May 21, 2025 - Sebastian Smee, Dr. Greg Skomal on Jaws at 50, and the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Chelsea Creek

Sebastian Smee is a Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic at The Washington Post. He joins The Culture Show to talk about his recent piece, which breaks down Bob Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man.” Sebastian Smee’s latest book is “Paris in Ruins: Love, War and the Birth of Impressionism.”From there Dr. Greg Skomal joins The Culture Show to talk about preparing for white shark season and how the movie “Jaws,” which is nearing its 50th anniversary, inspired him to become a marine biologist. Greg Skomal is an underwater explorer, photographer, and author. He is a  fisheries scientist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and heads the Massachusetts Shark Research Program. On June 22nd, he’ll be at a special event at The Old Whaling Church in Edgartown, titled “Jaws Revisited," as a part of Amity Week. To learn more, go here.Finally we continue our “Countdown to 2026” series with a look at the Battle of Chelsea Creek, which marks its 250th anniversary on May 27th-May 28th. Kate Fox, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, which is leading the Massachusetts 250 campaign and Lourdes Alvarez, the Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy Manager at City of Chelsea, join The Culture Show to preview events celebrating the battle’s anniversary. To learn more go here.