One of the best parts about the show is what happens when you lock Joe Solmonese and Mary Breslauer in a room together and they get to chatting. Listen to the first segment of last night’s show to see what I mean.

In The News, the past couple of weeks have had some disappointing losses for marriage equality. Now advocates are turning their attention to winning victories in state legislatures. Stu Rosenberg, one of the Human Rights Campaign’s Regional Field Organizers, joined us on the phone to give a lay of the land. He talked about marriage moving forward in Washington state, but also how a slight tip of the scales in legislatures in Montana and Indiana could pave the way for big victories for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

For the first Cup of Joe segment, Joe sat down with Broadway and film star Anthony Rapp to talk about his role in the musical Rent, his new book and other projects he’s working on. Part two of Cup of Joe was a conversation with Nate Berkus, the super-cute (and according to Joe, “cucumber-smelling”) interior designer who’s a regular on “Oprah.” They talked about everything from whether or not the whole chocolate brown/baby blue combo was still in fashion to Nate’s experience losing his partner Fernando in the 2004 tsunami.

Then it was time for The Upload where XM’s own John von Soosten of On Broadway (Channel 28) brought us some hits from Avenue Q and the always classic anthem “I Am What I Am” from La Cage aux Folles.

The Agenda always tries to bring you the inside scoop on something so in The Skinny Joe and Mary talked to Kelly Anthony — an HRC field organizer who moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to elect fair-minded candidates and pass a citywide non-discrimination ordinance there. Listen to the segment where Kelly talks about what campaign life is really like.

Then it was my turn to give The Skinny on a fantastic new film, Quinceañera. The writers and directors — Wash Westmoreland (with his sexy British accent) and Richard Glatzer — joined me in-studio to talk about the film. Listen to the interview.

We had two big guests for Point of View. First Amy Walter, the senior editor at the Cook Political Report, was in-studio to talk about the midterm elections. She discussed electoral trends and how GLBT issues are playing in races across the country. According to her, issues like marriage equality may rally a small segment of the Republican base but the issue is turning off moderate voters that politicians need to win.

Last week, Joe’s Call to Action was to read The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. To put the book in a literary and political context, Ron Charles — a senior book editor at The Washington Post — was our guest. Charles said Roth used the book to make an important point about the influence of rhetoric in public discourse. To Joe, the salient message for the GLBT community is what happens when the president of the United States gives license to treat one group of Americans as second-class citizens.

Turning back to music, we got The Upload from Trinity of Watercolors — XM’s contemporary jazz channel. She played a great tune — “Do it Again” by Philippe Saisse. After that we had Open Mic where Bill from Phoenix called in asking how he could find out where candidates stand on GLBT issues. HRC has great resources like our biennial Congressional Scorecard available online. And to find out more about openly GLBT candidates check out the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.

Finally in the Call to Action, Joe tasked us all to learn more about Rep. Sherrod Brown who is running for the U.S. Senate. Check out his campaign website.

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