The Leonard Lopate Show will be marking the tenth anniversary of 9/11 by speaking to people about what happened that day as well as what has happened since—at Ground Zero, in the city, and in the country as a whole.
Throughout the week we’ll be airing short comments from people like Katie Couric, Henry Kissinger, and Gabriel Byrne, Bill Moyers, and others about life since 9/11.
August 31
Mark Hilan, former host of Morning Edition at WNYC who kept the station on the air on 9/11; Larry Ingrassia, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, who was part of the team that set up a newsroom within a few hours after the attacks and helped put together the Pulitzer Prize-winning edition of that paper, discuss having to make sense of events on 9/11, both personally, and professionally, on the fly.
September 1
Architect Daniel Libeskind discusses the master plan for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center Site and his role in it. The basic plan is for 16 acres, a 9/11 memorial, four office buildings comprising 10 million square feet, a performing arts center, a transportation hub, retail and public space. He’ll also discuss the international architecture practice he’s created since moving to New York after winning the master plan competition a decade ago. Libeskind’s plan reconnects the World Trade Center site to the urban fabric and vibrant street life of Lower Manhattan, and includes a Wedge of Light—the public plaza will be defined by the angle of the sun on 9/11 at 8:46 am, when the first tower was hit, and again at 10:28 am, when the second tower fell.
September 6
Photographer Joel Meyerowitz discusses the 10th anniversary edition/re-release of Aftermath, his book of photographs he took that record the recovery efforts at Ground Zero. He was the only professional photographer granted entry to the site. A number of his photographs will be displayed in the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
Lauren Manning, former managing director and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald, located in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center, discusses how she overcame the severe injuries she received on 9/11, and about writing her memoir, Unmeasured Strength.
Susan Silberberg, Lecturer in Urban Design and Planning at MIT and planning consultant, and Robert Rogers, Principal at Rogers Marvel Architects, PLLC, discuss the physical changes to our public realm post 9/11. Susan Silberg has been studying how "security creep" is impacting city dwellers and the varied motivations for the securitization of urban space. Robert Rogers' firm, Rogers Marvel, has helped design sections of Battery Park City to insure security for the buildings in and around that neighborhood, developed new architecturally pleasing street elements for Wall Street insure security, and have developed a master plan for the area around the Pentagon.
September 7
Novelists Joseph O’Neill, Julia Glass, and Colum McCann discuss dealing with 9/11 in their writing, and in fiction in general.
September 8
Nadine Strossen, former head of the ACLU, joins us to talk about how civil liberties have changed since 9/11, from domestic surveillance, body scanners, and indefinite detention to an expansive national security establishment that remains largely hidden from view.
September 9
Restaurateurs Drew Nieporent, Michael Lomonaco (formerly of Windows on the World), and David Bouley discuss the restaurant scene in downtown Manhattan after 9/11.
September 12
Musicians Laurie Anderson, Dar Williams, and Joan Osborne talk about dealing with the issue of whether to stay in New York City after 9/11 or to leave, and what effect that day and its aftermath have had on their creative lives. Joan had been ready to leave, but felt she should stay here after 9/11; Dar left the city and now lives up along the Hudson. We’ll be taking calls from listeners on whether 9/11 made them consider leaving—or moving to—New York.