The Roundtable

The book, ‘Drawn by the River,’ explores the rich relationship between comics and the Hudson River Valley. In it, Moira Fitzgibbons connects comics, cartoons, and animation to the region’s artistic legacy - from Hudson River School landscapes to its industrial past - revealing a layered creative ecosystem.She traces the influence of the Western Printing facility, the success of local creators behind ‘ElfQuest,’ and the ways landscape itself shapes visual storytelling.

Historian Victoria Johnson has a gift for uncovering the human stories behind American culture. In her new book, ‘Glorious Country: How the Artist Frederic Church Brought the World to America’ and America to the World, she turns to Frederic Church, the Hudson River School painter whose sweeping landscapes helped define a young nation’s sense of itself.Johnson traces Church’s global travels - from the Arctic to South America - and shows how his art connected American audiences to a wider world.

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.

This Sunday, May 3 at 3pm, Albany Pro Musica and Orchestra Pro Musica will fill the Troy Savings Banks Music Hall with a special season-ending presentation of ‘This Luminous Earth.’ The performance will include Jake Runestad’s EMMY®-Award winning ‘Earth Symphony,’ and Morten Lauridsen’s sublime ‘Lux Aeterna’.

Woodstock Fringe in collaboration with the Phoenicia Playhouse presents a new cabaret show performed by our pal, Wallace Norman, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. With music direction and arrangements by Paul Duffy and stage direction by Hank Neimark, ‘Songs Mostly of the Theatre: A Stroll Down a Dusty Musical Road’ is a personal show for Wallace. In it, he revisits his most important musical influences and mentors.Music performed will include songs from the musical theatre, traditional songs, and a set of songs written for Wallace from his Off-Off Broadway days, and a set of songs by the great Jacques Brel.The performances will happen at Phoenicia Playhouse in Phoenicia, NY this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.We are joined by Wallace Norman, Hank Neimark, and President of the Board of the Phoenicia Playhouse Michael Connor.

WAM Theatre’s first mainstage production of 2026 is ‘Rooted,’ by Deborah Zoe Laufer.WAM Theatre presents ‘Rooted’ at the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare& Company in Lenox, Massachusetts May 1 through May 16. For ticket and showtime information visit wamtheatre.com.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Lawyer, negotiator, and advisor to companies, nonprofits, law firms, and business leaders; Founder of the strategy consulting firm The Azara Group and author of “Race Rules: What Your Black Friend Won’t Tell You” Fatimah Gilliam, Dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany Robert Griffin, Lecturer of Cognitive Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and former Fulbright US Scholar to Egypt Jackie Berry, and Investment Banker on Wall Street Mark Wittman.

Journalist Noam Scheiber has spent years chronicling the shifting terrain of American labor and politics. In 'Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class,' he turns to a surprising constituency - degree-holders who feel economically and culturally unmoored. Blending reporting and analysis, Scheiber examines how this group is reshaping institutions, challenging elites, and redefining what it means to be “working class” in 21st-century America.Scheiber covers worker and labor issues for the NYT.

Since 2003, Capital Region Language Center has been bridging cultures and connecting communities through language. It serves all ages and language levels with about 25 part-time teachers offering in-person classes at their location just off Wolf Road in Albany, New York; offsite at schools, organizations, or businesses; or online. Learning options include one-on-one or group classes so that everyone can access language learning in a way that works for them.Our guests to today are Founder and Director of Capital Region Language Center Kim Andersen, Korean teacher Sonya Kim, Japanese teacher Yoko Segerstrom, and Spanish teacher Miriam Rogers.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Diplomat in residence at Bard College Ambassador Frederic Hof, Senior Fellow, Bard Center for Civic Engagement Jim Ketterer, Political Consultant and lobbyist, Libby Post, and Arthur Zankel Chair in Management for Liberal Arts at Skidmore College where she teaches International Affairs and Business Management Pushkala Prasad.

Bob Spitz has built a reputation for capturing the lives of iconic lives of artists with depth and narrative drive. Most notably and his bestselling biography ‘The Beatles,’ now he turns his attention to another seismic force in music history, The Rolling Stones. In this new biography Spitz traces the band’s evolution from scrappy blues devotees to 1960s London to global rock titans with the focus on the creative tensions, cultural impact, and enduring mystique of figures like Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The book offers a vivid portrait of a band that didn’t just define an era but continues to shape an era. Bob Spitz is the award-winning author of the biographies ‘the Beatles,’ ‘Led Zeppelin,’ ‘Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child’ and many other non-fiction books including a screenplay. The new book is ‘The Rolling Stones: The Biography’ it is published by Penguin Press.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Former EPA Regional Administrator, President of Beyond Plastics, professor at Bennington College and author of the new book "The Problem with Plastic" Judith Enck, Senior Fellow for Health Policy at The Empire Center for Public Policy Bill Hammond, Former Mayor of the City of Albany, Kathy Sheehan, and Siena University Professor of Economics Aaron Pacitti.