March 23, 2026 - Imari Paris Jeffries, Mahler's "Song of the Earth" at the BLO, and "Busing the Buffer Zone"

Republicans are advancing the SAVE Act, a bill that would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote. Supporters frame it as election security, while critics warn it could block millions of eligible voters—raising new questions about access and  democracy. Imari Paris Jeffries, President and CEO of Embrace Boston and co-chair of Everyone 250, joins The Culture Show to talk about the SAVE Act  in the context of Dr. Martin Luther King’s unfinished legacy, Boston Lyric Opera is reimagining Mahler’s "Song of the Earth" as a fully theatrical experience, conceived and directed by Anne Bogart. Bogart joins The Culture Show with BLO General Manager and CEO Brad Vernatter to talk about this meditation on mortality, beauty, and farewell — and about the reopening of the company’s Opera + Community Studios in Fort Point, where the production runs through March 29. To learn more about the production go here.In 1975, as Boston’s busing crisis escalated, Chinatown mothers organized a boycott rather than send their children into desegregating schools. Now, that story is reclaimed through an exhibition and staged readings of Busing the Buffer Zone: Chinatown Mother Boycott Oral History in Play. Playwright Christina R. Chan joins us, along with translator, teacher, and community advocate Suzanne Lee, who worked directly with the mothers.The exhibition is on view at the Pao Arts Center through March 28, with staged readings there on March 28 at 2 and 7 p.m. To learn more go here.