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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.
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July 12, 2024 - Week in Review: Orchestral report cards, Shelley Duvall, and songs of the summer
Today on The Culture Show, co-hosts Edgar B. Herwick III, Callie Crossley and James Bennett II go over the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review.First up: D is for dismal. The report card is in for the world’s orchestras and they get a capital D on diversity. Then it’s a capital F for flop. Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga,” bombs at the box office. Plus we remember actress Shelley Duvall and her subversive screen presence, from “Nashville,” to “Annie Hall” to “The Shining.”From there it’s follow up-Friday where we catch up on the stories we’ve been tracking, among them, the Beyonce bounce. Did her Texas two step into country music pave the way for Shaboozey’s chart topping hit? Finally, it’s not a summer cookout without–what Callie Crossley calls– the surefire song of joy: “Before I let go” by Frankie Beverly and Maze. -
July 11, 2024 - Muppets in Moscow and Jeremy Eichler
In her book, Muppets in Moscow, Natasha Lance Rogoff pulls back the iron curtain on what it was like to work in Russia as a TV producer in the 1990’s. There were absolute triumphs of Big Bird diplomacy, moments when capitalism collided with the legacy of communism, and a deep realization that a country undergoing radical change, can only change so much . Then it’s a conversation about music as memory.Jeremy Eichler joins us to talk about his new book, “Time’s Echo,” which looks at how Shostakovich and other composers used classical music to not only articulate the unspeakable horrors of WWII but to also memorialize the victims of the Holocaust. -
July 10, 2024 - Quilling, the Boston Ballet, and Joyce Kulhawik
Quilling is the ancient art of coiling long strips of paper around a needle–or going back to its namesake– around a quill. In a twist of fate, Huong Wolf has ended up on a mission to keep this tradition alive. Today she and her husband run the Framingham-based business, Quilling Card, a fair trade company that sells handcrafted cards–and now handcrafted art. She joins The Culture Show to talk about the history of quilling and what it means to bring it into these times. From there, Boston Ballet, by way of a 360 dome, has created a portable portal to dance that’s making its way through Massachusetts. Ming Min Hui, the Executive Director of Boston Ballet, joins The Culture Show to talk about its upcoming appearances at Tanglewood and Woods Hole.Finally, it’s still Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, which means it’s still Jump the Shark Week on The Culture Show – if you think we’ve jumped the shark, Culture Show contributor Joyce Kulhawik is bringing her life boat and her list of what she thinks has just gone too far. -
July 9, 2024 - Art prescriptions, Shark Week, and Pedro Alonzo
What is a prescription for anxiety or isolation that doesn't need FDA approval and won’t get churned through big pharma to drive up prices? Art and culture.Known as “social prescriptions,” there is a growing movement of physicians writing out prescriptions for dance classes, nature walks or a trip to the museum as a way to help treat mental and behavioral health concerns.Now Massachusetts is the first in the nation to have a statewide program. Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Dr. Priscilla Wang, Associate Medical Director of Primary Care Health Equity at Mass General Brigham join The Culture Show to talk about this new initiative.From there, It’s still “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel, which means it’s still “Jump the Shark Week” on The Culture Show, where we look at what in the zeitgeist has gone the way of the Fonz on water skis. Today Culture Show co-host James Bennett II joins us for his list of things that have gone too far.Finally independent curator and Culture Show Curator Pedro Alozno joins us to talk about the latest exhibition he’s curated, “The Objects We Choose,” at the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York. -
July 8, 2024 - Ben Shattuck, jumping the shark, and Shakespeare on the Common
Ben Shattuck’s latest book, “The History of Sound: Stories” is a collection of interconnected stories that examine the lives and landscapes of New England where Shattuck spans centuries in these haunting and often humorous stories. He joins “The Culture Show” ahead of his event at Harvard Book Store.And, it might be “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel, but on The Culture Show, it’s “Jumping the Shark Week” where we ask: what in the zeitgeist has gone the way of the Fonz when he took that fateful jump? Culture Show co-host Edgar B. Herwick III joins us for his take.Finally, “The Winter’s Tale.” Shakespeare’s parable of human failings and forgiveness comes to life next week at the Parkman Bandstand by way of Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s annual –and FREE–Shakespeare on The Common. Bryn Boice, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s Associate Artistic Director, and actor Nael Nacer join The Culture Show for a preview.
