. That's going to be so much fun. Tickets for all this stuff, I believe, are online. And I'm here too. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates.

Hello and welcome to another episode of DoGo on. My name is Dave Warnocky and as always I'm in a hot room with Jess Perkins and Matt Stewart. Any room with Jess Perkins and Matt Stewart's a hot room, Dave. You know the rules. Yeah, that's what they call us, the sauna twins. Thank God you're wearing a town. No, I just, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant, um.

We're both very sweaty people. We are. And if you're in an enclosed room with us, you know, there will be a sauna effect, as Jess was saying. Yeah. But it's a medical condition and we are very self-conscious about it. Sorry to bring it up. So I would appreciate you not staring at us like that. Yeah.

I mean, there's sweat patches and then there's sweat bodies. Yeah. It's really more like a dry patch. Yeah, exactly. It's easy to focus on the dry part of your body. Which weirdly is behind my knees. Very dry My bit's my mouth

And you made me And both of you made me touch him Yeah Just to prove it Yeah Touch my mouth Touch my mouth Touch it

Touch the back of my knee Whilst touching his mouth That was said Yeah That was said And I regret it And I am I am such a people

Pleas I did it Yeah You did do it But on the way Across the room You did slip over In our puddles

We are basically Puddle people now Say that five times We are basically Putter people, potter people, potter people. I did it. I set myself a challenge and I did it. Well done. New year, new me. Welcome to 2018, baby. The year of Jess. Oh. Yeah. Which is bad news for Matt, no.

This is my year. Then again, every year, Matt says it's going to be a good year for you, Bob. Every year. Never been wrong. Never said anything about my years. Yeah. Well, well. Take from that one you will. Sit and wait. It's coming one day. I just don't want you to say it's going to be a bad year. Yeah.

Oh, Dave. Keep that to yourself. Yeah. This is not your year. Rather not, no. You're even Stephen, Dave. You're going to have another pretty all right year. I can't take that.

I'm going to have another Ripper. Damn it. You can watch from the sidelines, you lonely little prick. Oh, God. All right. Having an all right year means being a lonely little prick. Oh, God. A bad year's going to be really bad.

Matt, what's your prediction for your year? My year's going to be awful. Another awful year for Matt Stewart. Sad Sack Stewart. Nah, we're all going to have a great year. Got a real bloody good feeling about it. Dave, you're going to win best newcomer at the Fringe Society. French Society.

Jess, you're going to eat a new hat. I'm going to eat a new hat. I'm going to wear my face like a crown. So it's going to be a good year. And that's why your year's going to be awful. It's a very painful hat. He also pull his face up above his head. And wear it.

He's trying. He's trying now. And he's pretty, he's close to succeeding. Yeah. Good job. Well, you know, I've still got 11 and a half months. Yeah. God, you already, yeah, I reckon you'll get there by eight.

Yeah. Yeah. And then the last four months I just get to enjoy it. Think of a new challenge. Yeah, it gets started on 2019's errands. She'll probably be putting the face back on it. Yeah. Yeah.

Where are your face as a face? Appointments with plastic surgeons. Hey Dave, what's this show about again? Well, if you've just joined us for the first time or the first time this year, why did you not listen last week? That's the question, but anyway. You missed my great banana logic bit. That was a great bit. Stand out.

God, don't make that into a do-go automation. You didn't edit it out, did you just? Or maybe you did. Oh, maybe you did. Have you not listened back to it yet? No, I haven't listened. I heard it in there and it made me laugh. It was really funny.

Oh, good. I'm glad it's, thanks for leaving in, Jess. It was pretty risque, but I'm glad you left it in. Yeah, offensive for some. Yeah. hilarious for most. Blasphemous, some would even say. No, not blasphemous.

Not that blasphemous. But still pretty blasphemous. Anyway, Dave, what is this show? So one of us are going to do a report on a topic that's been suggested by a listener, and it is my turn. Yay! Is that our first report of the year for myself? These are our favourites.

Yes. Dave is by far the best. Well, according to us. Chuck out the rest. This is our fourth calendar year. We've done reports. What? Yeah, because we started in 15, 16, 17, now we're in 18.

Oh, what could us go? Fourth calendar year. Great technicality. I know, because we did start in November. Yeah, still, let's take it. Who's your favorite report, give it, Dave? Yeah, Dave. Well, I'd hate to go against the status quo.

I also enjoy my reports. That sounds about right. That works that well. Bless me. To get on, sorry, bless you, you, Jess.

Do it myself. Bless this Jess. Says that on your welcome map. Bob, be blessed. All right, so I've got a question you to get us

onto the topic. Yes. My question for both of you. Oh my God. Unconventional. Oh, so pointing, you're opening it up.

You pointed us as Sassily as well, which I liked. Who? Oh, it's a person. Or a band. Shit, okay, I'll let him continue before I make these assumptions. Who rocked the most famous monobrow of the 20th century? Oh, I think I know this.

Oh. It's the Oasis lead singer, Liam Gallagher. Oh, that sounds right. Liam's the lead singer, but Noel wrote the songs. Is it Liam Gallagher? It is. It's Liam Gallagher, and I know this because he's, His pictures on all the Mexican restaurants I go to.

Am I getting a couple of people confused? Is it, is it Maggie Simpson's enemy? Oh, yes. Yes, it is not the evil baby. Interesting. Is it? Frieda Carlo. It is Mexican artist Frida Carlo.

That's who I think is got the best Monterey. Most famous Monterey of the 20th century. And I've chosen this topic out of the hat because I'm going to Mexico next week, baby. Woo! And a couple of times I've been on holidays and I've got excited about things while I'm there. Like when I was in Stockholm, I saw the bank where the Stockholm syndrome thing came from. And then we did a bonus. That is cool.

We did a bonus. Well, I was like, God, I didn't really thought about that. And then we did a bonus Patreon report on it. But this time, when I go to Mexico City next week, I want to know a bit about it before I go there. So I decided to pick a Mexican topic. Okay, cool. That's real smart. You know what I had for dinner this afternoon?

A-K-A-lunch. A burrito. Oh. A burrito. A burrito. Well, I did message both of you. I told me of Mexican cuisine to get ready for this topic. You did?

I didn't get that message. That was a bad idea in this small hot room. I regret nothing. Just trying to create a little bit of peace of Mexico right here. Yeah. Okay. Little piece of Mexico. This was suggested by Hannah, who entered it into the new hat,

which we've got a little form you can fill out now. And so thank you for doing that, Hannah. Or she's at cider oath on Twitter. Ooh, cider fan. Or she's on an oath to never drink cider. Me too. Me too. Respect, Hannah.

Yeah. So do you guys know much about Frida Carlo? I know that she is a Mexican artist. Oh, that's good stuff. I know that she's revered. A revered Mexican artist. And I know that her picture is in. a lot of Mexican restaurants around Melbourne.

I know that a girl that I work with has her tattooed on her arm. Really? It's quite a beautiful tattoo. Is she a feminist icon? Yeah, she's an icon for many sort of marginalized groups. So she's big in the LGBTI community, big in the with people with disabilities and stuff because of things that happen to her and her life, which we will discover. Okay, all right.

So she's an icon for many, many, many, many. We could continue to ask. questions. Or Dave can just start the report and then we'll know for sure. Matt's just finishing that crunchy, crunchy burrito. Nachos? Yeah, a little after-dinner nacho. So they do it in Mexico, baby.

Also, I've been researching. Yeah, you'll soon find out. Frida Carlo was born on July the 6th, 1907 in her parents' house known as La Casa Athul or the Blue House. Oh, that's so cute. Like, they're in the big blue house. Yeah, that's right. And it's actually...

Isn't there a... Wasn't there a paint, no. What was the... Dubs the painters house? Oh, Van Gogh. Van Gogh. He's the yellow house. Oh, the yellow house.

Well, that was a fucking totally different primary color. I should put these shapes over somewhere else. So you stop eating them. Yeah, no, this is actually the third in the triptitch of reports I've done on painters. Oh. The first episode, Monalise. Leonardo da Vinci. Yes, we remember.

We had Van Gogh. He lived in the red house. Yeah, that's right. Van Gogh in the yellow. Frida in the blue house, which is actually the house, the blue house or La Carta Othul is now where you can go. It's a museum. Oh, cool.

So you're going to get there? I'm really hoping to go there. Awesome. Her full name according to her birth certificate because often people with Spanish influence names have many, many names. Magdalena Karamene Frida, Carlo, and Calderon. Oh. I like it.

At the time, the blue house was on the outskirts of Mexico City in the small town of Koyoakan. Her father was Carl Wilhelm Carlo. It was born in Germany and he hated his... Carl Carlo. That's right. Carl Carl. Carl.

Wilhelm. No, no. Carl, Carlo. Carl, Carlo. I love it. You love that? I'm afraid it's about to change because he's born in Germany, but he hated his stepmother so much that when he was 19, he left.

Germany and sailed alone to Mexico just to get away where he changed his name to the more Mexican sounding Guillermo. Oh, that's better. Fuck, that is good though. That's pretty good name. Yeah, that's a great name. That's fun to say. But Carl Carlo is also fun to say.

You can understand why I'm conflicted here now. Yes. I thought, well, I'm pretty relieved because when Dave said, you said you love his name and Dave said that's about to change. I'm like, oh, what does this German guy done? The name is changing. He's fine. He's fine.

Okay. Guillermo suffered from epilepsy and was a photographer. He became well known for his portraits of famous Mexicans, including the then Presidency. Presidente. El Presente. Which is kind of cool because he sort of arrived in Mexico with nothing. And within sort of 10 years, he was taking photos of very famous people. He did very well for himself.

He also took photos of himself, including a full nude body shot. How? Where he's facing away from the camera. Oh, thank God. And despite the fact that you can't, you can see his ass, but not his junk. In 1892, this was considered scandalous. And he had a bit of controversy because of it. It would have been better if it was full frontal.

And he's just standing there with his hands on his hip's like, hmm. Check it. Germo. I am Germo. This is my junk. El junkie. Junkal. He was.

That's actually a good name. He was a big influence on young Frida and his self-portraits with photographs led the way for his daughter's painted self-portraits that would make her famous one day. I read in a lot of places that Frida was his favourite child. Oh, brutal. Brutal for the others, but not for her.

Yeah, no, good call. But brutal, if he's admitted that, absolutely you can have a favourite, but don't say it out loud, you know? Like, I've got a favourite of you two, but I don't say it. Oh, yeah. All right, Matt's like, good.

And I'm like, fucking tell me, bitch. I think that says more than you need to know, Dave. I mean, I have a favourite parent. You do? Really? And a favourite sibling by default. I don't have either of those. You have two parents, though.

So you have a favourite. Wow. So you've gone through every scenario if you can save one person from drowning, who'd save? What about if you package all three together? Okay. Can you rank them one to three? You can save two, but not three. Yeah.

I can rank. rank of one to three. Wow, I couldn't. I couldn't, three siblings and two parents, and I'd put them all equal first. That's interesting. Sounds like your family's all going to drown. Yeah.

And that's the most romantic way to go. All together. Altogether now. No, no, no. I love them so much, I'm going to get a bigger boat. Oh. It's a Jaws reference. I was on TV the other night.

Anyway. Yeah, yeah. Remember that Jaws reference? Or they were talking about love. And saving everything. I'm going to need a bigger boat. For love. For love.

My love is a big boat. Everyone get in and let's sail into the sunset. Come on, big sharky boy. We're all going to Tintel Town. Those improv classes were not wasted on you. Come on, Sharky, boy. It was like I was in a boat with you. Yeah.

There you go. I felt the fins. You're in my love boat. You're riding my love boat every day, Dave. I think you've seen the love boat but not yours I think that's what's happened Guillermo back to him

his father and of course Frida's grandfather was a painter so art ran in the family Frida's mother Matilda was of a primarily she was primarily indigenous but also a bit of Spanish descent she was a devoutly Catholic woman

she married Guillermo shortly after his first wife died during the birth of their second daughter they're married as Matilda and Guillermo was reportedly unhappy. Frida often remarked that her mother did not love her father, and this may have been the case. Matilda grieved her whole life for her first love,

who she saw commit suicide. Oh. So very sad. But together, Matilda and Guillermo had four more daughters, the third of which was Frida. So she grew up with four older sisters and one younger sister and talked about how she grew up in a family of women. Wow.

That's interesting. I assumed with the favorite she'd either be. be the oldest or the youngest, right? Yeah, but she's second youngest. Yeah, that really means that she was just better than the others. Yeah. And how many other Carlos hung around Mexican restaurants in Melbourne? Great point.

It says a lot. Imagine how many Carlos are in Mexican restaurants in Mexico, or as they would call them, restaurants. Oh, I never thought about it like that. Hmm, hmm. Well, we call Mexican cuisine. They call cuisine. What?

What? They speak in French? You don't have to specify. And what if you want a croissant? You're going to need to go elsewhere. Okay. Brina. I'm assuming cuisine's a French word.

Probably isn't it? Probably. It sounds French. It does sound French. And in the end, isn't that what really matters? You're quite defensive there. It does sound. No one called you on it.

It's fine. That was just ready in case someone was straight on their phone on Twitter. You slapped the phone out of their hand. Look, guys, I assume it's French. If it's not, I don't want to know. That's about right. Yeah. When Frida was three years old in 1910, the Mexican Revolution began and kicked off 10 years of civil war.

The revolution involved a long and bloody struggle among several factions in constantly shifting alliances. In Frida's writing, she reflected that her mother would usher her and her sisters into the house as gunfire broke out in the streets of the poor neighbourhood she lived in. Occasionally, men would leap over the walls into their, so they've got a walled garden. in the middle of their backyard. And in the middle of their backyard, it was their backyard. Interesting. Men would leap over the walls into their backyard, and sometimes her mother would prepare a meal for the hungry revolutionaries.

Oh. So that gone a different way. The meal was laced with poison. That wasn't. That wasn't. That wasn't. After several changes in leadership and lots of backstubbing amongst leaders, the revolution ultimately ended in the end of the 30-year dictatorship of Porifiro Diaz in Mexico

and the establishment of a constitutional. Republic. They started wearing armor on their backs. Can I get stabbed that way, can you? That's real smart. Yeah, just their backs. That's how the revolution ended. Wow.

Is that true? That's true. What? Dave. Looks like the reporter has become the report E. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I know some stuff.

You know your Mexican Revolution facts. Yeah. It is estimated that over one million people died in the conflict, so it was very bloody for Mexico. The revolution was hard on her father, Guillermo, who had taken portraits of the outstead government, and work became harder to come by as the war raged on. So he didn't necessarily agree with their politics.

But, you know... There was work there for him. Exactly, from a high-paying client. And also, when there's a civil war happening, people aren't really thinking about their glamour shots, you know? No. It's when... Well, most people aren't.

Yeah, that's what sets you apart, man. That does set me apart. The first thing you do is take a selfie. That's the first thing you do. World War III, selfie. The beginning of every financial year, I get a gumma shot. And the following week I do as well, and so on and so forth. Every week.

52. It's not really relevant when the financial year starts, but that's sort of when in my head I reset. For sure, yep. And then I start getting one every week from then on like I was doing. Yes, the previous financial year. Yes. But I mean, that's just how I do business.

Absolutely. And that's why you're the savviest businessman. The savvious businessman. Yeah. Why do you think I'm the one sitting on a gold throne? Yeah, it is weird that he'd be why over chair. Yeah, I've often wondered that. Now I know.

Yeah, it makes sense. It's the selfie thing. It's the selfie thing. In her later life, Frida would often claim that she was born in 1910, three years after her actual birth, because that's the first year of the revolution, so she would be associated with that historic event. Oh.

That's weird. That's why I say I was born in 1990. Because the Pies won the AFL Grand Final that year. That's incredible that you know that. Thank you. First ever AFL grand final. It was the VFL the year before, I think. Is that right?

Yep. Yep. I don't know. I have no idea what we're talking about. I heard pies and I was like, this is interesting. And then you said it was about football and I said this is not interesting. At the age of six, Frida contracted polio. That's not good.

It's not good. But she recovered it. unlike some was able to walk afterwards, but it did leave her right leg thinner than the left, which she disguised by wearing long skirts. Her peers maliciously nicknamed her peg leg, though she did find some solace in the disease. She later recalled,

My papa and mama began to spoil me a lot and love me more. Ah, okay. Pity. Well, and the next sentence is her father who suffered epilepsy bonded with her over her having an illness. Right. Right. So that's maybe one.

That makes sense. Well, that's nice. I think that is a totally, totally nice thing for her to be the favorite. Oh, now I'm being patronising. Mm. I mean, she could have been an asshole who had polio. But I don't think she was. Exactly.

I think we're about to find out she wasn't. I think she's just a nice person. Apart from the weird date of birth thing, where she wanted to be, she wanted to be three years younger to have associated herself with the war. But also. Everything else I've heard about her has been, well, well, pretty neutral to be honest. You love to be three years younger, Matt? Yes. On the scale of Matt's lifetime, it makes no different.

That's a drop in the ocean. It's a blip. A speck of dust, you know. We're all just dust on the wind, Jess. Matt's getting deep over there. First selfies on the financial year. In 1922, Carlo was enrolled in the Preparatoria, one of Mexico's premier schools.

This senior high school had only just begun enrolling female students and subsequently out of the 2000 enrolled there, she was one of only 35 girls. Wow. She was also famously outspoken and older than her classmates as she started school late due to having polio when she was younger. I was going to say, it was like, she's older now.

But that's cool, that's fine, good for her. Well, she's 15. Yeah, right. Old. Yeah. I mean, the best is behind her. Big time. At this school, she first met the famous Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.

Oh, that's a good name. It's a good name. Diego. Rivera at that time was working. on a mural called The Creation on the school campus. According to Fritacala.org, she told a friend, she will marry him someday. Oh, okay. But more on Diego later.

Oh, does she marry him someday, perhaps? Did she set up that website herself? She may have. I didn't see that written anywhere else. That's why I thought I should source it in case. She got, she got, that's website early. That's what you've got to do. You got to get it.

You got to get it. Well, she didn't get early enough to get dot com. But she didn't want it. com because she just wants to spread the word. Right. About Frida Carlo. Organizational. Dot org.

Gotcha. She's not a dot com. But she's definitely not a dot net. Oh, God, no. Yuck. Bark in basement, am I right? And even worse if it's a dotnet. Dotnet.u.a.u.

dot biz. Dot asshole. Dot fucking idiot. Yeah. Dot org. Can someone buy that for us? We've had Bumhouse.org. Appreciate that.

So good. What fun. What fun. Yes, sadly funhouse.org was taken. But Bum House, that was free. Probably the most significant event of our young life occurred on the 17th of September 1925. Carla and her boyfriend Alejandro Gomez, Arias. I'm enjoying saying these.

Alejandro, they're on their way home from school when the wooden bus they were riding collided with a street car. A wooden bus? Wooden bus. Why? How is the, why? Because it's 1925 in Mexico City. Everything was made out of wood back then.

Right, do you go on. It collided with a streetcar, as we call them tram. Ah. Wooden tram, we call them. Yep, sorry. Alejandro described it as, the bus burst into a thousand pieces. As a result of the accident, Frida suffered several injuries. Oh, my God.

A broken spinal column. Oh. Broken collar bones, broken ribs, broken pelvis, 11 fractures in her right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, every bone basically. Dislocated shoulder. Sounds like she busted in a thousand. Also, an iron handrail pieced her abdomen and her uterus. What?

So she went fully through her. So she was really injured. Yeah, no shit, Dave. We had that in all the broken bones. She was flatly impaled. Yeah, didn't get it. Yeah. Didn't get it was impaled.

Also, I broke my collarbone, so I can definitely relate. I've never heard this story. Was it at the same event? We broke our collarbone. You smashed into each other. How did you break yours? When I was very young, I think I was about two or three. I was playing some sort of a horse game with my sister running around the blue stones in the backyard.

Were pretending to be horses? Yeah. I think like, I think maybe I was, I can't remember, there was something like there was a rope And one of this was like running as a whole I can't remember But anyway Some I tripped on something And I went collarbone first under the blue stones

Don't worry my collarbone will break my fall Apparently I don't know if there's a chore or not But I was told at some point That's the only bone in the body That heals stronger than before It's very very common in little kids Right

Because Are they just trying to spin it as a good thing May I guess so This is what I'm told Quite often it will break during birth which did happen to me and so then when I was about 18 months old Mom put me on the bed

while she was just putting on her socks and I was jumping up and down on the bed and playing and I just ran straight off the edge of the bed and fell and broke my collarbone crack it and I still blame her for being negligent get cold feet mum I think I know who their favourite parent might be man

the one who hasn't fractured your collarbone I'm still. Yeah, right. Well, it's still working away on the favourite siblings. The one that smashed you playing horse, they're out. Doesn't want to comment. All equal first. Interesting.

Anyway, sorry. So she's broken into a million pieces. And according to Vanity Fair, somehow in the impact, Frida's clothes had been yanked off and she was left completely nude. How? How does that happen? Even more freakish, her boyfriend records someone in the bus, probably a house painter had been carrying a packet of powdered gold.

This package broke and the gold fell all over the bleeding of blood. body of Frieda. So she looks like this crazy mess, I guess, but still artistic in a way, because she's naked. She's got a pole going through her. She's covered in gold. I mean, it's like an art. Yeah, it's like an installation. And the tram and the bus is just like spread around it.

Yeah, I hope someone got a photo. I've not seen a photo. I've made an amazing shot. Color photography back then in 25? No. No. Just would know, studied photography, mentioned a box. I could have been wrong.

Box brownie. I reckon that some people would have bits of colour. How did you? Sorry, sorry there. Bits of colour just sounds weird. The accident left her in a great deal of pain and she spent three months recovering in a full body plaster cast. She did recover from her injuries and eventually was able to walk again,

but she was an extreme pain for the rest of her life. As a result of the accident, during the following 30 years, she had as many as 35 surgeries, mainly on her back, her right leg and her right foot. Poor thing. Just think back to like, imagine going back 90 years in medical studies as well. So it's not good. A lot of the time I read that she'd have an operation on her back and would actually leave her in more pain than she had been in like because it was a bit of a gamble.

Yeah. Well, even now, I mean, if you're in an accident that bad, you'll... Yeah. It's amazing that she lived at all. Yeah. Back, yeah. But you hear about people with chronic back pain, they just can't figure out how to fix it.

You can't fix it. Wow. Many years later, Frida talked about her accident. So this is a quote from her. I remember it was the 17th of September, 1925. Shortly after we, Frida and Alejandro, had entered the bus. The collision happened.

First, we were in another bus, but I had lost a little umbrella. We got off to look for it. That's why we got on that bus, which mutilated me. So it's like a chance thing. I mean, it's all chance things. But yeah, that's a weird little, it'd be the worst having that little thing in your head.

Like, why'd you go for the fucking umbrella, damn it? So it's one of those things that just shaped her for the rest of her life, arguably with good and bad consequences. The bad, obviously, the terrible pain that I inflicted on there. But the good was that whilst in bed recovering for three months, with nothing else to do to occupy her time, she began to paint. Her mother had a special easel made for her so she could paint in bed while still in the cast. And her father lent her his box of oil paints and some brushes. She started to paint a self-portress of herself,

something that would become a recognisable motif of her work. And she later said, I paint myself because I am alone, and I am the subject I know best. Makes sense. I get that. I'm alone. So she starts to paint.

Jess, you're here with us. I'm just staring in the mirror sometimes. What are you fucking doing? What are you doing? Who are you? What are you doing? What are you doing? What do you want?

Do ever get an answer? No. It's very frustrating. All they say is, what do you want? They say, I'm the pizza delivery man. Can I have the money, please? I say, I am so sorry, absolutely. Thank you so much.

Keep the change. Good day. Is that a happy ending? I look at the pizza. I say, what the fuck? What are you doing? Who are you? Margarito didn't order you.

But I'm going to hurt you. I love pizza. I love it. Pizza in Mexican. They're my two faves. Yeah, my two faves. Well, okay, Italian is pizza. Yeah.

Whereas they call it in Italy. Mexican. It's a very confusing system. So confusing. Those wacky Italians. They're bloody wacky. But I love them. Can't help it.

Love their cuisine. Oh, they're cuisine. Oh, Balissimo. Oh. Maltobain. Now you speak in my language. Fucked Italian. That's what I speak.

There was an ad for Subway a few years. ago that always annoyed me because he, it was for the Italian meatball sub and he would say Malto Delicioso. I was like, that's not, no, that's not good. China for it on purpose. That's lame. Who would do that? Yeah.

No, lull. Anyway, Dave, do you go on. So more, so she started to paint. Started to paint. She's good. She painting. Oh, what's she doing? She painted herself.

Do you believe that thing about her being covered in gold? In gold. That sounds like a myth. I'm not sure. I believe it. It's a great story. 100%. I mean, I believe it.

That's real good. It convinced me. Before we started, Dave said he hoped I would get a little bit hyper because I have not slept. And it's happening. Here we go. Jess is on the radio now, you guys, but in the middle of the night. Yeah. So when Dave and I are asleep, Jess is working.

Then when Dave and I are asleep, are awake and working, Jess is working. And then when we've got some spare time later on, we do this podcast, and then after that, Jess goes back to work. It's pretty fucked. But me and Dave, it's skipping real well. Nine hours and nine. I'm getting, is that what you're getting?

Yeah, nine hours and nine. That's unheard of. Not in our bed, which we share. Which we share. Which we share. Cuttings. Anyway, sorry, I kept derailing. So she's panty.

So more on the artist, Diego Rivera, I mentioned earlier. Diego. He returns. Rivera was born in 1886. He's older. He's older. An older man, 20 years older. Yes.

He began drawing as a child and went on to study art at the Mexican Academy. He traveled to Europe where he befriended a number of famous and influential painters, including Pablo Picasso. Oh, yeah. And he even gave the emerging cubism style ago. I'll have a crack. I'll have a crack. But the Mexican Revolution had an effect on him, and he wanted to reflect the lives of the working class and the native peoples of Mexico. So he developed an interest in making murals

During a trip to Italy Finding inspiration in the Renaissance fresco He was actually the inspiration behind Muriel's wedding Really? Yeah The Abba Abba themed musical Comedy of Australia's early 90s

Was it really Abba themed? Yeah, the whole soundtrack was Abba There you go Come on, Dave We're learning together here No, we knew that one You're learning So I'm sorry that I haven't seen

an Abba musical. Well, it's not an ABBA musical. Anyway, that's Mama Mia. Which I have seen. A masterpiece. I actually have not seen. You'll be looking forward to the sequel then. Oh my God.

That looks like absolute horseshit. Muriel's wedding two, which they're confusingly called Mama Mia the sequel. It's very confusing. I'm sorry, everyone. Anyway, so I'm so sorry. Diego. So he returned to his homeland. So he's like, I want to paint murals.

He returned to his homeland and he received funding from the government to create a series of giant murals about the country's people and the country's history on the walls of public buildings. So in public, on a massive scale, public Picasso's. Public Picasso. Where people could enjoy the art. So he thought that art didn't belong in like a museum for the elite. He wanted the working class, everyone to be able to see it. Like Jimmy Barnes.

Yep. Jess is making several references to the overseas people are like, who are these people? Google it, guys. You've got Google over there. Don't Google, Jimmy Barnes. Jimmy Varns. Scottish born. His Scottish born.

Famous song. In Australia, okay? You're all caught up. See, Dave, was that so hard? Sorry for having fun. Working class man. I think it was written by an American musician who, from, what's that band with the songs that they sang on, Glee. Oh, wow.

Boston or Chicago, one of those ones? Close. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Journey? Journey. Journey. That's it. It was written by the journey guy.

Working class man, I believe, was written by a guy from Journey. Really? Yeah. Does that blow your mind? Yes. Bleed denim in his veins. Sorry. It seems like such an Aussie song, but it's, yeah, it wasn't even written by an Australian.

Typical. I'll just quietly bring it back to Mexico. Public Picasso. I'm excited about getting away from fucking. Barnsey. I'll bring it back. Getting some real culture. No offence, Jimmy.

I like, Jimmy. So you return to his homeland. He's doing these giant murals. A larger than life figure as well as a tall and round man. Diego Rivera is one of the most famous artists of his day. It is now one of the most famous Mexican artists of the 20th century, if not the most famous.

Art was one thing he was famous for. The other was womanizing. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. politely called womanizing. Okay. He was very famous for fucking. Right.

He'd already been married twice, first to Russian artist Angelina Belfoff and then to Mexican model a novelist Guadalupe Maran before he first met Frida. She was just a schoolgirl during their first encounter. Rivera was painting his first government commission a giant 1,000 square feet mural called Creation. Whoa.

For scale, the figures in the piece are over 12 feet high. Wow. people in it. Holy shit. So he paints on a massive scale. The mural is located in the Bolivar auditorium of the school that Frida was studying at. During the painting of the mural, Rivera felt compelled to carry a pistol with him at all times to protect himself from the right-wing students because he's extremely left-ling.

He's part of the Communist Party. So he had a gun with him at all times. But the person he had to watch out most for was Frida. This story comes from Diego's autobiography called My Art, My Life, published after his death. I love it. I love it. My art. My life. And the cover is just him, black and white, and he's holding a rose, and the rose is yellow. Oh, that's beautiful. And on the back, the rose is withered and dying.

Yes, art. Art. That is art. We get art, guys. We get it. God, we're artie. I don't know if I get art, but I get what I like, which is art. You like all art. I confuse myself in the middle there. Rivera, so this is the story from his biography, Rivera was having an affair with one of his models that had been nicknamed Nahui. They were banging in the auditorium in front of the painting, which is so amazing.

So he's at a school painting. He takes time to have sex publicly. Like, you know, it's, the students aren't in the auditorium at the time. Sure. But people can come in. Well, that's how he likes it. That's the way. So they were banging in the auditorium in front of the painting,

and the young Frita Carlo had snuck in up the back at the auditorium. She laughingly... Snuck him up the back. She laughingly yelled out. On guard, Diego. Here comes Lupe. Lupe being his wife. Rivera turned around but could see no one because Frida hit after she yelled at the guy.

Lupe did then arrive with his lunch, and thus he was not caught mid-act with his model. Oh. Over different days, the hidden voice continued to taunt him and play pranks on him. Rivera writes this quote from that book, while painting I suddenly heard from behind one of the colonial pillars in the spacious room the voice of an unseen girl

teasingly she shouted on guard Diego Nahui is coming The other woman Ah but she wasn't coming She was just She was just fucking around with his old artist

Then one day Frida stormed into the auditorium Where Diego was painting And asked the artist if she could watch him paint He said of course And she watched him paint in silence for several hours After a few hours Rivera's wife Guadalupe appeared and became jealous.

Probably fearing that her husband was likely having an affair with the young girl, Guadalupe began abusing her. Frida appeared to take no notice of the grown woman and just silently ignored her, which at first enraged Guadalupe,

but her strength endeared herself. Guadalupe said, look at that girl. Smaller she is, she does not fear a tall, strong woman like me. I really like her. What a roller coaster.

Yeah, wow. The young Frida stayed for about three hours. When she left, all she said was, good night. And then you walked out. She did a real Perkins.

That's classic Perkins. She turned on her and then just changed her mind. I wasn't sure if classic Perkins was being abused by an older woman. Sitting quietly and being abused. Wait, so this is all happened after the accidents and stuff? Yeah. So all that happened once you were still at school. Oh, we're flashing back.

This is before the accident. Oh, great. So yeah, because there are two events that sort of shaped her life, her artistic life. One is the accident. and two is probably meeting Diego. I'm watching him paint. But they would not meet again for several years, and in the meantime she has the accident and then recovers

and starts painting herself. So she remembers this guy. So one day, Diego was on top of one of the uppermost frescoes. That's a model. You are my upper most fresco. He's on top of her. Can you explain what a fresco is again? So it's like a big outdoor painting that he's doing.

And he's on, because it's so big, he has to stand on scaffolding. So he might be three stories up. And so he's very high up. The Ministry of Education Building one day. And he hears a girl shouting to him, Diego, come down from there. I have something important to discuss with you. He turned his head around and looked down from the tall scaffolding.

He described her in his book. On the ground beneath me stood a girl of about 18. She had a fine nervous body, topped by a delicate face. Her hair was long, dark, and thick eyebrows met above her nose. I already got the unibrow. They seemed like the wings of a black bird, their black archers framing two extraordinary brown eyes. Rivera climbed down to meet the confident girl. And when he got down, she said to him, and I remember at this point he's probably the most

famous artist in all of Mexico, and she's just some girl that's walked up to him. She said, I didn't come here for fun. I have to work to earn my livelihood. I have done some paintings which I want you to look over professionally. I want an absolute straightforward opinion because I cannot afford to go on just to appease my vanity. I want you to tell me whether you think I can become good enough of an artist. to make it worth my while to go on.

I brought three paintings here. Will you come and look at them? So she bought three for canvases, with her and Diego agreed to examine them, and he instantly liked what he saw. The canvases revealed an unusual energy of expression, precise delineation of character and true severity. He praised her work,

but she knew that he was a bit of a ladies, man, and was skeptical of his praise and said, I've not come looking for compliments. I want the criticism of a serious man. I'm not an art lover, nor an artist. amateur. I'm simply a girl who must work for a living. He was extremely impressed by this young confident girl in front of him. And when he asked, and when she asked if he, the great Mexican artist, thought that she had what it takes to be professional, he answered, in my opinion, no matter how

difficult it is for you, you must continue to paint. She asked him one more favor. She asked him to come by her house and look at the rest of her paintings. He agreed, and it was only then that when she was giving her address that she said her name. It was then that he realized that he had heard of this girl before. His friend, who was the director of the National Preparatory School, who had got him to do that original painting. He told her that Frida was a student and the director had spoken to Diego about her as the leader of a band of juvenile delinquents and had even considered quitting his job out of frustration with Carlos' mischief.

He then realized that this was the same girl that came into the auditorium all those years ago and watched him paint. And this is the final quote from Rivera's biography. I said, but you are, she stopped me quickly, almost putting a hand in my mouth in her anxiety. Her eyes acquired a devilish brilliancy. Threateningly, she said, Yes, so what? I was the girl in the auditorium.

But that has absolutely nothing to do with now. Will you still come to my house on Sunday? I had a great difficulty not answering more than ever, but if I showed my excitement, she might not let me come at all. So I only answered yes. That's great. Oh, wow. He was keen.

But I just admire the confidence. It's like going up to like a, like just starting out in comedy and going up to Will Anderson in our country and being like, am I good? Tell me. Tell me. I imagine that probably happens. Yeah, I suppose not all of them go on to be the sort of the best of their generation.

Don't fuck around. Can I make a living out of this? I just need to earn money. Yeah, I love that. I'm not an art lover. Don't fuck with me. Tell me the truth. Give me an answer.

That's really great. And I love how it was like he's the big star. in the country, but by the end of the conversation, he's nervously trying to underplay. He's excited. All right, all right, I really want to see you more. Well, he did go to a house, and he examined the rest of her paintings,

and he continued to be impressed. A few days later, the pair kissed for the first time, and although she was 18 and he was twice her age, neither of them felt the least bit awkward. They married four years later, despite protests of Carlos' devoutly Catholic mother, and as a couple, they were often referred to as the elephant and the dove, the nickname that originated when Carla's father,

used to express the extreme difference in size. Rivera was 200 pounds heavier and almost a foot taller than Carlo. Wow. So there are a bit of a striking couple to be seen. The elephant and the dove. Beautiful. It's beautiful. It's like a pub name. Yeah.

I'd go there. I'd call the dove and elephant though. Yeah, that's more. That definitely sounds more British. Thank you. So the elephant and the dove, their marriage often. It was tumultuous. No, why can't anyone be happy?

No, it's just hard to be a great artist and be happy. Yeah, you're right, you're tortured. I find that. I find that every day. No, I meant, sorry, like a... I know, we knew what you meant. Stories of these painters, you know, like... I know exactly what you mean.

I think Jess knows what you mean. Being an artist, as we are. Being an artist. We are artists. I'm confused by your confusion on that day. Yeah, and we understand how hard it is to be. be happy because you are constantly tortured by your own art. Yes.

These podcasts were really torturers. Like, like Tism said, I've suffered for my art. Now you must too. Very quiet. That's a good line. So, but their marriage was not happy. Notorously, both Carlo and Rivera had fiery temperaments and both had numerous extramarital affairs. Diego compared making love to urinating.

Just a necessary function. No. Oh, well, I, mm. Why get married then? If you're both just going to fuck around, just fuck around. Why get married? No, it's true, but they're kind of each other's like muse and rock at the same time. Yeah.

They always come back to each other. Just be friends. Muse and Rock. Which one's the rock? Who's your muse? Jess, you're my muse. Dave. You're a piece of shit.

Yeah, take that, Dave. But am I a rocky piece of shit? I think you're a rocky piece of shit. Very lumpy. You just don't understand art. You don't get art. Yeah, you just don't get it. Sorry, guys.

I'm trying. That's why I'm doing all these bloody art reports. I know. Trying to get it, mate. But sometimes with art, it's about not trying. It's less about this, more about this. He's pointing to his dick. I was going to say he's pointing to each of his balls.

He loves about the left one. More about the right one. I was pointing to my heart. art, which is in my crotch. I got that weird disorder. It isn't not getting, not understanding art, the most artistic thing of all. Oh, well played. Yes, thank you, Jess.

Am I getting art? No, try again. I thought I'd got it. Can't connoe to the top, mate. Yeah. Anyway, so they're both fucking around. But together, they're very productive as artists. Each regard to the other as Mexico's greatest painter.

Oh. It's quite nice. Yeah, that's quite cute. I regard both of you as Australia's greatest podcasters. That's silly. We are not. We're not. You're wrong.

Everyone knows who. Top 10, sure. It's the Mike Check podcast. It's the best. Australia's greatest podcasters. Alexi Toliopoulos. Cameron James. Swing, swing.

I think they're finished, actually. What a hole they've left. They've got through the whole Uber of Mike Myers. He'll keep making movies. Yeah. thankfully. So every three years, they'll be able to release a new episode of My Che.

Diego actually welled up with tears of pride when Picasso once admired the eyes in a painting of Fritters. Oh. So they are... Very proud of each other. Very proud and very supportive of each other. Oh, that's really nice. Because you'd almost think...

Well, and I'm sure it happens with artists of any nature, but when you're in a relationship and you do the same type of work, there'd be like a competitiveness. So it's nice if they're supportive. Sure, fuck around then. That's fine. Great. Jess, given the permission,

yeah, good on you guys. They also shared an interest in radical politics and Marxism. I'm going to say rapping. Wasn't wrapping. They also invented Mexican rap in the 1930s. What would that sound like? Please don't do it. Oh, wow.

So sorry. I'm so sorry. Ola. That's silly, Dave. Rivera, so their radical politics and Marxists and his paintings depict like, you know, radical things often... Sickles. And the man sort of fucking over the worker.

But the weird part is he copped a lot of criticism for taking money from the wealthy elites who were actually paying for him to paint the murals. And he was quite wealthy. Yeah, but fuck the man and the system. So he actually got kicked out of the Marxist Party, the Communist Party in Mexico. Because he's totally involved in... Capitalism. Also, he's very outspoken.

So I think you told a few people to go fuck themselves and they were like, you've got to go. Right. In the 1930s, Rivera was invited to the USA to complete a number of murals there. Ironically, he worked for American capitalists on large commissions with leftist themes. So people like Henry Ford and all these billionaires were like, yeah, come and do your Marxist stuff on our buildings. It's a bit strange. The couple traveled through California where Rivera painted murals and then moved on to New York. York City where Rivera was invited to have a retrospective of his artwork of the fairly

recently opened Museum of Modern Art. Oh, cool. MoMA. Having a retrospective while still alive was almost unheard of at the time. It was a great honour and sign of his status as an artist. Where's MoMA? Is that in the Guggenheim? No, I think they're two separate museums.

I don't know Guggenheim from Seinfeld. George, when he's blagging, said he was the architect who designed Oh, Art Vandalay. The annex of the Guggenheim. You know that little annex at the back? That was mine. Guganheim is just a lot of fun to say. It is.

So I miss where is, where is MoMA? That's in America, though, isn't it? In New York City. New York. And the Guggenheim is in. New York. There's a lot of Guggenheims. There's one in Venice.

But please go on. Have you just forgotten the title of our show? It's not called, but please go on. That would have been better. It's quite good actually. Yeah. It's too late to change. To know that instead of but please go on.

But to please go on. But it's B-U-T comma, but please go on. Because butts are funny. Because the reporter is always the butt. I'm funny of butts. Oh, not. Not again. Not again.

So he's got his little, I say little. It's a big deal that he's got his retrospective. Then they moved to Detroit for a year. Did some art there. And then they made the way back to, so he's doing all these murals. murals, she's accompanying him, but also doing her own artwork. It's a bit sad because at the time, it's more like, oh, you also paint, because he's like this world famous artist.

But he would be, I imagine he's telling people about her. He would say stuff like, she's better than I am. Right. That kind of thing, yeah. But she's sort of living in his shadow at this point in their life. They moved back to New York City in 1933, and this time their stay was surrounded by controversy. commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller from the wealthy Rockefeller family Rivera created a mural entitled Man at the Crossroads

the RCAA building at the Rockefeller Center Rockefeller halted the work on the project after Rivera included a portrait of communist leader Vladimir Lennon in the mural. So he said to him, you can do whatever you like, do one of you awesome, like he's a big art lover, Nelson Rockefeller. He's like, just do whatever you want to do. And then he puts like a famous communist figure in there

And he's like, don't do that. I said anything, but not that. And he was given the ultimaton Rivera of either removing Lenin or having the work stopped completely. Rivera stuck by his guns and refused to compromise his artistic vision. And as a result, he was paid in full, but then the artwork was demolished. That sounds like a win-win for him. Didn't have to do the work, still got the money.

But I guess as an art- And he doesn't know what art's all about? But as an artist, it's like having one of your children drilled off the wall. No, it's not. You've got money. And also that child was only semi-formed, so it's more like, you know, jizzing into a sock. But getting paid in full. The regret on your face.

I enjoyed that. Do you reckon I'll probably get a text message about that comment tomorrow? Hey, mate, could you edit out that bit where I said juze in a sock? Yeah, I didn't feel like that was nice. homesick in the United States and sick of associating with capitalists because Frida would often go out to these balls and things and she'd have to associate with people like Henry Ford

and people that she doesn't agree with their ideals at all she persuaded the reluctant Rivera to return to Mexico and once there he retaliated by having an affair with her sister Christina in response to this familial betrayal Carlo caught off most of her trademark long hair desperately wanting to have a child she again experienced heartbreak when she miscarried in 1934. Because she got pregnant a few times and it sort of became apparent

that because of her injuries as a young woman that she probably wasn't able to. Yeah, her uterus was impaled. Yep. So I'm not shocked that, I mean, I'm sure maybe, but I'm not all that surprised. Devastated by this, freedom began painting herself wounded and bleeding. When he did return, Diego,

recreated the mural that Rockefeller had torn down. He secretly had photos taken of it, and he redid the mural on the wall of the Palatio de Balas Ates, which is one of the most famous buildings in Mexico City. The new version included the portrait of Lenin that he was in trouble for, but this time he was alongside Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, the authors of the Communist Manifesto, so two very famous communists.

And I hope he has he got Rockefeller in there as well? Like they're shaking hands? That would be so good. Arms around each other. No, he didn't include that. Pointing at each other like, best mate. Love this guy. He would have fucking hated it.

But he got the last laugh there. So he got paid in America, went home, did it in Mexico and like the most famous building in Mexico City and got to do it, you know, even more artistically. Never a traditional union. Carlo and Rivera kept separate but adjoining homes and studios that were connected by a bridge. It's got a moat, obviously.

Yeah. I'll only let you in if I feel like it. And the troll underneath allows it. Yeah. If you answer these questions three. Yes, what are the questions? Number one. What is your favourite colour?

Easy. Blue. I live in a blue house. I'm sure my favourite colour is blue. Question two. What is your least favourite colour? Yellow and that scummy fuckhead over in Europe whose paintings maybe don't exist yet.

Don't go off, no, they definitely exist. They definitely exist because I know timelines because he was in the 18, 17, 18, 50s. 50s. Question. I'm with my little Elvin helper. Yeah, why do you have a helper? So how we do it.

Do go on. Am I allowed in or not? No. You only got two out of three, right? The third one didn't even get it. Active commenter sympathises. Carlo and Rivera befriended Leon Trotsky, as he sought political sanctuary from Joseph Stalin's regime in the Soviet Union.

He was an early Russian revolutionary leader, but ultimately lost out to Stalin who wanted his enemy dead. And so he had to flee from the Soviet Union and Russia, but only one country would take him, and that was Mexico. Trotsky is a great name. Trotsky. Trotsky, the founding father of Trotskyism. Right.

That's a good. And galloping. No, that's slow galloping. Dave, what he's getting out there is trotting. I know, I love it. Did you get it? I just left him. Did you get the joke there?

Dave. Trotsky. This is my art. Yeah. Horses. Trots. I get it now. It can't be that confusing if I got it.

I think I get it. it now. I get art. Do you get Matt's art? I don't think I get Jessus yet. Yeah, mine's pretty complicated. Pretty high brow? Yeah, it's pretty high brow. But is it one unibrow? No. High Unibrow. No. He does not get it at all. It's three brows. Come on, mate. So back to Trotsky. Initially Trotsky lived with Rivera and then at Carlos home in the Casa Thule where they reportedly had an affair, because of course they did. Of course they did. Trotsky and his wife then moved to another house in Koyoa Khan, where later,

basically his wife found out about the FM was like, we've got to get out of here, possibly bad because he was later assassinated with an ice pick. Oh. Sorry, what? The weapon melts. Trotsky, so Stalin, who was in charge of the Soviet Union, sent out his little operatives to take out Trotsky.

Right. So he got ice picked in Mexico. Yeah, in Mexico City. I didn't have an esky with them, bring the ice pick. I think what Jess's saying there is that it was good with a pick made of ice. Oh, well, the perfect weapon because it melts and then there's no DNA load. That's why I said the weapon melts. No fingerprints.

Do you ever listen? Just listen, Dave. That's part of the art, man. Fuck and out. Try the art of listening to your friends. Your colleagues, I don't know about friends. Basically, he was sitting at a desk and he just got struck in the head with an ice pick. he lived for a day but then he died.

Yeah, once it melted. The eyes was, the only thing keeping him alive. Carla reported he also had an affair with Trotsky's assistant. So he's having affairs all over the place. Another one of her famous affairs was with the famous dancer Josephine Baker. She had relationships with several prominent women,

including fellow painters Georgia O'Keefe, Jacqueline Lamber, as well as actresses Dolores Stelria and Paulette Goddard. So both men and women Heaps and heaps of them And so and all this time Diego is also having dozens and dozens of his affairs All A-listers as well

Well, it sounds of it Only the best Nothing but the best I'll only have an affair with an A-lister Yeah Which one? Which A-lister I think she's saying any A-Lister

Oh sorry, got you Well, no Any-A-Lister But A-Lister is the minimum Yeah The velvet rope will only be lifted to Jess's boudoir if you're on the A list. But if you are. As in your name starts with A.

Aaron A. Aronson. Yep. Come on in. He's obviously top of the list. Ardvark. Come on in. Yeah. Woodburn and hardvark.

No doubt about that. Unless his name was Greg. There's the hardvark. He can fuck off. Does the hardvuck have to be called Aaron? Yeah. Doesn't have to be called Aaron. It doesn't have to be called Alan.

Alan. Alan. Andre. Rieu? No. Really? You'd say no to the... You're not getting it.

He doesn't get it. He doesn't get it. It's so cute. Hell, he doesn't get it. It's like he can hear the words, but he just doesn't come from him together. He's got no idea. Look, any person who would not have an affair with on. Andrew Riu is frankly an idiot, in my opinion.

I will not be judged by someone who would say no to the great violinist, who as far as I can see, stands up the front of other people playing violin and just sort of waves his hair around. Yeah, it's the hair. I like the hair. And the hair's a bit weird, but he is a massive stud. I doubt about that. He has a six-pack under there.

He definitely does. I reckon he wears tuxedos that once he gets home into the boudoir with whatever. Mrs. Rieu. Or whoever he has them there, he would just have those rip-off tuxes. One movement and he is in a thong. Leopard print. Leopard print. Pink leopard print.

American-style. G-banger. Yep. An American style? Yeah, not an Australian-style thong. The American one. I was just confused. How many different types of thong are there?

This is awesome. Didn't know. Yeah, stars and stripes. That's a bald eagle on the cock pocket. whatever you call the bit at the front the cockpocket right you were right the first time

when you're right you're right the cock it cock it all right sorry you were wrong when you're wrong you're wrong um for all the people who have come to this episode

just for Frida well done for getting this far I doubt you have sorry we've talked a lot about we have there's no way they would have made it past the five minute mark

the Frida Freaks out there no way Frida maniacs In 1938, Frida had her first solar exhibition in New York. Solar? Sola. Entirely powered by the sun. Yeah, she was very ahead of her time.

She's good. I told you she cared about people. She also cares about the environment. She's amazing. In 1939, she exhibited in Paris where she befriended a lot of the days' great artists. The Louvre purchased her painting the frame, making it the first work by a 20th century Mexican artist to be purchased by an internationally renowned museum.

That's incredible. So quite a big deal. In 1939, Carlo divorced Rivera. No. About time. Oh, okay. Well, We went different ways.

There's some bad and good news for one of you. They did not stay divorced for long because they remarried the following year in 1940. About time. The couple continue to lead largely separate lives, both becoming involved with other people over the years. Why marry then? Because I told you, they're each other's rocks. Just be buds.

Yeah. Her health condition began to worsen in 1950. That year she was diagnosed with gangrene in her right foot. Fuck. She's had a rough trot. Various times she had to have her feet removed surgically. I'm sorry, what? Yeah, and she had one of her sort of legs below the knee amputated.

Baga. Really? She's had a real bloody rough trot. I had no idea about that. Gangrene. Yeah, gangrene, was that the gangrene? Yeah, it's hard to come back from, especially back then. Yeah.

They would have tried leeches and stuff, probably. Actually, she became bedridden for the next nine months and had to stay in hospital and had several more surgeries. But with great persistence, Frida Kahlo continued to work and paint. In the year 1953, she finally achieved her dream of having a solo exhibition in Mexico. What? Entirely powered by the sun. Ah, right, good on us all. Although she had limited mobility at the time,

she was ordered by doctors to stay in bed. She showed up at the exhibition's opening ceremony. She arrived by ambulance and welcomed the attendees. That's awesome. That's fucking cool. And she celebrated the ceremony in a bed that the gallery set up for her, thus not going against her doctor's orders. That's so good.

She was in a bed the whole time. Love it. Well played. It's real well played. One of the last things she did was she turned up at a Marxist rally because in the last few years of their life, both her and Diego rejoined the Communist Party. They were accepted again. They patched it up.

Frida Carlo died on July 13, 1954, at the age of 47, and she was cremated. She was only 47. She was only 47. Gosh, she got a lot done. A lot done. Not much done. That's incredible. Later in his autobiography, Diego Rivera wrote that the day Carlo died was the most tragic day of his life,

adding that too late, he had realized that the most wonderful part of his life had been his love for her. Fuck. He married someone else the following year. Okay. We all grieved differently. Oh, Diego. Finally. Some of us grieved by marrying our fourth wife.

You're right. I'm sorry. Who might a judge? Frida Carlo's fame grew greatly after her death. This is due in large part to art historian Hayden Herrera's international bestseller, Frida, a biography of Frida Carlo, which was published in 1983. By 1984, Carlo's reputation as an artist had grubes. and to such an extent that Mexico declared her work's national cultural heritage,

prohibiting their export from the country. As a result, her paintings seldom appear in international auctions, and comprehensive retrospectives are rare. They don't want them to leave Mexico. That's cool. She painted about 150 paintings in her lifetime, so not that much. About a third of her entire body of work, so 55-ish consists of self-portraits.

What of the rest? Nudes. Melbourne Mexican restaurants. Yeah. Carlo has attracted popular interest to the extent that the term Frida Mania has been coined to describe the phenomenon. Like the Beatles. Yeah.

The Mania was invented by Beatlemania. Her face... Her face as an icon is now recognizable, as recognizable as Bob Marley or Che Guevara. In 2002, Selma Hayek was nominated for an Oscar for playing Frida Carlo in the film Frida, based on Herrera's biography. And the 2017 Pixar film Coco, which I haven't seen, but I'm interested in seeing, set in Mexico features Mexican actress Natalia Cordova Buckley playing Carlo. That's cool.

And as for Diego Rivera, he married his agent the year after Carlo's death. And I'm not sure if there's any relation to his numerous lovemaking, but he developed penis cancer in his 60s. Excuse me? I have never heard of that, I don't think. Penis cancer. Is it called penis cancer? It can't be called penis cancer. That's what I read.

It's not called. penis cancer. He's got cancer in his penis. But he died of heart failure at the age of 70, three years after Carlo in 1957. He was 70. And she was 47 when she died. Yep. So he was about 20 years older than now. And that is The Life and Times. You can't finish it on penis cancer.

Can he? No. Can he do that? Will he? No, he's got a fun fact here. I don't want to Google it. Willie? Yes, I will.

Oh, Dave. Yeah, penile cancer. Penile cancer, sure. Man, it's no joking. It's no laughing matter. It's bad. It's bad stuff. Yeah.

It's rare. It's rare. It's rare. It's bad? Hey, I wasn't laughing at it. Are you going out on a limb there and saying penis cancer's bad? I'm saying it's no laughing matter and you guys laughed a lot at penis cancer. We weren't laughing.

Penis cancer. Is that how you think Jess laughs? By saying penis cancer? That's not how I laugh, mate. Do you think her laugh sounds like? You think Jess laughing sounds like this? Penis cancer? Yeah, it's pretty similar, actually, yeah.

If you speed it up. That's the best impression you've ever done of Jess's laugh. Wow. What a story. What an incredible woman. There's so much in there. I actually really didn't know much about her at all. I think I knew she was an artist and that's probably about it.

Very cool. What a life. Thank you to Hannah for suggesting that topic. I'm glad it was in the hat because it was cool to do a Mexican one when I'm going there next week. And I will try and get a photo of myself in front of the blue house. It'll be awesome. No, Dave, you're going to get a self-portrait in front of the blue house. Thank you.

In honor of freedom. And I'll do it naked like her dad. Just like Guillermo would have wanted. Covered with gold. Just like Carl Carlo. Or, aka Guillermo Carlo. Carl, Carl, Carl, Carl. All right, guys.

only one other thing left to do on this week's episode. And that is, of course, thank everyone that supports the show through Patreon. Patreon. Patreon. Dot com.com. It's my favorite time of the year and the episode. The episode. That's right.

Everyone who supports the show at patreon.com, you really do support the show. And by chucking in $1,000, $10 a month, you can get rewards. $125 a month. $1.25 a month. Wow. We do have our old mate, Schubert. Oh, yeah. The third.

Please. Who, of course, gives us $100 a month. What a guy. He really is the patron saint of the pod. But everyone who supports the show, we'd like to say thank you. And we give you a bonus episodes, access to tickets in advance, all that kind of stuff. But also, we'd like to give shoutouts to some of you now. Now.

We'd love to do that right now. Now, now. Could I kick it off by thanking a good friend of the show from Swansea in Wales? Tom panton. Panton, Tom. Do panton. He's like everyone else, Tom. He puts one panton.

That's good. Whatever we say what colour house Tom would live in. Tom would live in a magenta house. You were about to say that, weren't you? Yes. I thought so. Yep. He's magenta all the way.

100%. Tom Magenta Panton is what he was known as in primary school. And Tom, thank you so much for living in Wales, but choosing to live in a place that we could pronounce. Really appreciate that. Thank you. And hopefully the Swansea Boys are doing well in the soccer football competition. Go Swansea Boys.

Well, I feel like I should have noticed this name before. But from Rockledge, Florida. And this guy is a rock ledge. Oh, is it Flowrider? Flo rider. The Rockledge. No, it's even better than that. It's junk.

puncher. Junk puncher. Puncher. First name junk, second name puncher. Does anyone remember writing junk a Christmas card? I do not remember. I don't remember that. I'm guessing he's going on by a different name, potentially.

I hope, I want, he either means junk puncher like he punches junk or his junk has got a puncher and is leaking air. Oh, no. It's going to flat. You shouldn't have leaking junk. No. You don't got to patch it up. What colour house does junk puncher live in?

It's got to be a White House. It's a White House. He lives in the White House. He's the president. Yeah, that makes sense. I'm confident that junk puncher could be Donald Trump. That's the kind of name it go on, I reckon. Junk Puncher.

May I thank some people? Pussy grabber or junk puncher. He had two options. He went for the slightly less obvious. Yeah. Is it my turn? It is. Okay, sorry.

Well, neither have you answered my question. Sorry. Well, I was sorry, I was distracted by junk puncher. I could not get my head around and beyond junk puncher. I can't get him out of my head. It's a, well, it's a big image. No. Well, I would like to thank from Bar Beach in New South Wales.

This feels like the type of place you might enjoy, Matthew. I'd love to go to a Bar Beach. Two of your favorite things in one place. The best. Paradise. I would like to thank Kalin Rankings. Oh, where do you put her? Number one for me.

Number one. Always number one. Top two. the Caitlin ranking she's my number one. It's Kaylin. Fuck. That's how good she is. That's how amazing she is.

On the Kaylin rankings, she's number three. But. Caitlin, number one. On the cat. Yeah, it's a weird. That's fascinating. Wow. On the farthest common ranking, she's third.

But a more common name she's one. Kaylin, the song by the band that I'm struggling to remember the name of. Now, Unwritten Law, that is my number two. And another one I've forgotten is number one. No, I'm only joking. She's number one. What color? Oh, Kaylin.

Oh, my choosing all the. colors. You've given me the most basic one. I appreciate that. Lime green. Cool. Interesting. Beautiful. The greenhouse. Very nice. Lime greenhouse. It's a party house. It's tropical. People are going around around there for beach parties. Oh, fun. They're going around there for beach bar parties. They're going around there for bar beach parties. Oh, great. Casavirde. And I would also like to thank from across the pond to our friend in Auckland. It's Mark Tau. Mark a towel. Well, he'd be very handy at the bar beach.

Oh, I really, that's good. I really enjoy when people's last names are just objects. Yeah. Like when they were naming themselves, they went, what are you called? Naming themselves. Tau? Mark Tow. Yeah.

He sounds like a made-up boyfriend from the Brady Bunch. Yeah. Yeah, Jane. His name's Mark. Mark what? Last summer we went to, we got to first base. We went to first base. We went there.

We went to first base. We said it for a week. It was great. Beautiful, Tassel. Got cramp after, I but we... Got cramps. Spent too much. And where does Mark live?

Time there. Mark? Oh, what color house? Oh, baby powder blue. Oh. So a cast a thule of a different color. He has a matching... Matching.

There's a matching baby powder blue tuxedo crush velvet. Oh, get out of town. That is elegance. It's notified. Thank you. so much Marks Howl. I'd like to thank all the way from Devon. I love Devon. We've got to go to Devon.

We've got a few people in Devon, I reckon. Down the southwest, is that right, Dave? Just east of Cornwall, I think. You're the UK geography guy because you know all the football team, so I'll believe you on that one. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's right. Devin. And around there they say stuff like,

In me combino or a stroke. No, I didn't get that right. Sorry, about that, Devon. Have another crack. Come on. always knows you Come boing or aster Stop

I hated that From Devon I would like to thank The accuracy you hate Yeah I hate how accurate that was You hate how they sound I'm jealous Right

Are you jealous of them or me Of you being able to so accurately Depend to that I'm the voice moifah Morpher The Man of a Thousand Morphing voices I would like to

to thank from Devon, our main man, which is, I looked it up just to make sure you are not going to get a lot of angry Devonshire tweets, which is a lot less appetising than Devonshire eats. Michael Killeen. Ooh. His house is coloured in cream with a dollop of jam red. Oh, nice. On top. Because that's how they do it in Devon.

They do it right. cream first on the scone then jam i don't want to have this argument again i'm a jam then cream man yeah that's not that's not that's not devonshire tea though that's cornish tea fine then i like cornish jam is a spread it belongs on the bread it's more dense like you put that on first what do you put on oh my god no i'm not having this conversation again no do you put the dairy on first when you make is it butter first or is it jam first well now you've added a third thing well no The butter in the cream of the dairy. You put on the dairy first and then the jam on top.

I hate this. Okay, what I like to do is butter. No, I don't want to do this in detail. Then cream. And then, queam. Queam. Yeah, quim always goes on us. That's something we both agree with.

I'm pretty sure that's Michael from Devon. Thank you, Michael, for your support. Would agree with that. And finally, from Canada, the British Columbia part. I would like to thank Jesse. Wagner or Wagner Wagner Oh Wagner

Oh Wagner Jesse Wagner Oh Jesse Wagner Oh Jesse Wagner And what colour house does Jesse Wagner Is that your Canadian accent? Oh yeah Oh yeah

Oh yeah I've been all over British Columbia Oh yeah A boot Yeah So So Jesse's house Is painted in a beautiful

Mix Of maple syrup gold Oh beautiful And Canadian red, God bless Canada. And God bless Jesse Wagner. Wagner. Wagner. Thanks, Jesse Wagner.

Thank you so much. And thanks to everyone that supports the show. Even a dollar a month makes a big difference to us. Obviously, 10% of the difference that $10 a month makes, but there you go. We'll love you. And the bonus episodes last month was a fun one we did about Christmas. Yes, about the Yule Lads. We actually talked about the Yule Lads, which missed out on the Christmas.

special but Matt. Did a little... And we're going to... The next one coming up, you guys don't know about, but some of the listeners will know, well, the people in the Patreon will know because they have been helping me put it together. That's exciting.

I like it. Team work. Thanks, everyone. And of course, if you want to get in contact with the show, suggest a topic. You can find our link, which is our Pintweet on Twitter at the moment, which is...

We'll take you to the place where you can now fill in our form for the hat. Just like Hannah did. Thank you for the Frida Kahler episode. Or you can get in contact or follow us at any time. We put up extra photos and videos and all kinds of stuff every week on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, all at Do Go On Pod. And if you have a question, anyone who annoy us, why not drop us a line at DoGoOnPod at Gmail.com?

Yeah, that's the point. If you're going to be annoying, the one that you should get onto is the email. Keep your tweets positive. Thank you. If you can, Facebook, Instagram, keep it all very positive. Email. email, that's where you get rid of any sort of grievances. Oh, let loose.

If one of us has mispronounced a word, email it. Don't tweet it, email, please. You're not going to have enough characters in a tweet. We don't want you having to like sort of squeeze in your sadness into a tweet. Get it on the email. If you're pedantic, you use email. Is this fun for you guys? Yeah, it is.

Because Matt and I don't look at the email. So enjoy that, Jess. Thanks, guys. Thanks. No, thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Thank you. We'll be back next week with another episode.

I'll be in Mexico City by that time. So look out for my photos outside La Casa Athool. But until next week, I'll say thank you and goodbye. Later. Bye. Please don't even when we mean things. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates.

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