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Four smiling people in the center of a colorful graphic with the words "The Culture Show" written beneath them
Weekdays from 2 to 3 p.m.

GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen and a rotating panel of cultural correspondents and co-hosts provide an expansive look at society through art, culture and entertainment, driving conversations about how listeners experience culture across music, movies, fashion, TV, art, books, theater, dance, food and more. To share your opinion, email thecultureshow@wgbh.org or call/text 617-300-3838.

The show also airs on CAI, the Cape, Coast and Islands NPR station.

Come see The Culture Show LIVE at the  GBH BPL Studio every Friday at 2pm, and streaming on  GBH News YouTube.

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Listen to previous shows

  • The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Andris Nelsons will lead a program featuring world renowned soprano Renée Fleming and baritone Rod Gilfry in “The Brightness of Light” on November 21, 22 and 23. This BSO co-commission is a song cycle based on the letters between painter Georgia O’Keefe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz. It’s composed by Kevin Puts. The program also includes two pieces by Mozart, the overture to Die Entführung aus dem Serail and his Symphony No. 36, Linz. Renée Fleming joins The Culture Show to talk about “The Brightness of Light.” She also discusses her new book "Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness." It’s a collection of essays edited by Fleming, which feature reflections on the impact of music and the arts on our health from leading scientists, artists, therapists, educators, and physicians. On November 23rd you can join Renée Fleming after the evening concert for a special signing of her new book.From there, we’re joined by writer Patrick Radden Keefe. The new FX series “Say Nothing,” which is streaming now on Hulu, is based on his 2018 book “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland.” The book is an epic account of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the bloody sectarian conflict between Catholics and Protestants that extended from the late 1960s to the Good Friday peace accord of 1998. Patrick Radden Keefe is an award-winning staff writer at “The New Yorker” magazine and author of the New York Times bestsellers “Rogues,” “Empire of Pain” and “Say Nothing.”
  • Last month Orville Peck played to a sold out show in MGM’s Music Hall. Culture Show host and Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen caught up with him ahead of his performance to talk about his path to country music, what it’s like to be regarded as country music’s most mysterious outlaw and his latest album “Stampede,” which includes a duet with Willie Nelson about gay cowboy love.From there Christopher V. Edwars, Artistic Director at Actors’ Shakespeare Project and Director Regine Vital join The Culture Show to talk about their current production, the play “Emma,” An adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel. “Emma” is onstage through December 15th at The Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, MA.
  • Today on The Culture Show, co-hosts Jared Bowen, Edgar B. Herwick III and Callie Crossley go over the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review. First up: The Grammy nominations are out. They’ll go over the snoozers, snubs and surprises.From there they’ll remember Boston’s own jazz giant Roy Haynes. The pioneering drummer who earned the nickname "Snap Crackle" died this week at age 99. He was one of the last remaining musicians of jazz’s swing and bebop eras.Then, Simon and Garfunkel break their sound of silence, making amends over lunch in an exchange that brought Art Garfunkel to tears.And, lions and tigers and pornography, oh my! Mattel merchandise for the “WICKED” movie mistakenly sent people to a website with adult only content.Plus, it’s not a satirical headline, it’s for real: The Onion buys Alex Jones’s InfoWars in a bankruptcy auction.
  • Fresh off his Best Actor Oscar win for Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy produces and stars in the quiet, contemplative, and powerful film “Small Things Like These.” Based on the book by Claire Keegan, “Small Things Like These” is set in 1985, in a small Irish village just before Christmas. The protagonist, Bill Furlong, played by Murphy, is a devoted husband and father to five daughters. A coal merchant, he spends his days hauling truckloads of coal around town. He’s well-liked, very kind and very interior. Especially as he’s flooded with painful childhood memories during one of his routine deliveries to a Magdalene laundry. An institution run by Catholic nuns where so-called “fallen” girls were imprisoned and abused. Cillian Murphy joins the CUlture Show to talk about “Small Things LIke These,” which is in theaters now.From there, famous for its role in the historic ride, Boston’s Old North Church has embarked on its own journey to restore the artwork that graced its walls during the American Revolution. Culture Show Producer Kate Dellis brings us the story with a behind-the-scenes look at this restoration.Finally, artist and sculptor Scooter LaForge uses pop-culture references to address themes such as addiction, gender, and sexuality. While his work is infused with a punk rock attitude, in it you can often find humor and hope. Scooter LaForge is a fixture in New York’s art scene, whose aesthetic has also made it onto the runway, collaborating with fashion designers and crafting bespoke clothing. Now,a mid-career retrospective showcases a selection of LaForge's work, titled “Enchanted Anarchies and Other Realities,” it’s on view through December 1st at Lesley University College of Art and Design. Tonight you can catch him in conversation with artist Jennifer Krasinsiki, 6:00 PM at the Roberts Gallery, Lunder Arts Center as Lesley.
  • Imari Paris Jeffries, President and CEO of Embrace Boston, joins The Culture Show to talk about his reflections on the 2024 election results. He also recaps Embrace Boston’s 2024 Arts and Culture Summit and he and Jared Bowen share their experiences of both being featured performers in the Huntington Theatre’s production of “Nassim.” From there, longtime journalist Carmen Fields joins us to talk about her new book, “Going Back to T-Town:The Ernie Fields Territory Big Band,” where she pieces together the musical journey of her father, Ernie Fields, a talented and pioneering musician and bandleader who toured the country during the Jim Crow era with his Black orchestra. He was also key to giving so many jazz greats their first big breaks. Carmen Fields is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who has worked at The Boston Globe, local channels 4 and 7 and served as host and producer for the public affairs program “Higher Ground” on WHDH-TV, Boston. She co-anchored WGBH's Ten O'Clock News and wrote the script for the American Experience documentary "Goin' Back to T-Town" which is about the Tulsa Massacre.