The Culture Show Podcast

The Hub Theatre Company of Boston’s production of Theresa Rebeck’s "The Understudy," is onstage at Club Café through August 2nd. Paula Plum, a five-time Elliot Norton Award winner, is directing the play. The acclaimed actor, director, writer and educator joins us for an overview, To learn more about the production go here . From there sociologist and writer Tiffany Jenkins joins The Culture Show t...

Lightroom and Paquin Entertainment Group have brought  The Moonwalkers: A Journey With Tom Hanks   to Boston. This is an immersive experience combining storytelling and  rare NASA archival footage  to bring the stories of the Apollo missions to life.  It is narrated and co-written by Tom Hanks. Producer Richard Slaney, CEO of Lightroom, joins The Culture Show for an overview.  This exhibition is o...

Today Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley  and Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons go over the latest arts and culture headlines on our week-in-review. First up, the latest developments in Coldplaygate. From there it’s onto Netflix, which has decided to not renew their $100 million contract with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The Streaming network also has a hit on its hands with “K-Pop Demon Hunters”...

Elisa New joins The Culture Show to talk about her recent op-ed in the New York Times, “ Walt Whitman Would Have Hated This ,” a reflection on how the poet would have responded to federal cuts to humanities education.  Elisa New is the Director and Host of the PBS series “ Poetry in America ,” and she leads the Educational Media Innovation Studio at Arizona State University. From there Robin Givha...

 Anna Barber, Curator of Exhibitions at Martha's Vineyard Museum joins The Culture Show for an overview of their sprawling exhibition “Jaws’ at 50: A Deeper Dive,” It’s on view through  September 7th. To learn more go here . From there Culture Show contributor Joyce Kulhawik joins us for our recurring feature, Stage and Screen Time–a look at the latest movies and plays in theaters now. Joyce Kulha...

Vanessa Bumpus, Exhibit Coordinator at Museum of Worcester,  joins The Culture Show for an overview of their permanent installation celebrating Worcester’s industry since the early 19th century. It’s an expansive survey of the innovators, workers, investors who have made industry the story of Worcester. To learn more go here .   From there, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company brings “As You Like It,”...

Actor and playwright William Jackson Harper is known for his Emmy Award-nominated performance as Chidi Anagonye on “The Good Place.” He also has an esteemed film and theater career. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance as Dr. Astrov in the Broadway revival of “Uncle Vanya.”  He joins The Culture Show to talk about his latest role, playing Jim in Tennessee Williams' rare prison dra...

Today Edgar B. Herwick III, Callie Crossley  and Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons go over the latest arts and culture headlines on our week-in-review. First up, we look at the future of public media now that Congress has stripped more than $1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. From there it’s  “Fight for America!,” a live, immersive performance centered around a large-scale...

Science Journalist and author Chris Berdik joins The Culture Show to talk about his new book “Clamor: How Noise Took Over the World and How We Can Take It Back.”  It details our chronic exposure to noise, how it's affecting our health, and the people who are working to bring the noise down and improve our quality of life. From there it’s another episode of “Sound Files.”  Our ongoing series when w...

Adam Aleksic—founder and former president of the Harvard Undergraduate Linguistics Society, and content creator posting educational videos as the “Etymology Nerd”—joins The Culture Show to talk about his new book “Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language.” Tonight he’ll be at the Harvard Book Store. To learn more go here In 1985 Marty McFly skateboarded onto the silver sc...

What happened to young Elphaba before she was saddled with the wicked mantle?  Almost 30 years after the publication of  “Wicked,” Gregory Maguire offers readers Elphaba’s origin story in a new book titled “Elphie: A Wicked Childhood.”  He joins The Culture Show to talk about it. From there comedian, actress and singer-songwriter Margaret Cho joins The Culture Show to talk about her new album “Luc...

Reginald Dwayne Betts is an award-winning  poet, a lawyer and founder of Freedom Reads, a first of its kind organization working to transform access to books in prisons. He joins The Culture Show to talk about his latest book “Doggerel: Poems.”  From there David Grann, author of “The Wager,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon," is a #1 “New York Times” best selling author and an award-winning staff w...

Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerald Casale, the cofounders of the new wave band Devo join The Culture Show to talk about cultural de-evolution, the genesis of their band, how they came to be one of the most original groups in the history of rock music. From there “ New York Times” bestselling author Alison Bechdel joins The Culture Show to talk about her new comic novel “ Spent.”  Finally James Parker, a...

Today writer Noah Gittell joins The Culture Show to talk about his book “Baseball: The Movie.”  Gittell, a sportswriter and film critic,  takes us through  the history of  the baseball movie; tracking how they have changed over the years from being mostly feel good to nostalgic to  to cynical. Gittell says that the way the baseball film has changed reflects how American values have changed.  From...

Boston Arts Academy and Wheelock Family Theater with support from The Huntington present the fifth installment of Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle, “Kufre n’ Quay.”  Mfoniso Udofia joins The Culture Show to talk about reaching the midpoint of her none-play cycle. “Kufre n’ Quay” is onstage July 10 - July 26th. To learn more go here . From there artist,  arts-educator and co-founder of Street The...

Music legend Peter Wolf has had a long solo career and rose to recognition as former lead singer of the J. Geils Band–famous for its high-octane shows and top 40 hits.  Wolf joins The Culture Show to talk about his new memoir “ Waiting on the Moon: Artists, Poets, Drifters, Grifters and Goddesses .”.  From there, Imari Paris Jeffries, CEO and President of Embrace Boston, joins us for a recap of th...

We continue our coverage of “Jaws” at 50 with Wendy Benchley.  She is the wife of the late author Peter Benchley, who wrote the bestselling novel “Jaws.”  Since the success of the book and subsequent film, Wendy Benchley has dedicated much of her life to conservation. She is an award-winning ocean advocate and scuba diver. She is cofounder of the Peter Benchley Ocean Awards . Along with Laura Bowl...

Director Carson Lund joins The Culture Show to talk about his debut feature film “Eephus,” a quintessentially New England baseball film. Find out more, here . From there Andy Husbands, chef and owner of The Smoke Shop BBQ , has co-authored the “Quick and Easy Burger Cookbook,” which will bump your burger game with creative recipes. He joins The Culture Show to talk about how we can turn our nothin...

James Parker joins The Culture Show to talk about his latest book “ Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive .”  He’s  a staff writer at “The Atlantic.”  Since 2011 he has been running the Black Seed Writers Group—a weekly writing workshop for homeless, transitional, and recently housed writers–and editing “The Pilgrim,” a literary magazine from the homeless community of downtown...

Ahead of Independence Day when we celebrate the rejection of King George III and his monarchy Danielle Allen joins The Culture Show for her take on the state of our democracy. Danielle Allen is the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation and of the Democratic Knowledge Project. From American history it’s an exploration o...

Robert Ellis Orrall is a singer-songwriter, producer and owner of the indie label Infinity Cat Recordings. He has worked in Nashville collaborating with Taylor Swift and Reba McEntire. Now he has a new live  album,  “The Bear is the Mountain,”  which revisits the early 80’s, featuring recordings from live performances throughout Boston.  He joins The Culture Show   ahead of a busy season of  live...

Today we continue our series with the Museum of Fine Arts, looking at works in their collection that give us insight into the people and pivotal moments that shaped America's fight for freedom. We’re joined by Lucía Abramovich Sánchez, the MFA’s Carolyn and Peter Lynch Associate Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture, and medalist and sculptor Heidi Wastweet. They’ll  discuss Heidi Wast...

Today Jared Bowen, Edgar B. Herwick III and Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons go over the latest arts and culture headlines on our week-in-review. First up, Anna Wintour. She is stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue after 37 years at the helm. For decades she has coolly controlled the rhythms of fashion the world over…all with a steely precision. Which is why she’s also not really...

In April, Mayor Michelle Wu and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture announced that Ghanaian American poet, editor, and educator Emmanuel Oppong-Yeboah will serve as Boston’s next Poet Laureate. Oppong-Yeboah will officially assume the role in July 2025 and serve until July 2029. They join The Culture Show to talk about their poetry and vision for their role as Poet Laureate. From there the wide...

This summer Commonwealth Shakespeare Company brings “As You Like It,” to the Parkman Bandstand for this year’s annual - and free - Shakespeare on the Common production. Actress Nora Eschenheimer, who stars as Rosalind, and actor Michael Underhill, who stars as Orlando, join The Culture Show for an overview. “As You Like It” runs July 23rd through August 10th. To learn more go here . From there we...