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The 25-hour Moby Dick Marathon sails on in New Bedford
Every winter, thousands of fans descend on the New Bedford Whaling Museum to hear the novel out loud.
Listen to previous shows
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February 24, 2026 - Gish Jen, Sam Kissajukian and Gesine Bullock-Prado
Author Gish Jen discusses her novel, “Bad Bad Girl.” In this witty and deeply personal work, Jen blends fiction and autobiography to imagine her mother’s life and explore the distance between them — uncovering how storytelling can bridge what family history leaves unsaid. From there we’re joined by Sam Kissajukian. In 2021 the Aussie comedian quit stand-up, rented an abandoned cake factory, and became a painter. Over the course of what turned out to be a six-month manic episode, he created three hundred large-scale paintings, unknowingly documenting his mental state through the process. He turned this experience into his one-man show “300 Paintings.”Finally, pastry chef and author Gesine Bullock-Prado talks about her cookbook “My Harvest Kitchen: 100+ Recipes to Savor the Seasons.” From Hollywood lawyer to Vermont baker, she shares how cooking with what’s close at hand — and in season — can feed both body and spirit. -
February 23, 2026 - Stephen Greenblatt, Jill Lepore, and Nicholas Boggs
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Stephen Greenblatt joins The Culture Show, to talk about his latest book, “Dark Renaissance:The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival.” It traces the meteoric rise and violent end of Christopher Marlowe—playwright, poet, spy, and heretic—whose genius endures today. From there, Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore discusses her new book, “We the People." Published on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding—the anniversary, too, of the first state constitutions—"We the People" offers a wholly new history of the Constitution.Finally writer Nicholas Boggs joins The Culture Show to talk about his book, “Baldwin: A Love Story.” It's the first major biography of James Baldwin in three decades, revealing how the writer’s personal relationships shaped his life and work. -
February 20, 2026 - Robert Reich, Marianne Leone, and Sam Waterston
Robert Reich served in three presidential administrations, including as Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. As a professor he has been the ultimate explainer about rising inequality. As a public intellectual he pulls no punches–calling out the bullies: anyone and any institution that threatens democracy and human decency. It’s a life’s work on which he reflects in his book “Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America.” He joins The Culture Showto talk about it. From there Marianne Leone is an actress, author, and screenwriter. She joins The Culture Show to talk about her novel “Christina The Astonishing," a coming-of-age story about Christina Falcone and her desire to break free from Catholic school nuns, Italian mothers, and small-town Massachusetts. Finally, Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated actor Sam Waterston joins The Culture Show to talk about the role that launched his career, Nick Caraway in the 1974 film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby.” And for your culture calendar, here is where you can see Jared's picks for his weekend recommendations. -
February 19, 2026 - Christopher Castellani on "Last Seen," and Free to Be: Skate, Paint, Imaginate
Christopher Castellani’s new novel “Last Seen” follows four young men who vanish on separate winter nights and find one another in the afterlife. The book blends elements of mystery with a meditation on identity, longing, and visibility, told through four distinct voices. Castellani joins The Culture Show to discuss why he chose to tell the story from the afterlife, and what these characters reveal about love, loss, and the people who carry on without them. Castellani has a number of book events in the area. To learn more go here.The Lynch Family Skatepark in East Cambridge is both a skating destination and a rare public canvas, where graffiti and mural work are encouraged as part of the park’s identity. The exhibition “Free to Be: Skate, Paint, Imaginate,” on view at the Multicultural Arts Center through March 6, brings that creative energy indoors, featuring murals, photographs, and visual art shaped by the park’s community. Photographer and curator Matt Ringler and Charles River Conservancy program manager Taylor Leonard join The Culture Show to discuss how skating, street art, and public space come together in this evolving cultural landmark. To learn more about the exhibition go here. -
February 18, 2026- Wednesday Watch Party, does "Fargo" still hold up?
Today we’re putting on our warmest winter gear and bundling up for our Wednesday Watch Party — the show where we revisit the movies that shaped us, and ask if they still hold up. This month Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Joyce Kulhawik enter a snow globe of crime, manners, and very bad decisions by way of the Coen Brother’s 1996 “Fargo.” A snow-covered noir where decency and depravity share the same frozen frame. In 2026 our hosts ask: does it still hold up?
