Episodes
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August 15, 2024 - Kate Pierson, the Gifford House, and the 2024 summer blockbusters
Kate Pierson, an original member of the B-52’s, also has a solo career, which includes an upcoming album, “Radios and Rainbows.” Though it will be released next month, you can get a preview at the 20th annual Cape Cod Jazz & Arts Festival on August 21st where she will be debuting her new material. She joins us to talk about her upcoming show, discovering the ocean as a Cape Cod resident, and why she is hooked on interior design.From there we stay on the Cape by way of the Gifford House. It is one of the last grand inns in Provincetown and now it has a new life with proprietor Steven Azar bringing it into the 21st century and reviving it as an arts and entertainment hub. Ahead of Carnival Week, he joins The Culture Show to talk about all that the Gifford House has to offer.Finally Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons, the executive and artistic director of The Roxbury International Film Festival, joins us to talk about the anatomy of a summer blockbuster, if Hollywood star power can save Broadway, and what local events to take in. -
August 14, 2024 - A Light Under the Dome, the Fisherman's Feast Meatball Competition, and summer cocktails
In 1838 Angelina Grimké made delivered a groundbreaking speech to the Massachusetts Legislature demanding the immediate end of the slave trade. This was the first time in US history that a woman had addressed a legislative body. Now this history has been brought to life in the play “ A Light Under the Dome,” which is staged where it all took place: at the Massachusetts State House.This, along with two other forthcoming productions, I’s produced by the site specific theater company Plays in Place in collaboration with the National Parks of Boston. The director Courtney O’Connor and Liza Stearns, deputy superintendent of the National Parks of Boston, join The Culture Show to discuss. From there we head to the North End by way of the 114th annual Fisherman’s Feast, which kicks off August 15th and runs through August 18th. Domenic Strazzullo, the president of the Fisherman’s Feast, and The Boston Guido, one of the meatball competitions judges, join us for the ultimate overview. Finally, we top things off by topping one off. Marsha Lindsey, the principal Bartender at SRV in Boston’s South End serves up summer drink suggestions. -
August 13, 2024 - Imari Paris Jeffries, the Art Gym in Somerville, and MAGIA
Fifty years ago a federal court forced Boston to desegregate its schools with busing. Known as the Boston busing crisis, it was fraught with racism and violence and it tore the city apart. To take stock of this anniversary, Imari Paris Jeffries, president and CEO of Embrace Boston, joins us to look at the role that Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King played in fighting for school desegregation. From there Damon Lehrer, an artist and founder of the Boston Figurative Art Center, joins us to talk about their Art Gym, a space where artists can drop in and get their creative workout.Finally, Sarah Bob, founding director of New Gallery Concert Series and multimedia performance artist Daniel Callahan, join us to talk about MAGIA, a multimedia immersive experience that blends contemporary music and visual art. The event kicks off this Saturday at 7:30. -
August 12, 2024 - Ken Leung, the BPL's writer-in-residence, and the Cape Ann Museum
At The London offices of Pierpoint & Company there is still the residue of the old boys' network on the trading floor where backs are stabbed, fortunes are made as quickly as they're lost and hedonism abounds. This is the fictional investment bank depicted in HBO’s workplace drama “Industry, ” which both romanticizes and rebukes the world of finance. Actor Ken Leung is central to the show’s drama and searing satirical take on the finance world, playing Eric Tao, a senior banker. He joins us to talk about season three, which premiered on HBO yesterday.From there we talk to Yssis Cano-Santiago. The Associates of the Boston Public Library recently announced that she will be the writer-in-residence for 2024-25. The organization has been running its writer-in-residence program for 20 years, supporting emerging writers.Finally, the future of the Cape Ann Museum is getting bolder, bigger and for visitors, free-er. The museum’s director, Oliver Barker, joins us to talk about their capital campaign, which coincides with the museum’s 150th anniversary next year. -
August 9, 2024 - Week in Review: Aerosmith, Pitbull Stadium, and Good Will Hunting
Today on the Culture Show co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III take on the latest headlines on out arts and culture week-in-review, First up, So much for sacking the Sacklers. Though dozens upon dozens of institutions have severed ties with the Sacklers because of their ties to the opioid epidemic, the family still has a hold on Harvard. After a long review, the university has decided to keep the Sackler name on some of their properties, which includes the Harvard Art Museums. Then we look at the state’s budget and if a theater tax credit still has a chance to boost the local arts economy and build a Boston to Broadway pipeline along the way.Plus, when it comes to another Aerosmith concert, fans will have to “Dream On.” with news that they will no longer be touring. -
August 8, 2024 - Mission Hill Arts Festival, the 1904 Olympic Marathon, and the Hood Milk Bottle
Today on The Culture Show we preview The Mission Hill Arts Festival Saturday event. Executive Curator and organizer Luisa Harris joins us for an overview. We’re also joined by featured artist, Ivanna Cuesta who is a Dominican jazz drummer and composer. She’ll be performing compositions from her new album “A Letter To The Earth.” Ivanna Cuesta, along with Max Ridley on bass and Fall Raye on sax, also treat listeners to an in-studio jam session.From there we look at one of the strangest events in Olympic history, the 1904 St. Louis Marathon. Ashwin Rodrigues wrote about it for “Runner’s World” in an article entitled “The Unbelievable True Story of the Craziest Olympic Marathon.” Ashwin Rodrigues is a freelance writer and former Boston resident whose work has been featured in GQ, Outside Magazine, and VICE.Finally, we hit the Massachusetts Ice Cream Trail, making a stop at the Boston Children's Museum Hood Milk Bottle. Carole Charnow, President and CEO of Boston Children’s Museum joins us to talk about the Hood Milk Bottle’s history, and the museum’s current exhibitions. -
August 7, 2024 - Reginald Dwayne Betts, Dungeons and Dragons, and Olympics art
Reginald Dwayne Betts, who was incarcerated when he was 16, is an award-winning poet, a lawyer and founder of Freedom Reads, a first-of-its kind organization working to bring books into prisons. Now in a first, Freedom Reads, along with the National Book Foundation, and the Center for Justice Innovation, has launched the “Inside Literary Prize,” which is awarded exclusively by currently incarcerated people. The award-winning author was announced on Friday — Imani Perry for her book, “South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation.” Dwayne Betts joins The Culture Show to talk about the award and the winning book that resonated with the judges.From there we mark the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, the venerable tabletop roleplaying game, with a look at how it has shaped pop culture and how it shaped Ethan GIlsdorf. In a recent piece for The Boston Globe he writes about how it saved his life. Gilsdorf is the author of “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks.” Finally, MassArt president Mary Grant joins The Culture Show to talk about the Olympics and if it’s time for art – as it once was – to be an official Olympic sport. -
August 6, 2024 - Rooted, the Pentathlon, and J. Courtney Sullivan
Germaine Jenkins has made it her mission to do something about the food deserts in her native South Carolina. In 2014, she co-founded Fresh Future Farm on a vacant city lot with $600 from a family tax refund. What thrives today is a food Oasis.. Her ongoing fight for food justice is the focus of the documentary film “Rooted.” She joins us ahead of a screening event at the Martha’s Vineyard African American FIlm Festival.Then, Culture Show contributor James Bennett II gives us an explainer on one of the more obscure and complicated Olympic sports, the Pentathlon.Finally, best-selling author J. Courtney Sullivan joins The Culture Show to talk about her latest novel, “The Cliffs.” It is an intricately layered novel of family, spirits, and secrets set on the seaside cliffs of Maine. -
August 5, 2024 - Morton the Sea Monster, The Indigo Girls, and HOOPS
Today on the Culture Show, after nearly 90 years, the giant sea monster, known as Morton, returns to Nantucket. Edgar B. Herwick III joins us live from the island with a play-by-play to rival Snoop Dogg’s sports commentary.From there it’s The Indigo Girls –Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They join us to talk about their artistic process, and the community they’ve built through their music ahead of their performance at Tanglewood. Finally, the new play “HOOPS” looks at hoop earrings and what they say about cultural identity. A Company One production, onstage at The Strand Theatre through August 10th, two of the lead performers, Brandie Blaze and Karimah WIlliams join The Culture Show. -
August 2, 2024 - Week in Review: The Olympics, Great Scott, and UNESCO
The Olympics - Should Snoop Dogg get a gold for bringing the party to Paris? If anyone has Joie De Vivre, it is he! From dancing with the gymnastics team to swimming with Micahel Phelps, to calling the badminton highlights – we look at what the celebrity correspondents are bringing to Olympics coverage.From there, the longtime local music venue Great Scott is getting a reboot after a COVID closure, finding new diggs– just up the street from its old stomping grounds.And , it’s a milestone for MASS MoCA, marking its 25th anniversary. One of the largest contemporary art museums in the country, it’s brought world class art to the region but has it managed to bring about an economic revival?
