The Roundtable

Scientists such as Richard Dawkins, Lawrence Krauss, and Sam Harris tell us that our most intimate actions, thoughts, and values are mere byproducts of thousands of generations of mindless adaptation. We are just one species among multitudes, and therefore no more significant than any other living creature. Now comes Brown University biologist Kenneth R. Miller to make the case that this view betrays a gross misunderstanding of evolution. Natural selection surely explains how our bodies and

In this week’s Classical Music According to Yehuda , Alan Chartock and Yehuda Hanani continue a series of conversations about fakes, forgeries, and lost or misattributions. Close Encounters with Music will present Russian and Soviet Film Music: A Tuneful Survey with UAlbany Professor Timothy Sergay at The Mount in Lenox, MA on Sunday, April 22.

Dr. Menhaz Afridi is an Associate Professor of Religious studies and Director of Holocaust, Genocide, and Interfaith Education Center at Manhattan College. She is committed to interfaith, and the Holocaust education. She teaches contemporary Islam, Holocaust, Genocide and issues of gender within Islam. She will join the Sidney and Beatrice Albert Inter-Faith Lectureship Program at The College of St. Rose next Tuesday, April 17 to present a lecture entitled “The Rise of Anti-Semitism and

The New York State Writers Institute and the UAlbany Speaker Series presents Salman Rushdie in an afternoon craft talk and evening presentation on Thursday, April 19. Rushdie's new novel is The New York Times bestseller, "The Golden House," a parable of contemporary America set against the backdrop of current American culture and politics. We spoke with Rushdie on The Book Show when the book was published and this is an encore presentation of that interview.

The Roundtable Panel : a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are WAMC’s Alan Chartock, Associate Editor of the Times Union Mike Spain, Counter-Terrorism Expert Malcolm Nance, and Siena College Economics Professor Aaron Pacitti.

No writer plunged more wholeheartedly into the chaotic energies of the 1960s than Norman Mailer, as he fearlessly revolutionized literary norms and genres to capture the political, social, and sexual explosions of an unsettled era. Library of America has released a new boxed set of Mailer's work from that decade. There are two novels, two booklength masterpieces of new journalism, and thirty-three essays. J. Michael Lennon emeritus professor of English at Wilkes University, is Norman Mailer's

Across the pond, Brits have scoffed that Americans are ruining the English language. Here in the U.S., Americans fawn over British accents and giggle at the preposterous syllables in gobsmacked and kerfuffle. As an American linguist teaching in England, Professor Lynne Murphy is on the linguistic front line. In her new book, "The Prodigal Tongue: The Love-Hate Relationship Between American and British English," she explores the fiction and reality of the special relationship between British and

You probably know Adam Goldberg from his acting career. He has appeared in films and TV shows like "Saving Private Ryan," "Dazed and Confused," "A Beautiful Mind," "The Hebrew Hammer," "Zodiac," "Fargo," "Taken" and many more. But Goldberg has also had a long career in music, recording albums and scoring films. His latest is HOME: A Nice Place To Visit.

From legendary character actor Stephen Tobolowsky, who currently appears on "The Goldbergs" and HBO’s "Silicon Valley," and Norman Lear’s new "One Day at a Time," author of "The Dangerous Animals Club" and The Tobolowsky Files podcast; "My Adventures with God" is a funny, introspective collection about love, catastrophe, and triumph, all told through the lens of his evolving relationship with the mystery that is “God.” As Tobolowsky explains, “It’s hard to believe in nothing. Even cats believe

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 Professor of Comparative Politics, Vera Eccarius Kelly, and Edward P. Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Francine Berman.

The Grand Opening of PS21’s new Black Box Theater will feature a dance concert with Caleb Teicher and Nic Gareiss . Teicher and Gareiss are two of America’s most elegant interpreters of traditional American dance forms including tap, clogging, flatfooting, Irish step, and contemporary hybrids. The Boston Herald called Nic Gareiss “the most inventive and expressive step dancer on the scene. The nimble Gareiss called forth visions of Fred Astaire.” ArtsAmerica declared that “with his calm and

PS21: Performance Spaces for the 21st Century in Chatham, New York is opening a new state-of-the-art black box theater this Saturday, April 14. The black-box is the all-weather portion of the new Pavilion Theater which will open this summer. The festive evening celebrating the future of PS21 will feature a ribbon cutting ceremony, champagne toast and a dance concert with the delightful Caleb Teicher and Nic Gareiss! There will be a post-performance reception with the artists and tours of the new

The classic Noël Coward comedy, Blithe Spirit, is being produced at The REP , through May 6 th , directed by Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill, and featuring three of the region's best known Equity actresses: Yvonne Perry , Brenny Rabine and Eileen Schuyler , together on stage for the first time. In the play, we meet cantankerous novelist Charles Condomine, re-married to Ruth but haunted (literally) by the ghost of his late first wife, the clever and insistent Elvira who has been conjured up by a

New York Times columnist John Schwartz wrote his new book, "This Is The Year I Put My Financial Life In Order," for people willing to learn new money skills before it's too late. Sharing both harrowing and hilarious personal stories, from his brush with financial ruin and bankruptcy in his thirties to his budgeted diet of cafeteria French fries and gravy, Schwartz discusses his journey to financial literacy, which he admittedly started a bit late.

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, Former EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck, and Albany County District Attorney David Soares.