If you tuned in to HRC’s hit show The Agenda with Joe Solmonese last night you heard our usual fun mix of news, politics and culture. Don’t forget, we’re on live from 6 to 8 p.m. Eastern on XM channel 120 with replays on XM’s Air America channel 167 every Saturday at noon Eastern and available 24/7 on XM Online.

To start out, we looked to Capitol Hill where today the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was introduced in the House of Representatives by Reps. Barney Frank, Deborah Pryce, Tammy Baldwin and Chris Shays. HRC’s own vice president of programs, David Smith, was our guest.

Then we turned to HIV and AIDS issues with two leaders who are in Washington this week to talk to their elected officials about the need for prevention, care and treatment of the disease. Listen to parts one and two of our interview with Joe Interrante, the CEO of Nashville CARES, and Fortunata Kesege, a community activist from Houston.

In February we hosted Muslim dissident and author Irshad Manji on The Agenda to talk about her best-selling book, The Trouble with Islam Today. This month her film, Faith Without Fear, is featured in a sweeping PBS series entitled “America at a Crossroads,” so we thought it was just the time to re-air this important interview.

And as we always do, we took a lighter turn and had a little GLBT pop-culture fun. First, René Fris of the new hit Bravo show Shear Genius was our guest. Prior to his stint as the salon manager and contestant mentor on the show, Fris was one of the “Fab Five” in the European version of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”

After that we took a look Logo’s new series, The Big Gay Sketch Show. Kate McKinnon and Amanda Bearse joined us to talk about their careers as out actors, the new show and the fine line between parody and stereotypes. Listen to the segment here.

We wrapped up the show with an interview I had had last week with Bettina Aptheker — acclaimed feminist scholar and lesbian activist whose book Intimate Politics looks at her upbringing as the daughter of communist theoretician Herbert Aptheker. She talked about growing up among the leading artistic and literary figures of the day along with the painful secret of abuse that has informed her worldview. Hear her fascinating point of view here.

Last night’s edition of “The Agenda with Joe Solmonese” featured a little twist. Regular co-host Mary Breslauer took a much-needed vacation and Hilary Rosen joined Joe with hosting duties.

Kicking off the show, Joe and Hilary talked to Indiana state Rep. David Orentlicher, who was a leader in recently defeating an amendment to ban marriage and other rights for same-sex couples in the state. He discussed that great victory and his views on the future of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality in the Hoosier State.

Then Joe shared a great interview he did last week with veteran pollster and Democratic strategist Doug Schoen. Schoen has a new book out — The Power of the Vote — that draws on his 30 years of experience in politics that has included helping elect presidents, toppling dictators and working behind-the-scenes of the Democratic Party. Joe asked Schoen about his view that Democrats are more vulnerable in 2008 than they know and how he thinks GLBT issues will play in the presidential race.

We turned things to a lighter note starting with Joe LaMuraglia, the founder and publisher of GayWheels.com. The discussion ranged from the top-researched cars by GLBT consumers to gay-themed advertising campaigns to which auto companies scored high on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index. Listen to this fun and informative conversation about cars.

After the car talk, we welcomed Eddie Shapiro, one of the authors of Queens in the Kingdom — The Ultimate Gay and Lesbian Guide to the Disney Theme Parks. Along with co-author Jeffrey Epstein, Shapiro brings a special passion to talking about his favorite places — the Disney theme parks, which have been in the news recently because they announced they would allow same-sex couples to participate in their Fairytale Weddings program, which had previously been restricted to opposite-sex couples. Shapiro talked about that decision as well as some GLBT-friendly travel advice for navigating the parks.

Hilary Rosen happens to be the president of OurChart.com, the new online social networking site for women, so we brought in Lisa Parrish, who writes their popular blog The Hookup. She had something to say about everything from the women of OurChart to gay car stereotypes to her own favorite blogs. Hear about OurChart.

Finally we took a look at HRC’s Clergy Call to Justice and Equality — a gathering of more than 200 members of the clergy who descended on Capitol Hill today. Bringing clergy to Washington isn’t a novel idea, except these ministers, rabbis, imams and priests are speaking out in favor of GLBT equality, including passing hate crime protections and an employment non-discrimination bill. Two of these ministers — the Rev. Loyce Newton Edwards, a United Church of Christ pastor from Oklahoma, and the Rev. Nancy Wilson, the moderator of the Metropolitan Community Churches — were our guests. Hear their powerful story.

It was an exciting edition of The Agenda with Joe Solmonese last night on our new channel — XM 120. You’ll still hear us live from 6 – 8 p.m. Eastern every Monday. Visit About the Show to find out our entire replay schedule including a new slot at noon on Saturdays on Air America channel 167.

Headlining tonight’s show was legendary filmmaker John Waters. We talked to the openly gay writer and director about his cult classics as well as his first dramatic series role in new project that premiered last month on CourtTV. He plays the “Groom Reaper” in ’Till Death Do Us Part. Listen to parts one and two.

We turned to a writer of a different stripe, Mark Doty, whose book Dog Years is on the New York Times bestseller list. The memoir examines Doty’s own life and the loss of his partner through the lens of his dogs.

We looked to politics with Arkansas state Rep. Kathy Webb. This openly gay legislator has been critical in fighting a proposed ban on gay or lesbian people serving as foster or adoptive parents in the state. Listen to Webb’s segment.

Turning to national politics, Jeanne Cummings, a reporter for The Politico was our guest. Joe and Mary talked to her about the presidential race, who’s winning the fundraising primary and what that could mean for a fair-minded candidate.

Finally it was our pleasure to welcome Sean Kennedy, news features editor of The Advocate. In a wide-ranging interview he talked about everything from great places to live for GLBT people to “American Idol” to the presidential horse race.