The Roundtable

Student loans have become a major election season issue. In today’s Congressional Corner, New York Representative Bill Owens tells WAMC’s Alan Chartock that partisan gridlock is to blame for the delay in solving the interest rate debate.

WAMC's Ian Pickus catches up with alt-rock hero Matthew Sweet, who is performing his landmark 1991 album Girlfriend in its entirety at The Egg in Albany, New York on June 22. His most recent album is 2011's Modern Art.

In an era when female singer-songwriters are ever more ubiquitous, three time Grammy Award winner Shawn Colvin stands out as a singular and enduring talent. Her songs are slow-release works of craft and catharsis that become treasured, lifetime companions for their listeners. 

As a storyteller, Colvin is both keen and warm-hearted, leavening even the toughest tales with tenderness, empathy, and a searing sense of humor.

What do you do to beat the heat and now blow your energy budget?

Author Elizabeth Norris has outdone herself with her x-files inspired novel Unraveling. There’s a bomb counting down but no one knows where it came from, or how to stop it, and it’s a race against time for our characters to find out what’s happening.

To make matters worse, burned bodies are appearing around the country, and no one knows if the weather or bomb will tear the world apart first. And the best part about the book? The gritty language used by our main character Janelle. It’s not over down, and very real. 

WAMC's Ian Pickus speaks with novelist and playwright Ed Falco -- a SUNY New Paltz alum who now teaches English at Virginia Tech -- about his new Godfather prequel, The Family Corleone.

The 2012 election has only worsened partisanship in Washington. In today’s Congressional Corner, New York Representative Bill Owens tells WAMC’s Alan Chartock that he is hoping for increased cooperation across the aisle in the coming months and years.

Thomas Crowell, Director of Outreach and Resource Development for the Columbia Land Conservancy and Sheldon Evans, a Columbia Land Conservancy Trustee and the author of Columbia County Outdoors: A Guide to Recreational Areas in Columbia County, join us to talk about the book and the CLC's work.