The Roundtable

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.