June 18, 2026 - Dr. Noelle Trent of the Museum of African American History, Mary Grant, and the MOMENTUM festival

June 22, 2026 - Imari Paris Jeffries on the Embrace's new center, Imagined Nation at the Athenaeum, and the Tao of Lloyd

Imari Paris Jeffries, President and CEO of Embrace Boston [https://www.embraceboston.org/about/our-team/] and co-chair of Everyone250 [https://everyone250.org/about/], returns for AI: Actual Intelligence, The Culture Show’s recurring conversation with some of the region’s sharpest thinkers. This month, he brings his original, algorithm-free perspective on culture, civic life and the stories Boston is choosing to tell. The Boston Athenaeum’s exhibition Imagined Nation [https://bostonathenaeum.org/whats-on/exhibitions/imagined-nation/] looks beyond the familiar scenes of the American Revolution to ask how ideas of nationhood have been formed, recorded and revised across generations. Curator Reed Gochberg joins us to discuss the books, maps, images and objects that reveal America as an unfinished story. The exhibition is on view through November 14, 2026. In The Tao of Lloyd, actor and writer Dennis Trainor Jr. imagines Lloyd Dobler, the open-hearted Gen X icon from Say Anything, decades later — older, grayer and still refusing the program. The new solo show heads to the Edinburgh Fringe this August, and Trainor is raising funds to help bring the production to Edinburgh [https://www.gofundme.com/f/Tao-of-Lloyd-Goes-to-Edinburgh-Fringe?utm_source=chatgpt.com]. You can also see a workshop performance June 27 at Western Avenue Studios & Lofts in Lowell [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-tao-of-lloyd-workshop-performance-tickets-1990669370675?utm_source=chatgpt.com], before the show runs at the Edinburgh Fringe August 6 through 30 [https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-tao-of-lloyd?utm_source=chatgpt.com].

June 19, 2026 - Annette Gordon-Reed onJuneteenth, Regie Gibson on Shakespeare, and Summer Solstice

Historian, lawyer and Pulitzer-prize winning author Annette Gordon-Reed joins The Culture Show to talk about her book “On Juneteenth,” which explores the holiday commemorating the day Union troops announced the end of slavery in Texas.  We mark the staying power of William Shakespeare with Regie Gibson, the inaugural Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He’s a writer, performer, and educator whose work engages Shakespeare through spoken word . Finally the best-selling author Nina MacLaughlin joins The Culture Show to talk about her essay book “Summer Solstice,” which is a meditation on a season full of long days, hot nights and  fat red tomatoes.

June 18, 2026 - Dr. Noelle Trent of the Museum of African American History, Mary Grant, and the MOMENTUM festival

Dr. Noelle Trent, president and CEO of the Museum of African American History in Boston and Nantucket, joins us to discuss Freedom! A Juneteenth Celebration [https://www.maah.org/juneteenth/]. The museum marks the holiday with a free open house and block party on Joy Street, plus a sister celebration on Nantucket [https://www.maah.org/events/]. Mary Grant, president of MassArt, returns for AI: Actual Intelligence, our recurring conversation with some of the region’s most original thinkers. This month, she reflects on a commencement season marked by political controversy, disinvited speakers and debates over what graduates need to hear. Catherine T. Morris, founder and executive director of the Boston Art & Music Soul Festival, joins us to discuss MOMENTUM [https://www.bamsfest.org/momentum], a five-day festival celebrating Black art, music, culture and enterprise across Greater Boston. She is joined by Isaiah Thelwell of Greater Brockton Young Professionals, one of the partners bringing MOMENTUM to Brockton through Fuller After Dark [https://fullercraft.org/programs/fuller-craft-museum-x-greater-brockton-young-professionals-fuller-after-dark/].

June 17, 2026 - The Salem Rainbow Stroll, The Clyde Best Story, and Salad Days at the Carpenter Center

Sebastian Crane and Lawrence Gullo  join us to discuss the Salem Rainbow Stroll [https://www.salemghosttours.com/Pride.html], a 90-minute walking tour exploring Salem’s hidden LGBTQIA+ history. The tour runs weekends through June, with proceeds benefiting the Trans Emergency Fund of Massachusetts. Director Dan Egan joins us to discuss Transforming the Beautiful Game: The Clyde Best Story [https://www.mfa.org/event/film/transforming-the-beautiful-game-the-clyde-best-story], opening the Roxbury International Film Festival [https://www.roxfilmfest.com/films-and-events] on June 18 at the Museum of Fine Arts. The documentary follows Clyde Best’s rise from Bermuda to West Ham United, where he became one of the first Black stars in English soccer while facing racism from the stands. Kate McNamara, director of the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts [https://carpenter.center/], and James Hoff, co-founder of Primary Information, join us to discuss Salad Days: Primary Information [https://carpenter.center/exhibitions/carpenter-center-presents-salad-days-primary-information]. The summer project turns the Carpenter Center’s third floor into a temporary art bookstore, screening room and archive, on view June 18 through August 16.

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.