Matt Couture discusses the techniques of umpiring, timing and positioning, and also the role of the umpire in keeping a game within the lines of social behavior necessary for the game to be played with the kind of integrity which makes the event worthwhile to fans and players, alike. What is sportsmanship and what does that look like in today's world of conflicting expectations and values?  What's it like calling balls and strikes in the heat of the moment? How does an umpire help create a perception of fairness on the playing field as teams compete for advantages? Is baseball just a game or is it something more?

As an experienced partitioner, Matt has plenty to say about the conflicts he and his umpire colleagues manage from game to game in the service of preserving the rewards of competition and sportsmanship's social contract with those who play the game as well as those who watch from the stands. 

Author and Co-Founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, Phil Chan's discussion about racial appropriation and some of the caricatured projections upon Asians that have been an age-old habit in the United States, through the arts and through other cultural instruments, speaks to a world of realities which extend far beyond the theater and the stage.

He was an integral part of Boston Lyric Opera's reimagining of Puccini's Madama Butterfly presented at the Colonial Theater in September, 2023. While Madama Butterfly is loved by audiences and remains an essential part of the traditional repertoire, the opera’s history has reputation for portraying inaccurate, harmful representations of Japanese culture, contributing to stereotypes of Asian and Asian-Americans. BLO engaged with artists, board members, community leaders, organizations, and preeminent scholars to discuss Madama Butterfly, particularly around the areas of cultural appropriation, race, and gender stereotypes—and the wide-ranging impact of this opera for Asian artists.

You've heard the refrain: "Can we all get along?"

It's hard to argue with the presumption that the world would be a better place if only there was more love, kindness and forbearance. But, the proverbial question is: "How to we get there?" Is peace a state of bliss or rather a stasis of opposing forces? In a world where resources are often scarce and greed as natural an impulse as altruism, conflict is everywhere, and so is resolution. It could be said that we are all bound to push and pull, give and take, love and hate in this eternal negotiation, otherwise called Life. Who wins and who loses? Is it all that simple?

In this series of podcasts, we'll talk with the practitioners who bargain, dance, fight, race, and perform all manner of forcing and fostering strategies to find their way, as we explore, where the twain meet.