Barry Friedman: Trade Blanket Expert, Killers of the Flower Moon - Epi. 267, Host Dr. Mark Sublette

Art Dealer Diaries Podcast

I always have a good time with Barry Friedman and he was my guest on the podcast today. Barry's specialty is trade blankets. These range from the traditional Pendleton to a variety of different types of blankets that were made commercially from 1892 up to today. The Pendleton company is still making wonderful blankets as we speak.
I've done a podcast with him in the past (episode 15), where you can hear his whole backstory. It's extremely interesting because he was a professional writer for comedians and the whole of Hollywood for around 30 years. He's funny... really funny, actually - which is why I enjoy having him on the podcast so much.
This time around we wanted to talk about the new Martin Scorsese movie Killers of the Flower Moon with Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone. It's about the Osage tragedy of 1921 and, while it's a great read, It's a terrible, traumatic story. Much of America's history with Native culture, and the atrocities that occurred are not dissimilar from the events told in this film.
As far as the podcast goes, Barry provided all the trade blankets for the movie. He sold them over 60 pieces. We talked about the process of how he got involved and what that meant for him. It's an interesting story involving a guy who has spent his entire life loving this kind of blanket and has become the world's expert on the subject. We had a great, fun time. And I think this is a really interesting and unique podcast with Barry Friedman.