MONDAY Gary D. Cole built a career thriving at the apex of contradiction—CIA lawyer turned theatre artist, staunch conservative at Cal-Berkeley, a Bush campaign supporter who never let his politics get in the way of producing vital art. Those worlds collided after a Presidential appointment to the NEA was withdrawn because he once produced Poona The Fuckdog (a funny, smutty little play local theatre-goers may remember being produced by Cherry Red Productions). Cole retraces his…

FRIDAY: >> Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine and former food critic at The New York Times, comes to Politics and Prose to discuss “Garlic & Sapphires,” a memoir of her times as a food critic. 7 p.m. Check out an interesting interview with her here, from back in 1996. >> Today marks the start of the Bethesda Literary Festival, which continues all weekend. The festival features contests, readings and participants such as the Post’s…