The Roundtable

WAM Theatre’s first mainstage production of 2026 is ‘Rooted,’ by Deborah Zoe Laufer.WAM Theatre presents ‘Rooted’ at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare& Company in Lenox, Massachusetts May 1 through May 16. For ticket and showtime information visit wamtheatre.com.

Here’s something to celebrate: tonight - and for the next several months, at least - the astounding Amber Gray will be leading “The Time Warp” at Studio 54 in Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Richard O’Brien’s ‘The Rocky Horror Show.’ We speak with Gray about her affinity for freaks and weirdos, longtime love of Rocky Horror, how she found her voice in 'Comet,' and what it felt like when the 'Warriors' asked her to come out and play.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Lawyer, negotiator, and advisor to companies, nonprofits, law firms, and business leaders; Founder of the strategy consulting firm The Azara Group and author of “Race Rules: What Your Black Friend Won’t Tell You” Fatimah Gilliam, Dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany Robert Griffin, Lecturer of Cognitive Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and former Fulbright US Scholar to Egypt Jackie Berry, and Investment Banker on Wall Street Mark Wittman.

This week's Book Picks comes from Drew Broussard and Nora Taylor from Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston, New York and Lily Bartles from Open Door Bookstore in Schenectady, New York.

Journalist Noam Scheiber has spent years chronicling the shifting terrain of American labor and politics. In 'Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class,' he turns to a surprising constituency - degree-holders who feel economically and culturally unmoored. Blending reporting and analysis, Scheiber examines how this group is reshaping institutions, challenging elites, and redefining what it means to be “working class” in 21st-century America.Scheiber covers worker and labor issues for the NYT.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Tetherless World Professor of Computer, Web and Cognitive Sciences at RPI and Director of the RPI-IBM Artificial Intelligence research collaboration Jim Hendler, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Robert Pondiscio, and Founder and Director of the Volunteer Literacy Project and columnist for The Free Press Larissa Phillips.

Since 2003, Capital Region Language Center has been bridging cultures and connecting communities through language. It serves all ages and language levels with about 25 part-time teachers offering in-person classes at their location just off Wolf Road in Albany, New York; offsite at schools, organizations, or businesses; or online. Learning options include one-on-one or group classes so that everyone can access language learning in a way that works for them.Our guests to today are Founder and Director of Capital Region Language Center Kim Andersen, Korean teacher Sonya Kim, Japanese teacher Yoko Segerstrom, and Spanish teacher Miriam Rogers.

On Sunday, May 3 at 2 p.m., renowned scholar and curator Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett will explore what it means to put Yiddish on display in The Yiddish Book Center’s 2026 Melinda Rosenblatt Lecture. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett is University Professor Emerita and Professor Emerita of Performance Studies at New York University and Ronald S. Lauder Chief Curator of the Core Exhibition at POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, in Warsaw and she joins us now.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Diplomat in residence at Bard College Ambassador Frederic Hof, Senior Fellow, Bard Center for Civic Engagement Jim Ketterer, Political Consultant and lobbyist, Libby Post, and Arthur Zankel Chair in Management for Liberal Arts at Skidmore College where she teaches International Affairs and Business Management Pushkala Prasad.

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.