Joe Donahue

Curtis Sittenfeld is the best-selling author of novels “Romantic Comedy,” “Prep,” “The Man of my Dreams,” “American Wife,” and “Rodham.” In her second story collection “Show Don’t Tell” she conjures up characters that are so real they seem like old friends laying bare the moments when their long-held beliefs are overturned.

In the new novel “Rabbit Moon” author Jennifer Haigh writes a drama set in Shanghai about a fractured American family with secret lives and an unbreakable bond between two sisters.

On April 15th, 2024, the People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump, the criminal trial of the 45th and 47th President of the United States, began in a Manhattan courtroom. It would prove to be one of the most consequential criminal trials in American history, a start of a new era in politics, and American jurisprudence. Now with Donald Trump back in The White House and Judge Juan Merchan’s sentencing complete Bromwich delivers with new reporting a definitive account of the stranger than fiction showdown in his new book “Dragon on Centre Street: New York vs. Donald J. Trump.”

This morning, we talk about the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill and their new exhibition of artwork by Emily Cole, Thomas Cole’s daughter. The exhibition — titled “Emily Cole: Ceramics, Flora & Contemporary Responses” — will include the largest display of original painted porcelain and works on paper by Emily Cole ever shown since the 19th century.Her work is being presented within the Cole family’s historic home and studio alongside, and in conversation with, related works by eight, internationally celebrated, 21st-century artists.

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, Chief of Staff and Vice President for Strategy and Policy at Bard College Malia DuMont, Associate Professor of Government at Dutchess Community College and since 2023, she has been President of the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley Dr. Karin Riedl, and Mayor of the City of Albany Kathy Sheehan.

Fenimore Art Museum presents a preview of exhibitions for their 2025 summer and fall season.

The Albany Symphony is back on tour with 5 full-day free festivals culminating in Albany Symphony concerts to commemorate the Erie Canal Bicentennial. Maestro David Alan Miller will tell us about Water Music NY: More Voices Festival running from Wednesday July 2 through Sunday July 6th. We get a preview this morning and welcome David back to the RT.

Historian James Bradley has written a major new biography of local resident and the 8th president of the United States, Martin Van Buren. He was the first chief executive not born a British citizen and the first to use the party system to chart his way from tavern-keeper's son to the pinnacle of power.This new biography of Van Buren - the first full-scale portrait in four decades - charts his ascent from a tavern in the Hudson Valley to the presidency, concluding with his late-career involvement in an antislavery movement. Offering vivid profiles of the day's leading figures (Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, DeWitt Clinton, James K. Polk), James Bradley's book depicts the struggle for power in the tumultuous decades leading up to the Civil War.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Dean of the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity at the University at Albany Robert Griffin, Diplomat in residence at Bard College Ambassador Frederic Hof, and CEO of The Business Council of New York State Heather Mulligan.

This week's Book Picks come from Anthony and Amanda Stromoski of Rough Draft Bar and Books in Kingston, NY and Kira Wizner of Merritt Bookstore in Millbrook, NY.