Joe Donahue

Gore Vidal came from a generation of novelists whose fiction gave them a political platform. Norman Mailer ran for mayor of New York City; Kurt Vonnegut became an anti-war spokesman. And Vidal was an all-around critic. His novels sometimes infuriated readers with unflattering portraits of American history.

He also wrote essays and screenplays, and his play The Best Man currently has a revival on Broadway.

Tom Young has logged nearly 4,000 hours for the Air National Guard in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, and elsewhere. His new novel is The Renegades
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The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival began in 1987 and makes its home under a specially designed tent theater on the grounds of the historic Boscobel House & Gardens in Garrison, New York. The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival is dedicated to producing the plays of Shakespeare with an economy of style that focuses energy and resources on script, actors and audience. This season they present Love’s Labour’s Lost, Romeo and Juliet, and The 39 Steps.

Pakistani journalist Adnan Rashid has been reporting in the Berkshires since April to further explore journalism so that he can report more thoroughly about the area he lives in to the rest of the world.

Matt Tannenbaum is in studio with this week's list.

The List:
London: A History in Verse by Mark Ford
Death and Transfiguration by Gerald Elias
How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians by Quintus Tullius Cicero (Marcus' brother)
I, Iago by Nicole Galland
The Lost Daughter by Lucy Ferriss
Dangerous Ambition: Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson, New Women in Search of Love and Power by Susan Hertog

Barbara Cook is performing with John Pizzarelli at The Mahaiwe this Saturday. We speak with the Broadway, concert, and recording star.

On August 2nd–5th, The Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, transforms Phoenicia into a hub of the vocal arts. We are joined by Kerry Henderson and Louis Otey, two of the three (Maria Todaro is the third) founders of the fest.

We welcome Janet Groth to the show and speak with her about her book, The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker.

The Cooperstown Summer Music Festival offers classical music and jazz through August 24. Artistic Director, Linda Chesis, joins us to tell us all about the rest of their amazing season.

How do rate the coverage of the Olympics so far?