Mad Tea

This episode traces the life of Antonin Artaud—a poet, actor, director, and relentless disruptor of theatrical and psychiatric order. From his early struggles with mental distress and dependency to his expulsion from the Surrealist movement, Artaud's life defied categorization. We follow his journey through experimental theater, his voyages to Ireland and Mexico, and the nine years he spent confined in asylums across France, subjected to electroshock and institutional control.

Rather than romanticize his suffering, we examine the material realities of Artaud’s madness: the brutal conditions of psychiatric internment, the erasure of his agency, and the desperate struggle to preserve language in the face of silencing. We listen closely to the voice that emerged from this crucible.

This is the story of a man who refused coherence, who demanded the impossible, and who insisted that art must be lived, not merely shown. This is Artaud, in all his contradiction and fire.

On April 24th, Julia Macintosh visited the Center for Mad Culture all the way from Edinburgh, Scotland. Julia presented some of her history and advocacy work with friends who came to hear her speak. This visit to the Center was accompanied by the wonderful news that Julia would be opening a Center for Mad Culture UK! Our collaborations will find further ways to create international opportunities for Mad Culture!

In this episode, we sit down with artist Cam Collins, whose current exhibition at the Center for Mad Culture "Copper Odyssey 2: Museum of Miracles," explores the layered relationship between lived experiences and built worlds. Cam talks about their process and the role of printmaking and museums in their work. We get into the way of the Canvas, Redman, and Respecting the Craft.

This conversation is about art, but also about the worlds we inhabit—and the ones we choose to make.

Instagram: @collins_cameron

Bluesky: @copperodyssey

website: camcollins.us

Games: cam999.itch.io

Store: camcollins.bigcartel.com

camshop.us

Attorney and psychiatric survivor Jim Gottstein joins us to discuss his decades-long fight against forced treatment and psychiatric abuse. As the founder of the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights), Jim has worked to expose the legal and ethical violations at the heart of the mental health system. In this episode, he shares the inside story of The Zyprexa Papers—a landmark case in which he released internal documents from Eli Lilly revealing the company’s efforts to conceal the dangers of its antipsychotic drug, Zyprexa. From legal resistance to pharmaceutical accountability, this conversation traces what it means to challenge psychiatric power from within the system.

https://psychrights.org

https://thezyprexapapers.com

https://jimgottstein.com

This episode of Mad Tea explores the deeply complicated 1922 book Artistry of the Mentally Ill by Hans Prinzhorn—a psychiatrist who gathered over 5,000 works of art made by institutionalized psychiatric patients. In this episode, Matt and Megan examine how the book influenced modern art movements like Surrealism and Art Brut, while also reinforcing psychiatric narratives that erased the humanity and agency of its creators. Focusing on the ten artists Prinzhorn called “schizophrenic masters,” the episode gives voice to those who were institutionalized, silenced, and often killed—yet left behind vivid, astonishing works. The hosts question who gets to be called an artist, how madness is aestheticized, and what it means to reclaim these stories today.

In this episode we visit the works and lives of: August Natterer, Karl Genzel, August Klett, Clemens von Ortzen, Hermann Behle, Hyacinth Freiherr von Wieser, Peter Moog, Johann Knopf, Joseph Schneller, and Franz Pohl.

Written and hosted by Matt Bodett and Megan Sterling

Produced by Press Here and a a project of the Center for Mad Culture

Music produced and provided by Had Matter

Ever heard of Mad Pride? If not, this is your invitation.

Before the hashtags, before the awareness ribbons, there was a bed pushed through the streets of Toronto. Survivors in hospital gowns. It wasn’t a plea for better treatment—it was a celebration. A refusal. A revolution.

In this episode of Mad Tea, we bring you the story of Mad Pride—from its protest beginnings to its global evolution. It’s political, it’s poetic, and it’s proudly mad. We talk empty beds, Bastille Day protests, visionary artists, and the birth of a movement that said: we’re not broken—we’re building something new.

This is more than a history lesson. It’s a celebration of mad culture, mad resistance, and mad futures.

Whether you’ve been marching for years or just hearing about Mad Pride for the first time, this is the episode that brings it all together.

Hosted by Megan Sterling and Matt Bodett

Produced by Press Here

Music by Had Matter

She warned them. No one listened. Then everything burned.

In this episode of Mad Tea, Matt and Megan take on the myth of Cassandra—the Trojan prophetess cursed to know the truth but never be believed. But this isn’t just ancient history. The curse lives on in today’s world, especially for those labeled mad.

From psychiatric survivors to prophetic voices dismissed as delusional, we explore why society still ignores uncomfortable truths—especially when they come from mad people. What do Elizabeth Packard, Joyce Brown, and William Blake have in common with Cassandra? More than you might think.

What if madness isn’t the opposite of truth, but the form it takes when the world refuses to listen?

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Hosted by Megan Sterling and Matt Bodett

Produced by Press Here

Music by Had Matter

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A man walks into a hospital seeking care. Days later, he’s dead—his body broken, his ribs shattered. The official response? “These things happen.”

In this episode, Matt Bodett and Megan Sterling uncover two of Dunning’s final and most chilling scandals. The first is the brutal death of George Pucik, an immigrant wrongfully institutionalized, beaten to death, and discarded. The second? A macabre tale of stolen bodies, smuggled from the asylum morgue under cover of night, with whispers of a secret “killer ward” where the unclaimed simply… disappeared.

As political cover-ups tighten their grip and officials silence whistleblowers, one thing becomes clear: the corruption at Dunning wasn’t just about greed—it was about power, and who society deemed disposable.

This is the final chapter in the Dunning series, but its echoes remain. Some histories refuse to stay buried.

Politicians had a saying: "To the victor go the spoils." But what happens when the spoils are the lives of asylum inmates?

In this episode, Matt and Megan unravel the Boodlers’ Scandal—a web of corruption so deep it bled Cook County dry while inmates at Dunning starved, shivered, and suffered. From rotten meat and stolen funds to secret backroom deals in smoke-filled saloons, this was a system designed to profit off neglect.

Meet Clem Periolat, the "Bean Man" whose spoiled groceries lined the pockets of officials. King Mike McDonald, the gambling kingpin who pulled the strings. And Dr. John Spray, the asylum superintendent who ruled with a pistol on his hip.

As reformers tried to expose the truth, they were met with threats, bullets, and powerful men who always seemed to slip away untouched. But when a doctor refused to stay silent, the scheme began to unravel—leading to trials, resignations, and one dramatic escape to Canada.

This is the story of how greed devoured the asylum system. And how, despite it all, the ones who suffered most were never the ones on trial.

Chicago’s politicians had a saying: "To the victor go the spoils." But what happens when the spoils are the lives of asylum inmates?

In this episode, Matt and Megan unravel the Boodlers’ Scandal—a web of corruption so deep it bled Cook County dry while inmates at Dunning starved, shivered, and suffered. From rotten meat and stolen funds to secret backroom deals in smoke-filled saloons, this was a system designed to profit off neglect.

Meet Clem Periolat, the "Bean Man" whose spoiled groceries lined the pockets of officials. King Mike McDonald, the gambling kingpin who pulled the strings. And Dr. John Spray, the asylum superintendent who ruled with a pistol on his hip.

As reformers tried to expose the truth, they were met with threats, bullets, and powerful men who always seemed to slip away untouched. But when a doctor refused to stay silent, the scheme began to unravel—leading to trials, resignations, and one dramatic escape to Canada.

This is the story of how greed devoured the asylum system. And how, despite it all, the ones who suffered most were never the ones on trial.