WAMU 88.5FM American University Radio

Virginia Governor's Race - The Transportation Debate

After a year of campaigning, the Virginia governor's race is coming down to the wire - there's less than a month to go before Election Day on November 8th. Today we begin a three-part series focusing on the issues Virginians say are most important in deciding who’ll get their votes: transportation, education, and taxes. We start with a perennial Northern Virginia favorite - transportation.

A report by the Texas Transportation Institute shows the average rush hour commuter in the DC region spends 69 hours stuck in traffic each year...and Northern Virginia ranks as one of the most congested areas in the country. But what, exactly, are the candidates proposing to do about it? WAMU's Sidsel Overgaard reports.

Commentary by Fred Fiske

With all of the disaster coverage dominating the headlines lately, WAMU Senior Commentator Fred Fiske says the one that upsets him the most is the one that hasn't happened yet.

Gomez Adams Comes Home

John Astin. You probably know him as Gomez Adams, the eccentric, cigar smoking romantic on the 1960's TV show, the Adams Family. And although you may not have seen much of him lately, Astin never stopped working in theatre and film. He was born in Baltimore and raised in the District. Now after more than 50 years, he has returned to the region. Astin moved back to Baltimore where he's working to build a theatre program at Johns Hopkins. And he's currently performing in the slapstick comedy Leading Ladies at Fords Theater here in DC. John Astin sat down to speak with WAMU's Jack Zahora after a performance.

J.P. McDermott and Western Bop

"Last Fool Here" is the name of the new CD by local favorites J.P. McDermott and Western Bop. And while the title refers to being in a bar at last call, it also brings to mind to the lonely feeling McDermott must have sometimes as a die-hard proponent of authentic rockabilly music in the current landscape of iPods and American Idol.

J.P. McDermott and Western Bop join us in the studio today - J.P. on acoustic guitar and vocals, Bob Newscaster on electric guitar, and Louie Newmyer on the upright bass.

Prepare for the Pub Quiz

After a long day on Capitol Hill struggling to come up with answers for tough questions, there's nothing like winding down by...struggling to come up with answers for tough questions. Our nightlife expert Fritz Hahn is back today, with a look at what he calls a quintessential DC activity: the pub quiz.

The Great Bethesda Divide

For a long time, Writer Melissa Jordan thought she lived in Bethesda. After all, that's what was written on her mail. But after many years of operating under this belief, she discovered she was living a lie. She explains in this tale of two Bethesdas.