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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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October 9, 2025 - Jake Tapper, Bricks for the Blind with Matthew Shifrin, and Gustazo Cuban Kitchen
CNN anchor and chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper joins The Culture Show to talk about his new book "Race Against Terror," which tells the thrilling story of how prosecutors traversed the globe, tracking down evidence to convict terrorist "Spin Ghul" for killing American servicemen in Afghanistan. On October 16th he’ll be at WBUR’s CitySpace. To learn more go here. As a child Matthew Shifrin received a gift that changed his life -- a LEGO set with instructions hand-written in Braille. Today he is the founder and CEO of Bricks for the Blind. He joins The Culture Show to talk about how their free Text-based Building Instructions allows people with visual impairments to build LEGO sets . To learn more about Bricks for the Blind go here.Finally we celebrate Hispanic Heritage month with Patricia Estorino, executive chef and co-owner of Gustazo Cuban Kitchen & Café. Gustazo has expanded into two locations, Cambridge and Waltham. The restaurant has earned widespread recognition, including repeated spots on Boston Magazine’s 50 Best Restaurants list and multiple Best of Boston awards for Latin cuisine, brunch and most recently, Best Cuban Restaurant 2025. To learn more go here. -
October 8, 2025 - Chris Grace on Sardines, Phantoms by Firelight at Old Sturbridge Village, and Brassica Kitchen + Cafe
Actor and comedian Chris Grace joins The Culture Show to talk about his one-man show, “Sardines(A Comedy About Death),” which is onstage at The Huntington Theatre through November 16th. “Sardines” explores the tragic, hilarious, and important questions of our time: Can we enjoy life if we know how it ends? To learn more go here.From there, under a cloak of darkness, we head to Old Sturbridge Village, where history flickers to life at “Phantoms by Firelight: The Grand Season Finale.” It’s an immersive Halloween experience filled with ghost stories, lanterns, and the daring spectacle of Cyrkus Vampyr. Jim Donahue, CEO and President of Old Sturbridge Village and Rhys Simmons, their Director of Interpretation, Join the Culture Show for an overview.Finally Rebecca Kean, Operations Manager and co-owner of Jamaica Plain’s Brassica Kitchen + Cafe, along with co-chef, co-owner and designer Phillip Kruta join The Culture Show to talk about their expansion. To learn more go here. -
October 7, 2025 - Imari Paris Jeffries, 300 Paintings with Sam Kissajukian, and Boston Baroque's Baroque Masterworks
Imari Paris Jeffries, President and CEO of Embrace Boston, joins The Culture Show for his monthly segment “AI: Actual Intelligence.” This month we get his take on Bunny’s final concert in Puerto Rico, which Jeffries attended. It wasn’t just a performance — it was a homecoming and a moment of pride for millions across the diaspora. We’ll also get his take on the reaction that Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show is already generating.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,” now onstage at the American Repertory Theater through October 25th; more information here.Finally we get a preview of Boston Baroque’s season opener “Baroque Masterworks." The acclaimed harpsichordist and conductor Christian Curnyn and Boston Baroque Executive Director Sarah Radcliffe-Marrs join The Culture Show. “Baroque Masterworks" is October 11th and October 12th at Jordan Hall; more information here. -
October 6, 2025 - Fritz Scholder's "Bicentennial Indian," Jill Lepore, and Projecting Protest
We continue our “Countdown to 2026” series with the Museum of Fine Arts to look at the art reframing our understanding of the American Revolution. Ahead of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we zoom in on Fritz Scholder’s “Bicentennial Indian.” Ethan Lasser, John Moors Cabot Chair, Art of the Americas and Marina Tyquiengco, Ellyn McColgan Associate Curator of Native American Art, lead the conversation.From there, Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore examines whether the U.S. Constitution still functions as a living document. Drawing on The Amendments Project—a vast archive of thousands of failed amendment proposals—Lepore argues that structural and political barriers have made constitutional change nearly impossible. In her new book, “We the People,” she traces how that paralysis has shifted the power to interpret and reshape democracy from citizens and lawmakers to the courts. You can catch Jill Lepore tonight at the First Parish Church at 7:00. The event is hosted by Harvard Book Store. To learn more go here.Finally filmmaker Tom Clement turns his lens on a new form of activism: light projections as protest. His documentary “Projecting Protest” follows artists and activists using buildings as canvases for messages that illuminate the ongoing battle between free expression, property rights, and public space. You can catch him tonight for a free screening at MassArt. The event is at 6:00. To learn more go here. -
October 3, 2025 - Week in Review: Life of a Showgirl, Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl, and Jane Goodall
Today Culture Show co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III drive our arts and culture week-in-review.First up, Taylor Swift dropped her new album at midnight. “Life of a Showgirl” blends spectacle with storytelling, marking –and marketing–another milestone in her reign over pop culture.From there, Bad Bunny is headlining the Super Bowl halftime show, a career touchdown that also amplifies Latin music on the world’s biggest stage. While fans cheer the, MAGA critics are calling it a cultural mismatch.Plus Jane Fonda is resurrecting the Committee for the First Amendment, a Hollywood group her father once joined during the McCarthy era. With new battles over censorship raging, she says the fight to defend free expression is as urgent as ever.Finally we remember Jane Goodall, the trailblazing primatologist, has died at 91. Her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees transformed our understanding of animal intelligence and deepened our sense of responsibility toward the natural world.
