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The Leonard Lopate Show Archive
January 2004
Tainted Legacy
Friday, January 30, 2004
Amnesty International’s William Schulz talks about the rise of human rights violations in post-9/11 America. Then Siddiq Barmak talks about “Osama,” the first Afghani feature-length film made since the fall of the Taliban. And a discussion with Theo Padnos, who spent time teaching literature to inmates at Vermont's Woodstock Regional Correctional Facility.
Deported
Thursday, January 29, 2004
Maher Arar, the Ottawa engineer who was arrested and deported to his native Syria under suspicion of being a member of Al Qaeda, will be joined by his attorney, Michael Ratner, to discuss his ordeal and its human rights implications. Then military strategist and management expert Kenneth Allard draws parallels between military tactics and the challenges businesses face in the no-holds-barred competition of the global economy; he thinks that military strategies can and should be applied to the business world. New Yorker writer Alec Wilkinson shares 20 years’ worth of his writing. And a discussion with debut novelist Ben Jones.
Poor Kids in a Rich Country
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Child poverty in the United States and Britain has increased dramatically in the past 30 years, even while it’s remained relatively stable in most other countries. Timothy Smeeding is here to talk about the latest child poverty data. Bonnie Burnham from the World Monuments Fund and journalist Anthony Tung explain why Beijing’s historic art and architecture may be in danger. Then blues enthusiast Elijah Wald on the life of Robert Johnson. And a discussion with Mary Ellen Winston on New York cab drivers’ favorite recipes.
The Real Deal
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
Shortly after the AOL-Time Warner merger deal closed, many of the new company’s top executives sold off huge chunks of their stock – not much in the way of a vote of confidence! Vanity Fair’s Nina Munk gives her perspective on the merger’s spectacular failure. Then a discussion with Shashi Tharoor on India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and why his ideals of an secular, democratic state are endangered in today’s culturally and religiously divided India. Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas shares his memoir. And poet, playwright, and editor Joseph Coulson, talks about his debut novel, The Vanishing Moon.
Lost in Space
Monday, January 26, 2004
Greg Klerkx thinks that ever since the last human left the moon in 1972, NASA has been misguided. He’s here to explain why manned space exploration should be NASA’s goal again. Then, Alan Huffman talks about the legacy of freed American slaves in Liberia. Filmmaker Cynthia wade and dog expert Sue Sternberg talk about the lives of shelter dogs. And Maxine Swann shares her new novel, Serious Girls.
The White House According to Paul O’Neill
Friday, January 23, 2004
Ron Suskind’s new book on the George W. Bush White House as described by Paul O’Neil has caused a lot of controversy. Suskind is here to describe what O’Neill says really goes on during the Bush administration’s meetings. Then native Russian/current New Yorker Lara Vapnyar on her new short story collection, There are Jews in My House. And British actress Dame Eileen Atkins explains why she thinks performing in New York "is always a shot in the arm, a shot of B-12." She’s currently starring in the play “The Retreat from Moscow,” now at the Booth Theatre.
Just War
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Notable writer and foreign correspondent William Shawcross explains why he thinks that the United States was right to sweep aside Franco-German prevarication and invade Iraq. Then, Peter Landesman, contributor to New Times Magazine claims that the U.S. is currently one of the top importers of sex slaves in the world and shares the results of his investigations. Carrie Fisher talks about her new novel, The Best Awful. And Joe Simpson talks about his near-death experience in the Peruvian Andes.
Reviving the Classics
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Word sleuth Patricia T. O’Conner tackles listeners’ linguistic mysteries. Then food expert Raymond Sokolov explains why some recipes are such classics that just about everyone should know how to make them. Biographer Graham Russell Gao Hodges and curator Charles Silver on the life and work of actress Anna May Wong (1905-1961). She embodied Asian womanhood for a generation of American and European audiences. And Joyce Carol Oates talks about rape.
Down and Dirty Pictures
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
New Yorker staff writer Ken Auletta takes us inside the business of news. Then, author Peter Biskind discusses Miramax, Sundance, and the rise of independent film. Peter Manseau and Jeff Sharlet with their heretic's Bible, Killing the Buddha. And mystery writer Elmore Leonard shares his new novel, Mr. Paradise.
The Rev. Dr. King
Monday, January 19, 2004
Leonard is a DJ for the show’s first hour; he plays his favorite gospel music to celebrate Martin Luther King day. Then a discussion with writer Jonathan Tilove and photographer Michael Falco. They’ve recently put out a book documenting some of the many streets in America that have been re-named after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King since his assassination. Nancy Nelson, Cary Grant’s former publicist, reminisces about her time with the actor. And pop-up book expert Robert Sabuda talks about his latest masterpiece, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: A Pop-up Adaptation.
Gollum
Friday, January 16, 2004
Airs weekdays at noon
Andy Serkis’s work as Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” began as just a three-week voiceover commission, but it turned into a five-year project. He is here to explain how he brought Gollum to life.
Gone Swimming
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Neurologist Oliver Sacks shares his latest book, Vintage Sacks. Then Lynne Cox, one of the world’s best long-distance swimmers, is here to explain why she’s chosen to swim around the shark-infested Cape of Good Hope and across the Bering Strait from Alaska to the Soviet Union. She’s also swum in Antarctic waters, across the English Channel, and through the sewage-infested Nile. Plus, another neurologist, Alice Flaherty, talks about the physiology of the writing impulse. And a discussion with Dr. Katherine McCaffrey on what’s been going on lately in Vieques.
Over the Edge of the World
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
The gurus of how-to, Alvin and Larry Ubell, answer listeners’ home-repair questions. Then Laurence Bergreen describes Ferdinand Magellan’s 16th c. circumnavigation of the globe. Magellan never made it back; he was killed in the Philippines, and a skeleton crew made it back to Spain three years later. Brian Cudahy talks about the New York City subway system. And photographer Allan Tannenbaum on life in New York in the 1970s.
A Muslim’s Call for Reform
Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Canadian Muslim Irshad Manji criticizes some trends in the modern Islamic faith and offers her own prescription for change. Then Peter Maass tells why he thinks wars against insurgencies are almost impossible to win. Maass accompanied counter-insurgency expert Major John Nagl at work in Iraq. Christopher Corbett on the truth behind the mythic Pony Express. And historian Eric Burns explains why alcohol was "aspirin and penicillin, cortisone, and antibiotic, all rolled in one – the first wonder drug" for early American colonists.
Ne’er the Twain Shall Meet
Monday, January 12, 2004
Pollster Stanley Greenberg breaks down the Democratic/Republican divide into identifiable factions - "F-You Boys," “Super-Educated Women," and "Privileged Men," to name a few – and shares his hopes for an end to the deadlock. Then a discussion with John Rosengren on Minnesotan ice hockey culture. New Yorker staff writer David Denby talks candidly about nearly losing his shirt in the dot-com bubble. And bestselling author Tracy Chevalier on her latest novel, The Lady and the Unicorn.
Big Rig
Friday, January 09, 2004
David Cay Johnston explains why America’s tax code is a mess. He claims that the richest people within the top 1% of the country have rigged the tax laws in their favor. Then a discussion with Arlen Schumer on the Silver Age of comic book art, from 1956 to 1970. And graphic designer Chip Kidd on Japanese comic artist Osamu Tezuka’s eight-volume work, Buddha.
Behind the Color Line
Thursday, January 08, 2004
According to Henry Louis Gates Jr., African-American society has split into two factions: the privileged and the disenfranchised. Gates is here to discuss today’s Black America. Then Leonard Lopate asked listeners to call in and share the book they would save by memorizing. Editor and writer Boris Fishman explains why he calls the former Soviet Bloc countries “the last frontier.” And filmmaker Nick Broomfield discusses his new film "Aileen."
House of Bush
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
It sounds like a dynasty: four generations of men in the Bush family have come to wield extraordinary power in America. Kevin Phillips documents the rise of the House of Bush. Then Mark Kurlansky explains why 1968 was "the year that rocked the world." Art critic Irving Sandler tells stories from more fifty years in the art world. His memoir is A Sweeper-Up After Artists. And a discussion with Japanese writer Natsuo Kirino.
The Buds and Bulbs of Gardening
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
If your jade plant or ficus tree hasn't been doing well lately, today is the day to call in - horticulture how-to expert Gerard Lordahl is here to answer listeners' gardening questions. Then a discussion with crime reporter Miles Corwin, who spent a couple of years shadowing LAPD detectives as they investigated Los Angeles grisliest homicides. James McGrath Morris on the scandal-ridden life of journalist Charles Chapin. (Chapin died in a prison cell in Sing-Sing.) And Sheila Kohler shares her short story collection, Stories From Another World.
News You Can Use
Monday, January 05, 2004
Reports of the war in Iraq come in daily from the newspapers, the radio, and the television, but it can be hard to pull them together to get a more balanced narrative of what’s happening over there. Journalist Todd Purdum has drawn from a wide range of media resources in order to come up with his own narrative. Then Carl Zimmer describes two thousand years’ worth of theories about the location of the human soul. Author Po Bronson gives his advice on how to answer that old question: “What should I do with my life?” And Edgardo Vega Yunque shares his new epic novel. It’s set in 1980s New York City.
Theory of Everything
Friday, January 02, 2004
Einstein was desperate to go beyond the Theory of Relativity and get to a Theory of Everything that would unite all the forces of the universe in a single equation. Are we any closer today to finding that equation? For the final installment of our “Future Imperfect” series, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku brings us breaking news from the frontlines of space research. Then NPR’s Noah Adams talks about the lives of the Wright Brothers. And Heidi Julavits on her new novel, The Effect of Living Backwards.
Marketing Mindreaders
Thursday, January 01, 2004
The Lopate Show continues its week-long “Future Imperfect” series with a look into the neuromarketing phenomenon, still in its infancy. Clive Thompson, Elizabeth Phelps, and Clinton Kilts explain why scientists have begun to use medical brain-scanning techniques to refine the ways in which products are sold to consumers. Then evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins reflects on hope, lies, science, and love. Patrick McDonald on his syndicated comic strip, "Mutts." And Dave Barry talks about his latest book, Boogers Are My Beat.
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