It was sweltering in D.C. last night but we were tucked into our nice air-conditioned studio to bring you a great new edition of The Agenda with Joe Solmonese.

We started out the show as we always do with the news of the day. Massachusetts state Sen. Ed Augustus was our guest to talk about the recent defeat of an attempt to put marriage equality — and the rights of same-sex couples — up to a popular vote. The Legislature defeated the discriminatory constitutional amendment last Thursday. Listen to the interview.

Then we took a turn to the airwaves, looking at GLBT-friendly and not-so-friendly advertising. Mike Wilke, the founding executive director of the Commercial Closet Association, joined us from our New York studios to talk about their third annual Images in Advertising Awards. Listen in parts one and two.

Then on to the segment that co-host Mary Breslauer and I were most looking forward to — we talked with Joe’s assistant Maya Rao on her last day at the Human Rights Campaign before hitting the campaign trail. Rao had some great stories about traveling the country with Joe.

We took a turn back to politics with a report I put together on HRC’s new Legacy of Service tour. Five gay veterans kicked off the nationwide speaking tour last week in Iowa and we heard their voices on why the military’s discriminatory ban on gay and lesbian service members is hurting our national security. Listen in.

It is summer after all, so we went lighter with two views from the entertainment industry. First Dori Berinstein, who directs the new documentary ShowBusiness, joined us. The film is her look at a year in the life of Broadway.

Finally, we were absolutely thrilled to welcome a Hollywood legend to The Agenda — actor Farley Granger. Granger made his name in the Hitchcock thrillers Rope and Strangers on a Train and his new memoir, Include Me Out, talks about his life a bisexual man in Tinsel Town.

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