As always, we had a little bit of everything on last night’s The Agenda with Joe Solmonese. We started out with entertainment and talked to the Hollywood Reporter’s Gregg Goldstein. He covers film trends and has an interesting piece out on the explosion of GLBT independent films.

Then we moved into economics and demographics with Gary Gates of the Williams Institute at UCLA. We discussed how marriage equality for same-sex couples can be a boon to a state’s bottom line and current statistical trends in the GLBT community. Download parts one and two or listen:
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From there we took on literature with gay author Scott Sherman. His new book, “First You Fall” mixes humor, romance and mystery with a gay eye and he joined us in-studio to discuss it. Download or listen:

Finally, we talked about some news of the day – particularly religion – with one of our favorite regulars, Dan Gilgoff of BeliefNet. His book, “The Jesus Machine” famously profiled Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and now he covers politics for the religious website BeliefNet. We unraveled Sen. Barack Obama’s new faith-based initiative and how McCain and Obama are courting religious voters. Download or listen:

Pride month was coming to an end on Monday’s edition of The Agenda with Joe Solmonese. The show’s namesake was taking a night off so we were joined by guest host Bob Witeck of Witeck-Combs Communications.

We started out the show with some summer cookout advice from the New York Times’ food writer Kim Severson. She also discussed her recent piece comparing marriages between same-sex couples to their straight counterparts. Download parts one and two or listen:
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You may have seen director Morgan Spurlock’s McDonald’s documentary “Super Size Me” and now the filmmaker is taking his “try something for a month” shtick to television. The show “30 Days” on FX puts people in sometimes uncomfortable situations to see if there’s something to be learned from the experience. Dennis Patrick was our guest to discuss opening his home to a straight Mormon mother (and television cameras) who is opposed to same-sex unions and parenting. Download parts one and two or listen:
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We also welcomed one of our favorite Agenda regulars to the show – Ed Salvato, editor of Out Traveler. Their new issue has hit the shelves and looks at great group vacations and some out of the way getaways. He also previewed their annual Reader’s Choice survey where you can vote on your favorite destinations, events and hotels. You can also become a fan of Out Traveler on Facebook (and don’t forget to do the same with our show).
Download or listen to Ed:

Finally we talked politics with Terence Samuel, deputy editor of TheRoot.com. His sight focuses on topics of interest to the African-American community and Samuel had some great insights on the candidacy of Barack Obama. Download or listen: