WAMC Presents a New Radio Series About the Hudson River with Support from the New York Council for Humanities

ALBANY, NY (10/13/2009)(readMedia)-- WAMC/Northeast Public Radio's flagship morning program, The Roundtable, will broadcast a special series and take WAMC's listeners on a cultural and historical audio road trip along the Hudson River to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's voyage. The Roundtable will interview historians, authors, artists, and organizational leaders about the Hudson's history and culture. This series will broadcast live on three days from three different locations from 9am to noon.

President of WAMC Alan Chartock says, "WAMC is incredibly grateful to the New York Council for the Humanities for this opportunity to expand our reach and to be able to celebrate the Hudson River. WAMC has facilities up and down the river and our ability with the help of this grant to get experts to tell us about the history, politics, sociology, and art of the river is a dream come true."

The audio voyage will start on Thursday, October 15th in New York City at the New-York Historical Society in Manhattan. This broadcast will focus on the role of the Hudson River in New York City history.

On Monday, October 19th the Roundtable will broadcast from the Olana Estate in Hudson, NY and will focus on the many historical and regional attractions in the Hudson Valley.

The series will conclude on Tuesday, October 20th with a special open to the public live broadcast at the Albany Institute of History and Art in Albany, NY. This broadcast will explore the history of the City of Albany, highlighting the regions Dutch heritage and concluding with a panel discussion that will take a broad look at the Hudson River's history and Albany Institute of History and Art exhibition, Hudson River Panorama: 400 Years of History, Art, and Culture. This exhibit features hundreds of artworks and artifacts related to the agricultural, industrial, and cultural history of the river. Listeners will be able to attend this live broadcast and ask questions to the panel. Panelists will include: Historic Hudson River painter Len Tantillo; author and Hudson River Panorama consultant Tom Lewis; curator Doug McCombs; archeologist and Hudson River Panorama consultant Christopher Lindner; Curator, The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College and consultant on Hudson Panorama. Seating is limited. To reserve a seat, please call 1-800-323-9262 or by emailing hudsonriver@wamc.org.

Joe Donahue, host of the Roundtable says, I am thrilled that with the assistance of the New York Council for the Humanities, we are once again able to dig deep and provide an audio portrait of such a multi-faceted subject. We have an incredible line-up of intelligent, wise, witty people to tell us the amazing history of the Hudson and the people that live along it. We very much look forward to traveling the river and speaking with each of them.

To hear this special broadcast, tune in to WAMC or listen online at wamc.org. Broadcast and guests schedule about the New Yorks Hudson River series can be found at: http://www.wamc.org/roundtablehudsonriver.html.

The Roundtable, featuring award-winning journalist Joe Donahue, blends news, arts, culture, and live music. Whether reporting the da'ys news, interviewing local and national authors, or chatting with fascinating people from around the corner and around the world, The Roundtable has something for everyone as it covers issues ranging from politics, arts, culture, history, the environment and everything in between.

This programming made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities.

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a non-commercial, listener supported public radio network broadcasting 24 hours a day to portions of seven New England and Middle Atlantic States. All broadcasts can also be heard on-line at http://www.wamc.org/.

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