The Culture Show Podcast

Paul Salopek has spent more than a decade walking the globe on foot as part of the “Out of Eden Walk,” retracing ancient human migration routes from East Africa toward Tierra del Fuego. A two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and National Geographic Explorer, Salopek joins us from Alaska, where he’s pausing for the winter before continuing his journey through the Americas. To read all of his reporting go...

Tracy K. Smith,  former U.S. Poet Laureate discusses her book “Fear Less: Poetry in Perilous Times” — an invitation to listen, reflect, and let poetry guide us through uncertainty.  Don Gillis and Ray Flynn join The Culture Show to discuss Gillis’ new book “ The Battle for Boston: How Mayor Ray Flynn and Community Organizers Fought Racism and Downtown Power Brokers .” On June 5th at 6:00 Don Gilli...

On this edition of The Culture Show, 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,  inaugural poet Amanda Gorman, who wrote a new poem for Renée Good — a Minneapolis poet and mother killed by a federal ICE agent — refusing to let her be reduced to a headline. Gorman’s poem turns grief into...

In “The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation,” Jim Clyburn revisits the lives of eight Black congressmen from South Carolina who served during Reconstruction, testing the meaning of representation in the aftermath of slavery. Drawing on history and his own decades in Congress, Clyburn  reflects on their legislative ambitions, the backlash they fac...

Now that the Michelin Guide has put Boston on the map, we’re kicking off a new series checking in with the restaurants on that list — to see what Michelin has meant for their kitchens, their dining rooms, and the city around them. Our first stop is South Boston with chef Karen Akunowicz . Her two Italian restaurants on West Broadway — Fox & the Knife and Bar Volpe — each earned Michelin’s Bib...

PBS’s Breaking the Deadlock drops former politicians, judges, and veteran journalists into staged constitutional crises and asks them to work from the same facts, limits, and scenarios. Moderator Aaron Tang, a UC Davis law professor, joins us to talk about what these simulations reveal about civil discourse and the power of reasoning amid deep disagreement. Their forthcoming episode, “A Matter of...

Damien Hoar de Galvan created one sculpture a day for an entire year, using discarded materials like scrap wood, jars, and household objects. His 365 works are now on view at the ICA, where he’s been awarded the 2025 Foster Prize. He joins us to talk about the project and why these everyday materials matter to him. The Foster Prize exhibition is on view through January 19. To learn more go here ....

On this edition of The Culture Show, 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, “Heated Rivalry,”  the hockey romance that’s become an unexpected breakout hit. What began as a niche sports drama has grown into a word-of-mouth phenomenon, drawing praise for its explicit intimacy, emotiona...

As part of our recurring segment AI: Actual Intelligence , Imari Paris Jeffries , President and CEO of Embrace Boston and a co-chair of Everyone 250 joins us. . Jeffries shared original, human-centered insights on civic memory, public history, and the work of shaping a more inclusive narrative as Massachusetts approaches its 250th anniversary. Photographer Amani Willett joins us to discuss his lat...

Joyce Kulhawik joins The Culture Show with highlights from the annual voting of the Boston Society of Film Critics, following their marathon session at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, which could be an indicator of this year’s Oscar contenders. The Boston Society of Film Critics awards crowned Sinners , directed by Ryan Coogler, as Best Picture, alongside honors for standout performances, documentari...

Bestselling author George Saunders joins The Culture Show to talk about his forthcoming novel “Vigil.”  Set over a single night, the book follows Jill “Doll” Blaine, a long-deceased guardian figure who keeps watch over a dying oil executive, returning Saunders to the moral and metaphysical terrain familiar from “Lincoln in the Bardo.”  “Vigil” is out January 27, with a Harvard Book Store event on...

Samuel Barber’s Vanessa is a psychologically charged American opera centered on denial, obsession, and self-deception. Premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958, the work earned composer Samuel Barber the Pulitzer Prize for Music. The Boston Symphony Orchestra , in collaboration with Boston Lyric Opera , will be performing Vanessa for the first time in BSO history, conducted by Andris Nelsons, w...

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Stephen Greenblatt joins The Culture Show , to talk about his latest book, “ Dark Renaissance:The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare’s Greatest Rival .”  It traces the meteoric rise and violent end of Christopher Marlowe—playwright, poet, spy, and heretic—whose genius endures today.   From there, Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore ...

Dennis Lehane, known for writing literary crime novels such as “Mystic River,” “Gone, Baby, Gone,” and “Shutter Island,” joins The Culture Show to talk about his latest collaboration with Apple TV+, the  crime series “Smoke.”  Created by Dennis Lehane, the nine-episode drama – inspired by true events – follows an arson investigator who teams up with a police detective to stop two serial arsonists....

Author Gish Jen discusses her novel, “Bad Bad Girl.” In this witty and deeply personal work, Jen blends fiction and autobiography to imagine her mother’s life and explore the distance between them — uncovering how storytelling can bridge what family history leaves unsaid.  From there we’re joined by Sam Kissajukian. In 2021 the Aussie comedian quit stand-up, rented an abandoned cake factory, and b...

James Sullivan,  a journalist, author and longtime contributor to the Boston Globe, joins The Culture Show to talk about his book Which Side Are You On?: 20th Century American History in 100 Protest Songs . From there Aisha Muharrar joins The Culture Show to talk about her debut novel “Loved One.” She’s an Emmy Award–winning writer and producer who has worked on “Hacks,” “Parks” and “Recreation,”...

First up, Sally Mann. In 2015 renowned photographer Sally Mann published her memoir “Hold Still,” an inquiry into family history, the American South and the nature of creativity. Now, comes her book  “Art Work: On the Creative Life.”  It is laugh-out-loud funny. It’s irreverent. And it’s refreshingly practical as she guides the reader through her experience and process of being an artist.  From th...

Robert Reich served  in three presidential administrations, including as Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. As a professor he has been the ultimate explainer about rising inequality. As a public intellectual he pulls no punches–calling out the bullies:  anyone and any institution that threatens democracy and human decency.  It’s a life’s work on which he reflects in his book “Coming...

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...

Ron Chernow―prizewinning author of seven books, including the National Book Award winner “The House of Morgan,” the Pulitzer Prize winner “Washington: A Life,” and the George Washington Book Prize winner “Alexander Hamilton ” ―joins The Culture Show to talk about his new biography “Mark Twain . ”      From there we talk to National Geographic Explorer  in Residence Tara Roberts. She joins The Cult...

The United States has a National Recording Registry — a list of more than 600 recordings that have been deemed culturally, historically or aesthetically significant by the Library of Congress. GBH’s The Culture Show is digging deep, one recording at a time, with our recurring segment SOUND FILES.  In this edition, Keith Lockhart with the acclaimed orchestra Boston Pops waxes operatic about his lov...

In the Victorian era, Charles Dickens was more than a famous author — his public readings of A Christmas Carol turned literature into live spectacle. His great-great-grandson, Gerald Charles Dickens, carries that tradition forward with a one-man performance of the holiday classic. Touring internationally since the early 1990s, he joined The Culture Show to talk about literary inheritance, live sto...

On this edition of The Culture Show, 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, Hollywood’s biggest night is getting a new home. The Academy Awards will leave broadcast television and stream exclusively on YouTube beginning with the 101st Oscars in 2029, ending a more than five-decade ru...

Imari Paris Jeffries, President and CEO of Embrace Boston and co-chair of Everyone 250 , joins us for his recurring segment AI: Actual Intelligence — a space for original, human insight. This month Jeffries discussed how history, memory, and civic responsibility are shaping current cultural conversations in Greater Boston and beyond. He also previewed Everyone250’s 2026 events to confront erasure...

Today we commune with the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Jared Bowen,  Callie Crossley, and Edgar B. Herwick III co-host this month’s Wednesday Watch Party and revisit all the screen lives of  “A Chistmas Carol.”  Dickens’ tale has been adapted hundreds of times — from silent films and mid-century classics to animated versions, musicals, and comic riffs. The hosts ask listeners what...