An Armao On The Brink

Three of the women acting in an upcoming production of Emily Feldman's play 'The Best We Could' describe how art is imitating life on questions of sexual offenses and male dominance.

Political strategist Corinne Carey of Troy, NY, led legislative efforts to pass New York's medical aid in dying law at the same time she faced the illness and death of her own mother. She and podcast host Rosemary Armao,  who lost her mother a year ago, talk about public and private grief and becoming orphans.

In a decades-long career on public radio WAMC Albany’s Joe Donahue has interviewed at least 25,000 authors, politicians, celebrities and regular people. His questions and deep listening skills are models for how Americans bitterly opposed to each other’s politics these days might get through to each other.

Have you given up on talking politics with relatives and friends on the other side from you?

Communications expert John Oliver has made himself an expert on George Washington.

He says the current  president could not be more different from the first in terms of character and style the two men share similarities such as great personal wealth, thin skin about criticism, and populist appeal. 

Would Donald Trump be jealous of Washington's unanimous vote by the Electoral College?

John Oliver, an author and historian, was a speech-writer and propagandist  (public relations specialist) for The House of Seagram Ltd and GE Capital.  More recently, he's concentrated on George Washington's life, especially GW's time in upstate New York.

Oliver's memoir, I Know This Looks Bad, is available in all the usual places and his daily musings can be found at LoucheLife.substack.com.  Oliver and his wife, Leesa, summer in Saratoga.  They spend February there too.

Trump may be getting all the headlines, but opinion journalists Rosemary Armao and Jay Jochnowitz manage to find more looming disasters we should be worried about including fascism returning to Germany and planetary meltdown. Also, the new look of world maps. 

Are you less worried about global warming than scientists say we should be because you believe world leaders will get it together in time to prevent global ruin?

Opinion journalists Rosemary Armao and Jay Jochnowitz talk with a live audience about how much Trump would have to pay them for their vote and other insidious ways aside from bribery the 2026 midterms might be undermined. 

What is your plan for Election Day this November?

a. Not voting!

b. Voting in person on Election Day

c. Absentee and mail voting

d. Voting early to ensure my vote counts

The discussion got heated when opinion journalists Rosemary Armao and Jay Jochnowitz starting talking about the E. Jean Carroll Case and wound up debating whether women bear any responsibility for preventing rape and if No really always means No. ..

Do you think the Epstein survivors are remiss is not simply naming names themselves instead of demanding the release of more files, legal liability be damned?

Opinion journalists Rosemary Armao and Jay Jochnowitz talk with a salon audience about the value of trying to talk with friends and relatives with different political ideas even when it's maddening and everyone knows there's no real chance of anyone changing their minds.

Have you lost any friends because they don't think the same way about the Trump administration as you do?

Food historian and costume designer Professor Brittney Belz of Union College talks with host Rosemary Armao about the travails of 18th Century housewives who had no appliances, no refrigeration, no supermarkets, no expectation of help from the men, not even measuring cups, timers or whisks, and we think we have it rough today.

Are you seeing food prices continuing to rise at your supermarket? 

Speaker Bio: A youthful fascination with history and a desire to work as a museum interpreter led Brittney Belz to studying historic clothing and to a career as a costume designer. After earning a BFA in theater design and technology and an MFA in costume design and Technology, she worked at professional theaters and colleges across the country from Alaska to Vermont.  That focus on historic clothing transitioned into the study of all things related to the domestic experience. She now researches  the clothing and kitchen customs of the early modern era. She uses the feel, images, and flavors of the past to help bring every day stories from history to life. She is the faculty costume designer and current chair of the Theater and Dance Department at Union College in Schenectady, NY. She can often be found throughout the region designing costumes for stage, or presenting workshops on historic clothing.

Dead or alive: Lindsey Graham? Mitch McConnell Hope for fair and free midterms? In a wide-ranging salon discussion with a lively audience journalists Rosemary Armao and Jay Jochnowitz talk about a variety of troubling news items and age restrictions on Politicians.