A special treat this week. The Agenda has new promos running across the XM platform. Listen to them here and here. Check back tomorrow for a preview of Monday’s show

This week’s episode of The Agenda with Joe Solmonese began with a bit of an experiment for us it was the first time we didn’t have Joe in studio in D.C. He was in Austin, Texas, to attend the funeral of former Gov. Ann Richards and led the show from the studios of KUT in Austin.

We started out with a political roundup from the Human Rights Campaign National Field Director Marty Rouse, who gave us an inside look at some of the hot primary races going on around the country and a forecast for November.

Monday also happened to be the start of the new fall television season and we were lucky to have Robert Bianco who writes “Critics Corner” for USA Today take time out to talk about what’s hot and what’s not. I have to agree that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip looks to be one of the best this season. Listen to both segments one and two.

We took a little time out of the show to pay tribute to Gov. Richards who broke down barriers for so many women, minorities and GLBT people as governor of Texas. Here’s a clip of her speaking at the 2005 New York Dinner.

Earlier in the day Mary talked to CC Goldwater, the granddaughter of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater and producer of a new film about the conservative stalwart’s life. She talked about her film Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater and her grandfather’s support for gay rights.

Yesterday the Human Rights Campaign released its annual Corporate Equality Index rating companies on how they treat their GLBT employees. I started out the segment with a packaged report on the CEI and then Steve Bucherati, the director of diversity and workplace fairness for Coca-Cola joined us. Listen to the entire segment.

Finally in Point of View renowned author Armistead Maupin spoke to us from his home in San Francisco. We talked about his books including The Night Listener and the Tales of the City series, as well as his insights on GLBT people and his beloved city of San Francisco.

We are thrilled to welcome best selling author Armistead Maupin to The Agenda. Scheduling conflicts prevented him from joining us previously but he’ll be with us from his home in San Francisco for the entire Point of View segment. We’ll discuss his famed Tales of the City series as well as The Night Listener that was recently made into a film starring Robin Williams.

We’re going to get a little political with CC Goldwater, the granddaughter of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater and producer of a new film about the conservative stalwart’s life. She’ll join us from New York to talk about her film Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater and her grandfather’s support for gay rights.

We’ll switch gears and talk television with Robert Bianco, USA Today’s resident TV critic. Have a question for Robert? Have show you’re just dying to hear the inside scoop about? Submit it via e-mail to TheAgenda@hrc.org.

On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign will release its annual Corporate Equality Index rating companies on how they treat gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. I’ll have a report on the index and we’ll talk with corporate leaders and employees about what it all means for workplace fairness.

Finally with the elections heating up, we’ll have Marty Rouse, HRC’s national field director, on to talk about some of the hot primary races and read the tea leaves a bit for November.

Listen in live on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern on XM channel 200 and join in the conversation by calling 877/9-AGENDA (that’s 877-924-3636) during the show.