The Culture Show Podcast

June 16, 2026 - Regie Gibson on "Song of Massachusetts," Josef Palermo on the Kennedy Center, and Nashoba Valley Winery

Regie Gibson, the inaugural Poet Laureate of Massachusetts, joins us to discuss Song of Massachusetts, his new collaboration with composer Carlos Simon. Commissioned by the Boston Pops, the piece premieres at the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular [https://www.bso.org/boston-pops-fireworks-spectacular] on July 4. Artist and arts organizer Josef Palermo joins us to discuss his Atlantic piece, What I Saw Inside the Kennedy Center [https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2026/04/inside-kennedy-center-shutdown-drama/686801/]. Palermo spent 10 months at the Kennedy Center as its first curator of visual arts and special programming. Justin Pelletier, chief operating officer of Nashoba Valley Winery [https://nashobawinery.com/] in Bolton, joins us as the farm-winery heads into its busiest season. New England’s oldest running winery has grown into a winery, orchard, distillery, brewery and restaurant operation.

June 15, 2026 - Antonia Bennett, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., and Igor Golyak on DELIRIUM

Antonia Bennett joins us ahead of her Father’s Day concert at Regattabar [https://www.livenation.com/event/rZ7HnEZ1AfZ_ZV/antonia-bennett-father-s-day-concert] in Cambridge on June 21. The daughter of Tony Bennett and Sandra Grant Bennett, she grew up close to the world of American popular song before studying at Berklee and building her own career in jazz, standards and original music. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. joins us to discuss his new book, America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation’s Anniversaries, as the country approaches its 250th birthday. The Princeton professor, political commentator and New York Times bestselling author will appear at a Brookline Booksmith event at WBUR CitySpace [https://brooklinebooksmith.com/event/2026-06-15/wbur-cityspace-eddie-glaude-jr] tonight at 6:30. Igor Golyak, founder and artistic director of Arlekin Players Theatre, joins us to preview DELIRIUM [https://www.arlekinplayers.com/works/delirium], his new adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s Frenzy for Two, or More. The production runs June 18 through July 2 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, turning an endless domestic argument into absurdist comedy, existential crisis and public chaos.

June 12, 2026 - Week in Review: Sagrada Família, the Kennedy Center, and David Hockney

This week on The Culture Show, Jared Bowen is joined by Culture Show co-host Callie Crossley and Culture Show contributor James Sullivan, a journalist and author specializing in popular culture and Americana who is also on the faculty of Emerson College, for a look at the week’s top arts and culture headlines. In Barcelona, Gaudí’s Sagrada Família reaches a milestone 144 years in the making, with the completion of the central tower dedicated to Jesus Christ — making the basilica the tallest church in the world. In Washington, President Trump’s name is coming down from the Kennedy Center after a federal judge ruled the renaming illegal, even as the institution prepares to award Bill Maher the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. David Hockney, one of the best-known contemporary artists, has died at age 88. We reflect on his legacy, which included his famed sun-soaked swimming pools of Los Angeles, the landscapes of his native Yorkshire and his innovative works with digital media.  With World Cup matches headed to Foxborough, Boston faces a civic stress test as the tournament brings questions about traffic, transit, late-night crowds, fan culture and protest.

June 11, 2026 - Dorie Greenspan on Kate Hepburn's brownies, Celtic Art at the HAM, and Jackson Cannon's summer spritzes

James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Dorie Greenspan joined The Culture Show to talk about her deep dive into Katharine Hepburn’s many brownie recipes. Greenspan, the writer behind xoxoDorie [https://doriegreenspan.substack.com/], traced the recipe’s journey from newspaper to cookbook to handwritten variations — with debates over cocoa, chocolate, oven temperature and a little movie-star mythology. Her latest book is Dorie’s Anytime Cakes [https://doriegreenspan.com/book/dories-anytime-cakes/]. To see Katharine Hepburn's hand-written brownie recipe, courtesy of the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center [https://www.bu.edu/library/gotlieb-center/]at Boston University, visit the GBH News YouTube channel. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNrXSSfB6QU] Susanne Ebbinghaus, curator of ancient art at the Harvard Art Museums, joined The Culture Show to discuss Celtic Art Across the Ages [https://harvardartmuseums.org/exhibitions/6342/celtic-art-across-the-ages], on view through Aug. 2. The exhibition brings together nearly 300 objects from Europe and North America — including jewelry, weapons, carved stone and images — to explore more than 2,500 years of Celtic art, identity and imagination. Cocktail icon Jackson Cannon, beverage director for ES Hospitality, joined The Culture Show to talk about the bright, bitter, fizzy world of the spritz. From Aperol and Campari to vermouth, amaro and sparkling wine, Cannon shared what makes a good spritz and what he’s pouring now. On July 1 at 6 p.m., Standard Italian [https://www.opentable.com/r/standard-italian-boston] hosts a Summer of Spritz dinner in the Fenway.

June 10, 2026 - Veronica Robles on Vive Latinoamérica, RoxFilm 2026, and A Midsummer Night's Dream

Mariachi singer and cultural organizer Veronica Robles joins us to preview Vive Latinoamérica 2026 [https://veronicaroblesculturalcenter.org/viva-latinoamerica-2026/?utm_source=chatgpt.com], the Veronica Robles Cultural Center’s annual celebration of Latin American music, dance, and visual art. The showcase takes place Sunday, June 14, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Boston Symphony Hall.  Lisa Simmons, artistic and executive director of the Roxbury International Film Festival, previews RoxFilm 2026 [https://www.roxfilmfest.com/2026festival?utm_source=chatgpt.com], New England’s largest showcase for films by, for, and about people of color. The festival runs in person June 18–26, followed by virtual programming June 26–July 2.  Commonwealth Shakespeare Company founding artistic director Steve Maler joins us to discuss A Midsummer Night’s Dream [https://commshakes.org/production/dream26/?utm_source=chatgpt.com], this summer’s Free Shakespeare on the Common production. The show runs July 22 through August 9 at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common as the company celebrates the 30th anniversary of Free Shakespeare on the Common.