Joe Donahue

From Emmy winner, Academy Award nominee and one of comedy’s most beloved voices - Renée Taylor - comes the World Premiere of “Dying is No Excuse,” a hilarious and heartfelt new play shaped with Elaine May and with staging by Greg Santos.In this reimagined World Premiere, Taylor introduces the play and remains an integral on-stage presence, while actress Nicholle Tom, who appeared alongside Taylor on “The Nanny,” joins her in bringing the story to life. Together, they create a moving theatrical duet, illuminating Renée’s memories with warmth, humor and heart.“Dying is No Excuse” is a love story - the story of Renée’s extraordinary partnership with her late husband, the brilliant actor and writer Joe Bologna. We welcome Renee Taylor and Nicholle Tom to the RT.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are public policy and communications expert Theresa Bourgeois, The Empire Report’s JP Miller, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute Robert Pondiscio, and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Vassar College Catherine Tan.

Whether we like it or not we are surrounded by emoji. They appear in politics, movies, drug deals, even our sex lives, high profile lawsuits, and much more. However, emoji's impact has never been fully explored in full. In the new book “Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji” Keith Houston follows emoji from its birth in 1990s Japan, traces its western explosion in the 2000s, and considers emoji’s ever-expanding lexicon.

It's the perennial question: Are we a product of how we were raised or is our identity hard wired by our genetic inheritance? These questions are explored in Sue Halpern’s new novel “What We Leave Behind.” Halpern is the author of seven books of fiction and non-fiction and scholar in residence at Middlebury College.

This week's Book Picks comes from Suzanna Hermans of Oblong Books in Rhinebeck and Millerton, New York and Drew Broussard from Rough Draft Bar & Books in Kingston, New York.

Dr. Marc Berman, the pioneering creator of the field of environmental neuroscience, has written a new book, “Nature and the Mind."

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are former New York 19th Congressman and NY Assemblyman John Faso, Professor of Government at Dutchess Community College and President of the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley Dr. Karin Riedl, and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan.

How does the son of a Presbyterian minister end up winning a Pulitzer Prize for a distorted newspaper column that is read by many? Well, in Dave Berry’s new book “Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up” he provides the details.“Class Clown” isn’t your regular memoir; it is a celebration of life rich with humor, joy, absurdity, and sadness.

Saratoga Performing Arts Center has announced their presentation of “Music and Mind with Renee Fleming: Harnessing the Arts to Heal & Connect.” This will take place this Thursday August 14th at 4pm at the Spa Little Theater. 5-time Grammy Award winning soprano Renee Fleming, curator of the groundbreaking anthology "Music and Mind" will host a discussion with a panel of experts exploring compelling research on the powerful connection between arts and health.

Lisa Gardner is a #1 "New York Times" bestselling thriller novelist with over 30 million copies of her books in print worldwide. A self-described research junkie, Lisa has transformed her interest in police procedure and criminal minds into a streak of internationally acclaimed novels, published in over 30 languages.An avid hiker, gardener and cribbage player, Lisa lives with her family in New England. “Kiss Her Goodbye” is her 29th book and we welcome her to the RT this morning.