by Charlie Nordstrom

This has been an interesting week for us here at The Agenda. Even though we are days from the beginning of the holiday season, we have had no chances to relax around a crackling yule log as of yet. The LGBT community has been front and center in the news for a number of reasons this week and we were pleased to hold off the festivities another evening to bring you the latest developments.

Joe Solmonese was on the road the past few days so our host Mary Breslauer was joined last night by very special guest co-host Chuck Wolfe, President of the Victory Fund. However, we started off the show by calling Joe to discuss the newest developments in the fight over Prop 8 and Barack Obama’s highly controversial pick of Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his historic inauguration.

We then continued our fascinating conversation about Prop 8 and Rick Warren with Matt Bai, a political journalist for the New York Times Magazine. Listen to or download parts one and two.

Taking a quick break from life in the news cycle, we checked back into the holiday mindset and since we are entering the final weekend of shopping, we thought it was appropriate to check in with HRC Workplace Project Director Daryl Herschaft to discuss some of the LGBT friendly places to buy your gifts. We also chatted about the exciting news that Representative Barney Frank just named HRC business council member Diego Sanchez as his Legislative Assistant for LGBT, Healthcare, Labor, Veterans and Census issues. Sanchez will become the first openly transgender person to serve on Capitol Hill.

Well you must know by now that we here at The Agenda are political junkies and we couldn’t resist leaping back into the firestorm of debate that has been created around Rick Warren. This time we talked with one of our favorite guests, Terrance Samuel, who is the deputy editor of the Root.com. We also got Samuel’s take on Barack Obama’s historic win as well as the continuing tension between LGBT and African American communities over issues like same-sex marriage. Listen in here.

Finally, what’s more important in the holiday season than finding time to laugh with friends and family? Well we definitely got our share of laughs last night during our interview with outstanding comedian, musician and actor, Lea Delaria… and we could only broadcast this conversation on satellite radio. We talked to Lea about her career, her new projects and what Laura Bush and a Trisket have in common. Listen in here.