In the first half of this installment of ArtsCast, we focus on the cultural wars as experienced through the eyes of Gary Cole, who was on the fast track to become the number three man at the National Endowment for the Arts until his nomination was torpedoed.

According to the former Republican activist, GOP powerbrokers balked after discovering his involvement with theatrical productions that unsettled cultural conservatives. Cole has chronicled his experiences and ruminates on the combustible intersection of politics and culture in his book “Artless: The Odyssey of a Republican Cultural Creative.”

And in the second half of the podcast, we shift from cultural wars to cultural kitsch. The Olympian soap opera that was the l;affaire Kerrigan-Harding gets a musical soundtrack, and Only A Game’s Bill Littlefield was there for the dress rehearsal.

And in the event you’ve been at the beach or forking down hot-dogs during your holiday barbeque, here is a selection of recent programs we suggest you listen to posthaste:

• Back to Boston: Julie Burns, Boston’s Tourism Czar, The Writer’s Room of Boston
• A Tale of Two Cities and Tingle Too: Philadelphia’s Tourism Czar, Comedians Jimmy Tingle and Dean Obeidallah are “Laughing Liberally”
• I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia: John M. Tobin, Boston City Councilor on Hub Arts and Culture, English writer Alan Bennett

Stay tuned…