The Culture Show's co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III talk through the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review.

First up - Southern California is ablaze, and unprecedented wildfires  have spared no one. Hollywood celebrities  - from Billy Crystal to Paris Hilton – are  posting images of how the flames have destroyed their homes. Could their platform help to amplify both the environmental emergency and the heroism of the firefighters in a race to save people’s lives?

From there, Amazon is set to release a new documentary about Melania Trump, which  promises to be  an  “unprecedented behind-the-scenes look” at the incoming first lady’s life” Skeptics call it a “vanity project” since the former future first lady is the film’s executive producer. 

Plus, as Silicon Valley prepares for another Trump Presidency, Mark Zuckerberg is unfriending  fact-checks, saying they curb censorship. . Fact-checkers say he’s got his facts on how fact-checking actually works all wrong, 

From there - Jennifer Coolidge fans are in disbelief as they claim the White Lotus actress dropped her act and used her "real voice" in a recent interview.  

The movie “Maria,” the biopic about the famed soprano Maria Callas, has received mixed reviews from movie critics. We want to know what someone familiar with opera thinks about the film. Enter Jane Eaglen, a Grammy-winning dramatic soprano who’s performed on the world’s greatest stages.  She joined The Culture Show for her take on “Maria.” Jane Eaglen is on the faculty at New England Conservatory and is the President of the Boston Wagner Society.  

From there, we look at an underground art movement, literally. Culture Show contributor Julia Swanson takes us on a tour of the MBTA’s subway art scene. Julia Swanson is a multidisciplinary artist and award winning photographer who is the creator  of The Art Walk Project – a series of self-guided micro tours of art across Greater Boston.

Finally, James Parker joins The Culture Show to talk about his latest book “Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive.”  He’s  a staff writer at “The Atlantic.”  Since 2011 he has been running the Black Seed Writers Group—a weekly writing workshop for homeless, transitional, and recently housed writers–and editing “The Pilgrim,” a literary magazine from the homeless community of downtown Boston.

The City of Lynn, Massachusetts, has opened an application process to select its inaugural Poet Laureate.  LaCrecia Thomson, Arts and Culture Planner for the City of Lynn. joins The Culture Show, to talk about how this endeavor will help to deepen Lynn’s cultural legacy.  The application process is open through January 31st. To learn more, go here.

From there it’s artist and designer Beau McCall. He creates wearable and visual art by hand-sewing clothing buttons onto mostly upcycled fabrics, materials, and objects. Beau McCall’s first-ever retrospective “Buttons On!” is on view at the  Fuller Craft Museum through February 2nd. The retrospective showcases pieces from McCall’s nearly forty-year career, the debut of several new works, and select archival material. Organized into several themes, the exhibition explores McCall’s mastery of the button and commentary on topics such as pop culture and social justice. To learn more about the exhibition, go here.

Finally Mahesh Daas, President of Boston Architectural College, joins The Culture Show for his analysis of “The Brutalist.” The critically acclaimed film centers on a Jewish architect who arrives in America after WWII hoping to build a new life. Mahesh Daas is a Culture Show contributor who joins us monthly. He is  co-author of the  graphic novella about artificial intelligence, titled “I, Nobot.”

Tomasina Ray, Director of Collections at RMS Titanic Inc., joins The Culture Show with an overview of “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.”  The exhibition brings us  face to face with the dramatic maritime disaster. Visitors encounter artifacts from all manner of life aboard the Titanic, all recovered from the ocean floor.  “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” is on view at The Castle at Park Plaza through Memorial Day.

Michael Berthaud is a 23 year old video game designer and multimedia artist born and raised in Boston. He joins the Culture Show to talk about his interactive public art installation “Sweet Spot.”  It’s on view outside the Nubian Square Library in Roxbury through Jan. 31, as part of the Boston Public Art Triennial Accelerator program.

Finally Erica Wall, Director of the Lunder Institute for American Art, an initiative of the Colby College Museum of Art, joins the Culture Show to talk about how she has been convening a conversation among numerous art institutions about the state of American art and what needs to be done to make it more accessible.

The New Bedford Art Museum in partnership with the New Bedford Free Public Library and Look North Gallery presents: “Arctic Voices,” an exhibition representing artistic responses to the arctic region across time and cultures. One of the featured artists, Betsey Biggs, joins The Culture Show  along with Suzanne de Vegh, executive director of the New Bedford Art Museum. The exhibition features Betsey Biggs’  piece “MELT,”  a remix of her immersive music film, titled “MELT: The Memory of Ice.”  "Arctic Voices"  is on view through February 23rd. To learn more, go here.

From there we talk to Erika Rumbley, co-founder and director of The New Garden Society, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.  The non-profit is run by horticulturists, landscapers and farmers who are working to expand green industry opportunities for  incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in Greater-Boston.  Erika Rumbley is also the director of horticulture at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Finally it’s screen time with Ned Hinkle, the creative director of The Brattle Theatre. He joins The Culture Show  to preview their upcoming series “(Some of) The Best of 2024.” The series runs January 15th through January 30th. To learn more go here.

The Culture Show's co-hosts Jared Bowen, Callie Crossley and Edgar B. Herwick III talk through  the latest headlines on our arts and culture week-in-review.

First up, Popeye the Sailor  is famous for his  catchphrase “I yam what I yam.”  Now he’s whoever you want him to be. Popeye –along with Heminginway’s “Farewell to Arms,” and George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” are  among the thousands of creations whose copyrights expired this week.  

From there it’s President Jimmy Carter, the prolific writer. He wrote over 30 books, ranging from poetry, novels and memoirs. We’ll look at his literary legacy. 

Plus in 2024 moviegoers were truly repeat offenders. Nine of the top 10 box office hits this year were sequels. And number 10 was the prequel, “Wicked.”

Speaking of spinoffs, has Walmart bested the Birkin Bag with its budget-friendly “Wirkin Bag"?

Finally,  the photography of Robert Frank. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has acquired his work capturing life in Paris in the 1940’s.

Curt DiCamillo joins The Culture Show to talk about his new book “A British Country House Alphabet,” which explores intriguing historical events tied to country houses in the UK, with stunning illustrations.Three volumes in total, the first covers the letters A through H. Curt DiCamillo is an American architectural historian and a recognized authority on the British country house. He is also the Curator for Special Collections at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston.

From there it’s all aboard the Pequod. Amanda McMullen, President and CEO of the New Bedford Whaling Museum joins The Culture Show to preview the 29th annual Moby-Dick Marathon. With related events kicking off on January 3rd, the Moby-Dick Marathon features a 25-hour read-a-thon from Saturday to Sunday, interspersed with exciting Melville-inspired activities. To learn more about the marathon experience, go here. 

Last but not least, comedian, actor and writer Tony V joins The Culture Show. He discusses the state of Boston’s comedy scene and what it means to be a comedian when comedy, once exempted from cultural norms,  has been subjected to political correctness and cancel culture.

The three-time US Poet Laureate  Robert Pinsky has been lauded as one of the last civic poets. Yes, he’s an esteemed professor and renowned critic of poetry,  but he is first and foremost a poet’s populist. It has been his mission to bring poetry to the people and the people to poetry. Robert Pinsky joins The Culture Show to discuss a new collection of work called: “Proverbs of Limbo.” 

From there, it’s  rapper Cakeswagg. By day she is a theater teacher working with youth, and by night, she puts her theatrical skills to use, assuming her larger-than-life  alter ego, Cakeswagg. After making a splash at Boston Calling she joins us to talk about her sophomore album, “Michelin Star.”

Finally, artist Keefer Glenshaw has turned playing cello into an endurance sport. He’s  performed for 24 hours straight. And, with a prompt from Yoko Ono,  he performed another work that took him into the woods of Lexington. He joins The Culture Show with a performance and  to talk about his creative pursuits.

Coinneach MacLeod is better known as The Hebridean Baker. His simple living, Scottish accent, and photographs of Scotland’s rugged landscape have made him an international bestseller. And then there are his bakes.  He joins us to talk about his latest cookbook, “The Hebridean Baker at Home”

From there, we head to the North End to find out what makes a perfect meatball and if it’s served with gravy or sauce.

Finally, we’ve moved well beyond clam chowder and baked beans. Boston is now a foodie town and a new cookbook, “A Taste of Boston: The Definitive Cookbook of the City We Love,”  by Jenny Johnson and Billy Costa, celebrates both our culinary landscape and the chefs who built it. 

Today we cross into the underworld by way of “Eurydice.”  It’s a hell raising opera, truly.  With music by Matthew Aucoin and based on the play “Eurydice,”  by Sarah Ruhl, it’s a retelling of the myth of  Orpheus, from the perspective of his bride. In this adaptation we follow Eurydice’s descent into the underworld, where her encounters are humorous, and heartbreaking–especially when she reunites with her father…a bond that proves hard  to break. Eurydice had its Metropolitan Opera premier in 2021. Then it  came here  by way of Boston Lyric Opera which debuted a new orchestral arrangement.  Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl join The Culture Show to discuss.

From there, it’s viva la diva! Have we got it all wrong when it comes to throwing around the terms Diva and Prima Donna? Grammy award-winning diva, I mean soprano Jane Eaglen joins us to break down the opera parlance. Jane Eaglen is on the faculty at New England Conservatory and is the President of the Boston Wagner Society.  

Finally, countertenor Reginald Mobley joins The Culture Show for an in-studio performance and to talk about his album, Because.