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Four smiling people in the center of a colorful graphic with the words "The Culture Show" written beneath them
Weekdays from 2 to 3 p.m.

GBH Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen and a rotating panel of cultural correspondents and co-hosts provide an expansive look at society through art, culture and entertainment, driving conversations about how listeners experience culture across music, movies, fashion, TV, art, books, theater, dance, food and more. To share your opinion, email thecultureshow@wgbh.org or call/text 617-300-3838.

The show also airs on CAI, the Cape, Coast and Islands NPR station.

Come see The Culture Show LIVE at the GBH BPL Studio every Friday at 2pm, and streaming on GBH News YouTube.

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Listen to previous shows

  • Art and science converge in the exhibition “Nebulae: The Universe Unveiled,” on view at the New Bedford Art Museum through March 9th. Six NASA photographs from the Webb and Hubble telescopes are on display with works by artists who have either been directly inspired by the NASA photographs or inspired by the marvels of the night sky. Suzanne de Vegh, Executive Director of The New Bedford Art Museum; Mark Munkacsy, President of the Astronomical Society of Southern New England and Acting Director of the Observatory at UMass Dartmouth, and ceramicist and experimental filmmaker Harvey Goldman join The Culture Show for an overview.The children’s musical “Finn” was commissioned by the Kennedy Center, and it had a critically acclaimed run at the end of last year. Under President Trump’s leadership, The Kennedy Center has pulled the plug on the musical’s tour. The Director of “Finn,” Adrienne Campbell-Holt, joins The Culture Show to talk about the consequences of this abrupt cancellation.Culture Show contributor Pedro Alonzo discusses how art fairs can be a life force for the arts and the cities that host them, and he weighs in on a conflict in Quincy over public art. Pedro Alonzo is an independent curator and the Artistic Director of the Boston Public Art Triennial.
  • Max Hodge’s, CEO of The Shed in New York City and Alex Poots, Artistic director at The Shed, join The Culture Show to talk about the innovative arts and culture venue and their current exhibition “Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy,” which is open through March 16, 2025.From there artist Jay Critchley joins The Culture Show to talk about his exhibition, Jay Critchley: Democracy of the Land, Inc., FLAGrancy, which is on view at Montserrat College of Art through March 5, 2025.Finally Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons joins us to talk about all things movies, including her Oscars predictions. Lisa Simmons is the artistic and executive director of the Roxbury International Film Festival and program manager at Mass Cultural Council.
  • Megan Marshall, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography, has long been revered for her storytelling skills and deep insights into historical figures, such as the poet Ellizabeth Bishop, and Margaret Fuller, the 19th century journalist and celebrated intellectual of her time. In her latest book,”After Lives: On Biography and the Mysteries of the Human Heart,” Megan Marshall takes a turn at autobiography, examining her own art and life. Megan Marshall joins The Culture Show to talk about it.From there we head to the coast of Maine. In recent years their lighthouses have been hit with millions of dollars worth of storm damage. Bob Trapani, an author and Executive Director of the American Lighthouse Foundation joins The Culture Show to talk about what it means to have all of Maine’s 66 historic lighthouses added to the World Monuments Fund 2025 global watchlist.Finally it’s the South Asian Showdown 2025 Bollywood/Fusion Dance Competition. This Saturday some of the best dance groups from the United States and Canada will compete at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester. Rohit Bhambi, President of Boston Bhangra and founder of South Asian Showdown, joins The Culture Show for an overview.
  • Culture Show co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and James Bennett II go over this latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review.First up, hundreds of artists protest new National Endowment for the Arts restrictions, asking the NEA to reverse policy changes made in response to executive orders issued by President Trump.From there, it’s the JFK Library and Museum, which was forced to temporarily close after a handful of federal employees were fired. Finally, Singer and actor Donnie Wahlberg doubles down on Boston. Not only is he working to bring a WNBA expansion team to his hometown, he’ll be joining the local police force by way of “Boston Blue,” a spinoff of “Blue Bloods.”
  • Comedian, television host, advocate and New York Times bestselling author Chelsea Handler joins The Culture Show to talk about her forthcoming book “I’ll Have What She’s Having.” It’s a collection of hilarious and heartfelt essays that detail what it took for her to become the woman she always wanted to be. It’s in bookstores on February 25th and is available for preorder on her website. On February 26th you can catch Chelsea Handler at Brookline Booksmith for a book signing event. From there New York Times bestselling author Cory Doctorow joins us to talk about “Radicalized,” a collection of four science fiction novellas connected by social, technological, and economic visions of what America could be in the near future. Published in 2019, one of those novellas, “Radicalized,” anticipated how frustrations with the profit-driven health insurance industry could lead to the kind of violence that happened in real life when Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was assassinated. Cory Doctorow’s latest book is “Picks and Shovels.” Finally, snowboarding phenom Maggie Leon joins The Culture Show for an overview of this Saturday’s Red Bull Heavy Metal street snowboarding competition. Located at Boston’s City Hall Plaza, 2:00-5:30, it’s free to the public.