Episodes
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January 23, 2025 - Resistance: They Fought Back, Cara Romero, and a look at the craft brewing industry
The documentary film, “Resistance: They Fought Back” tells the little-known story of how widespread and prevalent Jewish resistance to Nazi barbarism was during World War II. The film’s Executive Producer Paula Apsell joins The Culture Show to talk about it ahead of its premiere on PBS, January 27th, which is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. To learn more about how to watch it, go here. Paula Apsell is a Senior Executive Producer Emerita of “Nova” and “Nova Science Now” and CEO of Leading Edge Productions.From there Chemehuevi photographer Cara Romero joins The Culture Show to talk about her first major solo exhibition at the Hood Museum of Art, Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light). Spanning the past decade of her work, this exhibition presents a thematic examination of Romero's complex and layered images, which celebrate the multiplicity, beauty, and resilience of Native American and Indigenous experiences.Finally we look at the state of the craft brewing industry. In a recent New York Times article, Joshua M. Bernstein writes about its breakneck growth over the decades, and its decline. 2024 marked the first time since 2005 that more breweries closed than opened. Joshua M. Bernstein is an award-winning writer and beer, spirits, food and wine journalist. His latest book is “The Complete Beer Course.” -
January 22, 2025 - Jenny Johnson and Billy Costa, Pedro Alonzo and Jackson Polys, and the BPL's Winter Reading Challenge
The dynamic dining duo, Jenny Johnson and Billy Costa join the Culture Show to go over the local restaurant acne, from the latest openings, to the latest closings and must-have meals. Jenny Johnson and Billy Costa are co-hosts of NESN's "Dining Playbook" and "Meet Boston with Billy and Jenny.” Their new book is “A Taste of Boston: The Definitive Cookbook of the City We Love.” From there it’s countdown to the Boston Public Art Triennial. It will feature 18 large-scale public art commissions, by local, national and international artists. Including the artist collective and self-proclaimed “public secret society,” New Red Order, whose work imagines what an Indigenous future could look like. Multimedia artist Jackson Polys is one of the core members. Polys and culture show contributor Pedro Alonzo, who is Artistic Director of the Boston Public Art Triennial, join The Culture Show.Finally, we get an overview of the Boston Public Library’s Winter Reading Challenge to read a book by an author from each of six geographic regions: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania. Veronica Koven-Matasy, the reader services supervisor at the central library in Copley Square, joins The Culture Show for an overview. -
January 21, 2025 - Forbidden Broadway, Payal Kapadia, and Karen Valby
“Forbidden Broadway,” is a Tony award-winning show that skewers Broadway musicals with love. It’s the brainchild of playwright and parodist Gerard Alessandrini. Debuting in 1982, Alessandrini has created multiple iterations of “Forbidden Broadway.” His latest production is “Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song. “ Alessandrini, a Needham native and founding father of the spoof “Spamilton” joins The Culture Show for a preview of “Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song,” which is onstage at the Emerson Colonial Theatre for three performances, February 8th and 9th. To learn more, go here.From there we’re joined by Mumbai-based writer and director Payal Kapadia, Her debut dramatic feature film, “All We Imagine as Light” has garnered international acclaim, which includes the prestigious Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Closer to home, she recently received The Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award. Her film will be opening in multiple theatres across Boston this Friday, January 24th. For a deeper look at the film, on February 9th “All We Imagine as Light,” will be featured at West Newton Cinema’s “Behind the Screen” event. To learn more, go here.Finally, writer Karen Valby joins The Culture Show to talk about her latest book, “The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History,” It is among the New York Times’ 100 Notable books of 2024. -
January 20, 2025 - The inauguration, the Embrace, and public art honoring MLK Jr.
Culture Show co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III discuss President Trump’s inauguration through the lens of arts and culture. They’ll also focus on what Trump’s presidency will mean for the arts and culture sector.From there we mark Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a conversation about The Embrace memorial and sculpture on Boston Common, which honors Martin Luther King, Jr., Correta Scott King and their fight for civil rights. Jha D. Amazi joins us to talk about the collaborative effort that went into creating The Embrace, which was crafted by MASS Design Group in partnership with artist Hank Willis Thomas. Jha D. Amazi is a senior associate at MASS Design Group, and Director of the Public Memory and Memorials Design Lab. Finally, Culture Show contributor Julia Swanson takes us on a public art tour of the public art throughout Greater Boston that honors Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders. Julia Swanson is a multidisciplinary artist and award-winning photographer who is the creator of The Art Walk Project, a series of self-guided micro tours. -
January 17, 2025 - Week in Review: The TikTok ban, David Lynch, and Bad Bunny
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 Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision upholding a law requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company to sell the platform in order for the app to continue operations in the United States. What could this mean for the social media juggernaut, and for free speech?From there, we remember the legacy of the innovative and industrious filmmaker, artist and composer David Lynch, who died at age 78. He radicalized film and influenced a generation of actors and directors. And California is still ablaze, leaving a number of architectural landmarks in ashes and disrupting awards season, prompting a debate if they should be televised–or even happen– amid the devastation.Finally, Bad Bunny returns to his roots with a concert residency in Puerto Rico. -
January 16, 2025 - Michael Cassidy, a college course on food design, and the Boston Children's Chorus' MLK Jr. tribute concert
In 1991 New England Law Professor Mary Joe Frug was murdered in Harvard Square. More than 30 years on, the case remains unsolved. Michael Cassidy was a prosecutor in Massachusetts when the crime was committed. He’s been haunted by the slaying ever since. One way to grapple with it, write a legal thriller based on the case. His inaugural novel is titled “‘When the Past is All Deception.” He joins The Culture Show to talk about writing the legal thriller. Michael Cassidy is a nationally recognized expert in criminal law and legal ethics and a professor of law at Boston College Law School.From there it’s cooking up a new way to teach, literally. Erica Pernice, an adjunct faculty member at Rhode Island School of Design, is teaching her industrial design students product development in the kitchen. It’s a place where they can learn how to Iterate, critique, and control one variable at a time and iterate again, and again.Finally Andrés Holder, Executive Director of Boston Children’s Chorus joins The Culture Show to preview their 22nd annual Martin Luther King, Jr. tribute concert, “Road to Freedom,” which explores the legacies of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X. The performance is on January 20th at 4:00 at Symphony Hall. To learn more, go here. -
January 15, 2025 - Barron Ryan, Tara Sellios, and Winteractive in Downtown Boston
Pianist and composer Barron Ryan joins “The Culture Show” ahead of his January 17th concert at the First Congregational Church in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. His latest album is “There Arises Light in the Darkness.” To learn more about Barron Ryan’s concert go here.Tara Sellios is a Boston based artist whose photographs highlight the beauty of the grotesque. Sellios creates still life vignettes from organic materials including animal bones, insect specimens, and dried flowers which she photographs using a large format 8 X 10 camera. Her new exhibition, "Tara Sellios: Ask Now the Beasts" is on view at the Fitchburg Art Museum January 18, 2025 - January 18, 2026. To learn more, go here.WINTERACTIVE is back. The free, walkable art experience features more than 15 artworks and interactive play elements. Michael Nichols and Mike Geiger join The Culture Show for an overview. Michael Nicols is the President of the Downtown Boston Alliance, which is hosting and producing WINTERACTIVE in partnership with Quebec-based curatorial partners and independent artists working in Boston, Canada, and beyond. Mike Geiger is an artist whose light installation, “Nature’s Glow,” is featured among the WINTERACTIVE works of public art. -
January 14, 2025 - Imari Paris Jeffries, Le Prestige, and David Malan
Imari Paris Jeffries, president and CEO of Embrace Boston, joins The Culture Show to preview Embrace Boston’s Imari Paris Jeffries of Embrace honors MLK gala, which celebrates the legacies of outstanding civic, business, and community leaders in Boston and across the country. The gala is Sunday, January 19th, To learn more, go here.From there we get a preview of Le Prestige’s upcoming show at Lizard Lounge. Chris Forkey, the band's leader, composer and bassist along with John Glenshaw, the band’s drummer, join The Culture Show to talk about their music. Le Prestige will be performing on January 22nd. To learn more, go here. Finally David Malan joins The Culture Show to talk about his vision for Arlington’s Regent Theatre. He is professor of computer science at Harvard university and he recently joined the historic Regent Theatre in Arlington as its operator. -
January 13, 2025 - Mark Morris, Kay WalkingStick, and Mary Grant
Choreographer Mark Morris joins The Culture Show to talk about “The Look of Love,” which is an homage to the music of Burt Bacharach. The show features music newly arranged by jazz pianist, composer, and Mark Morris Dance Group’s musical collaborator Ethan Iverson. The show is a fusion of dance and music with an ensemble of vocals, piano, trumpet, bass, and drums, led by singer, actress, and Broadway star Marcy Harriell. The Look of Love is presented by Global arts live. It is onstage at the Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre January 23rd through January 26th. To learn more, go here.From there we’re joined by contemporary artist Kay WalkingStick. A member of the Cherokee Nation who is also of European descent, her paintings of the American landscape explore relationships between people and the earth. She discusses an exhibition now on view at the Addison Gallery of American Art through February 2nd, “Kay WalkingStick/Hudson River School”Finally Mary Grant, president of MassArt, joins The Culture Show to remember president Jimmy Carter as a president for the arts. She also discusses the Berkshires arts scene, plus her top art experiences of 2024. -
January 10, 2025 - Week in Review: the SoCal fires, Facebook's fact-checking fiasco, and Boston Calling
The Culture Show's co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III talk through the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review.First up - Southern California is ablaze, and unprecedented wildfires have spared no one. Hollywood celebrities - from Billy Crystal to Paris Hilton – are posting images of how the flames have destroyed their homes. Could their platform help to amplify both the environmental emergency and the heroism of the firefighters in a race to save people’s lives?From there, Amazon is set to release a new documentary about Melania Trump, which promises to be an “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at the incoming first lady’s life” Skeptics call it a “vanity project” since the former future first lady is the film’s executive producer. Plus, as Silicon Valley prepares for another Trump Presidency, Mark Zuckerberg is unfriending fact-checks, saying they curb censorship. . Fact-checkers say he’s got his facts on how fact-checking actually works all wrong, From there - Jennifer Coolidge fans are in disbelief as they claim the White Lotus actress dropped her act and used her "real voice" in a recent interview.
