The Roundtable

Physician and acclaimed novelist Daniel Mason has a gift for finding the extraordinary in everyday life. His new novel, 'Country People,' follows a young family whose move to rural Vermont becomes an unexpected journey into folklore, community, and imagination.Daniel Mason is our guest on this week’s Book Show – this afternoon at 3, Thursday night at 8 and online at wamc.org. In this preview of the program, we talk with Daniel Mason about the book and reactions from early readers – including the question for the author, “do you listen to WAMC?”

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, an Associate Professor in the department of sociology at Vassar College. Her research is on health, wellness, and medical knowledge Catherine Tan, and Investment Banker on Wall St. Mark Wittman.

Michael Roth, the President of Wesleyan University, will speak at the Monterey Meeting House in Monterey, MA on Sunday, August 9th. His talk is titled: 'From Neutrality to Democracy; How Higher Ed Can Defend Democracy.' Michael will join us later this morning.Michael Roth has been president of Wesleyan University since 2007. His most recent books are 'The Student: A Brief History and Safe Enough Spaces: A Pragmatist’s Guide to Free Speech, Affirmative Action, and Political Correctness on College Campuses,'and 'Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters.'He is currently focused on building a network of schools, Democracy 250, whose students defend democracy by participating in it. We welcome Michael Roth to the RT.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) welcomes back The Philadelphia Orchestra for a three-week summer residency from August 5–22 as part of its celebratory 60th anniversary season.Led by Music and Artistic Director Yannick Nezet-Seguin,the season pairs classical masterworks with SPAC premieres and performances by world-renowned artists, including Tony, Emmy, and five-time Grammy Award–nominated singer Josh Groban, Grammy Award–nominated indie-folk singer Gregory Alan Isakov, and two-time Tony Award–winning Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell.Christopher Shiley is President of Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

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, Associate Professor of Music at Vassar College. He studies music in American politics; sound studies; East Asian art music; and music in the African diaspora Justin Patch, and Diplomat in Residence at Bard College. She retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2025 after over 30 years in public service. Her last post was ambassador to the SE Asian country, Timor-Leste Donna Welton.

Long before Joe Goldberg became one of fiction's most unsettling antiheroes, he was simply a lonely teenager looking for love. In 'You First: A Joe Goldberg Prequel,' Caroline Kepnes takes readers back to seventeen-year-old Joe, working in Mr. Mooney's Manhattan bookstore and chasing the promise of romance, only to reveal how obsession and deception first took root. Kepnes, the 'New York Times' bestselling author whose 'You' novels inspired the hit Netflix series, once again blends dark humor, psychological suspense, and razor-sharp social observation. This origin story offers longtime fans—and newcomers alike—a chilling look at how monsters are made.

Jan Carson has become one of the most imaginative voices in contemporary Irish fiction, blending folklore, magical realism, and the emotional complexities of everyday life. The Belfast-based writer is the award-winning author of 'The Fire Starters,' winner of the European Union Prize for Literature, as well as 'The Raptures' and several acclaimed short story collections. Her new novel, 'Few and Far Between,' imagines an alternate Northern Ireland where the draining of Lough Neagh creates a mysterious archipelago that becomes a refuge from the Troubles. As environmental disaster threatens this isolated community decades later, Carson explores memory, family, belonging, and the enduring scars of history with wit, compassion, and startling originality.

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, Semi-retired, Editor at large/columnist/editorial writer, Times Union Jay Jochnowitz, a full professor in the History Department at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY) Allison Kavey, and Siena University Professor of Economics Aaron Pacitti.

Erin Harkes, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Metroland Now, joins us this morning for our regular arts segment where she will talk about what’s in the pages of Metroland Now and preview each month’s events for First Friday in Albany.Erin is a local musician, comedian and Metroland publisher and has a brand-new album of music, just out, it’s called "Blue."

'New York Times' opinion writer Michelle Goldberg will appear in conversation with essayist, poet, and longtime 'The Nation' columnist Katha Pollitt at the New Marlborough Meeting House on Saturday, August 1, at 4:30 pm. They will be discussing the current political moment and the future of American democracy.