The Roundtable

The Mostly Modern Festival is an international music festival that celebrates modern music by living composers from across the globe, alongside 20th and 21st-century classics. Taking place at the Arthur Zankel Music Center at Skidmore College, the 2025 Mostly Modern Festival features 10 concerts from June 5 to June 20.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Chief of Staff and Vice President for Strategy and Policy at Bard College Malia DuMont, Professor Emeritus of Russian at Hofstra University and author of: Illiberal Vanguard: Populist Elitism in the United States and Russia Alexandar Mihailovic, and Professor of Economics at Siena College Aaron Pacitti.

Journalism under threat amid human rights violations. That sentence certainly describes our current moment, but it also applies to the Roland Jaffe classic “The Killing Fields.” That film from 1984 focuses on the horrors of the Khmer Rouge’s rule in Cambodia, and features an Oscar-nominated performance by Sam Waterston.

Hayley Krischer is the author of the “The Falling Girls,” “Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf,” and “Where Are you, Echo Blue? A Novel.” She has written for the “New York Times,” “Elle,” “The Atlantic,” and much more. Her new book, “You Belong to Me,” is a psychological thriller exploring the dark secrets of the wellness and beauty world.

The Albany Symphony Orchestra’s 2025 American Music Festival takes place June 4-8th with composer workshops and rehearsal readings, post-concert musical mingling, Dogs of Desire, the culminating Festival concert, recitals, and more in Troy and Albany. Maestro David Alan Miller will be with us for a preview.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Preceptor in Public Speaking for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University Terry Gipson, Professional speaker, speaking coach and Albany County legislator Mark Grimm, Vice President for Editorial Development at the New York Press Association Judy Patrick, and Associate Professor of Political Science at Marist University Juris Pupcenoks.

From a desperate existence in a Victorian freak show to his days as the toast of London high society, the life of John Merrick, the Elephant Man, has fascinated the world for well over a century. Though his disfigurement brought notoriety, it was his unblemished inner humanity that most astonished everyone he knew. Berkshire Theatre Group presents Bernard Pomerance’s Tony Award-winning drama, “The Elephant Man,” May 28 - June 15 at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, MA.

Berkshire Theatre Group has an ultra-exciting 2025 Summer Season planned, featuring a lineup of plays and musicals at both The Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge, MA and The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, MA.The season offers a mix of compelling dramas, thought-provoking new works and family-friendly entertainment, continuing the company’s tradition of bringing exceptional theatre to the Berkshires.

The Berkshire International Film Festival gets underway on Thursday and runs through Sunday in Great Barrington and Lenox, MA. On Saturday night, May 31st, they will present their special tribute event. This year they honor multi-award winner Brian Cox, featuring an intimate conversation between Brian and his wife, Nicole Ansari-Cox. She is an actress, director, and producer. The conversation will be held at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington at 7:00 pm. A screening of “The Escapist” will follow.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Joseph Palamountain Jr. Chair in Government at Skidmore College Beau Breslin, Dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany Robert Griffin, and Grants analyst based in Albany Emily Honen.