The Culture Show Podcast

Regie Gibson, inaugural poet laureate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,  and Nina Zannieri, Executive Director of the Paul Revere Memorial Association, join The Culture Show for a preview of “A Revolutionary Concert: Paul Revere, the Man, the Myth, and the Music.” Commemorating the 250th anniversary of Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride; it takes place November 13 at 7 p.m. at Boston’s Converse Hall....

The Museum of Fine Arts,Boston has taken a historic step in confronting America’s past, returning two monumental stoneware vessels to the descendants of David Drake — an enslaved potter from South Carolina who inscribed his name and poetry into clay when literacy was forbidden. His fourth-generation granddaughter Pauline Baker and her son Yaba Baker join The Culture Show to reflect on Drake’s lega...

Today Jared Bowen, Edgar B. Herwick III, and Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons,  artistic and executive director of the Roxbury International Film Festival and program manager at Mass Cultural Council, go over the latest arts and culture headlines.  First up, the Grammy nominations are out, and music’s biggest night is making history. For the first time in fifty years, the Recording Academy wi...

Few people know more about art theft than Anthony Amore. As Director of Security and Chief Investigator at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, he’s spent decades pursuing the truth behind its legendary 1990 heist. His new book, “The Rembrandt Heist: The Story of a Criminal Genius, a Stolen Masterpiece, and an Enigmatic Friendship,” revisits another one of Boston’s great art crimes — the 1975...

Today we’re revving up the DeLorean for a trip “Back to the Future.” Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley, and Edgar B. Herwick III co-host this month’s Wednesday Watch Party and revisit the 1985 sci-fi comedy that made time travel cool — and Michael J. Fox a star. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg, the film became the top-grossing movie of the year and a pop-culture touchstone....

I mari Paris Jeffries — President and CEO of Embrace Boston and co-chair of Everyone 250 — returns for another edition of  “AI: Actual Intelligence,”  which spotlights original, algorithm-free thinkers from the region’s sharpest minds.  George Balanchine’s “Jewels” — the first full-length abstract ballet — returns to Boston Ballet for the first time in more than a decade. Artistic Director Mikko N...

Comedian and actor Chris Grace returns to The Culture Show to talk about Sardines (A Comedy About Death) , his autobiographical one-man show now at the Huntington Theatre through November 16.  To learn more go here . Then actor, author, and filmmaker Crispin Glover joins The Culture Show   to discuss his latest film, “No! You’re Wrong. or Spooky Action at a Distance.”  For nearly two decades, Glov...

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, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston  has returned ownership of two monumental stoneware vessels to the descendants of David Drake — an enslaved potter.. It’s the first U.S. museum to resolve ownership for art made under slavery, linking creativity t...

A century ago, the Wang Theatre—now part of Boston’s Boch Center—opened as a lavish movie palace, a cathedral to the golden age of entertainment. Since then, it’s hosted everything from vaudeville to Broadway, rock legends to symphony orchestras. As the Boch Center celebrates its 100th anniversary, President and CEO Casey Soward joins The Culture Show to reflect on the theater’s storied past and t...

After her mother’s death, writer Alysia Abbott was raised by her father—poet Steve Abbott—in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury during the height of counterculture. Her memoir “Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father” captures that vivid, unconventional childhood and the complexities of growing up amid both liberation and loss. Now adapted into a feature film produced by Sofia Coppola, Abbott joins us to ref...

As part of our ongoing “Countdown to 2026” series, we explore how Massachusetts is commemorating 250 years of American history. Veterans Services Secretary Jon Santiago joins us to discuss the new Massachusetts Veterans Legacy Trail, a statewide digital map linking more than 1,200 monuments and memorials that honor generations of service. Created by the Healey–Driscoll administration for the MA250...

Hockey historian Mike Commito joins The Culture Show to celebrate the Boston Bruins—one story at a time. His new book, Bruins 365, serves up a memorable moment for every day of the year, combining sharp research with the spirit of the game. From there it’s another edition of “Sound Files,”  our ongoing series when we invite local musicians and cultural critics to zero in on one of their favorite e...

Edgar B. Herwick III,  Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons  and Culture Show contributor Joyce Kulhawik co-host this week’s arts and culture week-in-review. First up, the Louvre heist. Thieves disguised as maintenance workers pulled off a seven-minute jewel theft at the world’s most famous museum — raising questions about how security slipped for treasures worth nearly $100 million. From there a...

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough spent decades helping Americans see their past in human terms. A new collection, “History Matters”, gathers his essays and speeches on why history endures — edited by his daughter Dorie McCullough Lawson and longtime collaborator Mike Hill. She joins us ahead of her American Ancestors Headquarters event today at 5 p.m. To learn more go here .   Fro...

Halloween is lurking around the corner and the Coolidge Corner Theatre is preparing for its 24th annual Halloween Horror Marathon. Mark Anastasio, the Coolidge’s Program Director, joins us to preview twelve hours of horror classics, creature features, and surprise screenings — all shown on 35 millimeter film. To learn more go here . Then, author Gish Je n discusses her new novel, “Bad Bad Girl.” I...

It’s October in Salem, where history and Halloween converge. Peabody Essex Museum curator-at-large Paula Richter joins The Culture Show to talk about the Ropes Mansion — its role as “Allison’s House” in Hocus Pocus , and how the museum brings it to life each October. Starting October 23 and continuing through Halloween, the mansion’s exterior will once again be decorated in full “Hocus Pocus” styl...

As the only son of Johnny Cash and June Carter, John Carter Cash has carried forward one of America’s most enduring musical legacies. A Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, and author, he’s worked with artists from Willie Nelson to Sheryl Crow while preserving his parents’ archives and spirit. He joins The Culture Show to talk about his latest book, The Complete Johnny Cash: Lyrics from a Lifetime...

Today Edgar B. Herwick III, Callie Crossley and Culture Show contributor Lisa Simmons,  artistic and executive director of the Roxbury International Film Festival and program manager at Mass Cultural Council, go over the latest arts and culture headlines.  First up, remembering Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning actress of “Annie Hall,” “The Godfather,” and “Something’s Gotta Give.” Over five decades...

Donnie Wahlberg — familiar to millions as “Blue Bloods’” Detective Danny Reagan — spent fourteen seasons trading barbs, saying grace, and solving crimes in New York City. Now Danny Reagan is back — but this time, he’s doing it Boston-style. “Blue Bloods” followed a multi-generational law-enforcement family bound by duty, faith, and those famous Sunday dinners. In "Boston Blue, " premiering this Fr...

Acclaimed glass artist Josh Simpson crafts luminous worlds in miniature. His signature “Planets” —swirls of color and complexity sealed inside glass  — reflect his lifelong fascination with space and science. Now, he’s received a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts grant to explore how lunar dust could be melted into glass for future Moon habitats, in collaboration with architect Martin Bermudez of...

Bobbi Brown built a beauty empire on simplicity and self-expression. Now, with her new book  “Still Bobbi”  she lays bare her lessons in reinvention, resilience, and redefining beauty on her own terms. Catch her at Emerson College on October 27, 2025 for “An Evening with Bobbi Brown” — learn more here . From there Culture Show contributor Joyce Kulhawik joins us for a roundup of the plays and movi...

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 .”.  Regie Gibson , an assistant professor at Berklee College of Music and an instructor at Clark Univ...

Jared Bowen, Edgar B. Herwick III, and Joyce Kulhawik co-host this week’s arts and Culture week-in-review. Joyce Kulhawik is a Culture Show contributor, Emmy-award winning arts and entertainment reporter and president of the Boston Theatre Critics Association. You can find her reviews at Joyce’s Choices. First up, In Danvers, a young-adult novel is sparking debate. “All American Boys”—the story of...

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 Sh...

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 V...