Boston Public Radio, The Curiosity Desk, & The Culture Show Live Monday, October 12, 2026

00:00 – Boston Public Radio 11am 2:00:00 – The Curiosity Desk 1pm 3:00:00 – The Culture Show 2 pm Today on Boston Public Radio: Ballot question debate on Question 8: repealing recreational marijuana. We’ll hear from voices representing the official yes and no campaigns: Ryan Dominguez, chair of the Stop the Repeal Campaign, and Stephen Kronberg from Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts. We’ll speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Kai Bird and his wife/chief researcher Susan Goldmark on their new book, “American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump.” Plus, GOP Senate candidate John Deaton. Today on The Curiosity Desk: Chuck Loring, Jr., Director of Natural Resources for Penobscot Nation on the tribe’s securing of 11,000 acres of land in Maine. Author Kevin Galvin on his book Troubled Times: The Boston Courthouse Bombing of 1976. William James College psychobiologist Kymberlee O’Brien on why it makes our brains happy to look at turning leaves. Today on The Culture Show: BSO president and CEO Chad Smith joins us to preview a season packed with Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and artificial intelligence. It's also Andris Nelsons' final season as music director; then, we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the premiere of Arthur with the creator author and illustrator Marc Brown; and a giant inflatable mushroom cloud in Times Square launched independent curator Pedro Alonzo into the world of nuclear disarmament. He joins us to talk about what art and culture can bring to the conversation about global security. Watch America's Awesome Kids on the PBS Kids App or YouTube:    / @americasawesomekids   Support GBH and help shape a future where facts matter, stories unite us, and everyone has access to quality media. Join us. Fund the Future: https://bit.ly/FundtheFutureYT