It was our last show of 2007 last night on The Agenda with Joe Solmonese and we put together a special year-end wrap-up.

We started out the night with culture vulture Cintra Wilson. She writes for Salon.com and covers shopping for the New York Times. Wilson recapped some of the pop culture highs and lows of the year, what’s in store for awards season and her thoughts on the writer’s strike.

Then we looked at a fantastic independent film opening widely this month with filmmaker Maurice Jamal. His movie Dirty Laundry is a prodigal son tale that deals with sexuality in a southern black family. Jamal walked us through making the film and shared stories about working with notables Loretta Divine and Jennifer Lewis. Listen in.

We had a special year-end treat in the form of an interview with Rep. Barney Frank. He’s one of only two openly gay members of Congress and was in the headlines this year for his advocacy of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Matthew Shepard hate crimes bill. He sat down with Joe last week for a long chat about the state of GLBT politics today and our future. Listen in.

Finally we had a GLBT news roundtable with three of the best in the business. Kevin Naff is the editor of The Washington Blade; Susan Ryan-Vollmar edits Bay Windows in Boston; and Mike Rogers runs PageOneQ.com. They all joined us for a freewheeling look at 2007. Listen in parts one and two.

We’re taking a break for the holidays but we’ll be back with a fresh live show in the New Year. Listen in on January 7th as we take on the political super bowl – just days after the Iowa caucuses and on the eve of the New Hampshire primary. This is definitely a show you won’t want to miss.

We were in full holiday mode last night on The Agenda with Joe Solmonese. Co-host Mary Breslauer is away on vacation so Producer Michael Cole was holding down the fort in D.C. with Joe.

To start out the show, Joe talked to Ellen Kahn, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Family Project director. She was live from New Orleans as she prepared to announce her newest project “All Children, All Families” that seeks to create opportunities for prospective GLBT adoptive parents.

Then it was a mélange of holiday topics – from shopping to eating to behaving. First, Eric Bloem gave us some tips on how to shop with equality in mind. He’s the HRC Foundation Workplace Project’s deputy director and shared the highlights of this year’s Buyer’s Guide. Then, Alison Ashton of Cooking Light magazine helped us navigate all the buffets and cookie swaps so as not to gain those dreaded holiday pounds. Finally, Bob Morris was by to talk holiday etiquette. Bob is famous for penning the “Age of Dissonance” column in the Sunday New York Times. Listen in.

We switched gears and welcomed Ellen Malcolm of EMILY’s List in-studio. She founded the group in 1985 that has become the nation’s largest resource for women running for office. She and Joe talked shop and then welcomed Amy Walter, editor-in-chief of National Journal’s The Hotline for a political roundtable. Listen to Joe and Ellen.
Listen to the roundtable.

To the surprise of most people, it really is December already and we were happy to bring you a great show last night from our warm studio on a blustery day here in D.C.

Leading off, we looked at some disturbing news about HIV coming just after World AIDS Day. At a conference in Atlanta, advocacy groups and federal health officials said the HIV infection rate may be much higher than previously thought. David Munar of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago was our guest from Atlanta to give us the latest.

We delved into politics with returning Agenda guest Clarence Page. He’s a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Tribune and a frequent guest on the TV political talk circuit. He was in-studio to sort through the new presidential polling numbers released this weekend. Listen in parts one and two.

After that, I shared an interview with recording artist Ari Gold. He’s one of the few openly gay pop stars out there and one of the very few to be open about his sexual orientation since the start of his career. Listen in.

Then we turned to film with two guests. First, Freida Lee Mock is the filmmaker behind a new PBS documentary, Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner. Mock is an Academy Award winner and tells the story of how Kushner became an outspoken activist, a compassionate spokesperson for outsiders, and one of today’s most entertaining and important playwrights.

Another new film has already received a lot of buzz and that’s The Life of Reilly profiling TV personality and comedian Charles Nelson Reilly. The director, Barry Poltermann, was our guest in-studio to talk about taking the famed performer’s last show and adapting it for the screen. Listen in.

Finally, a bit more politics with Bob Creamer, author of the new book, Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win. The husband of Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky, he’s spent years in politics and translates that wisdom (along with his mother’s) into a game plan for victory. Listen in.