The Roundtable

Rock and roll is not rock and roll without a beat. John Ligan’s new book “Backbeats: A History of Rock and Roll in Fifteen Drummers” is a journey through the history of rock and roll told through the lives of fifteen iconic drummers and their percussion rivals.

As this month marks the 70th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott the new book “Plundered: How Racist Policies Undermine Black Homeownership in America” challenges us to address the economic plunders still shaping black homeownership today. “Plundered” by Bernadette Atuahene is a fresh and revealing look at how economic and racial exploitation have been sewn into the fabric of our laws inviting implicitly from well-meaning people while eviscerating communities and widening the racial wealth gap.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany Robert Griffin, Associate Professor of Government at Dutchess Community College and President of the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley Dr. Karin Riedl, and Former Times Union Associate Editor Mike Spain.

“Nash Falls: A Thriller” by David Baldacci was one of the most popular books this Holiday Season and remains on the NYT Bestsellers list. We meet Walter Nash, a successful businessman whose life is upended when the FBI recruits him to go undercover at his own company to expose a massive money-laundering operation run by a criminal mastermind.

Writer Akiko Busch joins us to tell us about her new book, “From the Millpond to the Sea,” a personal narrative that considers the ecological, social, and human interests around dams in New York's Hudson River Valley.

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 Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Robert Pondiscio.

Walter Isaacson is a biographer of geniuses like Benjamin Franklin and in his new book he reveals the origins of the most genius revolutionary line in the Declaration of Independence. He does so in his book “The Greatest Sentence Ever Written.”

Jay Rogoff begins 2026 with a two-year stint as Saratoga Springs poet laureate. Yesterday he started his Poetry Repair Café series at Northshire Bookstore, meeting with writers to discuss how to bring their poems closer to what they wish them to accomplish. Rogoff plans to hold the Poetry Repair Café the first Sunday of every month.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Professor of History and International Relations at Vassar College and he is a specialist on the history of US foreign policy Robert Brigham, Senior Fellow, Bard Center for Civic Engagement Jim Ketterer, Professor Emeritus of Russian at Hofstra University and author of: Illiberal Vanguard: Populist Elitism in the United States and Russia Alexander Mihailovic, 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.