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Joe Donahue

Host, The Roundtable and The Bookshow

Joe talks to people on the radio for a living. In addition to countless impressive human "gets" - he has talked to a lot of Muppets. Joe grew up in Philadelphia, has been on the area airwaves for more than 25 years and currently lives in Washington County, NY with his wife, Kelly, and their dog, Brady. And yes, he reads every single book. 

  • Karen Russell's latest, “The Antidote,” is a dust bowl novel and a reckoning with a nation’s forgetting that enacts the settler amnesia and omissions passed down from generation to generation.
  • On October 11, The Eleanor Roosevelt Center in partnership with PEN America presented the 2025 Banned Book Awards at The Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, New York. This year’s Eleanor Roosevelt Lifetime Achievement honoree was best-selling author Margaret Atwood and Joe Donahue had the great honor of speaking with her at the event.In her latest work, "Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts," Atwood explores her past and reveals connections between real life and art.
  • Howard Jones’ groundbreaking 1985 album, Dream Into Action, peaked on the UK charts and cracked the US Top 10. It went on to spawn global hit singles, “Things Can Only Get Better” (which experienced a resurgence after being featured on an episode of Netflix’s Stranger Things) and “No One is to Blame” as well as “Life in One Day” and “Like to Get to Know You Well."
  • "About Time," David Duchovny's seventh published - and first poetic - work, covers a range of intimate themes and topics, including love, the loss of love, parenting, Duchovny’s own parents, alienation, and other emotional quandaries.
  • In his latest biography, “Mark Twain,” Ron Chernow brings to life the man known as the father of American literature, Mark Twain. Chernow peels back the layers of this complex figure, showing us the man behind classics like “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Innocents Abroad.”
  • This week's Book Picks comes from Suzanna Hermans from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck and Millerton, NY and Kira Wizner from Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook, NY.
  • The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Semi-retired, Editor at large/columnist/editorial writer, Times Union Jay Jochnowitz, Mayor of the City of Albany Kathy Sheehan, and Former Times Union Associate Editor Mike Spain.
  • Last month, WAMC on the Road presented an evening of conversation centered on the state of journalism, democracy, and upholding our First Amendment Rights at Gallery 40 in Poughkeepsie, New York. Joe Donahue moderated and the panelists were WAMC’s CEO & President Sarah Gilbert, Executive Producer of “The New Yorker Radio Hour” David Krasnow, Founder of “The Daily Catch” Emily Sachar and Editor of “The Times Union” Casey Seiler.
  • 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, Professor of History and International Relations at Vassar College Robert Brigham, Senior Fellow, Bard Center for Civic Engagement Jim Ketterer, and Preceptor in Public Speaking, Strategic Communications, and Public Relations for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University Terry Gipson.
  • The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Ulster County Comptroller and former President and CEO of the Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley March Gallagher, Senior Fellow for Health Policy at The Empire Center for Public Policy Bill Hammond, and Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Robert Pondiscio.