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‘Home of egg rolls, jazz and blues,’ Chan’s celebrates 120 years in Rhode Island
Music lovers put this Woonsocket music venue and restaurant on their bucket lists.
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December 2, 2025 - Jerry O'Connell on Stand By Me at 40, Joyce Kulhawik, and Illuminate Bach: A Holiday Celebration!
“Stand by Me,” the classic coming-of-age film, is turning 40. To commemorate the film’s anniversary, “Stand By Me: The Film and its Stars 40 Years Later,” takes place at the Lynn Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, December 6th. There will be a screening followed by a conversation with three of the film’s stars - Corey Feldman, Wil Wheaton, and Jerry O’Connell. Ahead of this event actor and television host Jerry O’Connell, who starred in the film as Vern Tessio, joins us to reflect on the film, what made it a classic and his reunion with his castmates. To learn more about the anniversary event go here.Joyce Kulhawik joins The Culture Show for our recurring feature, Stage and Screen Time–a look at the latest movies and plays in theaters now. Joyce Kulhawik is an Emmy-award winning arts and entertainment reporter and president of the Boston Theatre Critics Association. You can find her reviews on Joyce’s Choices. Brian McCreath, director of production at GBH Music, host of CRB’s Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcast, and host of The Bach Hour on CRB Classical 99.5 and The Bach Channel stream joins The Culture Show for a preview of “Illuminate Bach: A Holiday Celebration!” It’s the first in a new GBH Music concert series, recorded live in GBH’s Fraser Performance Studio on December 3 at 8:00 PM. “Illuminate Bach” will first air as a radio program during In Concert on Sunday, December 14 at 7 pm. On television, Illuminate Bach will next air four times across Massachusetts on both GBH2, GBH44, and NEPM on these dates: Friday, December 19 at 9 pm. - GBH2 and NEPM Premiere, Saturday, December 20, at 8 pm on GBH44, Thursday, December 25, at 4 pm on GBH2 and NEPM, and Thursday, December 25 at 6 pm on GBH44. The full program will also be available for on-demand streaming on Classical.org and Passport. -
December 1, 2025 - Ethan Hawke, Peter Drummey, and Matthew Shifrin
For nearly fifty years, Peter Drummey has been one of the quiet forces making history accessible. As the longtime Stephen T. Riley Librarian and, most recently, Chief Historian at the Massachusetts Historical Society — the nation’s oldest historical society — he helped generations of researchers navigate one of the country’s richest archives and advised storytellers ranging from filmmakers to the late David McCullough. Now retired after a 47-year career, he joins us to reflect on the stories he’s spent a lifetime helping others uncover.Ethan Hawke has built one of the most varied careers in contemporary film, spanning Hollywood classics like Dead Poets Society and Training Day, as well as independent films such as Before Sunrise and Boyhood. He’s also an accomplished novelist, screenwriter, producer, and filmmaker. This week, the Coolidge Corner Theatre honors him with the 2025 Coolidge Award, where he’ll appear for a screening of Blue Moon and an onstage conversation about his lifelong creative evolution. To learn more go here.Culture Show contributor Matthew Shifrin joins us for his recurring segment “AI: Actual Intelligence.” This month he discusses the work that he’s doing with Think Outside The Vox to make music accessible to deaf people by turning instrumental music into stories that are then translated into ASL and performed by actors. Matthew Shifrin, founder and CEO of Bricks for the Blind, returns for our “AI: Actual Intelligence” series. His Boston nonprofit translates LEGO instructions for builders with vision loss. -
November 28, 2025 - Kwame Alexander, Elizabeth Strout and Oliver de la Paz
Award winning writer and poet Kwame Alexander joins The Culture Show to talk about the PBS Kids debut of “Acoustic Rooster.” Based on Alexander’s beloved children’s book “Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band,” the “Acoustic Rooster” universe is now on PBS KIDS. To learn more, go here.From there the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Elizabeth Strout joins The Culture Show to talk about her latest book “Tell Me Everything.” Finally Oliver de la Paz, the poet laureate of Worcester and associate professor at The College of the Holy Cross joins The Culture Show to talk about his latest collection of poetry “The Diaspora Sonne -
November 26, 2025 - The AAPI Holiday Market, The Funny Uncle Cabaret, and public art in Providence
Boston’s AAPI Holiday Market returns on December 3, 5–8 PM. Organized by The Boston Foundation’s Asian Business Empowerment Council, the event highlights the creativity and entrepreneurship of the region’s AAPI community. Irene Li and Qingjian Shi join us for an overview. Qingjian Shi is Senior Director of the Asian Business Empowerment Council at The Boston Foundation, and Irene Li, a celebrated chef, restaurateur, and community leader, is the co-founder of Mei Mei, a restaurant-turned-dumpling-company based in Boston, and co-founder of Prepshift. To learn more about the AAPI Holiday Market go here. Peter DiMuro brings his long-running alt-holiday show, Funny Uncle Cabaret, back to The Dance Complex on December 13 & 14. A variation on The Nutcracker, it blends dance, drag, storytelling, and live music, drawing on DiMuro’s own “gay avuncularity” and stories of chosen family. Tickets and details here.Culture Show contributor Julia Swanson leads a tour through Providence’s community-driven public art scene. Swanson — a multidisciplinary artist and creator of The Art Walk Project — spotlights the works created by and for the local community. -
November 25, 2025 - Natan Last, "Life on the Other Planet" with Vincent Straggas, and S---faced Shakespeare
Crossword constructor and writer Natan Last joins us to explore his new book, “Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle.” He traces the evolution of crosswords from early newspaper amusements to today’s culturally expansive grids. Last is a writer and immigration policy advocate. He writes bimonthly crosswords for “The New Yorker.” You can catch him at Harvard Book Store on December 10; learn more here.Filmmaker Vincent Straggas takes us inside “Life on the Other Planet,” his new documentary about Boston’s music scene in the 1970s and ’80s. Through interviews and archival footage, he captures the clubs, bands, and renegade energy that shaped a generation. To learn more about the film and upcoming screenings go here.Finally, Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare returns to Somerville’s Rockwell for its 10th anniversary season with a drunken production of “Hamlet.” Actors Brett Milanowski and Noelle Scarlett join us to preview the show, which runs November 29 through February 14; to learn more go here.
