Episodes
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April 15, 2025 - The 60th anniversary of the 1965 Freedom Rally, what Boston can learn from Japanese transit, and Joyce Kulhawik
Imari Paris Jeffries, President and CEO of Embrace Boston, joins The Culture Show to talk about the 60th Anniversary of the 1965 Freedom Rally. As part of the Everyone 250 Initiative and other 250 celebrations, Embrace Boston, in collaboration with the City of Boston and other community partners, will gather at the Embrace Monument/Parkman Bandstand. To learn more about the event, go here.From there Jeremy Siegel, the global transportation correspondent for The World and GBH News, joins The Culture Show to talk about his recent travels to Tokyo, and the lessons Boston can learn from their world class transportation system.Finally, Culture Show contributor Joyce Kulhawik joins The Culture Show for a roundup of the latest plays, movies and television to see right now. Joyce Kulhawik is a Culture Show contributor, Emmy-award winning arts and entertainment reporter and president of the Boston Theatre Critics Association. You can find her reviews at Joyce’sChoices. -
April 14, 2025 - David Grann, a David Lynch tribute at the Somerville Theatre, and Daniel Mendelsohn
David Grann, author of “The Wager,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon, is a #1 “New York Times” best selling author and an award-winning staff writer at “The New Yorker” magazine. He joins The Culture Show to talk about his writing and reporting process, and adapting his work for the screen. On April 27th he’ll be honored at the Associates of the Boston Public Library's 35th annual Literary Lights dinner.From there Ian Judge, Creative Director at The Somerville Theatre, gives us an overview of “Wonderful & Strange: A Tribute to David Lynch. It kicks off on April 16th and runs through April 19th. To learn more, go here.Finally, Daniel Mendelsohn—Charles Ranlett Flint Professor of Humanities at Bard College, and frequent contributor of essays to The New Yorker and The New York Review of Books where he is Editor-at-Large—discusses his new translation of Homer's “The Odyssey.” Tonight he’ll be at Harvard Bookstore for an event at 7:00. To learn more, go here. -
April 11, 2025 - Week in Review: New MFA Director Pierre Terjanian, A Minecraft Movie, and Elton John vs. Madonna
Culture Show co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and James Bennett II go over the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review, which includes the Museum of Fine Arts. Following a global search, they announced that Pierre Terjanian will be the museum’s next Ann and Graham Gund Director and CEO. He joins The Culture Show to talk about his vision for the MFA.From there it’s “A Minecraft Movie, “ which has exceeded box office expectations and sparked mayhem in the movie theaters along the way.Then it’s onto the National Recording Registry with a listen to some of the 25 recordings added this year. Plus, how Trump’s tariffs could affect arts and culture, from the price of books to Hollywood. -
April 10, 2025 - Sara Moulton, tariffs and Hollywood, and Felipe Torres Medina
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Harvard Square’s iconic Harvest Restaurant. To kick off this milestone birthday year, Harvest is inviting alumni chefs to cook a selection of special dinners. Their first one is Harvest Alumni, noted cookbook author and TV Personality Sara Moulton. She joins The Culture Show for a preview. The dinner will take place on Friday. To learn more go here.From there Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons weighs in on how China is threatening to respond to Trump’s tariffs by banning Hollywood flms.. Lisa Simmons is the artistic and executive director of the Roxbury International Film Festival and program manager at Mass Cultural Council. Finally Felipe Torres Medina, an award-winning comedian and writer on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” discusses his new book, “America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story.” -
April 9, 2025 - Amor Towles, the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere's midnight ride, and Mahesh Daas
Bestselling author Amor Towles has another bestseller, “Table for Two.” It’s a collection of short stories that land us in New York. The second part of the book moves us to Los Angeles in a novella set during the Golden Age of Hollywood. We caught up with Towles back in September when he was in town for a book event. He joins us again, now that “Table for Two” is out in paperback to continue the conversation, with a focus on the second part of the book, “Eve in Hollywood.”From there we continue our series “Countdown to 2026,” with Nina Zannieri, Executive Director of the Paul Revere House. She joins The Culture Show with an overview of the events and programming commemorating the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, which is April 18th. To learn more about everything that the Paul Revere House has to offer, go here,Finally Mahesh Daas, president of Boston Architectural College, discusses the lasting impact of COVID on higher education. Mahesh Daas is a Culture Show contributor who joins us monthly. He is co-author of the graphic novella about artificial intelligence, titled “I, Nobot.” -
April 8, 2025 - De'Lon Grant, TV presidents, and Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits at the MFA
Actors’ Shakespeare Project closes out their 2024-25 Season with their latest production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Actor De’Lon Grant, who stars as Demetrius, joins The Culture Show to talk about the production. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is on stage, April 11- May 4 at the Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown. To learn more, go here.From there James Poniewozik joins The Culture Show to talk about today’s political TV dramas and how their adherence to White House procedures and protocols are disorienting compared to the real drama that plays out over day in Trump’s White House. Poniewozik wrote about this recently in his essay “The Sudden Weirdness of TV Presidents.” James Poniewozik is chief TV critic for The New York Times and author of Audience of One: Donald Trump, Television, and the Fracturing of America.Finally Katie Hanson, William and Ann Elfers Curator of Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts, joins The Culture Show for an overview of their exhibition “Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits.” It’s on view through Sep 7, 2025. To learn more, go here. -
April 7, 2025 - Night Side Songs, Anthony Roth Costanzo, and GBH News Rooted
“Night Side Songs,” a new musical created by brothers Daniel and Patrick Lazour is a work that explores the myriad experiences of catastrophic illness–the fear, blame and reconciliation. Produced by the American Repertory Theater in association with the Philadelphia Theatre Company, “Night Side Songs” is onstage at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury April 9th through April 20th. Daniel and Patrick Lazour join The Culture Show for an overview. To learn more, go here.From there, famed countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, He is the new General Director and President of Opera Philadelphia and he’s on a mission to make opera more accessible and affordable. Case in point: there’s plenty to sing about with the company’s new $11 tickets. On the heels of announcing their 2025-2026 season, he joins The Culture Show to talk about his vision for Opera Philadelphia. Finally, GBH’s Paris Alston joins The Culture Show to preview the launch of “GBH News Rooted,” a new television show that continues the conversation about the Black experience. To learn more, go here. -
April 4, 2025 - Week in Review: Adolescence, the Beatles biopics, and Val Kilmer
Culture Show co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III go over the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review.First up, the fate of TikTok, which is nearing its Saturday deadline to find a new buyer under federal law or it’ll have to go dark as a result of a ban in the United States.Then it’s the Netflix series “Adolescence,” which has provoked a conversation about toxic masculinity and teenagers in crisis.From there it’s a look at Sam Mendes, who has announced the cast of his Beatles biopic.Plus more White House DOGE cuts are putting a chokehold on arts and culture in this country. In the crosshairs this week: The National Endowment of the Humanities which will see 70-80% of its staff cut. And The Institute of Museum and Library Services which has just been gutted.Finally, reflecting on the career of actor Val Kilmer who died earlier this week at age 65. -
April 3, 2025 - Cicely Carew, It's A Motherf**king Pleasure, and a retirement home for penguins at the New England Aquarium
Artist Cicely Carew joins The Culture Show to talk about her solo exhibition at the Fuller Craft Museum, BeLOVEd, a visionary site-specific installation uniting multiple media: sculpture, video and a soundscape to create an immersive, meditative experience. To learn more, go here.From there Samuel Brewer joins The Culture Show. He is a co-founder of FlawBored, a multi award winning disability led theatre company. Their show, “It’s a Motherf**king Pleasure,” is presented by ArtsEmerson, onstage through April 13th. To learn more, go here,Finally, we get an overview of the New England Aquarium’s “retirement home” island for aging penguins. Kristen McMahon, the aquarium's curator of pinnipeds and penguins, joins The Culture Show. -
April 2, 2025 - Carousel, Elizabeth Strout, and the Hanging Nasturtiums at the Gardner Museum
Boston Lyric Opera mounts an 80th Anniversary production of "Rodgers & Hammerstein's CAROUSEL,” eight decades to the day of its first Boston run, and in the same venue where the final pre-Broadway tryout played in 1945, the Colonial Theatre. BLO Artistic Associate Anne Bogart stages a tribute to this classic and she joins The Culture Show for an overview. To learn about upcoming performances, go here.From there the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Elizabeth Strout joins The Culture Show to talk about her latest book “Tell Me Everything” and to discuss her upcoming visit to Boston on April 27th where she will be the keynote speaker at the 35th annual Literary Lights dinner, sponsored by the Associates of the Boston Public Library. Finally Erika Rumbley, the Director of Horticulture at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum joins the Culture Show to talk about the annual return of their Hanging Nasturtiums, which is on display through April 14th. To learn more, go here.
