Ian Pickus

WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with Boston Globe staff writer Scott Helman, co-author of The Real Romney, about tonight's acceptance speech by the former Massachusetts governor. Helman is covering the GOP convention in Tampa.

WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with Michael Feinstein, an accomplished pianist and singer who has long championed the likes of the Gershwins — he got his start as Ira’s assistant — Frank Sinatra, Irving Berlin, Hugh Martin, Burton Lane, Frank Loesser, Jerome Kern, Duke Ellington, and many others. He is also a composer and arranger of original material.

WAMC's Ian Pickus gets the morning headlines from Judy Patrick, editor of the Daily Gazette.

WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with Natan Last, a Brown student and three-time intern under New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz who has assembled a new book of crosswords by young constructors called Word: 144 Crossword Puzzles That Prove It’s Hip to be Square.

WAMC's Ian Pickus gets the morning headlines from Mike Spain, associate editor of the Albany Times Union.

WAMC's Ian Pickus and resident quizzer Mike Nothnagel have the munchies for purely wholesome reasons.

WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with rock journalist Dave Thompson, author of Hearts of Darkness: James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Cat Stevens, and the Unlikely Rise of the Singer-Songwriter.

Republicans, including the powerful chair of the New York state party, are beginning to flock to Tampa for next week’s convention. WAMC’s Ian Pickus has more.

Chairman Ed Cox has run the state party since 2009, and despite a Democratic enrollment advantage, has overseen some key victories: the Republican takeover of the state Senate after two years of troubled Democratic rule, and several Congressional seat pickups during the 2010 midterms.

A Siena College poll shows 80 percent of New York voters want the state's minimum wage raised from $7.25 an hour to $8.50.

The poll shows an uptick in support of three percentage points since June.

The Democrat-controlled Assembly has passed legislation to raise the wage, with sponsors saying the current level is too low to meet the rising cost of food, shelter and other necessities.

The measure faces opposition from the Senate's Republican majority, whose leaders say it would hurt businesses and the fragile economy.

WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with pro wrestler, former Southern Methodist University football player, and Glens Falls native “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, who recounts his wild times in the ring in a new memoir, Hacksaw.