Compiled by Arts Fuse Editor

Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Boston area theaters have decided to pretty much ignore what is happening in America and beyond — mounting threats to democracy, the country’s slide toward authoritarianism, the climate crisis, growing economic inequality, ICE’s violent roundup of immigrants, the expansion of internment camps, ongoing genocide in Gaza, war crimes in the West Bank, transphobia, the grueling war in Ukraine, etc. I have decided to point out a production in Coming Attractions — staged in America or elsewhere — that grapples with today’s alarming realities. Sometimes the stagings will be available via Zoom, sometimes not. It is important to present evidence that theater artists — maybe not here, but elsewhere — are reflecting, and reflecting on, the world around us.

— Bill Marx

Kathleen Chalfant in the Epstein Oratorio. Photo: courtesy of La MaMa

Epstein Oratorio or, A Modern Hymn to Demeter, written and directed by Karen Malpede, featuring Kathleen Chalfant, at NYC’s La MaMa on October 1 and 2.

A benefit reading to support the Public Integrity Project, which is suing for the release of the Epstein Files. “This short poetic, terrifying, and funny political play is an expose of the ‘Epstein class’ played out against the iconic mother-daughter myth of Persephone and Demeter.”

“Hades presides over both modern and mythic worlds, and a male chorus speaks in language that has been lifted directly from the Epstein files and the news. The victims’ stories are based on actual stories in the files. The weave of myth and fact offers a healing from the trauma of rape by the empowerment of mothers and daughters.”

PRC’s undebatable motto: “The fight against corruption is a fight for democracy.”

Film

Manhattan Short Film Festival
September 27 at 3 p.m.
October 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Regent Theatre, Arlington

Film lovers worldwide will gather at more than 500 venues to vote on the 10 finalist films, selected through audience balloting at participating locations. Each short is automatically Oscar-qualified. 2026 finalists: Small Talk (USA); Mary Is Missing (Ireland); Candy Bar (Australia); Vultures (South Africa); Life Goes On (United Kingdom); Hai Davai (Moldova); Pickup (Russia); Norheimsund (Cuba); When the Sea Was Calm (Georgia); and Never Give Up (Mexico).

Cinephile Heaven: Il Cinema Ritrovato on Tour
Through October 1
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge

Cinephile Heaven is a traveling festival curated by the Cineteca di Bologna in partnership with U.S. institutions. The Brattle Theatre presents a program of masterpieces, rare restorations, and special screenings for film lovers:

Sept 27: Bellissima (Visconti, 1952); He Ran All the Way (1951); Smog (Franco Rossi, 1962)
Sept 29: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F. W. Murnau, 1927)
Sept 30: Diva (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1981)
October 1: New York, New York (Scorsese, 1977)

CineFest Latino Boston
September 30 through October 4
Zumix in East Boston; Coolidge Corner Theatre; Emerson Paramount; Boston Public Library; MFA; Brattle Theatre

CineFest Latino Boston is an annual Boston film festival highlighting stories by and about Latinos. The festival is committed to using the power of film to break stereotypes, bring cultures and communities together, and reveal complex issues affecting the Latinx community in the United States, as well as communities in Latin America and Spain. Festival

Situations
October 1
West Newton Cinema

The Director Spotlight Series presents the feature debut of Norwood-born writer and director Greg Vrotsos. Three months after a painful breakup, a Los Angeles–based photographer drifts through Silver Lake’s creative chaos—dodging well-meaning friends, career pressures, and fleeting flings—until an unexpected connection forces him to confront what he truly wants from love, art, and himself. A Q&A with the director will follow the screening.

A scene from Edie Arnold Is a Loser.

Edie Adams Is a Loser
October 4, at 7:30 p.m.
Somerville Theatre, Davis Square

A scrappy independent film directed by Megan Rico and Kade Atwood, Edie Adams Is a Loser follows an outcast at a strict all-girls Catholic school who finds salvation in punk rock. The film cranks every cliché to gleeful excess, landing somewhere between Pee-wee Herman and John Waters. It is carried by an infectious energy and headlong pacing that makes no apology for its eye-rolling moments. There is also a terrific punk rendition of the hymn “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” The directors and lead actress Adi Madden Cabrera will be on hand for a live Q&A. (Fuse preview)

IFFBoston Fall Focus 2026
October 8–11 and October 29–November 1

The Independent Film Festival Boston expands to two weekends. More titles and a full schedule will be announced soon.

A scene from 1982’s Urgh! A Music War

Urgh! A Music War
October 9, at 7 p.m.
Tower Auditorium, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston

Revolutions Per Movie and Culture Saves present a screening followed by a discussion of this British, no-narration, live-performance concert film, featuring a diverse lineup of punk, new wave, post-punk, ska, and reggae acts from the peak of the early-’80s alternative scene. Chaki and Chris Slusarenko, hosts of A Very Opinionated Look at Urgh! Podcast, will appear with special guest Hugo Burnham of Gang of Four.

Progress
October 9, at 7:30 p.m.
Capitol Theatre, Arlington

An evening “packed with red-carpet entrances, two mini-documentaries, [and] a surprise performance.” This world premiere, written and directed by Jason Bush, explores the impact of social media and digital devices on social disconnection and fractured attention. It will be followed by a Q&A with the director, cast, and producers.

A still, featuring Lon Chaney, from 1925’s Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera
October 10, at 7:30 p.m.
Somerville Theatre, Davis Square

The New England Film Orchestra, conducted by Gina Naggar, performs Carl Davis’s acclaimed symphonic score to the 1925 silent film starring Lon Chaney. This first major screen adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel remains one of the defining works of silent cinema. Davis’s score draws heavily on Gounod’s Faust—the opera at the center of the film’s Paris Opera House setting—while creating a haunting musical identity for the Phantom himself. As Davis described it: “Horror, pure horror.”

Eephus
October 10, at noon
Regent Theatre, Arlington

Set during what may be the final game played on a beloved community baseball field, Eephus is a humorous and bittersweet celebration of baseball, friendship, and the end of an era. The screening will be followed by an exclusive Q&A with members of the cast and crew, including legendary former Red Sox pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee. The event concludes with an autograph session and firsthand stories about the making of Eephus and the participants’ experiences with baseball. Arts Fuse review

Homegrown Stories
October 10, 6–8 p.m.
141 Green Street, Jamaica Plain

The Boston Cyberarts Gallery hosts a retrospective screening of the experimental video project Homegrown Stories: The Art of Moving Poetry, a 13-year collaboration among 30 international video, film, and sound artists. The projects were inspired by prompts and chance strategies. The 90-minute program includes a 68-minute screening followed by a post-screening Q&A with project cofounder and filmmaker LeAnn Erickson.

Richard Blackmon in a scene from A Simple Machine.

A Simple Machine
October 11, at 7:30 p.m.
Regent Theatre, Arlington

Inspired by Evan P. Schneider’s novel A Simple Machine, Like the Lever, a cult classic in Pacific Northwest literary circles, the film follows Nick Allander, a recent college graduate drowning in debt who quietly dismantles his own life in pursuit of radical frugality and self-reliance. What begins as a private experiment in minimalism becomes a reckoning with identity, responsibility, and the meaning of freedom in a market-driven world.

Shot entirely in Portland in luminous black and white, the film makes the bicycle central to its visual and philosophical language—as both symbol and instrument. A Q&A with filmmaker Mark Alan Hoffman and lead actor Richard Blackmon, appearing live via Zoom on the big screen, will follow.

Pick of the Week

A photo of a young Bob Dylan in Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall. Photo: Amazon Prime

Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall, streaming on Amazon Prime

The documentary features an astounding collection of photographs documenting late-’60s and ’70s music history, from jazz legends to iconic moments in rock and roll. Jim Marshall fought his way to become one of the most trusted and unconventional photographers of the era. His passion for music led him to take pictures of some of its most celebrated figures, from Miles Davis, whom he befriended, to Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and countless others. He seemed to be everywhere—backstage, onstage, and up close—snapping remarkable moments, including his famous photograph of Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar on fire.

The child of immigrants, Marshall spent much of his life battling inner demons. His abrasive but honest approach to his craft, combined with an extraordinary ability to earn his subjects’ trust, allowed him to build a portfolio that extended far beyond celebrity portraits. He considered himself an anthropologist, documenting not just musicians but also the culture and turbulent times in which they lived. Marshall’s work was eventually recognized with a Recording Academy Trustees Award / Grammy Special Merit Award (2014, posthumous). posthumous Trustees Award, an honorary Grammy recognizing outstanding contributions to the music industry.

— Tim Jackson

Theater

Paula Plum in Eleanor. Photo: Nile Scott

Eleanor by Mark St. Germain. Directed by Bryn Boice. Staged by Central Square Theater at 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, through October 11.

The script is an “intimate portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt, the most consequential First Lady in American history. ” She “offers her reflections on love, loss, politics, and purpose as she revisits her marriage to Franklin, her activism, and her role in shaping modern human rights.” Multiple Elliot Norton Award winner Paula Plum stars. The Arts Fuse review of the 2025 Portland Stage production of the one-person show. Arts Fuse interview

Lift Every Voice: BIPOC Play Festival, presented by the Multicultural Arts Center at MAC, 41 Second Street, Cambridge, October 1 and 2.

“In honor of the 100th birthday of Malcolm X, this groundbreaking festival amplifies the voices of people of color through compelling short plays that explore themes promoting the nobility and interconnectedness of all mankind. The festival offers an opportunity for emerging and established playwrights to share their stories.” This year’s lineup includes six new works by emerging and established playwrights: Sibling Rivalry by Jamie Lin, Love & Hair by Ciera-Sadé Wade, Conditions of Readiness by Hortense Gerardo, In the Aftermath by Michelle M. Aguillon, Peace Plan by Shay McQueenie, and Sunflowers and George by Kori Alston.

The Urmetazoan by Alex Rugman. Directed by Jack Serio. Staged by Barrington Stage Company, 30 Union Street, Pittfield, September 30 through October 25.

“In the not-too-distant future, two sisters contemplate their past together as they get ready for their futures apart as one of them heads to live on Mars. Sisterly bonds are examined and tested to see if they can hold across time and space.” Starring Francesca Carpanini, Julia Chan, Beatrix Flynn-Powell, Justin Mark, and Lyla Randall.

Vanya by Simon Stephens. After Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Co-created by Simon Stephens, Andrew Scott, and Sam Yates. Directed by Alan Paul. Staged by Barrington Stage Company, 30 Union Street, Pittfield, October 8 through 24

“Mark H. Dold stars in this one-man adaptation of Chekhov’s classic tale of love, art, and attempted murder. Comedic and tragic, our shared humanity is thrust into sharp focus in … this fresh adaptation, which explores the kaleidoscope of human emotions.”

Ugo Chukwu and Omari K. Chancellor in the Huntington Theatre Company production of Purpose. Photo: Marc J Franklin

Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Directed by Josiah Davis. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St. Boston, through October 11.

Winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for Best Play, this script by one of America’s leading playwrights centers on the politically prominent Jasper family, whose public image of moral leadership is strained during a family gathering. It examines generational conflict, inherited expectations, faith, political identity, private betrayals, and the burden of a celebrated family legacy. “I’m gesturing at the romanticization of the Civil Rights Movement,” Jacobs-Jenkins has said about his drama, “and, let’s say, the commodification of it, or the kind of distilling it into its symbols.” Arts Fuse review

Same Difference, written and directed by Don Mays. Staged by the Wilbury Theatre Group at the WaterFire Arts Center, 475 Valley Street Providence, through October 11.

The setup of this world premiere production: “Providence, 1993. A gang leader from Harlem arrives at his ex-girlfriend’s apartment in the middle of the night — wounded, on the run, with nowhere else to go. What he doesn’t know is that her roommate is gay, grieving, and not about to back down. Set against the twin epidemics of AIDS and drug violence, this play ” is about two men the world treated as disposable, who are certain they have nothing in common, and the woman standing between them who can see exactly who they both are.”

A image from Kazky: The Fairytales of Ukrainian Children. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Kazky: The Fairytales of Ukrainian Children, created by Soundscape Visions and Aza Nizi Maza, at the Washington Street Baptist Church, 256 Washington St., Lynn, September 26 at 7:30 p.m. Free; RSVP requested at soundscapevisions.org/kazky-event

“The contemporary-music and visual-arts ensemble Soundscape Visions launches Kazky a multipart collaboration with Aza Nizi Maza, a youth art studio in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The free inaugural performance transforms monumental artworks by young people living near the front lines of the war into an immersive program of electro-acoustic music, video art, and visual storytelling.”

“At its center are new electro-acoustic music and video works inspired by large-scale drawings from Aza Nizi Maza’s “Lost Fairytales” and “Underground Garden” collections. The works’ fantastic imagery and dense detail evoke both imaginative worlds and the lived hopes, dreams, and realities of children in wartime Ukraine. The program also includes earlier Soundscape Visions pieces and an improvisational piano work. Kazky is the Ukrainian word for ‘fairytales.'”

Covenant by York Walker. Directed by Dawn M. Simmons. Staged by SpeakEasy Stage at Boston Center for the Arts, at 527 Tremont Street, Boston, through October 17.

The SpeakEasy Stage company describes this drama, centered on Black and queer characters, as a “Southern Gothic thriller about myth-making, moral panic, and the stories people choose when the truth is too inconvenient.” The plot: “Johnny ‘Honeycomb’ James comes back home famous, changed, and impossible to explain. The voice is real, but the rumors are loud. In a town that remembers everything and forgives nothing, his return cracks open old stories and new accusations. Soon no one can agree on what’s true, only on what feels true enough to believe.”

The Smuggler, written and directed by Ronán Noone. Staged by The Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, RI, through October 11.

“A lone Irishman takes the stage and begins to spin a tale that’s equal parts confession, comedy, and cautionary tale. Recently arrived on the fictional island of Amity, Massachusetts, Tim Finnegan shares the winding path that brought him here—through heartbreak, bad decisions, and a few too many pints. What begins as a charming yarn slowly deepens into something far more dangerous.” A one-person drama starring Tony Estrella.

Bill Mootos and Julian Hirshfield in the Lyric Stage production of All My Sons. Photo: Benjamin Rose

All My Sons by Arthur Miller. Directed by Scott Edmiston. Staged by Lyric Stage Company of Boston, 140 Clarendon Street, 2nd floor, Boston, September 18 through October 18.

Arthur Miller’s postwar drama and first Broadway success premiered in 1947—before Death of a Salesman or The Crucible or A View from the Bridge. It is one of the most revered and consistently revived of Miller’s plays (see the Arts Fuse review of the 2009 Huntington Theatre Company production); adapted for radio, film, and television; studied and performed in high schools and universities around the world. For some, the play is “more timely than ever.”

For those of you who’ve forgotten or never knew the story, All My Sons is based on a newspaper account of an Ohio manufacturer who, during the Second World War, chose personal gain for himself and his family over responsibility to his country, and shipped defective military equipment to American forces abroad instead of taking a loss by correcting the flaws. His wartime crime was reported to authorities by his own daughter. Miller turned the daughter of this Ohio newspaper into Ann, a prospective daughter-in-law, and imagined a drama, based on Greek tragedy, that centers around willful blindness, loyalty, and betrayal. Miller’s father is driven to suicide by the revelation of his wartime perfidy and his son’s demand that he be “better.” Arts Fuse review

Bouncers by John Godber. Directed by Bill Doncaster. Presented by Visual City LLC and Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre at the Modern Theatre, 525 Washington Street, Boston, October 1 through 24.

A dark comedy set in the ’80s that dramatizes “the escapades of young lads and lasses at a hard drinking disco where ‘there’s sex in the air, and the hunt is on.'”Four bouncers endeavor to illustrate the madness of the throngs that converge on the discotheque — embodying a whirlwind of characters, male and female — in the pulsating debauchery of a typical Friday night.” The script remains a trenchant satire of gender stereotypes, misogynistic language, and sexual aggression.

A scene from Sugar Stories. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Sugar Stories created and performed by Sunny Side of the Street Theater. Presented by Puppet Showplace Theater, 32 Station Street, Brookline, Oct 11 at 10:30 a.m.; Oct 12 at 10:30 a.m. (Indigenous Peoples’ Day!)

“A wooden marionette show about cute little gliding possums! Sugar Gliders are nocturnal little loud-mouths that come from New Zealand and Australia. Join them for three sweet and simple adventures about the loyal moon, a scary storm, and the search for a home that ends inside a rainbow.”

“An original set of stories in the tradition of the early reader Mouse Tales by Arnold Lobel, the author of the beloved Frog and Toad books, this exquisitely crafted table-top marionette show features the delightfully layered and textured designs of Kathleen Doyle, creator of Little Big Eye, with the writing talents of Sam Noble. Kathleen’s designs have been seen in productions all over the country, from Jazz at Lincoln Center to Walt Disney World, and Sam Noble’s plays have been produced through Boston Playwright’s Theatre, Smith College, and more.”

Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, an adaptation of the eponymous novel by Aaron Sorkin. Directed by Loretta Greco. Staged by the Huntington Theatre Company production at the Huntington Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston, October 8 through November 8.

The Academy Award–winning writer of The West Wing, A Few Good Men, and Moneyball, Aaron Sorkin’s stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel receives its first regional production in Boston. “As Alabama lawyer Atticus Finch defends a Black man falsely accused of rape, the trial tests his moral convictions and forces the community—and the audience—to confront racism, justice, forgiveness, and the distance still to travel.”

— Bill Marx

Television

Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames in East of Eden. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

I’m sorry to inform you that it is nearly October. And while October is a wonderful month, full of pumpkin spice and cozy wool, it’s unreal to me how quickly time passes—and what a godforsaken year it has been so far. Despite all the horrors taking place in the world at large, at least we’ve had some excellent movies and television to take our minds off things.

Then again, contemplating the forthcoming slate of new seasons for long-running series can make you feel old—and concomitantly depressed—so be sure to have your favorite snacks ready as a dopamine chaser. On Sunday, September 27, The Simpsons will debut its 38th season on Fox. If that’s not surreal enough, The Amazing Race (CBS) will debut its 39th season on September 30. Then there’s 60 Minutes, the prime-time newsmagazine that dwarfs all the others, which debuts its 59th season on CBS on October 11. Perhaps new seasons of more recent—but still popular—series will turn your head: look for new installments of Abbott Elementary (October 7, ABC) and Elsbeth (October 8, CBS).

But don’t despair, oldsters: there are some shiny new shows, too. I’m looking forward to East of Eden (October 1, Netflix), adapted by Zoë Kazan from Steinbeck’s classic novel and directed by Garth Davis (Top of the Lake) and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang). The impressive-looking cast includes the always-excellent Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott—whose portrayals of problematic men never fail to impress—Tracy Letts, and Martha Plimpton.

Summer H. Howell stars in the Prime Video series based on Stephen King’s Carrie. Photo: Robert Falconer/Prime

Just in time for spooky season comes a new series set in New Orleans featuring teenage witches and wizards, with the rather derivative title Coven Academy. It’s billed as a supernatural comedy, so it could be fun; it begins streaming October 2 on Freeform and Disney+/Hulu. But the Halloween-adjacent series everyone is jumping up and down about is Mike Flanagan’s Carrie, a new take on Brian De Palma’s 1976 coming-of-age shocker, based on Stephen King’s novel—the iconic film that made a star of Sissy Spacek. Stay tuned for my full review of this exciting new series from one of television’s most prolific and admired horror masters.

— Peg Aloi

Visual Art

Gross overproduction of consumer goods, particularly clothing, seriously threatens the natural environment and challenges all human efforts to control literal mountains of donated castoffs. Miami-based artist Pepe Mar takes a small sliver of this excess to create frenetic collages of borrowed images, thrift-store finds, and vintage ceramics.

Pepe Mar, My First 25,000 Years on Earth, 2024, Courtesy of the artist and David Castillo

The Currier Museum of Art’s exhibition Pepe Mar: Dream House, which opens in Manchester, N.H., on October 1, will be the first New England presentation of Mar’s maximalist works, which “synthesize thrift-store aesthetics, queer culture, science fiction, and fashion.” In his installation, Mar will blend his own work with decorative pieces from the Currier collection—a gilded clock, a “Piranesi” table, iridescent Tiffany glass—along with bright carpeting, wallpaper, and furniture upholstered in Mar-designed fabric. The resulting “Dream House,” so to speak, promises to be “a psychedelic environment where identity and memory continually fracture and merge.”

Long professionally based in Boston art institutions, Joel Babb holds a degree in art history from Princeton; received an MFA from the Museum School; worked as a night watchman at the MFA; taught painting at the Museum School and Harvard Extension; and eventually settled in Maine. Over these years, he developed an intense, vividly detailed landscape style, often built from his experiences on solitary treks deep into the Maine wilderness. Shifting Visions: Joel Babb’s Painted Universe, which opens at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland on October 3, features a dozen large-scale works selected from his earliest through his most recent Maine paintings. The exhibition examines the “philosophical and technical approaches that shape his practice.”

Bin-gata, 1975. Sekino Jun-ichiro. Photo: courtesy of the Smith College Museum of Art

Among the first Japanese art forms to reach the West in quantity, woodblock prints helped transform European modern art. They remain among the most popular and widely collected Japanese artworks in America. Beyond the Floating World: Viewing Japanese Prints with Smith Faculty, opening at the Smith College Museum of Art on October 9, takes the study of Japanese woodblocks in a new direction—one useful to college museums seeking to expand their relevance beyond the art department. Selected by eight Smith College faculty members, the prints in the show are presented from personal, scholarly, and teaching perspectives across academic disciplines, including art history, East Asian studies, history, and chemistry.

Situated within an institution whose founding motto is “Truth,” Knowledge Is Myth: Chimeric Continuities, opening October 1 at Harvard’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, presents work by two artists, an artist team, and an artists’ collective, all of whom engage with the ambiguities of truth, myth, and reason in a postcolonial world. Multimedia work—including ceramic fountains, video, and pyrography (drawing by fire)—draws on a diverse group of sources, including studies of parasitic insects, models of evolution, folklore, autobiography, challenges to past political and cultural certainties, and theories of storytelling. The heavy, perhaps even ponderous, intellectual mix also draws on collections of rare books, manuscripts, charts, and art from across the university.

Presented in conjunction with the Ogunquit Museum of American Art’s Carl Sprinchorn: All the World Is a Painting (open through November 15), Carl Sprinchorn: Points of View, opening at the Bates College Museum of Art on October 1, explores the work of an “under-recognized” modern artist who lived from 1887 to 1971 and often worked in Maine. The more than 70 pastels, watercolors, and paintings in the Bates show explore themes—including homosexuality, labor, immigration, and the natural environment—that, the show implies, have even greater popular relevance today than when Sprinchorn created them.

On the national holiday formerly known as Columbus Day—Monday, October 12—the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will be one of several New England art museums offering free admission to all. The Gardner’s version, Indigenous Peoples’ Day: Native Roots, focuses on stories bound up with Indigenous plants in the museum’s gardens and courtyard. Collaborators include Malissa Costa (Mashpee Wampanoag), Plimoth Patuxet Museums’ associate director of Indigenous outreach and guest experience; Danielle Alonso (Apache), Plimoth Patuxet Museums’ curator of Indigenous material culture and research; and Hawk Henries, an artist, composer, and flute musician of the Chaubunagungamaug band of Nipmuck.

— Peter Walsh

Jazz

Theo Croker
October 1 at 7 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge

Trumpeter and songwriter Theo Croker brings his hip-hop-jazz hybrid to the R-bar. No word on the band.

(l to r) Yoron Israel, Laszlo Gardony, and John Lockwood. Photo: courtesy of the artist.

Laszlo Gardony
October 1 at 7:30 p.m.
David Friend Recital Hall, Berklee College of Music, Boston
FREE

Pianist and composer Laszlo Gardony fronts his longtime trio with bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel plus multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Stan Strickland and flutist

Christian Artmann. The set will feature new compositions by Gardony and Artmann. Berklee is presenting this concert for free, but reservations are recommended so you don’t get shut out. Go to the above link.

Anna Webber
October 1 at 7:30 p.m.
Peabody Hall, Parish of All Saints Episcopal Church, Boston

If you haven’t caught up with next-level composer-reed-flute player Anna Webber, now’s the time. Aside from various small ensembles, Webber also leads an exciting big band with fellow saxophonist/composer Angela Morris and is a key component in John Hollenbeck’s GEORGE. Here she leads her quintet Shimmer Wince, with a stellar cast of characters: trumpeter Adam O’Farrill, cellist Mariel Roberts Musa, synthesizer player Elias Stemeseder, and drummer Lesley Mok.

Singer Mikayla Shirley and pianist Yoko Miwa. Photo: Caroline Alden

Yoko Miwa Trio with Mikayla Shirley
October 2 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston

Pianist Yoko Miwa’s new duo album with singer Mikayla Shirley evolved out of their jamming during the late-night sessions at Cambridge’s Mad Monkfish, so hence the title: The Midnight Hour. Shirley sings with the kind of emotional directness and attention to lyrical detail that’s all too rare in jazz singing — or any kind of singing, really. The repertoire ranges from jazz-standard chestnuts (“Tenderly,” “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” “But Not for Me”), to ’60s Broadway (“On the Street Where You Live”) and pop (“Alfie”) to bossa nova (“Garota de Ipanema”) and the Beach Boys (Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows”). For Miwa fans, it’s a chance to hear her explore her lyrical side in an intimate duo setting. This Scullers show will feature Miwa with her trio (bassist Will Slater and drummer Scott Goulding) as well as with Shirley.

Samara Joy Septet
October 2 at 8 p.m.
Groton Hill Music Center, Groton, MA

If you missed the much-lauded young star jazz singer Samara Joy in Rockport (Sept. 22), Groton Hill Music Center is giving you another chance. She’s backed by a hefty septet: reed players Kendric McCallister and David Mason (the latter doubling on flute), trumpet/flugelhorn Jason Charos, trombonist Eli Feingold, pianist Connor Rohrer, bassist Paul Sikivie, and drummer Evan Sherman.

The Makanda Project featuring Ricky Ford
October 3 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Twelfth Baptist Church, Boston
FREE

Veteran Boston saxophonist Ricky Ford is the special guest for this first in the Makanda Project’s fall season of free concerts. Ford will bring music based on poems by Paul Laurence Dunbar plus other originals, including a piece celebrating the John Coltrane centennial. Ford will also be a featured soloist in the Project’s usual complement of compositions by the late Boston-born player-composer Makanda Ken McIntyre.

John Pizzarelli
October 4 at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, MA

Yes, John Pizzarelli did that casino TV ad a few years ago, but don’t hold that against him. The guy plays tasty guitar, and he can sing. As has long been his practice, he follows the old Nat “King” Cole band template of vocals, guitar, piano (Isaiah J. Thompson) and bass (Mike Karn). The show is called “Dear Mr. Bennett,” a strong hint at repertoire.

The late trumpeter John McNeil. Photo: NEC

John McNeil Memorial Concert
October 4 at 8 p.m.
Jordan Hall, Boston
FREE

If you aren’t familiar with the music of John McNeil (or, even if you are), you owe it to yourself to get over to this free faculty concert at New England Conservatory. McNeil (1948–2024) was a lyrical trumpeter, a revered teacher at NEC, and a composer whose music glowed with uncanny luminescence — a low voltage swing of intertwining lines and transparent textures that sometimes veered into white hot exuberance. A distinguished collection of faculty colleagues and former students (including former bandmates) will play various McNeil compositions. They include pianists Randy Ingram, Carmen Staaf, Mark Shilansky, and Ethan Iverson; saxophonists Jeremy Udden and Frank Kozyra; trumpeters Mark Tipton, Peter Kenagy, and Dave Adewumi; singer Allegra Levy; bassist Bob Nieske; and drummer Austin McMahon. It’s free but tickets are required. Information at necmusic.edu.

Kevin Hays Awakening Quartet
October 8 at 7 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge

The highly esteemed pianist and composer Kevin Hays comes to the Regattabar with a heavy band he’s calling the Awakening Quartet, with alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, drummer Brian Blade, and bassist Matt Brewer.

Trumpeter Brandon Woody. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Brandon Woody Berklee Ensemble
October 8 at 7 p.m.
Red Room at Café 939, Boston

Elsewhere I have praised Brandon Woody’s 2025 Blue Note debut, For the Love of It All, for its “learned depth, technical mastery, and blood-stirring emotional excitement.” For these Berklee Signature Series shows, faculty members put together a band and drill them in repertoire of the visiting artist’s choice. The results can be inspired and inspiring. In this case, Woody will front a band chosen and rehearsed by Matthew Stevens and Gregory Groover.

Christian Sands Trio
October 8 at 8 p.m.
Groton Hill Music Center, Groton, MA

Pianist Christian Sands made a name for himself as part of Christian McBride’s Inside Straight trio, but a slew of albums as a leader extended his bona fides, including a Grammy nomination for one of his compositions, “Be Water II.” Sands is joined by bassist Jonathon Muir-Cotton and drummer Ryan Sands (Christian’s brother) for this show in Meadow Hall, the smaller, more intimate of Groton Hill’s two concert halls.

Myanna and Friends
October 9 at 7 p.m.
Scullers Jazz Club, Boston

Saxophonist and songwriter Myanna has long been a go-to artist for primo jazz-funk. She’s joined for this show by keyboardist Dave Limina (maybe playing some B3, we hope), guitarist Mike Mele, bassist Jesse Williams, drummer Eddie Scheer, and singer Cassandre McKinley.

Singer Lizz Wright. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Lizz Wright
October 10 at 8 p.m.
Berklee Performance Center, Boston

Lizz Wright began singing in her minister father’s church in Hahira, Georgia, which probably goes a long way toward explaining her deep-grained soulfulness. She’s joined for this show by guitarist Keith Ganz (a valued collaborator with jazz singer Kate McGarry), keyboardist Chad Selph, bassist Ben Zwerin, and fellow singer Leeda Jones.

David Eure and Alexei Tsiganov
October 11 at 5 p.m.
Eustis Estate, Milton, MA

In a summer-fall transition, Mandorla Music moves its Eustis Estate concerts from the lawn into the mansion for this show by violinist David Eure and pianist Alexei Tsiganov. The eclectic program, “rooted in the jazz tradition,” will draw on “Brazilian, Latin, soul, R&B, blues, funk, and classical influences.” Eure’s credits include Yuseef Lateef, Taj Mahal, and Wayne Newton. Tsiganov has been a mainstay of the Boston scene since moving from the Soviet Union in 1991, teaching at New England Conservatory, playing with the Either/Orchestra, and gigging with any number of Brazilian-centric jazz bands.

Saxophonist and composer Tia Fuller. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Tia Fuller
October 11 6 p.m.
Regattabar, Cambridge, MA

Saxophonist and composer Tia Fuller (Berklee teacher and former Beyoncé band member) plays this show, originally washed out by a storm, with a band that includes pianist Shamie Fuller-Royston, bassist Eric Wheeler, and drummer Koleby Royston.

— Jon Garelick

Blues

Danielle Nicole
Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
City Winery, Boston

Coming out of Kansas City, Missouri, Danielle Nicole made a name for herself as the frontwoman for Trampled Under Foot, a band with her brothers Nick and Kris. Her half-dozen solo albums have included collaborators like Luther Dickinson (who appears on the new Fireflies), Anders Osborne, and Galactic’s Stanton Moore. The new album is an appealing mix of emotional vocal prowess and songwriterly craft. And hey, no less an authority than the late Koko Taylor said, “That girl gets down to the nitty gritty.”

— Jon Garelick

Blues-inspired singer/songwriter Ruthie Foster. Photo: Anna Pearson (Red Light Management)

Ruthie Foster
Sept. 30, TCAN, Natick, MA
Oct. 1, Shalin Liu Performance Center, Rockport, MA
Oct. 2, Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club, Portsmouth, NH
Oct. 3, Greenwich Odeum, Greenwich, RI

Blues-inspired singer/songwriter Ruthie Foster has taken the scenic route to success and attention. She was 60 when she won her first Grammy two years ago, and now she’s got a new record, the life-affirming Just Say Yes, on the reactivated Sun label. The originals show how Foster is the rare blues-circuit act with an original voice and style, and, in honor of her current label, don’t be surprised if Foster includes her nice gender-switching cover of “That’s All Right” during this full-band run of New England dates. Her quartet is slated to include bassist Larry Fulcher, who also has a longtime affiliation with Taj Mahal, who shares Foster’s affinity for mixing blues with Caribbean music.

Eli Paperboy Reed
Oct. 2
Regattabar, Cambridge

For years Boston-raised Eli Paperboy Reed was known for making original music that captured the spirit and soul of classic rhythm and blues. His last album was a tribute to Merle Haggard, and now Reed has brought these two streams together for “Getting There,” which blends his trademark horns with pedal steel twang. It was produced by another artist with deep roots in both country and soul: Swamp Dogg. For this show Reed — who, full disclosure, is a longtime friend of mine — will be with a trio, a format that highlights his grittier side.

— Noah Schaffer

Classical Music

Music director Andris Nelsons conducts pianist Seong-Jin Cho and the BSO in a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Photo: Hilary Scott

Cho plays Rachmaninoff
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
September 30, 7:30 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Pianist Seong-Jin Cho joins the BSO to perform Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. Nelsons also leads the orchestra in that composer’s sweeping Symphony No. 2.

Handel’s L’Allegro
Presented by Handel & Haydn Society
October 2 at 7:30 p.m. and 4 at 3 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Jonathan Cohen leads H&H in its season-opening concerts, featuring Joélle Harvey, Paul Appleby, Michael Sumuel, and the H&H chorus and orchestra, in Handel’s adaptations of poems by John Milton.

Gerstein plays Coll
Presented by Boston Symphony Orchestra
October 8 at 7:30 p.m., 9 at 1:30 p.m, and 10 at 8 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Kirill Gerstein joins Andris Nelsons and the BSO for the U.S. premiere of Francisco Coll’s Piano Concerto. Further works by Beethoven—the Coriolan Overture and Symphony No. 7—fill out the program.

Dramatic scenes by MacDowell, Beach, & Chadwick
Presented by Odyssey Opera
October 10, 8 p.m.
Jordan Hall, Boston

Odyssey Opera returns to action with a triptych of works by Second New England School composers: Edward MacDowell’s Lamia, Amy Beach’s Jephtha’s Daughter, and George Whitefield Chadwick’s The Padrone. Gil Rose conducts.

Israeli-American composer, conductor and violinist Guy Braunstein. Photo: Boaz Arad

Braunstein plays Beethoven
Presented by Boston Philharmonic Orchestra
October 11, 3 p.m.
Symphony Hall, Boston

Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra kick off their final season with a favorite recent guest, Braunstein, taking the solo spotlight for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. That icon is framed by two others: Weber’s Overture to Der Freischütz and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Roots and World Music

FlamenKora will perform at The Cut on October 1. Photo: courtesy of the artist

FlamenKora
Oct. 1
The Cut, Gloucester

Just like the name implies, this group fuses West African Kora music with the Andalusian flamenco tradition. Jazz trumpeter Volker Goetze is joined by Malian kora player Ali Boulo Santo Cissoko and flamenco guitarist Roberto Monteiro. Multi-cultural mashups don’t always work, but this gentle blend of strings and brass is surprisingly effective. If you can’t make it to the North Shore they’ll be back in March at Global Arts Live’s new Platform venue.

Boston-based Korean ajaeng virtuoso Yoona Kim. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Global String Band JOOL
Oct. 6
Somerville Music Spaces

The endlessly creative Boston-based Korean ajaeng virtuoso Yoona Kim recently celebrated the release of her wonderful experimental duo record with trumpeter Greg Kelley, Distractions for Trumpet & Ajaeng.

She’s also got her feet deep into the world of American old-time music (with, of course, a Korean influence), which will be on display as she’s joined by all-star collaborators Zoe Rose Depaz on fiddle, bassist Max Ridley, and cellist Sammy Wetstein. This evening, called Autumn’s Global Tune, is sponsored by the Korean Society of Greater Boston.

Singer Chrissi Poland. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Chrissi Poland
October 8
TCAN, Natick

The soulful belter Chrissi Poland makes her home around these parts when she’s not touring the world as a heavily in-demand backup vocalist. Now she’s finally grabbing a well-deserved spotlight with a recent record of songs, Forever Muscle Shoals, originally recorded at the famed Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama. Besides the expected Aretha, Etta, and Staples covers, there are also some nice surprises, like Wilson Pickett’s “Sit Down and Talk This Over” and Dylan’s Christian-era “When He Returns.”

— Noah Schaffer

Author Events

Nina MacLaughlin in conversation with Jessica Shearer – Brookline Booksmith
Burning in the Eyes of the Maker
September 28 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $7.18, or $69.99 with a copy of the book.

From the press release: “With an unflinching eye and a painterly sensibility rooted in both the classical and the contemporary, acclaimed artist Celeste Dupuy-Spencer created tender yet charged portrayals of American life. Her arresting compositions grapple with memory, identity, politics, and faith through expressive brushwork and deeply personal scenes.

“Burning in the Eyes of the Maker is Dupuy-Spencer’s first full-length publication. Spanning the last decade of her career before her death in 2026, the volume pairs 63 beautifully reproduced paintings—including new and never-before-published works—with urgent, layered prose by author Nina MacLaughlin.

“Taking the paintings as a jumping-off point, MacLaughlin creates narrative impressions of the often riotous scenes depicted. She guides readers inside the thoughts of the figures on the canvas, through the histories of the rooms they occupy, and into Celeste’s mind, past, and creative ethos. Full-page details bring the intricacies of these canvases to life.”

Jill Lepore in conversation with James O’Donnell – Porter Square Books
The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State
September 29 at 7 p.m. at First Parish in Cambridge
Tickets are $11, or $39 with a copy of the book.

“With Orwellian overtones, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State argues that technology has corroded global democracy, leading to the destruction of both human community and the capacity for self-government. It describes a new form of AI government: a digital citizens’ assembly in which artificial intelligence recommends courses of action in place of human-run legislatures. Especially sobering, amid a proliferation of “dizzying, ever-changing schemes, prophecies, and predictions,” is the book’s argument that the Artificial State has come at the expense of the natural world, contributing to catastrophic losses of wildlife habitat and biodiversity.

“Deliberately alarming, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, despite its abundance of dire facts, is not a funeral dirge but an inspiring wake-up call. In Lepore’s typically elegiac prose, it demonstrates that nothing about the Artificial State was inevitable: it is “government without consent, even government without humans.” It can, Lepore argues, be dismantled. Other heinous systems—feudalism, fascism, and slavery—have also been dismantled, but disassembly requires identifying the parts and tracing the sources. It requires telling a new history. This is the purpose of The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State.”

September Harvard Square Book Circle at the Harvard Book Store
September 27 at 6 p.m.
Free

“This month we’re discussing The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: A Novel by Michael Chabon. Don’t forget each book we discuss is part of our featured Select 70 for frequent buyer members.

The Book Circle is Harvard Book Store’s monthly book club open for members of the community to meet and discuss a thoughtfully selected book. We’ll meet in the third room of the store from 6–7:30 p.m.. Registration is not required and no commitment is necessary. We love new participants! If you are interested in joining the Book Circle’s email list, sign up through this form.”

Leila Slimani. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Leila Slimani at Harvard Book Store
I’ll Take The Fire
September 28 at 7 p.m.
Free

“In I’ll Take the Fire, Mia Daoud yearns to be free. Growing up in socially conservative Morocco, her imagination fired by her banker father’s charisma and political idealism, her doctor mother’s feminist example and social conscience, and the boundless possibilities suggested by her favorite authors, she learns to go after what she wants, even if it means jumping through fire to get it.”

“Determined to be true to her sexuality and to differentiate herself from her adoring younger sister, she sets out in search of her place in the world, from Casablanca to Paris to London, and against the backdrop of era-defining events like the fall of the Berlin Wall and 9/11, guided by a preternatural sense of justice and an unerring instinct for what makes her feel most alive. Combining vigorous poetry and unflinching bravery, Leila Slimani’s autobiographical novel is a rousing ode to living a life of purpose and consequence.”

Jorie Graham at Harvard Book Store
Killing Spree
September 29 at 7 p.m.
Free

“In a review of her first book, Hybrids of Plants and Ghosts (1980), The New York Times heralded Jorie Graham as a “poet of large ambitions and reckless music.” In the fifteen collections that have followed, she has remade the lyric’s ability to capture our recklessly disintegrating and accelerating daily realities. In Killing Spree, perhaps the most unflinching book of her long career, Graham looks at how the human spirit—in the face of everything that threatens it—navigates the rapids of extreme change. These newly spare poems explore, with exquisite formal precision, how we might remain intact in the face of aberrant conditions set to destroy our world. Could we lose our humanity, these poems ask. Can it be taken from us, Will we surrender it without resistance?”

“Extraordinary and haunting, Killing Spree reads like a survival manual guiding us deftly through the cataracts of a runaway climate, tipping-point violence, and out-of-control technology, into a terrain where a defiant, powerful imagination (and love) of the world reveals itself. Here is a poet truly at the height of her powers.”

Anthony Scaramucci at The Brattle Theatre – Harvard Book Store
All the Wrong Moves: How Three Catastrophic Decisions Led to the Rise of Trump
September 30 at 6 p.m.
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge MA
Tickets are $42.99 with book or $13.59 without

“In All the Wrong Moves, Anthony Scaramucci charts how both political parties, over three decades, made a series of catastrophic decisions that quietly dismantled the system supporting the American Dream. First came Bill Clinton’s trade deal with China, which opened U.S. markets while abandoning American workers. Next, George W. Bush’s choice to wage war while cutting taxes, exploding the deficit. Finally, Barack Obama’s bank bailout, which saved Wall Street but left millions of ordinary families behind. Each decision deepened inequality, corroded trust, and fueled the anger that empowered Donald Trump’s rise and his ongoing assault on democracy and the rule of law.”

“But All The Wrong Moves isn’t just about how we got here—it’s about how we get out. Scaramucci lays out practical solutions, including economic policies to rebuild opportunity for the working class and constitutional reforms to protect our democracy. It’s a sharp, surprising critique that cuts through partisanship and challenges readers on the left, right, and center to reclaim what the American Dream was always meant to be.”

Assal Rad with Michael Maria – presented by Brookline Booksmith
United Parish of Brookline, 15 Marion Street
September 30 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $24.63 (including a copy of the book) or free

“In Don’t Say Palestine, Assal Rad reveals a pattern of dehumanizing language—in outlets from CNN and the AP to the BBC and The New York Times—so consistently employed throughout the Palestinian genocide that it amounts to a policy. Mainstream Western media consistently downplays Israeli responsibility, “others” Palestinians, and casts doubt on inviolable tenets of international law like the sanctity of hospitals and journalists in war zones. This groundbreaking, eye-opening exposé offers both a moral reckoning and an urgent call to action, mapping with devastating clarity the media’s complicity in whitewashing a human rights crisis.” This event is cosponsored by the Brookline Coalition for Peace and Boston Workers Circle.

GrubStreet Presents Colson Whitehead, presented by Brookline Booksmith
At Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
October 1 from 7-9 p.m.
Tickets range from $321.96 for author meet & greet, $161.90 with front row seat and copy of book, or $75 for GA

“Join GrubStreet at the Coolidge Corner Theatre for an unforgettable evening with two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead. Emmy Award-winning GBH host Callie Crossley, host of “Under the Radar” and co-host of “The Culture Show,” will moderate the conversation, exploring Whitehead’s writing life, creative process, and the role storytelling plays in helping us better understand ourselves and the world around us.”

“One of the most celebrated contemporary writers today, Whitehead is known for his powerful, genre-defying novels that have shaped national conversations and expanded the possibilities of literary fiction. Every ticket includes one copy of Whitehead’s acclaimed new novel, Cool Machine, available for pickup at the event.”

“This special event serves as GrubStreet’s annual fundraising benefit for 2026. Every ticket purchased sustains our programming and helps expand access to exceptional creative writing education through scholarships, free community and youth writing programs, and other vital opportunities for writers of many backgrounds.”

“Pencils Up!” Porter Square Books Writer’s Hour – Porter Square Books
October 4 at 5 p.m.
Free

“Hello Writing Enthusiasts! Pencils Up! is an informal monthly gathering for anyone interested in writing. Whether you’re a casual journaler or a poet laureate, join us for an hour of silent writing (and a few minutes of optional sharing at the end). Bring something you’re already working on or start something new (informal prompts will be provided). Pencils, pens, and actual paper are encouraged!”

Marcia Chatelain with Kellie Carter Jackson – Brookline Booksmith
How Bright the Path Grows
October 6 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $41.64 or free

“In How Bright the Path Grows, Marcia Chatelain weaves a gleaming group portrait of these singular women. Among this cohort were several household names: vaudeville icon Josephine Baker; civil rights activist Rosa Parks gospel legend Mahalia Jackson, and Daisy Bates, champion of the Little Rock Nine. But many were relative unknowns, including Eva Jessye, the choir director who designed the day’s musical program, and Anna Hedgeman, the coordinator who pushed in the eleventh hour for a tribute to Black women’s work.

How Bright the Path Grows is a scintillating group biography, rendering the lives of thirteen Black women visionaries—some famous, others soon to be—in novelistic detail and like never seen before.”

Worst Bestsellers Podcast, in conversation with Meredith Goldstein – Porter Square Books
October 9 at 6:30 p.m.
Boston Edition, Grub Street Center for Creative Writing, 50 Liberty Dr, Boston MA
Free

“Every other week, Worst Bestsellers’ hosts Kait and Renata sit down with a guest for an in-depth discussion of a different book. Book picks cross genres and audiences, touching upon new releases, popular classics, and the zeigiesty titles that everyone seems to be talking about. Through their plot summary and discussion, they attempt to explain what works and doesn’t work for them as they try to piece together what makes these titles so popular.”

“While most of the books are chosen with the assumption that they won’t be enjoyable, occasionally they like to pick a title representative of a genre to discuss the genre as a whole, and sometimes they even find themselves liking one of the books they were sure they would pan. They can be found at worstbestsellers.com.”

Cortney LaCorte a.k.a. “Cheese Gal”– Porter Square Books
Oversharing
October 14 from 7-8:30 p.m.
First Parish Church, Cambridge MA
Tickets are $45 with signed copy of book included

“Oversharing is filled with comforting recipes that are organized into playful chapters for every meal and moment. Want to unwind with guilt-free reality TV? Settle in for one of Cort’s famous Bougie Couch Snacks, like Chili Crisp Elevated Popcorn. Too tired to cook? Consider Caesar Salad Meatball Smash Burgers and Pantry Puttanesca Pasta your new favorite Weak-Night Dinners.”

“Impress your guests with When to Wow’s Whole Bottle of Cab Pot Roast and Raise the Bar’s Dirty Like the Cumberland Martini, extra dirty and extra shaken, naturally. Then finish it all off with Kar’s Potato Chip and Pecan Cookies, a Dessert You Won’t Desert. Plus, Cort dishes out practical advice, including her ten kitchen commandments (leave your butter on the counter—and make sure it’s salted) and even a culinary dictionary (“cocktail cardio” anyone?). With easy, flavor-forward recipes and hilarious anecdotes you’ll want to immediately text to your best friend, Oversharing reminds us that the best meals, and the best moments, are meant to be shared.”

Susan Neiman in conversation with James Wood – Porter Square Books
Call It Evil
October 16 at 7 p.m.
Free

“Moral philosopher Susan Neiman makes the argument for naming and confronting evil as essential to preserving democracy in an age of demagogues. Call It Evil is a bold reckoning with one of the most fraught words in our moral vocabulary. Philosopher Susan Neiman argues that “evil” is not a relic of the past or a term to be avoided, but a vital lens through which to understand the threats facing democracy today.”

“From the rise of Donald Trump to the erosion of shared values, Neiman examines how our reluctance to name evil has left public life vulnerable to demagogues who twist morality to their own ends. Drawing on history—from fascism to the moral failures of recent US leaders—she shows how the normalization of wrongdoing corrodes trust, distorts justice, and endangers our future. This is a book for readers who refuse to accept moral confusion as the price of political life, and who believe that confronting evil is the first step toward renewal.”

Boston Book Festival
October 17 from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Free

The 18th Annual Boston Book Festival returns this year with an impressive lineup of 200 authors and 80 sessions. The event is free and stocked with an intriguing lineup of keynote readers and speakers, from Homer translating Emily Wilson to Walter Mosely to Edwidge Danticat to Michael Lewis to Imbolo Mbue.

— Matt Hanson