EXPLORE MORE
Devo at 50: ‘We're like the house band on the Titanic at this point’
Devo's 50th anniversary tour called "50 Years of De-Evolution… Continued!" is headed to Boston on May 9.
Listen to previous shows
-
August 8, 2024 - Mission Hill Arts Festival, the 1904 Olympic Marathon, and the Hood Milk Bottle
Today on The Culture Show we preview The Mission Hill Arts Festival Saturday event. Executive Curator and organizer Luisa Harris joins us for an overview. We’re also joined by featured artist, Ivanna Cuesta who is a Dominican jazz drummer and composer. She’ll be performing compositions from her new album “A Letter To The Earth.” Ivanna Cuesta, along with Max Ridley on bass and Fall Raye on sax, also treat listeners to an in-studio jam session.From there we look at one of the strangest events in Olympic history, the 1904 St. Louis Marathon. Ashwin Rodrigues wrote about it for “Runner’s World” in an article entitled “The Unbelievable True Story of the Craziest Olympic Marathon.” Ashwin Rodrigues is a freelance writer and former Boston resident whose work has been featured in GQ, Outside Magazine, and VICE.Finally, we hit the Massachusetts Ice Cream Trail, making a stop at the Boston Children's Museum Hood Milk Bottle. Carole Charnow, President and CEO of Boston Children’s Museum joins us to talk about the Hood Milk Bottle’s history, and the museum’s current exhibitions. -
August 7, 2024 - Reginald Dwayne Betts, Dungeons and Dragons, and Olympics art
Reginald Dwayne Betts, who was incarcerated when he was 16, is an award-winning poet, a lawyer and founder of Freedom Reads, a first-of-its kind organization working to bring books into prisons. Now in a first, Freedom Reads, along with the National Book Foundation, and the Center for Justice Innovation, has launched the “Inside Literary Prize,” which is awarded exclusively by currently incarcerated people. The award-winning author was announced on Friday — Imani Perry for her book, “South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation.” Dwayne Betts joins The Culture Show to talk about the award and the winning book that resonated with the judges.From there we mark the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, the venerable tabletop roleplaying game, with a look at how it has shaped pop culture and how it shaped Ethan GIlsdorf. In a recent piece for The Boston Globe he writes about how it saved his life. Gilsdorf is the author of “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks.” Finally, MassArt president Mary Grant joins The Culture Show to talk about the Olympics and if it’s time for art – as it once was – to be an official Olympic sport. -
August 6, 2024 - Rooted, the Pentathlon, and J. Courtney Sullivan
Germaine Jenkins has made it her mission to do something about the food deserts in her native South Carolina. In 2014, she co-founded Fresh Future Farm on a vacant city lot with $600 from a family tax refund. What thrives today is a food Oasis.. Her ongoing fight for food justice is the focus of the documentary film “Rooted.” She joins us ahead of a screening event at the Martha’s Vineyard African American FIlm Festival.Then, Culture Show contributor James Bennett II gives us an explainer on one of the more obscure and complicated Olympic sports, the Pentathlon.Finally, 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. -
August 5, 2024 - Morton the Sea Monster, The Indigo Girls, and HOOPS
Today on the Culture Show, after nearly 90 years, the giant sea monster, known as Morton, returns to Nantucket. Edgar B. Herwick III joins us live from the island with a play-by-play to rival Snoop Dogg’s sports commentary.From there it’s The Indigo Girls –Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. They join us to talk about their artistic process, and the community they’ve built through their music ahead of their performance at Tanglewood. Finally, the new play “HOOPS” looks at hoop earrings and what they say about cultural identity. A Company One production, onstage at The Strand Theatre through August 10th, two of the lead performers, Brandie Blaze and Karimah WIlliams join The Culture Show. -
August 2, 2024 - Week in Review: The Olympics, Great Scott, and UNESCO
The Olympics - Should Snoop Dogg get a gold for bringing the party to Paris? If anyone has Joie De Vivre, it is he! From dancing with the gymnastics team to swimming with Micahel Phelps, to calling the badminton highlights – we look at what the celebrity correspondents are bringing to Olympics coverage.From there, the longtime local music venue Great Scott is getting a reboot after a COVID closure, finding new diggs– just up the street from its old stomping grounds.And , it’s a milestone for MASS MoCA, marking its 25th anniversary. One of the largest contemporary art museums in the country, it’s brought world class art to the region but has it managed to bring about an economic revival?
