The Culture Show Podcast

In the latest adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, the star crossed lovers get that much closer to the stars– leaping, bounding, backflipping and flying high by way of the 7 Fingers circus troupe. In this spin on Shakespeare, the doomed romantics don’t need cupid's wings to soar above a common bound, because they’ve got a trapeze. I’ll talk to Aerial Emery, one of the hip-swiveling performers, about th...

Clothes don’t make the man, they make the movie. Now that we are deep into Oscars season, who better to talk two than Academy Award-winning costume designer –and Springfield native – Ruth E. Carter. She won her first Academy Award for her work in “Black Panther,” where she created the Afrofuturist aesthetic of Wakanda. Four years later, she became a superhero in her own right, earning her second O...

Playwright Samuel D. Hunter writes about existential struggles. A rising star, he became widely known for “The Whale,” the critically acclaimed play that he adapted to the Academy Award-winning movie starring Brendan Frasier. In his latest work, “A Case for the Existence of God,” Hunter revisits the existential questions that shadow us: what is the point of sorrow? Where do we find the common grou...

It’s our arts and culture week-in-review. First up, it’s pumpkin soup for the protester’s soul. The Mona Lisa is the latest masterpiece to be slimed in the name of environmental activism. Is this an effective tactic or just weak sauce? Then, it’s a pyramid scheme: an extreme makeover of Egyptian ruins is outraging archaeologists. From there, with Sundance wrapping up, we look at its sway in the fi...

Tina Turner, The Sex Pistols, David Bowie….to have seen these legends perform –and hundreds of others– is one thing. To make a career out of covering them, interviewing them and in some cases sharing ribald moments with them… is another. And that has been the life of writer Jim Sullivan. He’s observed and experienced so much of the Rock and Punk scenes that he needed to write a second anthology. H...

The British artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen forced us to look at the atrocities of slavery in his film, “12 Years a Slave.” An offshoot of that undertaking is “Lynching Tree,” a photograph of a large oak tree, which McQueen took while on location in America’s south. At first glance, it presents as a tranquil landscape. Until you recognize the tree has survived centuries and was used for lynchin...

Among the English courses being offered at Harvard this semester there’s “Sex, Gender and Shakespeare;” an exploration of British romantic poetry titled “Keats Isn't Dead” and a course that goes deep on Swift. No, not the satirist Jonathan Swift, but the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. In a class titled “Taylor Swift and Her World.” Professor Stephanie Burt is bringing an analytical approach to th...

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg secured a legacy as a crusader for women’s rights. Later in life she secured another legacy…as a vaunted cultural icon. She is forever associated with hip-hop as the “Notorious RBG,” her first gender discrimination case inspired the biopic, "On the Basis of Sex," and now she is the subject of the one-woman show, “All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsb...

It’s our arts and culture week in review. First up, the Oscar nominations –the surprises, usual suspects, and snubs that are sparking controversy in Barbieland. Plus, an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art featuring nude performance artists intending to pose questions about comfort levels, instead resulted in assault allegations. From there, Jon Stewart is jumping into the 2024 race, resuming h...

During her State of the City address, Mayor Michelle Wu made the personal policy. She talked about how formative it was, as a Chicago kid in a family of few resources, to be able to attend museums for free. Exposure to a vast universe of art and ideas that could transport her to other places–both real and imagined - changed her life. Now she is working to do the same for children here. She joins m...

We’re wrapping up our series of interviews with the ICA’s 2023 Foster Prize Winners with artist Venetia Dale. As a metalsmith and sculptor, Dale’s work looks at objects— their utility, people’s relationship to the things in their lives—what they need, what they delight in, and what they’ve relegated to the junk drawer. Dale is also interested in the incomplete and the imperfect — themes that she’s...

The battle between the bomb and the blonde bombshell is over. Barbenhiemer has officially uncoupled with Oppenheimer dominating Barbie, earning 13 Oscar nominations. Arts and entertainment reporter Joyce Kulhawik joins me to sort through this, the snubs, surprises and snoozers. And, will the Grammys ever create a category for best song recorded by a state auditor? If so, Diana Dizoglio’s newly mas...

Shostakovich’s opera, “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.” It made its premiere in 1934 and became an overnight sensation. Then it all but vanished after Stalin banned it from what was then the Soviet Union and he sent Shostakovich into a state of fear that he would be arrested. Now the Boston Symphony Orchestra brings the piece to Symphony Hall this week, before playing Carnegie Hall. In between rehearsals...

First up, What do the alternative rock band R.E.M have in common with hip-hop giant and superproducer Timbaland? They’re both among this year’s Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees. We’ll take a listen to the lyrics that have landed them this honor. Then it’s onto the lost and found department, from a priceless Picasso going up in flames to a stolen Picasso being recovered after a months long covert...

When it comes to reality TV is there really such a thing as too many cooks in the kitchen? We’ll ask Chef Jason Santos, who enters another season of Hell’s Kitchen as Gordon Ramsey’s sous chef. But that’s not all he’s up to, as chef and owner of a string of celebrated famed restaurants including Buttermilk & Bourbon, he joins us to talk about how he’ll continue to boost Boston’s flavor profile...

Just as cities were wrestling with America's history with slavery -- and the people and places tied to that past-- the legacy of Faneuil Hall came under scrutiny. Before slavery was abolished in Boston, slave auctions were held at Faneuil Hall. Artist Steve Locke proposed an installation to reckon with that. But after Boston’s NAACP chapter and others voiced their opposition to Locke’s proposal, h...

The plight of public defenders. How do seven beleaguered lawyers offset the burden of their Family Defense caseloads? And a fear that the judicial system won’t deliver justice? AND the burnout that seems to be careening their way? They eat lunch. This isn’t stress eating. In the comedic play “Lunch Bunch’ the midday meal is a gathering where breaking bread is an act of affirmation. Only an hour-lo...

Today marks the first anniversary of the unveiling of The Embrace on Boston Common. While the sculpture is a tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King and their fight for civil rights, the enormity of it is also a testament to the design and architectural teams behind it. It was crafted by MASS Design Group in partnership with artist Hank Willis Thomas. Jha D. Amazi, a Principal at MA...

The best things in life ARE free and in Boston, that includes the arts. This February Mayor Wu will launch a pilot, making a handful of arts and culture institutions free for Boston Public School students and their families. Could/Should this experiment become permanent? From there it’s a darker reality–in Massachusetts and beyond, natural history museums are reckoning with their collections of hu...

It’s been nearly a year since The Embrace literally changed the landscape of Boston and challenged all of us to think about the purpose of public art. Now that we’ve moved on from the immediate reaction to this towering tribute to the Kings, what is The Embrace a commitment to and how is it shaping Boston beyond Boston Common? Imari Paris Jeffries, President and CEO of Embrace Boston joins me. Fro...

The Boston Children’s Chorus is on a mission to give the city’s youth a voice by giving them the power to transcend social barriers by celebrating a shared love of music. Part of the mission includes the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute Concert. Ahead of this year’s event at Symphony Hall, we’ll talk to the chorus’ Executive Director Andrés Holder. Then, it’s an entirely different performance...

It’s been nearly a year since The Embrace –the larger than life tribute to Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King–was unveiled on Boston Common. As we approach this anniversary, Tufts history professor Kerri Greenidge joins us to talk through the power of public art –how it can connect us to our history and introduce us to the people who have shaped who – and where – where–we are today. From th...

The pharaoh of the opera. Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo has made a name for himself starring in the MET’s production of Akhenaten – earning a Grammy award along the way. He’s also figuratively found his voice and the freedom to have fun by collaborating with cabaret performer Justin Vivian Bond in their hit performance and accompanying album, “Only an Octave Apart.” Now Anthony Roth Costanzo...

They’ve attacked governments, utilities and retail…and now hackers are escalating their assaults on museums. A ransomware gang has targeted software, bringing down online collections along the way. Then, after only 24 hours in the public domain, the first iteration of Mickey Mouse goes to the dark side, starring in slasher films and horror games. We’ll look at what it means for him and other promi...

One of the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic was the arts industry. By 2021 the prolonged closure cost Massachusetts close to 600 million dollars. Now that we’re on the other side of the shutdown, how are the arts sector and the creative ecosystem faring? Michael J. Bobbitt, head of the Mass Cultural Council, joins us for that and more. From there, a conversation about music as memory. The Bosto...