by Charlie Nordstrom

On our special New Year’s edition of The Agenda, we reflected on the incredible year that 2008 was and looked ahead to the future for what lies ahead of us. Joe was out of town for this show but we were lucky to be joined again by very special guest co-host Chuck Wolfe, President of the Victory Fund.

Mary and Chuck started off the show with a highly appetizing conversation with New York Times food writer Kim Severson. The topics ranged from the come-back of calorie counting to what impact the Obama administration might have on America’s collective gastronomic conscious. Listen to parts one and two.

One area of politics that continues to dominate our conversations is the role of religion, particularly in the aftermath of Prop 8’s passage in California and President-elect Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. To navigate these highly controversial issues we turned to Dan Gilgoff, contributing editor to US News & World Report and author of “The Jesus Machine.” Listen to parts one and two.

While New Year’s is a time for celebration and reflection, it is also a chance for us to take a look at some of our habits and make a new effort to do better. Certainly, one New Year’s resolution that always seems to top the list is to quit smoking so we thought we’d talk to someone who knows something about kicking the habit - Dr. Douglas Vanderburg a board-certified addiction pyschiatrist and senior medical director working with Chantix, a prescription anti smoking medication.

Finally, one of the most visible people in this election cycle and in the aftermath of our loss in California has been writer, pundit and columnist Dan Savage. You won’t want to miss the hilarious and insightful chat we had with him. Listen here.

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.

by Mary Breslauer

Joe and I had a really fascinating night, one of those evenings on The Agenda when the mix and the topics was topical and provocative. Much of our focus was on the intersection of religion and politics, particularly in the aftermath of Prop 8. We began by talking to Newsweek’s religion editor, Lisa Miller, who wrote the cover story — The Religious Case for Gay Marriage. Listen to or download parts one and two.

The compliment to that conversation was another with Steve Waldman, the editor in chief, founder and president of BeliefNet.org. And we wrestled with the role of the LDS Church and the emergence of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in this ongoing debate. Listen or download here.

One of our absolute favorites is blogger Mike Rogers. The publisher of PageOneQ, he was fresh off managing and directing the first bloggers conference in Washington. If you live the online life, you’ll enjoy this one. Listen to or download parts one or two.

Finally, what better way to end the evening than with a movie icon. That would be James Lipton, the 81-year-old host of the emmy-award winning Bravo series, Inside the Actor’s Studio. Barbara Streisand even got Lipton a little starstruck. Take a listen here.