July 24, 2026 - Week in Review: The Odyssey, the FIFA World Cup Finals, and Jimothy

July 24, 2026 - Week in Review: The Odyssey, the FIFA World Cup Finals, and Jimothy

This week on The Culture Show, Co-host CAllie Crossley is joined by Culture Show Culture Show contributors Joyce Kulhawik and  Lisa Simmons. 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. [http://www.joyceschoices.com/] Lisa Simmons  is Artistic and Executive Director of the Roxbury International Film Festival [http://www.roxfilmfest.com]and program manager at Mass Cultural Council. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey — The film earned a record $52 million for IMAX during its opening weekend as audiences traveled to the limited number of theaters equipped to show it in 70mm. The release has also lifted sales of Emily Wilson’s translation of Homer’s epic past one million copies in the U.S. The World Cup’s biggest images — The final drew a record U.S. audience of nearly 63 million viewers, while Donald Trump’s appearance in Spain’s trophy celebration set off competing edits from FIFA and the White House. A newly resurfaced 2007 photograph also shows Lionel Messi bathing an infant Lamine Yamal during a UNICEF charity shoot. The Louvre reopens the Apollo Gallery — Nine months after thieves stole $102 million in crown jewels, the museum has reopened the gallery without its display cases or surviving treasures. Visitors can now see the gilded room and the window the thieves used to enter. Jimothy takes over the internet — Seattle’s unusually shaped raccoon now has a Roku video game, a bobblehead and an appearance on the White House social media feed.

July 23, 2026 - George Saunders, Claire Foy, and Steve Sweeney's "Townie"

Bestselling 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 [https://stevesweeneycomedy.com/] 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.

July 22, 2026 - Chef Aidan McGee, Gonzalo Grau, and 100 years of Regina Pizzeria

What 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 [https://www.thedublinerboston.com/] and McGonagle’s Pub [https://www.mcgonagles.com], 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 [https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/artists/8189/gonzalo-grau?utm_source=chatgpt.com] brings together Venezuelan rhythms, Latin jazz, flamenco and classical music. Grau and Plural perform a free concert July 25 at Long Live Roxbury [https://www.longlivebeerworks.com/boston?utm_source=chatgpt.com], followed by a July 30 appearance with Alex Alvear and the Ecuadorian Council. Both shows support the Massachusetts United for Venezuela Fund [https://www.tbf.org/donors/forms/mass-united-for-venezuela-fund?utm_source=chatgpt.com].  Regina Pizzeria celebrates 100 years: From the lines outside its original North End location to slices served across the region, Regina Pizzeria [https://www.pizzeriaregina.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] 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.

July 21, 2026 - Anne Packard: An Artist's Resolve, Gus Constantellis, and Fiddlehead

Filmmaker 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 [https://woodsholefilmfestival.org/events/annepackardanartistsresolve/]and August 11 at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum [https://www.pilgrim-monument.org/event/outdoor-movie-night-anne-packard-an-artists-resolve-an-arthur-egeli-film/]. 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 [https://constantlygus.com/]. Fiddlehead [https://fiddleheadworld.com/] vocalist Patrick Flynn and guitarist Alex Dow discuss the Boston hardcore band’s new EP, Baby I’ll Change [https://runforcoverrecords.com/products/fiddlehead-baby-i-ll-change-ep], and the family, loss and community behind their music. Fiddlehead plays the Middle East Upstairs [https://www.mideastoffers.com/tm-venue/middle-east-upstairs/] on July 29, a free show at the Lynch Family Skatepark on August 1 and Roadrunner [https://roadrunnerboston.com/calendar/] on November 13.

July 20, 2026 - Los Lobos: Native Sons, I Am Teddy Roosevelt, and Dave Herlihy

Co-directors Doug Blush and Piero F. Giunti discuss Los Lobos: Native Sons [https://woodsholefilmfestival.org/events/loslobosnativesons/], 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 [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/783107/i-am-teddy-roosevelt-by-brad-meltzer-illustrated-by-christopher-eliopoulos/], 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,” [https://herlihymusic.com/] his homage to civil rights icon John Lewis—and performs the song live in the studio.