Joe Donahue

From the explosion of fake news to the challenges of the 24 hour news cycle, legendary journalist Bob Schieffer examines political journalism today and those who practice it. Based on interviews with over 40 media leaders, Schieffer provides an inside look at the changing role of media and asks whether today’s citizens are more informed or just overwhelmed.

Bob Schieffer was one of broadcast journalism’s most experienced Washington reporters. He was anchor and moderator of Face the Nation, CBS News’ Sunday public affairs broadcast from May 1991 to June 2015. He also served as CBS News’ chief Washington correspondent from 1982 to 2015. Schieffer covered Washington for CBS News for 46 years and is one of the few broadcast or print journalists to have covered all four major beats in the nation’s capital—the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, and Capitol Hill. 

Schieffer was in Albany, NY, last Friday moderating a discussion on fake news, information overload and media literacy for the New York State Writers Institute. He stopped by The Roundtable to talk with Joe Donahue about his newest book Overload: Finding the Truth in Today's Deluge of News

Today’s students face a challenging paradox: the digital tools they need to complete their work are often the source of their biggest distractions. Students can quickly become overwhelmed trying to manage the daily confluence of online interactions with schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and family life. Written by author and educator Ana Homayoun, Social Media Wellness is the first book to successfully decode the new language of social media for parents and educators and provide pragmatic solutions to help students focus and manage distractions. 

Ana Homayoun is a noted teen and millennial expert, author, school consultant, speaker and educator. Her newest book is Social Media Wellness: Helping Tweens and Teens Thrive in an Unbalanced Digital World.

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

Today's panelists are: WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Communications Consultant Theresa Bourgeois, and Siena College Professor of Creative Arts Mahmood Karimi-Hakak.

Sebastian Barry is one of the most prominent Irish writers of his generation. In his latest novel, Days without End, he explores America through the eyes of a young Irish immigrant fighting in the great wars of the mid-19th century.

It’s about war, immigration, and the violent making of America, but also a moving love story between two gay men. 

Everybody knows -- or thinks they know -- Charles Darwin, the father of evolution and the man who altered the way we view our place in the world. But what most people do not know is that Darwin was on board the HMS Beagle as a geologist -- on a mission to examine the land, not flora and fauna.

Retracing Darwin’s footsteps in South America and beyond, geologist Rob Wesson treks across the Andes, cruises waters charted by the Beagle, hunts for fossils in Uruguay and Argentina, and explores sites of long vanished glaciers in Scotland and Wales. As he follows Darwin’s path, Wesson experiences the land as Darwin did, engages with his observations, and tackles the same questions Darwin had about our ever-changing Earth.

Wesson's book is Darwin's First Theory: Exploring Darwin's Quest for a Theory of Earth.

Since the 1970s, Sigmund Freud’s scientific reputation has been in an accelerating tailspin―but nonetheless the idea persists that some of his contributions were visionary discoveries of lasting value. Now, drawing on rarely consulted archives, Frederick Crews has assembled a great volume of evidence that reveals a surprising new Freud: a man who blundered tragicomically in his dealings with patients, who in fact never cured anyone, who promoted cocaine as a miracle drug capable of curing a wide range of diseases, and who advanced his career through falsifying case histories and betraying the mentors who had helped him to rise. The legend has persisted, Crews shows, thanks to Freud’s fictive self-invention as a master detective of the psyche, and later through a campaign of censorship and falsification conducted by his followers.

Frederick Crews is an author who has published a variety of books and criticisms including The Pooh Complex, Follies of the Wise and his newest book Freud: The Making of an Illusion. 

Nelson DeMille's blistering new novel features an exciting new character—U.S. Army combat veteran Daniel “Mac” MacCormick, now a charter boat captain, who is about to set sail on his most dangerous cruise.

Daniel Graham MacCormick—Mac for short—seems to have a pretty good life. At age thirty-five he’s living in Key West, owner of a forty-two-foot charter fishing boat, The Maine. Mac served five years in the Army as an infantry officer with two tours in Afghanistan.

One day, Mac is sitting in the famous Green Parrot Bar in Key West, contemplating his life, and waiting for Carlos, a hotshot Miami lawyer heavily involved with anti-Castro groups. Carlos wants to hire Mac and The Maine for a ten-day fishing tournament to Cuba at the standard rate, but Mac suspects there is more to this and turns it down. The price then goes up to two million dollars, and Mac agrees to hear the deal, and meet Carlos’s clients—a beautiful Cuban-American woman named Sara Ortega, and a mysterious older Cuban exile, Eduardo Valazquez.

What Mac learns is that there is sixty million American dollars hidden in Cuba by Sara’s grandfather when he fled Castro’s revolution. Mac knows if he accepts this job, he’ll walk away rich…or not at all.

DeMille is a New York Times-bestselling author that has 15 best-selling novels, including Plum House and Night Fall. His newest novel is The Cuban Affair. 

The American sports stadium, for all its raucous glory, is an overlooked centerpiece -- a veritable temple -- of our national culture. A hallowed ground for communal worship, this is where history is made on grass, artificial turf, hardwood, and even ice; where nostalgia flows as freely as ten-dollar beers; where everything thrills, from exploding fireworks to grinning cheerleaders.

If you’ve ever wondered how they coordinate those fighter jet flyovers with the national anthem, how many hot dogs they serve in a day at Citi Field, how boozy pregame tailgates are kept in line, or what on earth AstroTurf is made of, look no further.

Rafi Kohan is a freelance writer and editor, and an amateur ivy groomer. Formerly, he served as deputy editor at the New York Observer and has written for GQ, Men’s Journal, Wall Street Journal, Town & Country, ESPN.com, and more. His new book is The Arena.

Arthur Miller: Writer is an intimate portrait of the great American playwright and social critic, Arthur Miller, from the unique perspective of an award-winning filmmaker — his daughter, Rebecca Miller.

The film contains material never before seen by the public, including in-depth interviews and home-movie style glimpses into Miller's persona — quite different from the face that was presented in formal interviews and to the press. Rebecca Miller opens the door to the man behind the icon, delves into the roots of his life as an artist, and explores his character — both its strengths and its weaknesses.

Rebecca Miller's film is playing the final night of the Woodstock Film Festival, October 15th, at 7:30pm in the Woodstock Playhouse. It will be followed by a Q & A. 

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

Today's panelists are: WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Investigative Journalist Rosemary Armao, Communications Consultant Theresa Bourgeois, and Siena College Economics Professor Aaron Pacitti.

Pledge to help fill the Locked Box here.

Thomas Moore is the author of the bestselling book Care of the Soul and fifteen other books on deepening spirituality and cultivating soul in every aspect of life. He has been a monk, a musician, a university professor, and a psychotherapist, and today he lectures widely on holistic medicine, spirituality, psychotherapy, and the arts.

His new book is Ageless Soul. He'll be at The Odyssey Bookshop at 7 p.m. tonight and at The Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT on November 10th. 

Shawn Stone joins us to talk about what he's seen lately and what cultural events are coming up this week in our region.

Seen: Blade Runner 2049

Upcoming:

Pine Hills Film Colony presents A Cottage on Dartmoor
Madison Theater, Albany, Thursday 10/12, 7 PM

Paula Poundstone
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, Friday 10/13, 8 PM

Rachel Feinstein
The Comedy Works, Saratoga Springs, Friday-Saturday 10/13-14, 7:30 & 9:30 PM

Albany Symphony Orchestra: Star Wars and More
Palace Theatre, Albany, Saturday 10/14, 7 PM

The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, Saturday 10/14, 7:30 PM

The Sam Bush Band
The Egg, Albany, Saturday 10/14, 7:30 PM

Aztec Two-Step
The Eighth Step at Proctors, Saturday 10/14, 7:30 PM

Keith A. Wallace’s The Bitter Game
MASS MoCA, North Adams, Mass, Saturday 10/14, 8 PM

Peter and the Starcatcher
Home Made Theater at the Spa Little Theater, Saratoga Springs, opens Saturday 10/14 at 7:30 PM, continues weekends through October 29

The Bobs Farewell Tour
Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, Sunday 10/15, 7 PM

New Movies: Faces Places, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, Marshall, The Foreigner, Happy Death Day

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

Today's panelists are: WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Professor of Political Science at Siena College Vera Eccarius-Kelly and Communications Consultant Theresa Bourgeois.

Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood’s Women’s Leadership Circle Luncheon takes place tomorrow and Michele Goodwin will be the featured speaker.  

She is Professor at the University of California, Irvine and is the founder and director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy and its internationally praised for her Reproductive Justice Initiative. She is an expert on reproductive justice, health and human rights and body autonomy. 

The New York State Writers Institute’s Telling the Truth in a Post-Truth World is a multi-day forum which will explore timely topics critical to an open democratic society including the rise of "fake news" and "alternative facts;" pressures on the First Amendment and a free press; media literacy; information overload; hacking and cybersecurity; and issues of race and class, among others.

Featured appearances will include Kurt Andersen, journalist, editor, radio host, and author of the new book Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History; Bob Schieffer, former anchor of CBS Evening News and Face the Nation; Floyd Abrams, the nation's preeminent First Amendment lawyer; Lydia Polgreen, editor-in-chief of HUFFPOST and more than two dozen prominent journalists, editors, historians, and authors. 

Author and journalist Paul Grondahl is the Director of The New York State Writer’s Institute and he joins us along with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and founder and Executive Director of the Writers Institute, William Kennedy.

"La la la . . . la."

A little girl stands alone and sings, but hears no response. Gathering her courage and her curiosity, she skips farther out into the world, singing away to the trees and the pond and the reeds — but no song comes back to her. Day passes into night, and the girl dares to venture into the darkness toward the light of the moon, becoming more insistent in her singing, climbing as high as she can, but still there is silence in return. Dejected, she falls asleep on the ground, only to be awakened by an amazing sound. . . 

She has been heard. At last. With the simplest of narratives and the near absence of words, Kate DiCamillo conveys a lonely child’s yearning for someone who understands. With a subtle palette and captivating expressiveness, Jaime Kim brings to life an endearing character and a transcendent landscape that invite readers along on an emotionally satisfying journey.

Kate DiCamillo, author of many books for children, including Flora & Ulysses and The Tale of Despereaux, is appearing at Stissing Mountain High School in Pine Plains, NY on October 13th at 6pm at an event sponsored by our friends at Oblong Books & Music. Her newest book is La La La: A Story of Hope. 

Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold is a biographical documentary featuring the life of influential American writer, Joan Didion. Directed by Joan's nephew, Griffin Dunne, the film enlightens the viewer with an unprecedented, intimate perspective on Joan's life and career accomplishments.

The film features interviews from Joan herself, as well as close family and friends, interwoven with contextual archival footage/stills to visualize Joan's astute writing. Joan, famous for bringing order to disorder through her words, exposes, examines and divulges the most pivotal events in American history, making her one of the most recognizable and influential voices within the literary world. The story of this film not only considers Joan Didion the writer, but gives light to Joan Didion, the individual. 

The film will be screened at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, NY on October 13th at 5:45pm as part of the Woodstock Film Festival with a Q & A to follow with Griffin Dunne. 

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

Today's panelists are: WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Communications Consultant Theresa Bourgeois, and Reporter and Community Engagement Editor for The Berkshire Eagle, Jenn Smith.

Once known as the largest ghetto in the U.S., the Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn of today is more notable for its headlines in the real-estate section. But as systematic racism converges with gentrification, the neighborhood again finds itself as the center of a cultural quandary in Brian Platzer’s debut novel, Bed-Stuy is Burning.

Chris Gibson is a decorated Army combat veteran and former US Congressman – a self-term-limiting one. He has now written a book to examine the troubled state of American politics and present a plan for what needs to be done to rediscover the principles needed to unite the country.

Raised in a working-class family in upstate New York, the first in his family to go to college, paid for in part by his service in the National Guard, Chris Gibson rose from Private to Colonel in the Army, including combat command in the storied 82nd Airborne Division. Rally Point is his story: what he's learned and how he's applied those life lessons during his service in Iraq and in Congress.

Chris Gibson spent the last six years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (NY-19). He also spent twenty-nine years in the U.S. Army, where he served four combat tours in Iraq and was awarded four Bronze Star Medals and the Purple Heart. His new book is Rally Point: Five Tasks to Unite the Country and Revitalize the American Dream.

Zazu Galdos-Shapiro from The Bookloft in Great Barrington, MA, joins us with this week's Book Picks list.

List:
A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas

The Fog by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Kenard Pak

The Barrington Stage Company is presenting Patrick Hamilton’s mystery thriller Gaslight on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage through October 22nd.

Gaslight, also called Angel Street and made into the popular 1944 film starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman, is considered one of the greatest psychological thrillers of all time. It tells the story of Mr. Manningham, a suavely handsome man, who is slowly driving his gentle, devoted wife Bella to the brink of insanity with seemingly overwhelming kindness while sowing seeds of doubt, memory loss and misperceptions.  

Gaslight features Mark H. Dold as “Mr. Manningham” and Kim Stauffer as “Mrs. Manningham.” 

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

Today's panelists are: WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Communications Consultant Theresa Bourgeois, Albany County District Attorney David Soares and Empire Report’s J.P. Miller.

William Wegman's whimsical photographs of his Weimaraner dogs have been celebrated in the art world and enjoyed by pet lovers for decades.

In the book William Wegman: Being Human, renowned photography curator William A. Ewing presents more than 300 images from the artist's personal archive, unearthing previously unseen gems alongside the iconic images that have made Wegman - along with dressed-up dogs Man Ray, Fay Ray, and others - beloved worldwide.

William Wegman joins us.

Our Falling into Place series spotlights the important work of -and fosters collaboration between- not-for-profit organizations in our communities; allowing us all to fall into place.

Falling Into Place is supported by The Seymour Fox Memorial Foundation, Providing a helping hand to turn inspiration into accomplishment. See more possibilities … see more promise… see more progress.

President and CEO of the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society, Todd Cramer, joins us now to tell us about the organization’s Animal Care Center and upcoming Paws in the Park fundraiser.  

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

Today's panelists are: WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Political Consultant Libby Post, Times-Union Associate Editor Mike Spain and Dan Irizarry - Chairman of the Capital District Latinos.

The Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI) has been pulled onto three cases at the same time; meanwhile, VBI head Joe Gunther has to take time off to care for his ailing mother.

Those cases are now in the hands of the individual investigators. Sammie Martens is assigned a murder case. The victim is a young woman, the roommate of the daughter of Medical Examiner Beverly Hillstrom. A recent transplant from Albany, New York, Sammie must find out what put a hit man on the trail of this seemingly innocent young woman.

Lester Spinney takes over a famous cold case, a double murder where a state trooper and a motorist were killed in an exchange of gunfire. Or so it has seemed for years. When Lester is told that the motorist’s fingerprints were planted on the gun he’s supposed to have fired, it opens the question―who really killed the state trooper?

Willy Kunkle’s case starts with a child's discovery of three teeth on a railroad track, leading eventually to a case of possible sabotage against critical military equipment.

Archer Mayor's newest novel is Trace. He will be appearing at the Northshire Bookstore tonight at 7pm in Manchester, Vermont. 

The Park Playhouse is presenting a production of Always... Patsy Cline at the Cohoes Music Hall through October 15th.

The show is based on the true story of Patsy Cline's friendship with Houston housewife Louise Seger. The relationship, which began as fan worship evolved into one of mutual respect. It is the kind of relationship that many fans would like to have with their heroes. 

The show combines humor, sadness and reality. It offers fans who remember Cline while she was alive a chance to look back, while giving new fans an idea of what seeing her was like and what she meant to her original fans.

Joining us this morning is the Producing Artistic Director of the Park Playhouse, Owen Smith and Chuck Kraus who directed the production. 

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

Today's panelists are: WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Communications Consultant Theresa Bourgeois, Siena College Economic Professor Aaron Pacitti, and, via phone from the U.S. Virgin Islands, Former EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck.

The new play, Lost Lake, follows the story of Veronica and Hogan as they’re tangled up in each other's lives by circumstance.

Berkshire Theatre Group presents the new touching and funny one-act written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winner, David Auburn, on its Unicorn Stage in Stockbridge, MA through October 22nd. The production is directed by Daisy Walker.