The Roundtable

Bestselling author Richard Russo will be our guest on this week's book show. Russo knows something about small towns and about the people who leave them, the people who stay, and the trouble that follows when someone comes home. Russo is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls and the author of Bridge of Size, Straight Man, Nobody's Fool, and many others. His latest novel is 'Under the Falls.'

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond.

Award-winning sports journalist Matthew Futterman has spent decades covering the biggest stories in athletics for 'The New York Times,' 'The Athletic,' 'The Wall Street Journal,' and other major publications.His latest book, 'The Cruelest Game: Chasing Greatness in Professional Tennis,' takes readers behind the scenes of one of the world's most demanding sports, exploring the extraordinary mental and physical pressures faced by today's stars.

In the mid-1980s, Paul Simon was looking for a way forward. What he found, beginning with a cassette of South African Township Jive, would become ‘Graceland,’ an enormously successful album, a political landmark, and the center of a fierce argument about art, politics, and apartheid. In his new book, ‘Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland.’

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are:Theresa Bourgeois - Public policy and communications expert.March Gallagher - The Ulster County Comptroller and the former president and CEO of the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley.Allison Kavey - a full professor in the History Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY).Warren Whitlock - a former federal senior executive having served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Diversity & Leadership, and, Associate Administrator for Civil Rights at the Federal Highway Administration.

California Congressman Jared Huffman has spent more than a decade in Washington representing a district that stretches from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Oregon border. A lawyer, former environmental advocate and co-founder of the Congressional Free Thought Caucus, Huffman is also one of Congress's most outspoken secular humanists. His new book, ‘No Profits: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism’ examines what Huffman sees as the growing influence of Christian nationalism in American government and politics.

Claire Stapleton spent twelve years at Google, helping shape the voice and culture of a company that once promised to change the world. But over time, she began to question the widening gap between Google’s ideals and its reality.In 2018, Stapleton helped organize the landmark Google Walkout, when 20,000 employees protested the company’s handling of sexual harassment.Now a writer, communications consultant, and tech labor activist, Stapleton tells that story in 'Don’t Be Evil: Bad Bosses, Fake Promises, and My Escape from Big Tech.' It is a memoir about corporate power, workplace identity, disillusionment, and what happens when a true believer decides to walk away.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are:Bill Hammond - Senior Fellow for Health Policy at The Empire Center for Public Policy.Robert Pondiscio - Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.Nic Rangel - Executive Director of The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York.

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site announced today the exhibition 'Circles of Influence: Thomas Cole and the American Landscape Movement.' The exhibition will explore the rapid influence that Thomas Cole (1801- 1848) and his work had on other 19th century artists, and the role that they collectively played in extending the concept of 'America the Beautiful,' still vibrant today.

Berkshire Opera Festival is about to present one of the most celebrated works in the operatic canon, Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor.' Conducted and directed by co-founders Brian Garman and Jonathon Loy, three performances take place August 22-28 at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. We’ll get a preview.