If you are looking for some good summer reading, we had you covered last night on The Agenda with Joe Solmonese. It was a veritable book club with authors of every stripe and with regular co-host Mary Breslauer on vacation, Joe was joined by Courtney Snowden – a director at The Raben Group and president of DC Black Pride.

Kicking off the show was Kristina Wilfore, executive director of Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. With marriage bans on the ballot in Arizona, California and Florida – along with measures across the country ranging from affirmative action to renewable energy – there was a lot to discuss. Download parts one and two or listen:
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Then we welcomed Wayne Besen, executive director of Truth Wins Out – a non-profit think tank and educational organization that counters right-wing disinformation, debunks the ex-gay myth and provides accurate information about the lives of GLBT people. He discussed his recent trip to Asheville, NC countering the ex-gay group Exodus International and his campaign to stop James Dobson’s induction into the Radio Hall of Fame. Download or listen:

Switching topics, we were joined by author Jennifer Storm. Her memoir, “Blackout Girl” tells her story starting with her first beer at the age of 12 and how bad decisions and addiction almost cost her life. Download or listen:

Another fascinating new book is from author, English professor and former stripper Craig Seymour. While a student at the University of Maryland, he began studying Washington DC’s notorious male strip clubs and eventually became a performer himself. He lays it all out in his book, “All I Could Bare.” Download or listen:

Wrapping up our summer reading special was David Valdes Greenwood. Dubbed by NPR as today’s “gay Erma Bombeck” he tells a classic love story with a few twists in his book, “Homo Domesticus: Notes from a Same-Sex Marriage.” Download or listen:

Of course, we had to hit the political news of the day and joining us live from our New York studios was Alex Koppelman. He edits the popular Salon.com news blog “War Room” and we discussed Sen. Obama’s world tour, the “veepstakes,” the national implications of state marriage bans and more. Download or listen:

Joe and Mary might have been on vacation but that didn’t keep them from offering a fresh new edition of The Agenda with Joe Solmonese last night. They were broadcasting live from Martha’s Vineyard and gave us a GLBT taste of the island.

We started out with Julia Wells, editor of the Vineyard Gazette. This long-time resident gave a primer on the island as both a vacation destination and year-round home to many.

Then we talked to a local HIV/AIDS educator on the island, Tony Lombardi. He’s the program director at the Safe Haven Project – a non-profit service learning organization confronting the global need for knowledge, truth and compassion for people living with, or affected by, HIV and AIDS. Download parts one and two or listen:
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One prominent local gay author is Dan Waters who also runs Indian Hill Press with his partner. He’s a poet, printer and printmaker and shared his experience living a life immersed in the words and images of Martha’s Vineyard.

A number of high-profile personalities make the Vineyard a second home and one of them stopped by last night. Attorney Alan Dershowitz has defended everyone from Leona Helmsley to Claus Von Bulow to O.J. Simpson and he was our guest to talk about his work, some current political issues and what draws him to the island. Download or listen in:

Finally, one of the Vineyard’s most notable residents is Carly Simon and her brother Peter Simon was our guest to close out the show. He’s a famed photographer and author with a new book out called Reggae Scrapbook. Download or listen in:

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: