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AJR’s Adam Met connects music with movement building in his new book
He draws from his nearly two decades of growing an audience for his band to deliver a blueprint on how to animate and engage people to take political action.
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June 18, 2025 - Annette Gordon-Reed, J. Courtney Sullivan, and the Boston Pizza Festival
Historian, lawyer and Pulitzer-prize winning author Annette Gordon-Reed joins The Culture Show to talk about her latest book “On Juneteenth,” which explores the holiday commemorating the day Union troops announced the end of slavery in Texas. From there 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.Finally, we top things off with a preview of this year’s Boston Pizza Festival. The festival co-directors, Raffaele Scalzi and Giancarlo Natale, join the Culture Show to talk about New England’s largest pizza festival. It’s this Saturday and Sunday at City Hall Plaza. To learn more go here. -
June 17, 2025 - Imari Paris Jeffries, Dread Scott, and the 50th anniversary of Jaws
Imari Paris Jeffries, President and CEO of Embrace Boston, joins The Culture Show to preview the Embrace Ideas Festival. Kicking off on Juneteenth, this year’s festival is a celebration of joy, power, prosperity and black creativity. Imari Paris Jeffries also gives an overview of Embrace Boston’s latest report, which explores how cultural festivals can help build and strengthen communities. To keep on top of everything Embrace Boston is doing, go here.From there, it’s the interdisciplinary artist Dread Scott. In 1989, the US Senate outlawed his artwork and President Bush declared it "disgraceful" because of its transgressive use of the American flag. Dread became part of a landmark Supreme Court case when he and others burned flags on the steps of the Capitol. He is a revolutionary artist who gives us a new way to see some ugly truths about America. He joins The Culture Show ahead of his event at the Boston Public Library. Tomorrow night you can catch him at the Central Library in Copley Square. His appearance is part of the Lowell Lecture series. To learn more go here.From there we get a jump on the real shark week. As Martha’s Vineyard prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Jaws” with Amity Week, Culture Show producer Kate Dellis finds out how the blockbuster film forever changed the island. -
June 16, 2025 - Frederick Douglass in opera, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and the Battle of Bunker Hill at 250
Frederick Douglass had a life that could be described as operatic. The late composer Ulysses Kay, in his last major work, saw that it was. The Boston Modern Orchestra Project, in partnership with Odyssey Opera, is presenting the New England premiere of “Frederick Douglass ” on June 20th at Jordan Hall. The piece centers on a fictionalized account of the final year of the renowned Black abolitionist and statesman. It’s conducted by Gil Rose, who is the founder and conductor of the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and founder and General-Artistic Director of Odyssey Opera. The lead vocalist is bassist Kenneth Kellogg as Douglass. They join The Culture Show at GBH’s Fraser Performance studio to talk about the work and to perform. To learn more about the opera go here.From there we head to the Berkshires for the 93rd annual Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, which runs from June 25 to August 24 in Becket, MA. Pamela Tatge, the Executive & Artistic Director of Jacob's Pillow, joins The Culture Show for an overview. To learn about their lineup go hereFinally we continue our countdown to 2026 with a look at the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill and the upcoming reenactment. Sheila Green, the MA 250 Coordinator for the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism and Annie Harris, CEO of Essex National Heritage Commission join The Culture Show for an overview. The Battle of Bunker Hill Reenactment is June 21st at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester, MA. To learn more go here. -
June 13, 2025 - Week in Review: Brian Wilson, Sly Stone, and the return of smoking
Culture Show cohosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III go over the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review.First up, they remember and celebrate the legacies of Brian WIlson, the musical genius behind the Beach Boys and Sly Stone, the frontman, singer and songwriter of Sly & the Family Stone. From there they recap the latest developments in the legal feud between Justin Baldoni and superstar couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds; they discuss pioneering ballerina Misty Copeland who has decided to retire and they look at the return of the cigarette, no longer a taboo people are lighting up on the big and small screens.Finally, it’s Follow up Friday, an update on the stories they’ve been tracking, which includes the financial future of public media as the House of Representatives votes to claw back 1.1 billion dollars of federal funding. -
June 12, 2025 - The work of David Drake, Hello Dolly, and the Roxbury International Film Festival
The American Revolution frame by frame. Today we continue our series with the Museum of Fine Arts, looking at works in their collection that give us insight into the people and pivotal moments that shaped America's fight for freedom. Today, it’s where poetry meets pottery with the work of David Drake. Joining us to discuss Drake's work and what it symbolizes are Ethan Lasser, John Moors Cabot Chair, Art of the Americas at the Museum of Fine Arts and Charmaine WIlkerson, a New York Times bestselling author. From there, Hello Dolly. We won’t let the parade pass you by on a new production of the classic musical about the toiling matchmaker with designs on her own romance. We're joined by Maurice Emmanuel Parent, the show's director, and Elliot Norton award winner Aimee Doherty, who stars as the larger than life Dolly Gallagher Levi. For more information, click here.And, it’s screen time. We get a preview of the Roxbury International Film Fest. Rox Film is the largest New England film festival highlighting films by, for and about people of color. This year's program includes features, documentaries, shorts, and the largest number of local films ever. Artistic and executive director Lisa Simmons joins us. For more information, go here.
