The Roundtable

The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington celebrates “Noir-vember” this fall with “The New Hard-Boiled: The Birth of American Neo-Noir,” a five-film series highlighting defining thrillers of the 1960s and 1970s.Screenings will take place Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. and Saturday afternoons at 5 p.m., through November 19 with a special screening of Arthur Penn's “Night Moves” followed by a talkback with Penn's son, Emmy-nominated director Matthew Penn.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center's popular “Sounds of the Season” holiday series returns next month from December 12–14, featuring the acclaimed Irish ensemble Danú, rising jazz sensation Stella Cole, and, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center performing Bach's Complete Brandenburg Concertos.

Wild Ones is a national nonprofit organization with local chapters that seek to improve the environment by connecting people and native plants. There will be a Native Plant Celebration and Seed Swap this Saturday, November 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Helderberg Room at John Boyd Thacher State Park Visitor Center in Voorheesville, New York.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Publisher Emeritus of The Daily Freeman Ira Fusfeld, Former Vice President for Editorial Development at the New York Press Association Judy Patrick, and Executive Director of The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York Nic Rangel.

In “Women Laughing,” longtime New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly sets out to explore her lifelong passion for women's humor and cartooning by speaking, laughing, and drawing with a diverse group of remarkable women who create cartoons for the iconic magazine.“Women Laughing” includes intimate conversations with some of the most celebrated and groundbreaking cartoonists at The New Yorker including Roz Chast, Emily Flake, Liana Fink, Amy Hwang, and Emma Allen, the magazine's first female cartoon editor. The film will screen at DOC NYC on November 15 + 17.

Inspired by the natural world, NightWood at The Mount in Lenox, MA combines cinematic music, theatrical lighting, and scenic elements to create encounters that evoke wonder, delight, and mystery throughout the forest and gardens of Edith Wharton's Home.It runs November 21- January 3. NightWood immerses visitors on a one-mile illuminated path.

This week's Book Picks comes from Suzanna Hermans from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck and Millerton, NY.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Robert Pondiscio, Associate Professor of Government at Dutchess Community College and President of the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley Dr. Karin Riedl, and Investment Banker on Wall St. Mark Wittman.

On October 11, The Eleanor Roosevelt Center in partnership with PEN America presented the 2025 Banned Book Awards at The Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, New York. This year's Eleanor Roosevelt Lifetime Achievement honoree was best-selling author Margaret Atwood and Joe Donahue had the great honor of speaking with her at the event.In her latest work, "Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts," Atwood explores her past and reveals connections between real life and art.

Harbinger Theatre will close its fourth season with “Swing State” by Pulitzer Prize finalist, Rebecca Gilman, and directed by Brian Sheldon.In the play: Recently widowed, Peg tends to the native plants in her 40-acre rural Wisconsin prairie backyard, her solitary days interrupted only by visits from a family friend with a checkered past. When a mysterious theft alerts the authorities, a string of events unfold that forever changes their lives. “Swing State” marks Harbinger's 18th Capital Region premiere. Performances will be held at Sand Lake Center for the Arts from November 14 - 23, with a free preview on November 13.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Senior Fellow, Bard Center for Civic Engagement Jim Ketterer, Political Consultant and lobbyist Libby Post, and Former grade school teacher and RPI graduate student Sophia Acquisto.

Each weekday morning, The Roundtable's Joe Donahue is joined by various experts, journalists, educators, and commentators to discuss current events. On Roundtable Panel: The Week in Review, we feature your favorite panelists discussing news items from the previous week.

You never wrote about your mother. Call it a challenge, an observation, or a dare, that was what Gish Jen was thinking as she set out to write her tenth book—did she want to wake up one day and realize she had never written about the one relationship that stood at the center of her life, no matter how painful it might be?In short, "Bad Bad Girl" is the story of a mother told through the eyes of her daughter. Opening in 1920s Shanghai, we first meet Agnes as a young girl who's expected to behave and be quiet, and from there, our narrator takes us through the full arc of her life—from birth to death. Throughout, Agnes interrupts the narrative from beyond the grave to argue, amend, correct, and scold her daughter's telling.

The Albany Symphony Orchestra's next concert of the season is at the Palace Theatre in Albany, New York tomorrow night at 7:30.The evening will shine with Gustav Holst's cosmic spectacle, “The Planets,” featuring the ethereal voices of Albany Pro Musica, and the world premiere of a new Violin Concerto by composer Bobby Ge.

The Norman Rockwell Museum's latest exhibit, “Jazz Age Illustration,” is opening tomorrow in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Organized by the Delaware Art Museum, it is the first major survey of American illustration from 1919 to 1942 - a vibrant and transformative era of innovation, evolving styles, social change, and expanding popular media.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are senior fellow and faculty member in the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College, President of Beyond Plastics, former EPA Regional Administrator, and co-author of the book "The Problem with Plastic" Judith Enck, CEO of The Business Council of New York State Heather Mulligan, Siena University Professor of Economics Aaron Pacitti, and Economics majors from Siena University: Josh Florence, Kerry Ann Wise, and Giovanna Perez.

The award-winning documentary “Locker Room Talk” from Kingston's TMI Project was produced in partnership with the nationally acclaimed organization A Call to Men.On November 9, they will be hosting their first Hudson Valley screening at the Kingston High School, where the film began.

This Saturday, November 8, Silkroad Ensemble will present a reimagined version of its American Railroad program at The Mahaiwe in Great Barrington, Massachusetts at 7 p.m.The concert will feature an intimate, powerhouse ensemble of eight world-class musicians lead by Silkroad founding musician and international pipa virtuoso Wu Man.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Ulster County Board of Elections Commissioner Ashley Dittus, Ulster County Comptroller and former President and CEO of the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley March Gallagher, Former Vice President for Editorial Development at the New York Press Association Judy Patrick, and Executive Director of The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York Nic Rangel.

In the new book “The Insider: Malcolm Cowley and the Triumph of American Literature” editor and critic Gerald Howard brings this complex literary life into focus drawing on Cowley's letters, essays, and archival material. Howard reveals how one man's sensibility helped to find what we now consider American literature.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are public policy and communications expert Theresa Bourgeois, Preceptor in Public Speaking, Strategic Communications, and Public Relations for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University Terry Gipson, and Dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany Robert Griffin.

This week's Book Picks comes from welcome Jim Havener from Green Toad Bookstore in Oneonta, New York and James Conrad from The Golden Notebook in Woodstock, New York for our selections this week.

What better way to honor and enjoy all the holidays of a year than to toast each one with a fabulous new cocktail - mocktail?"Extremely Happy Holidays: Wildly Creative New Cocktails to Uplift and Enchant Through A Full Year Of Holiday Chaos" is a new book by Devin McEwan features art by (his mother) Sandra Boynton.Joe Donahue will be in conversation with McEwan and Boynton in a special Oblong Books and WAMC On the Road at The White Hart Inn in Salisbury, CT on November 12 at 6:30 p.m.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Semi-retired, Editor at large/columnist/editorial writer, Times Union Jay Jochnowitz, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Robert Pondiscio, and Associate Professor in the department of sociology at Vassar College Catherine Tan.

The Adirondack Center for Writing and NCPR are teaming up with Caffe Lena in Saratoga to present the Howl Story Slam on November 12th @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm. The storytelling competition is open to all participants. Storytellers take the stage to tell a true story in under 5 minutes.

The Friends of Schenectady County Public Library will host an evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Strout on Wednesday, November 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the GE Theatre at Proctors in Schenectady, New York.

Heather Clarke is the award-winning author of "Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath." Her debut novel, "The Scrapbook" tells the story of an intense first love haunted by history and family memory, inspired by the startling WWII scrapbook of Clark's own grandfather, hidden in an attic until after his death.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are former NY 19 Congressman John Faso, political consultant and lobbyist, Libby Post, and Wall Street Investment Banker Mark Wittman.

Each weekday morning, The Roundtable's Joe Donahue is joined by various experts, journalists, educators, and commentators to discuss current events. On Roundtable Panel: The Week in Review, we feature your favorite panelists discussing news items from the previous week.

The Osprey hailed by Roger Tory Peterson as the symbol of the New England Coast, all but vanished during the 1950s and 60s because of the ravages of DDT. In the next few decades, however, the birds returned, slowly at first and then in a rush. Now writing with passion, humor, and reverence for the natural world, David Gessner interweaves the stories of the nesting Osprey pairs he observed with his own readjustment to life on the windblown, beautiful, and increasingly developed landscape he knew as a child. The book is a season of flight and wonder. The name of the book is “Return of the Osprey: A season of Flight and Wonder.” It is 25 years old and has a very special 25th edition out.

Artist and illustrator Grace Lin's first picture book, “The Ugly Vegetables,” was published in 1999 to glowing praise.Twenty-five years later, she has created more than 30 titles, including board books, early readers, and middle grade novels, garnering Caldecott, Newbury, and Geisel honors along the way.The exhibition: “The Art of Grace Lin: Meeting a Friend in an Unexpected Place” is on view at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts through December 31.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Senior fellow and faculty member in the Center for the Advancement of Public Action, President of Beyond Plastics, former EPA Regional Administrator, appointed by President Obama, and co-author of the book “The Problem with Plastic” (published by The New Press) Judith Enck, CEO of The Business Council of New York State Heather Mulligan, Siena University and Professor of Economics Aaron Pacitti. Siena University economics majors:Bradley FraserJake NassNatalie Zhu

New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, the author of "The House Across the Lake" and "The Only One Left," returns with his latest novel "With a Vengeance.""With a Vengeance" is published by Dutton. We spoke with Riley Sager in a live event at Southern Vermont Arts Center hosted by Northshire Bookstore.

The tenth annual event to benefit both the residents of the YWCA of the Greater Capital Region as well as people in need in the greater Capital Region, is coming to Troy on Thursday, November 6th.“Brava!” a fundraiser that will provide new bras to those in need, will be held at The Arts Center of the Capital Region in Troy from 6 - 8:30 p.m.

Vermont Congressperson Becca Balint speaks with Andrew Waite in the Congressional Corner.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Communications expert and Founder/President of Stanhope Partners Bob Bellafiore, Senior Fellow for Health Policy at The Empire Center for Public Policy Bill Hammond, and Former Vice President for Editorial Development at the New York Press Association Judy Patrick.

The new book “The Baddest Man: The Making of Mike Tyson” by best-selling author Mark Kriegel is a story about fame, race, greed, criminality, trauma, and the creation of the most feared and mesmerizing fighter in the history of boxing. In a life that included incarceration and molestation, booze, coke, the death of a child, and perhaps the most treacherous fame Mike Tyson has nevertheless survived. Decades removed from his short lived prime we are still very interested in Mike Tyson.

What do a barracks from British troops in the Falkland War, a floating jail of the Bronx, and temporary housing for VWF workers in Germany have in common? Well according to our next guest, Ian Kumekawa, they have all inhabited one Swedish barge built in 1979. Now, the barge has so many names, the author calls it “The Vessel.” The book is called “Empty Vessel: The Story of the Global Economy in One Barge.”

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and Professor of Politics, Philosophy, and Human Rights at Bard College Roger Berkowitz, Professional speaker, speaking coach and Albany County legislator Mark Grimm, Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Vassar College Catherine Tan.

This week's Book Picks comes from Amy Zimmerman from Chatham Bookstore in Chatham, NY and we also welcome Cheryl McKeon from The Book House in Albany, NY.

There are two major exhibits now on display at Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York through the end of the year.The exhibit “Exploring Calvin and Hobbes” revisits the beloved comic strip created by Bill Watterson from 1985 to 1995. It explores his mastery of the comic strip art form through engaging characters, thoughtful writing, and creative layouts.Also on display, “Romare Bearden: Artist-Activist-Visionary.” Drawn from the Romare Bearden Foundation Collection, the exhibition examines how Bearden agitated for change through images and writing.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are public policy and communications expert Theresa Bourgeois, Professor of History and International Relations at Vassar College Robert Brigham, Executive Director at The Alliance for a Hunger Free NY and The Food Pantries for the Capital District, Founder of the NYS Food as Medicine Coalition Natasha Pernicka, and Former Times Union Associate Editor Mike Spain.

Culinary Arts at SPAC Events features the talents of both local and visiting chefs along with a visiting guest cookbook author who share their expertise and insights alongside their food. Barbeque legend, James Beard Award Winning author, and host of PBS's “Project Fire” Steven Raichlen kicked off the Culinary Arts SPAC Fall season with a sizzling celebration of the griddle. His latest book is “Project Griddle: The Versatile Art of Grilling on a Flattop with Steven Raichlen.”

November is National American Indian Heritage Month and on the first of the month, the Bard Center for Indigenous Studies will present a community fair at Bard Fisher Center's Sosnoff Theater which will include food, a makers' market, and a performance by Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band.The Bard Center for Indigenous Studies Community Fair begins at 5:30 pm on Saturday, November 1 at Bard Fisher Center.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Preceptor in Public Speaking, Strategic Communications, and Public Relations for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University Terry Gipson, Professor of Government at Dutchess Community College and President of the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley Dr. Karin Riedl, and Political consultant and lobbyist Libby Post.

Each weekday morning, The Roundtable's Joe Donahue is joined by various experts, journalists, educators, and commentators to discuss current events. On Roundtable Panel: The Week in Review, we feature your favorite panelists discussing news items from the previous week.

This Saturday, October 25, Hudson Hall presents a special preview performance of “What is Your Hand in This?,” a new collaboration between acclaimed baritone Davóne Tines and early music band Ruckus.The performance will be broadcast live as part of WAMC's On the Road series.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Joseph Palamountain Jr. Chair in Government atSkidmore College Beau Breslin, Senior Fellow for Health Policy at The Empire Center for Public Policy Bill Hammond, and Chief of Staff and Vice President for Strategy and Policy at Bard College Malia Du Mont.

Named one of the Top 20 Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone, Richard Thompson is one of the world's most critically acclaimed and prolific songwriters. In addition to his beloved catalog and in addition to many other honors - Thompson has received Lifetime Achievement Awards for Songwriting on both sides of the Atlantic.He'll be in the WAMC region early next month, playing The Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, New York on November 7 and Stone Church in Brattleboro, Vermont on November 8.Will Hermes is a regular contributor to NPR, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and Pitchfork. He's the author of “Love Goes to Buildings on Fire” and “Lou Reed: The King of New York.” His substack of music writing is at newmusicoldmusic.substack.com.Hermes spoke with Richard Thompson for WAMC.

One cold night, Natasha William's father drove his car into the New York Bay with her two-year-old half-sister in the backseat. She was the one to walk him past the column of hungry reporters demanding an explanation. The headline in The Daily News read: Back from a Watery Grave. But Natasha's experiences growing up with her schizophrenic father in the gritty New York City of the 1970s are not so easily captured in a single headline.Natasha Williams' new book, “The Parts of Him I Kept: The Gifts of My Father's Madness,” is an intimate account of coming of age in the face of a father's schizophrenic unraveling.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Partner with the Albany law firm of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, Cianna Freeman-Tolbert, Publisher Emeritus of The Daily Freeman Ira Fusfeld, Tetherless World Professor of Computer, Web and Cognitive Sciences at RPI Jim Hendler, and Wall Street Investment Banker Mark Wittman.