The Agenda with Joe Solmonese was back in DC this week after a great show in New York last Monday. Since there was so much to cover in the Big Apple and we couldn’t do it all, we had a decidedly New York flair to our show last night as well.

Kicking off, we looked at a recent controversy that started when the president of Poland used a gay New York couple’s wedding video in a speech against marriage equality. Brendan Fay suddenly found himself in the center of a trans-Atlantic firestorm and he was our guest to talk about it.

Then we looked at the continuing question of gender in this political season with Faye Wattleton, the co-founder and president for the Center for the Advancement of Women. Previously she was the head of Planned Parenthood and she had some interesting insights into the presidential race. Listen to parts one and two.

When we were in New York we were disappointed that former Mayor Ed Koch was to cancel his appearance on The Agenda to attend the swearing in of New York’s New Governor that day. But thankfully the Mayor rescheduled and we had him live on the show last night. We talked about everything from his early support of GLBT equality as a Congressman in the 1970s to his time as Mayor to the current Presidential race. Listen to parts one and two.

Switching gears, we welcomed back Agenda regular and travel guru Ed Salvato. He’s the editor of Out Traveler and their newest issue just out has some great ideas about summer getaways and road trips. Listen in.

Finally, we wrapped up with some religion. Rev. Cyndi Love is the executive director of the Metropolitan Community Churches and has a new book out, Would Jesus Discriminate? We talked about her path from being a business executive to a spiritual leader and their campaign to encourage dialogue on GLBT issues in communities of faith. Listen in.

It’s good to get out of DC every once in a while and last night The Agenda with Joe Solmonese was live from New York with all live, in-studio guests. And specifically, we turned our sights on the big apple - its entertainment, its publishing, its gossip, its activism and of course its news.

We started out the show with some health news with Sean Cahill of the Gay Men’s Health Crisis. New CDC numbers just out show an alarming increase in HIV among African-American men who have sex with men.

New York is certainly a place for gay politics and one of the best writers on the beat in Kerry Eleveld, news editor for The Advocate. She gave us the lay of the land in the presidential race through the eyes of GLBT voters. Listen in.

Then we got to one of our favorite topics: television. Bravo TV’s Senior Vice President of Programming and Production Andy Cohen was with us. Bravo just received the HRC corporate visibility award at this past weekend’s Los Angeles dinner and he shared insights on Bravo favorites “Project Runway,” “Work Out,” “Top Chef” and more. Listen in.

What a day it was to be in New York with the sudden downfall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the swearing-in of new Governor David Paterson. We welcomed New York magazine Contributing Editor Mark Jacobson who’s been covering the unfolding scandal.

Finally, we wrapped-up with an old friend of The Agenda: Randy Cohen. You know him better as the New York Times Ethicist who writes a weekly column helping people sort out moral and ethical dilemmas. He answered some of those pesky questions and shared some of his favorite queries from readers. Randy also brought along his daughter Sophie Pollitt-Cohen, an author in her own right. She along with three friends published The Notebook Girls - a collection of handwritten notes passed between the four during their time as students at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Listen in.

We had a great line-up of politics and entertainment for you last night on The Agenda with Joe Solmonese. This past weekend, HRC welcomed hundreds of board members and volunteers for the annual Spring Equality Convention. Speaking at Friday’s lunch were Sen. Ted Kennedy and House Majority Whip James Clyburn and we brought you clips of their remarks last night.

We looked at the media and their coverage of the candidates with Jane Hall, professor of communication at American University. The media has come under the spotlight – and even mocked on Saturday Night Live – for their alleged love affair with Sen. Barack Obama. Professor Hall helped us sort it all out. Listen in parts one and two.

Then we switched gears and went to the world of entertainment. First, Advocate.com television recapper Dave White was our guest. After last week’s Project Runway finale and American Idol top twelve show, he sat down with Producer Michael Cole to dish the TV dirt. Listen in.

We stuck with the TV theme and covered a scandal brewing around the soap opera As the World Turns. Roger Newcomb was our guest to talk about the campaign he launched to pressure the network to bring back on-screen kissing between the two gay men on the show.

It was back to politics with a special treat – that’s Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He and Joe talked about everything from the Florida and Michigan primaries to how GLBT people will be represented at the convention. Listen in.

Finally, we looked through a unique lens for us – a conservative one. Amy Holmes is a well-known pundit and former speech writer for Sen. Bill Frist. Though she’s not personally a social conservative, she had some fascinating insights about how Republicans may use GLBT issues as a wedge in the general election. She also brought in the up-to-the-minute news on Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Listen in.