June 3, 2026 - Bob Odenkirk 's "Normal, Geoff Bennett's "Black Out Loud," and Lebanese Baking

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.

June 9, 2026 - RISE! by the Boston Gay Men's Chorus, Matthew Connors, and Firebird Part 2

The Boston Gay Men’s Chorus marks Pride Month with RISE! [https://bgmc.org/2025/10/03/rise/?utm_source=chatgpt.com], a concert celebrating protest, pride and the power of being seen. Music director Reuben Reynolds joins us to talk about a program that moves from Broadway anthem to protest song, from the dance floor to the front lines of history, coming to Groton Hill Music Center on June 14.  Photographer Matthew Connors has spent more than a decade documenting protests, uprisings and places under authoritarian rule around the world. He joins us to discuss his new book, “The Axe Will Survive the Master, [https://www.mackbooks.us/products/the-axe-will-survive-the-master-matthew-connors?srsltid=AfmBOop_vAZkNe5O-taH0klxvBJBGi9g16DvqBI1JpDap39WK2dprRjK]” which traces the recurring images of unrest — crowds, barricades, riot gear — and how protest and repression echo across borders.  Abilities Dance Boston presents the world premiere of FIREBIRD, PART 2 [https://ticketstripe.com/adbfirebird2?utm_source=chatgpt.com], a new ballet about a magical bird who finally gets to save herself. Founder, executive and artistic director Ellice Patterson and composer Andrew Choe join us to talk about this sequel to the company’s 2021 Firebird, with performances June 19 through 21 at Boston University’s Joan and Edgar Booth Theatre.

June 8, 2026 - The 2026 Tony Awards, La CASA in the South End, and Jane Eaglen

Co-host Callie Crossley and Maurice Emmanuel Parent, award-winning actor, educator and Producing Artistic Director of The Front Porch Arts Collective [https://www.frontporcharts.org/], join us to recap the Tony Awards [https://www.tonyawards.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] and what Broadway’s biggest night revealed about the state of the industry. Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, CEO of IBA, joins us to discuss La CASA: The Center for Arts, Self-determination and Activism [https://ibaboston.org/la-casa?utm_source=chatgpt.com], the largest Latino arts hub in New England, now open in the South End’s Villa Victoria. Grammy-winning soprano Jane Eaglen, a faculty member at New England Conservatory [https://necmusic.edu/] and president of the Boston Wagner Society [https://www.bostonwagnersociety.org/], returns for another edition of “AI: Actual Intelligence,” with a wide-ranging conversation on how Timothée Chalamet may have done opera a favor, why concert performances matter for opera singers and who will fund opera’s future.