Podcast
The Culture Show Podcast
Hosted by GBH News · EN
A Boston-based podcast that thrives in how we live. What we like to see, watch, taste, hear, feel and talk about. It’s an expansive look at our society through art, culture and entertainment. It’s a conversation about the seminal moments and sizable shocks that are driving the daily discourse. We’ll amplify local creatives and explore the homegrown arts and culture landscape and tap into the big talent that tours Boston along the way.
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Episodes
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July 23, 2026 - George Saunders, Claire Foy, and Steve Sweeney's "Townie"
5d ago00:55:30Tap to summarizeBestselling author George Saunders joins The Culture Show to talk about his 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.” Actress Claire Foy joins The Culture Show to talk about her film, “H Is for Hawk”, adapted from Helen Macdonald’s bestselling memoir. Known for performances defined by restraint and emotional precision, Foy reflects on inhabiting grief, solitude, and endurance in a story that unfolds through the training of a goshawk.Boston comedian and actor Steve Sweeney joins The Culture Show to talk about his film “Townie,” which is drawn directly from his Charlestown upbringing. Known for comedy rooted in working-class Catholic culture, Sweeney uses the neighborhood as a lens on loyalty, memory, and what it means to stay put as a place — and a city — changes.
Transcribe →July 22, 2026 - Chef Aidan McGee, Gonzalo Grau, and 100 years of Regina Pizzeria
6d ago00:55:28Tap to summarizeWhat Boston learned from its World Cup party: The matches were in Foxborough, but the celebration filled Boston’s pubs, hotels and streets. Aidan McGee, chef and partner at The Dubliner and McGonagle’s Pub, reflects on the Tartan Army, extended closing hours and how Boston can keep its newly activated party gene alive. Gonzalo Grau returns to Boston: Venezuelan-born pianist, composer and multi-instrumentalist Gonzalo Grau brings together Venezuelan rhythms, Latin jazz, flamenco and classical music. Grau and Plural perform a free concert July 25 at Long Live Roxbury, followed by a July 30 appearance with Alex Alvear and the Ecuadorian Council. Both shows support the Massachusetts United for Venezuela Fund. Regina Pizzeria celebrates 100 years: From the lines outside its original North End location to slices served across the region, Regina Pizzeria has become part of Boston’s culinary identity. Corporate chef Mark Murphy joins us to discuss its charred, chewy crust, century-old traditions and the challenge of preserving a hometown institution as it grows.
Transcribe →July 21, 2026 - Anne Packard: An Artist's Resolve, Gus Constantellis, and Fiddlehead
1w ago00:55:29Tap to summarizeFilmmaker Arthur Egeli and producer Judith Richland discuss their documentary portrait of Provincetown painter Anne Packard, following her path from a single mother of five to one of Cape Cod’s most celebrated artists. The film screens July 26 at the Woods Hole Film Festival and August 11 at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum.Comedian Gus Constantellis remembers his late mother, Julia, whose cooking, sharp opinions and appearances in his viral videos made her beloved by his online audience. The cookbook brings together 75 Greek recipes with stories about family, comedy and grief. Find more from Constantellis at ConstantlyGus.com.Fiddlehead vocalist Patrick Flynn and guitarist Alex Dow discuss the Boston hardcore band’s new EP, Baby I’ll Change, and the family, loss and community behind their music. Fiddlehead plays the Middle East Upstairs on July 29, a free show at the Lynch Family Skatepark on August 1 and Roadrunner on November 13.
Transcribe →July 20, 2026 - Los Lobos: Native Sons, I Am Teddy Roosevelt, and Dave Herlihy
1w ago00:55:28Tap to summarizeCo-directors Doug Blush and Piero F. Giunti discuss Los Lobos: Native Sons, a new documentary tracing the East Los Angeles band’s 50-year journey through rare archival footage, performances and intimate access. The film screens July 26 and 29 at the Woods Hole Film Festival.Bestselling author Brad Meltzer introduces young readers to the conservationist president in I Am Teddy Roosevelt, the latest picture-book biography in his Ordinary People Change the World series.Former O Positive frontman and Northeastern professor Dave Herlihy talks about returning to songwriting and finding an online audience with “Good Trouble,” his homage to civil rights icon John Lewis—and performs the song live in the studio.
Transcribe →July 17, 2026 - Week in Review: Christopher Nolan's Odyssey, frozen yogurt, and the World Cup finale
2w ago00:55:03Tap to summarizeOn this edition of The Culture Show, Co-host Callie Crossley and contribbutors Lisa Simmons, and James Sullivan go over the week’s top arts and culture headlines. Lisa Simmons is the Artistic and Executive Director of the Roxbury International Film Festival and program manager at Mass Cultural Council. James Sullivan is a journalist and author specializing in popular culture and Americana. He’s also on the Emerson faculty.Christopher Nolan’s $250 million epic, “The Odyssey,” opens July 17 after earning widespread praise for its scale and ambition. Shot entirely with IMAX film cameras, it will screen in 70mm IMAX at only a limited number of theaters. The Michael Jackson biopic “Michael” has become the first biographical film to pass the billion-dollar mark at the global box office, despite criticism that it sanitizes Jackson’s legacy and objections from members of his family. Holden Caulfield turns 75 — J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye helped define the modern voice of adolescence. Its alienated narrator remains an enduring—and contested—American literary figure, recognized by generations of readers for his contempt for adult pretense.Frozen yogurt gets a wellness-era makeover — Froyo is back, with protein, probiotics and gut-health claims replacing the low-fat marketing of earlier crazes. The latest renaissance is being fueled by wellness influencers, stylish new shops and consumers looking for a health-conscious indulgence.The World Cup final expands into a global entertainment spectacle — A closing ceremony featuring Post Malone, Jennifer Hudson, Tom Cruise and other stars will precede Sunday’s match. Madonna, Shakira, BTS, Justin Bieber, Burna Boy and more will then perform during the tournament’s first-ever halftime show.
Transcribe →July 16, 2026 - David Duchovny, Edward Gorey, and Simon Curtis
2w ago00:55:33Tap to summarizeAward-winning actor, director, singer-songwriter and bestselling author David Duchovny joins The Culture Show to discuss “About Time: Poems,” a collection that reflects on love, family, aging, and the shifting nature of time. From there Molly Schwartzburg joins The Culture Show to talk about Edward Gorey and how Harvard’s Houghton Library has acquired never before seen Gorey illustrations. These works reveal how his time at Harvard shaped his sensibility. Molly Schwartzburg is the Philip Hofer Curator of Printing and Graphic Arts.Finally acclaimed filmmaker Simon Curtis joins The Culture Show to talk about directing “Downton Abbey:The Grand Finale.”
Transcribe →July 15, 2026 - Sebastian Smee on Trump's Arch, Uli Lorimer on summer watering, and Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea
2w ago00:55:30Tap to summarizePulitzer Prize-winning art critic Sebastian Smee discusses President Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery. His Atlantic essay, “Trump’s Arch Is Atrocious. Don’t Build It,” considers how the monument could reshape a landscape devoted to sacrifice and remembrance.As drought strains Massachusetts gardens, horticultural expert Uli Lorimer explains why water should go to mature trees, shrubs and perennials before lawns. Lorimer is director of horticulture at Native Plant Trust and author of The Northeast Native Plant Primer.Cape Ann Museum director Oliver Barker and curator Eliza Rathbone explore the friendship among Milton Avery, Adolph Gottlieb and Mark Rothko—and how their summers in Gloucester shaped their art. Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea is on view through September 27.
Transcribe →July 14, 2026 - "Paranormal Activity" on stage, Mahesh Daas on the Obama Pres. Center, and My Armenia
2w ago00:55:25Tap to summarizePlaywright Levi Holloway discusses transforming the slow-building dread of the hit film Paranormal Activity from screen to stage. Directed by Sleep No More co-creator Felix Barrett, the new story uses live illusion, darkness and sound to build suspense. It runs at the Emerson Colonial Theatre through July 30.Mahesh Daas, president of Boston Architectural College, shares his impressions of the newly opened Obama Presidential Center, considering how its museum and public campus recast the presidential library as a civic gathering place—and how its monumental design enters Chicago’s storied architectural landscape.Photographer Winslow Martin and Project SAVE executive director Arto Vaun discuss My Armenia (1999–2008), an exhibition of black-and-white photographs tracing everyday life during the first decade of Armenia’s independence. The show also inaugurates Project SAVE’s expanded Watertown gallery dedicated to contemporary photography.
Transcribe →July 13, 2026 - Jane Eaglen, Caroline Bicks on "Monsters in the Archives," and Rhett Price
2w ago00:55:30Tap to summarizeGrammy-winning soprano Jane Eaglen, president of the Boston Wagner Society, previews the American Wagner Festival, running July 27 through August 8 with masterclasses, performances and the popular Wagner and Vino.Shakespeare scholar Caroline Bicks, the Stephen E. King Chair in Literature at the University of Maine, discusses Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King, her investigation into the drafts, revisions and creative process behind King’s early fiction.Boston-based violinist, songwriter and producer Rhett Price talks about his debut album, Renaissance Man, and his journey from subway busking and viral cover songs to placing his own original music at center stage.
Transcribe →July 10, 2026 - Week in Review: Emmy nominations, XBox and Playstation controversy, and John Oliver on General Hospital
3w ago00:55:31Tap to summarizeThis week on The Culture Show, Jared Bowen is joined by Culture Show Culture Show contributors Joyce Kulhawik and James Sullivan for a look at the week’s top arts and culture headlines. James Sullivan is a journalist and author specializing in popular culture and Americana who is also on the faculty of Emerson College. Joyce Kulhawik is an Emmy-award winning arts and entertainment reporter and President of the Boston Theatre Critics Association. You can find her reviews on Joyce’s Choices. The Emmy nominations are out, with The Pitt leading the field and Hacks making comedy history. We’ll look at the surprises, snubs and first-year series breaking into the top categories. The White House is taking aim at the Smithsonian, accusing the National Museum of American History of turning away from patriotic storytelling in a new Fourth of July report. The Boston Hunters are stepping up to the plate as one of the first four franchises in the Women’s Pro Baseball League, with play beginning August 1. Microsoft is cutting thousands of Xbox jobs and closing studios, marking a major reversal after years of gaming-industry expansion. Bonnie Tyler, the Welsh singer whose unmistakable raspy voice turned heartbreak into high drama, has died at 75.
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