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 Those worlds collided after a Presidential appointment to the NEA was withdrawn because he once produced Poona The Fuckdog (a funny, smutty little play local theatre-goers may remember being produced by Cherry Red Productions).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…

Already an author of five New York Times bestsellers and likely well on his way to a sixth, Brad Meltzer has honed his eye for the political thriller. He’s the kind of geek you want to be — part political junkie, part comic book guru (he also pens stories for The Justice League) — and his popular novels speak to this engaging combination. Meltzer appears tonight to talk about his new book, The Book of…

Perhaps its the dearth of submissions, or maybe we’ve been watching too much Justice League Unlimited, but recently Ask DCist has stopped waiting for questions and taken to scouring the city for citizens in need. Sadly, as internet geeks our powers are pretty much limited to answering questions. Also, in lieu of a badass orbital command center with sophisticated remote sensors, we’re pretty much stuck with our couches and RSS readers. But that won’t stop…