Episodes
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June 7, 2024 - Week in Review: University of the Arts closing, Hollywood, and concert cancellations
Today on The Culture Show it’s our arts and culture week-in-review.GBH’s Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley, and Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons, who is artistic and executive director of the Roxbury International Film Fest and program manager at Mass Cultural Council , go over the latest arts and culture headlines.First up, exterior design. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is on a mission to make its Huntington Avenue entrance more representative of what’s happening on the inside. It’s commissioning artists to make public work. And the inaugural one will respond to a controversial bronze sculpture in front of the MFA depicting a Native American man astride a horse with his arms outstretched… suggesting surrender.Then, actress Lupita Nyong’o calls out the junk in press junkets, saying they’re torture!Plus, it’s a breakthrough moment for breakdancing. In a first, as we’ll see in Paris, it’s now an official Olympic sport. Finally, Cyndi Lauper is going to “She Bop” her away around North America one last “Time After Time” with her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell tour. -
June 6, 2024 - AI in music, Bonsai trees, and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
Berklee College of Music and the Audio Engineering Society are hosting an inaugural international symposium at Berklee on AI in music, exploring the benefits, the ethics and the caveats. Two people instrumental to this symposium join The Culture Show for a preview: The event organizer, Berklee music production and engineering professor Jonathan Wyner and keynote speaker Tod Machover. Tod Machover is a pioneering composer and the Muriel R. Cooper Professor of Music and Media and director of the MIT Media Lab's Opera of the Future group. Chris Copeland, Manager of Plant Production at the Arnold Arboretum is also the curator of their Bonsai and Penjing collection. He joins us to talk about these miniature masterpieces, the tradition of Bonsai, what it takes to care for these plants and how people can see them all —for free.Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra music director Federico Cortese joins The Culture Show to preview their 66th season finale concert and to talk about their first permanent home in the orchestra's history, which opened last month. -
June 5, 2024 - The Dybbuk, baseball, and the housing crisis
What does it mean to be a restless soul in-between two worlds? That is the definition of a dybbuk. With an ongoing immigration crisis and refugees displaced by war– a new adaptation of the play “The Dybbuk,” has deep resonance. And who better to wrestle with these themes than the Arlekin Players Theatre, which has a reputation for examining such existential plights. Their artistic director–and director of this production, Igor Golyak and one of the lead actors, Andrey Burkovskiy join The Culture Show.From there Edgar B. Herwick III explains some Bay State and Baseball curiosities.Finally we look at Boston’s housing crisis. It’s one thing to have a home office. It’s another thing to turn an office into a home. Is the push to retrofit commercial real estate into residential real estate feasible and fiscally sound? Boston Architectural College president Mahesh Daas joins The Culture Show for that conversation. -
June 4, 2024 - Juneteenth in Boston, Hew Locke, and summer on the Boston waterfront
Embrace Boston is gearing up for its third annual gathering to celebrate Juneteenth with the Boston community, and it promises to be more than an event but a conversation about reimaging Boston ahead of its 400th Birthday. Plus, no festival would be complete without a block party, DJ’s and dancing. Imari Paris Jeffries, CEO and President of Embrace Boston, joins The Culture Show for a preview. From there carnival and colonialism converge in “The Procession,” a large-scale installation making its North American debut at the ICA Watershed. In fact, it’s the only place in the U.S. you can see the show. By large scale we’re talking about some 140 life-sized figures–all of them staged in a march through time. The mastermind behind this monumental work, artist Hew Locke, joins us.And finally, the Boston Waterfront is in full swing. We get an update on the free and accessible events that await us this summer from Luz Arregoces. Director of New England Aquarium’s community engagement and member of the Coalition for a Resilient and Inclusive Waterfront. -
June 3, 2024 - Robert Pinsky, Already Dead, and a diva discussion
The three-time U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky joins us to talk about his new book of poetry, “Proverbs of Limbo.” His book launch is June 11th at the Cambridge Public Library at an event presented by Harvard Book Store.Robert Pinsky is the author of “At The Foundling Hospital”, “The Figured Wheel” and “The Want Bone.” He is also a professor in the graduate creative writing program at Boston University,From there we talk to Dan Cummings, the lead singer of local punk band “Already Dead,” about their latest track “The Spirit of Massachusetts Avenue.” It’s the lead single on their forthcoming album, “Something Like War.”Finally, we talk about the role of the diva and prima donna and explore how often we misuse those words. Grammy-winning dramatic soprano Jane Eaglen joins us to break down opera parlance. She’s on the faculty at New England Conservatory and she’s the President of the Boston Wagner Society. She joins The Culture Show regularly. -
May 31, 2024 - Week in Review: Josh Gibson, Richard Dreyfuss, and endangered art
First up, Richard Dreyfuss didn’t just make waves, he sent shockwaves through Beverly’s Cabot Theater ahead of a special screening of “Jaws.” Offending audiences by spewing transphobic, misanthropic rhetoric. And it turns out this wasn’t the first time.From there it’s time to meet Josh Gibson, Major League Baseball’s new GREATEST OF ALL TIME PLAYER. With the MLB integrating statistics from the Negro Leagues, they’re also obliged to rewrite baseball’s history.Plus we remember Bill Walton, the Celtics star who created a legacy on and off the court.Then, how conflict and climate change continue to threaten cultural sites and institutions around the world.And, “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,” the Wu-Tang Clan album you won’t be able to hear for 88 years - unless you go to Australia today. -
May 30, 2024 - Denis and Ann Leary, Thorgy Thor, and the Lot Lab 2024
New York Times best-selling writer Ann Leary’s latest book is a collection of Essays titled “I’ve Tried Being Nice.” In total they are a reflection on her life…on the liberties that come with being older, on moments of mayhem and on scenes from a marriage that has had its ups and downs–on the tennis court, on the red carpet and behind closed doors. The essays are funny and frank. They are personal while also being very universal.Ann Leary and her husband Denis Leary – Worcester born actor and standup comedian – join The Culture Show ahead of their June 5th event at The Cambridge Public LibraryThen it’s Thorgy Thor. She came to international attention on “RuPaul's “Drag Race” and on Ru Paul’s “Drag Race Variety All Stars Show.”.She will be bringing her all star performance to the Boston POPS, kicking off Pride month this Saturday, June 1st at 7:30 at Symphony Hall. It’s a perfect venue for someone who is committed to combining classical music and drag. She joins The Culture Show to preview Boston POPS Pride Night.Finally, we head to Charlestown Navy Yard for a preview of “Lot Lab 2024.” Launched by the Boston Public Art Triennial, their assistant curator Jasper Sanchez joins the culture show to preview this public art exhibition, which opens June 10th. -
May 29, 2024 - Mary Grant, Louise Nevelson, and Claudio Ragazzi
On this episode of The Culture Show MassArt President Mary Grant joins us for her monthly appearance. Today she talks about the cost of college, if the expense is worth it and what higher-ed institutions need to do to meet incoming students where they are.From there we head to Colby College Museum of Art. Their head curator Beth Finch joins The Culture Show to give an overview of their current exhibit “The World Outside: Louise Nevelson at Midcentury.” Finally, the Grammy and Emmy award-winning film composer and guitarist Claudio Ragazzi previews the Claudio Ragazzi Quartet’s performance on May 30th at Long Live Roxbury. -
May 28, 2024 - Percival Everett, art in Seaport, and the Bachfest Leipzig
Writer Percival Everett’s satire verges on prophecy. He is prolific–he has written westerns, mysteries, thrillers, and collections of poetry. You likely recognize his name because of his book “Erasure,” the sardonic take on the publishing industry on which the film “American Fiction” was based.Everett’s latest book, titled “James,” is a retelling of Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” from the perspective of Jim, the novel’s enslaved runaway. Everett joins The Culture Show us ahead of his event next week at the Coolidge Corner Theatre.Then we discover an oasis of tranquility tucked away in the bustling Seaport district. Culture Show contributor Julia Swanson joins The Culture Show to talk about Eastport Park on D Street. 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.Finally, it’s Bach to Basics. Emmanuel Music is only one of five ensembles in the U.S. to be invited to this year’s “Bachfest Leipzig,” a sprawling and prestigious music festival. Emmanuel Music’s artistic director Ryan Turner joins The Culture Show us to talk about this honor. -
May 27, 2024 - Anthony Roth Costanzo and Diana Dizoglio
Today on The Culture Show it’s the pharaoh of the opera. Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo has made a name for himself starring in the MET’s production of Akhenaten – earning a Grammy award along the way.He’s also figuratively found his voice and the freedom to have fun by collaborating with cabaret performer Justin Vivian Bond in their hit performance and accompanying album, “Only and Octave Apart”Now Anthony Roth Costanzo is performing it all–from cantatas to camp, in a one-man recital that ranges from Verdi to Barbra Streisand. From there, will the Grammys ever create a category for best song recorded by a state auditor? If so, Diana Dizoglio’s newly mastered release “This Is The Time” could be a winner. The auditor joins The Culture Show to talk about her relationship to music and how singing has made her voice known –and heard–on Beacon Hill.
