The Culture Show Podcast

Coinneach MacLeod is better known as The Hebridean Baker. His simple living, Scottish accent, and photographs of Scotland’s rugged landscape have made him an international bestseller. And then there are his bakes.  He joins us to talk about his latest cookbook, “ The Hebridean Baker at Home ” From there, we head to the North End to find out what makes a perfect meatball and if it’s served with gra...

Today we cross into the underworld by way of “Eurydice.”  It’s a hell raising opera, truly.  With music by Matthew Aucoin and based on the play “Eurydice,”  by Sarah Ruhl, it’s a retelling of the myth of  Orpheus, from the perspective of his bride. In this adaptation we follow Eurydice’s descent into the underworld, where her encounters are humorous, and heartbreaking–especially when she reunites...

Ben Shattuck’s  latest book,  “The History of Sound,”  is an extraordinary collection of interconnected stories that examine the lives and landscapes of New England.  From a farm on Nantucket to the orchards of Hattfield and Barnstable to  a logging camp in New Hampshire, Shattuck spans centuries in these haunting, tender and often humorous stories.  From there, artist Alex Buchanan, a Coast Guard...

Today on The Culture Show ,  the one-man media conglomerate: Matt Farley.  For him quality IS quantity. The Danvers based singer-songwriter is prolific. He’s written, produced and recorded more than 25,000 songs. He also makes movies, hosts  podcasts and writes books.  Then, it’s music to environmentalists’ ears. We check in with Adam Gardner. The  lead singer of Guster is also leading the way to...

It’s a story for the past, present  and future: Charles Dickens’  “A Christmas Carol.”  Though it was a reflection of Dickens’ times, the struggle between selfishness and  selflessness endures. In Ebeneezer Scrooge, Dickens created both an an tagonist and pro tagonist  who went from being a covetous curmudgeon to a repentant man. Today we’re serving up two scoops of Scrooge  with actors David Coff...

Today on The Culture Show Jared Bowen, Edgar B. Herwick III and Callie Crossley are decking the airwaves this hour with a holiday spectacular. First up, the 1946 classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  It’s a film about second chances. It’s a film about gratitude. It’s also a great romance story. In Mr. Potter we have one of the best villains in cinematic history. And along the way we get a lesson in b...

Dwight Ritcher and Nicole Nelson make up the critically acclaimed, genre-defying band DWIGHT & NICOLE .  They trace their musical roots through blues, R&B, and soul with a little roots rock, alternative, and Americana sprinkled in. On New Year’s Eve they'll take the stage at Regattabar to perform hits from their acclaimed album, “ The Jaguar, The Raven, and The Snake .” Dwight & Nicole...

Today Culture Show co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III go over the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review. First up, Boston City Hall. Whether you think it’s a masterpiece or a monstrosity, the Boston Landmarks Commission has voted to recognize one of the city’s most iconic and controversial structures  as an historic landmark. But that’s not set in conc...

Ayodele Casel is a trailblazing tap dancer and choreographer.  Her tap dancing is at once percussive and poetry in motion. She joins The Culture Show to talk about the world-premiere production,  “Diary of a Tap Dancer.”  It  traces her  life  – from her first steps in the Bronx and Puerto Rico– and  along the way it celebrates the extraordinary and often-overlooked women dancers who broke the tap...

Today on The Culture Show Mary Grant, President of MassArt, joins us for our recurring feature “AI: Actual intelligence,” where we tap into the most interesting thinkers in our region whose insights and observations are totally original and algorithm free.  This month we discuss stories at the intersection of art, society and education, from a recent  study on the brain benefits of seeing real wor...

Today on The Culture Show Imari Paris Jeffries, president and CEO of Embrace Boston, joins us for his monthly segment: “AI: Actual intelligence,”  where we tap into the most interesting thinkers in our region. Their insights and observations are totally original and algorithm free. Today Imari Paris Jeffries discusses President Biden commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39...

Tony award-winning musical  “Six,” in all of its exuberant defiance, reclaims history for Henry VIII’s six wives. Now the queendom reigns at Boston’s Emerson Colonial Theatre by way of Broadway in Boston. Today two of the queens  – Danielle Mendoza who stars as Anne of Cleves  and  Alizé Cruz  who stars as Catherine Howard –  join The Culture Show . Six is onstage through December 29th. To learn m...

Today on The Culture Show, Jared Bowen, Edgar B. Herwick III, and Callie Crossley go over the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review. First up this week is Luigi Mangione. As soon as his unmasked face was made public and once people knew the name of the suspected gunman who allegedly killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson – fandom flooded the internet and the memes followed....

Engelbert Humperdinck is a  multi-platinum legendary singer whose  “Last Waltz Farewell Tour,” lands at the Chevalier Theatre in Medford where he performs on December 12th. Engelbert Humperdinck's latest album  All About Love , is a collection of his own versions of some of some classic love songs.  He joins The Culture Show to talk about it all. From there we get a preview of Revolutionary Spaces...

The chamber ensemble Musicians of the Old Post Road is celebrating  the holiday season with “Christmas Far and Wide,” a concert of  festive 18th-century yuletide music from across the Western Hemisphere, making stops in Ireland, France, England. Poland, Mexico and more. They have two upcoming performances, one on December 14th at Trinity Lutheran in Worcester and another performance on December 15...

The United States Postal Service has announced a 2025 postage stamp honoring actress Betty White. The stamp , based on a 2010 photo of White, is a work by Massachusetts artist Dale Stephanos . As an illustrator his clients include “Rolling Stone,”  “Mad Magazine” and “The New York Times.” His work is exhibited in galleries across the country. Dale Stephanos joins The Culture Show to talk about his...

Two time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole joins The Culture Show to preview “I'll Be Home For Christmas.”   By way of Broadway in Worcester, Christine Ebersole and Grammy Award winning pianist Billy Stritch will celebrate the holidays together in a show that  features the greatest hits of their twenty year partnership going all the way back to “42nd Street” on Broadway when they first met. “ I...

Today on The Culture Show Edgar B. Herwick III, James Bennett II and Lisa Simmons go over the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review. First up, this week Mayor Wu announced that the city is expandin g its pilot program giving Boston students free access to select arts and culture institutions.  Starting in January, it’ll be offered to all Boston students, with more free days and e...

For over 25 years The Pipes of Christmas has been a cherished holiday event, performing concerts that celebrate  the Christmas season and the Celtic spirit. Next Thursday at Old South Church they will be making their Boston debut in a concert honoring Brian O’Donovan, and the holiday tradition he created: A Christmas Celtic Sojourn. Lindsay O’Donovan, the wife of Brian O’Donavan. She was central t...

Today, Mayor Michelle Wu  announced Boston Family Days, an expansion of the successful BPS Sundays pilot program, which gave Boston Public Schools students and their families free access to several cultural institutions throughout Boston. With today’s announcement, Mayor Wu has expanded this free access experience to include all Boston school-aged children K-12 and their families and three new cul...

Boston Pops Conductor Keith Lockhart joins The Culture Show for an overview of the Holiday Pops, which kicks off a series of concerts this Thursday December 5th. This year offers everything from the annual performance of  “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,”  to  “ Home Alone” in Concert   to a  N ew Year’s Eve Celebration  with Bernadette Peters . To learn  about  the  Holiday Pops season go here...

HBO’s “ Somebody Somewhere ,”  drops us into Manhattan, Kansas where we meet Sam, a woman who has recently moved back to her hometown to care for her dying sister, and Joel, a colleague at her new workplace who, she learns, was in the high school choir with her. The Peabody Award-winning series is  wrapping up with its last episode streaming on HBO December 8th. Actor Jeff Hiller, who stars as Joe...

Ethan Hawke joins The Culture Show to talk about his latest film, “Wildcat,” which he directed and co-wrote. It’s about Flannery O’Conor– her imagination, her life and how illness instilled in her an unrelenting awareness of death. Hawke talks about what Flannery O’Conor means to him and what it means to be the face of Gen X. From there,  filmmaker Sean Wang. In his uproarious debut feature film,...

Today on the Culture Show we have a show about food, tradition and culture. First up, writer Raj Tawney.  Growing up in a multicultural household,  his coming of age story happened in the kitchen, helping his mother and grandmother cook recipes from their homelands.  Themes of food, memory and identity  come together  in his  memoir, “A Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey through a Mixed American...

The Handel and Haydn Society  has been  performing Messiah every year since 1854. This year there’s a new component: Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen is introducing CitySing which unites 121 musicians on the Symphony Hall stage to perform Messiah November 29th through December 1st. He, along with Steven Marquardt, principal trumpet player, joined The Culture Show for a preview and performance. Fro...