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February 2004
Stagefront and Waterfront
Friday, February 27, 2004
Actor Richard Thomas talks about his role in Terrence McNally’s double bill of new plays, The Stendhal Syndrome. Then hear more about what’s currently onstage in New York when Sarah Jones joins us for a discussion. She’s starring in her own one-woman show, bridge & tunnel, now at the 45 Bleecker Street Theater. And essayist and native New Yorker Phillip Lopate on Manhattan’s waterfront. He writes about everything from the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge to gentrification to shoreline architecture in his latest book, Waterfront.
A Philosophy of Giving
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Julie Salamon finds modern answers to old questions. Using the philosophy of the 12th century physician and philosopher Maimonides (also known as Rambam), she explains why it’s important to give and be generous. And Michael Dobbs talks about a German sabotage mission that sent eight agents to Long Island and Florida in the summer of 1942.
Talk about the Passion
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Actress Maia Morgenstern talks about her role as Mary in Mel Gibson’s controversial new movie, "The Passion of the Christ." Then a discussion with Gabriel Schoenfeld on the return of anti-Semitism to global politics. And James Shreeve looks into the Human Genome Project. Was the race to unlock the so-called "book of life" as much about scientific ego as it was about advancing human interests?
Subwayland
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Hear about the world of the New York City subway in a discussion with Randy Kennedy, former New York Times "Tunnel Vision" columnist. He calls it an "enforced neighborhood" made up of 468 stations, 656 miles of passenger tracks and 6,400 cars. And legendary actress Meryl Streep talks about her recent work, including "Angels in America," for which she’s won a Screen Actor’s Guild award.
In Retrospect
Monday, February 23, 2004
Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense, has admitted that American involvement in the Vietnam War was misguided. Documentary maker Errol Morris is here to discuss McNamara’s disclosures and the psychology and reasoning of government decision-makers’ choices to send soldiers to war. Morris’ new documentary film is "The Fog of War." Renowned contemporary artist Chuck Close talks about the retrospective of his prints now on display at the Met. The exhibit includes intaglios, woodcuts, lithographs, silk-screen prints, linoleum cuts, and selected print matrixes Close has made since 1972.
Embedded
Friday, February 20, 2004
Tim Robbins talks about writing and directing his play "Embedded," opening February 24 at the Public Theater. The San Francisco Chronicle called it "a savagely witty commentary on the media frenzy accompanying the war in Iraq." And James Lipton, host of "Inside the Actors Studio," on writing the book and lyrics for the musical "Sherry!," whose score was lost for over 30 years.
Brothers Behind Bars
Thursday, February 19, 2004
New Yorker staff writer David Grann talks about the Aryan brotherhood’s rise to power. Federal authorities recently charged forty alleged gang members and associates with conspiring to commit murder, drug trafficking, extortion, and gambling rackets. Then Israeli Knesset member Yuli Tamir on the Geneva Initiative, a proposal that aims to bring peace and security to Israelis and Palestinians. Marsha Mason talks about her role in the new Charles Mee play, ”Wintertime.” And a discussion with director Wolfgang Becker and actor Daniel Bruhl on their recent film, "Good Bye, Lenin!"
The Lost Boys of Sudan
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Word maven Patricia T. O’Conner takes your calls. Then, a conversation with journalist Matthew McAllester on his own emerging from the prison of Saddam's Iraq, having been kidnapped there. Filmmakers Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk are joined by the subjects of their documentary The Lost Boys of Sudan. Peter Nyarol Cut and Santino Majok Chuor, two Sudanese refugees who were dislocated and orphaned by civil war there back in the late 80s, share their experiences and discuss the difficulties of starting a new life in America. And Graeme Lloyd, artistic director of the Sydney Dance Company, on their run at the Joyce.
Queer Eye for the Radio Guy
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Carson and Ted, part of the Fab 5 on Bravo’s Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, share their new Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better. They’ll talk about the ways images of homosexuality on television has changed over the years, and maybe even offer some tips to Leonard! In the early 1990s, Mende Nazer was kidnapped from her tribal village in Sudan and held as a domestic slave for eight years in Sudan and London. She shares her story and explains how she managed to escape. President Clinton’s funny man Mark Katz, shares his experiences as a joke writer for the White House. Jean Fagan Yellin discusses the life and work of Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Harriet Jacobs: A Life.
Mad Cow and Avian Flu
Monday, February 16, 2004
Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Laurie Garrett is here to give a roundup for world health news, from AIDS and mad cow disease to avian flu and SARS. Then a discussion with The Atlantic Monthly’s James Fallows on why post-war planning in Iraq isn’t going very smoothly. Anthropologist Alma Gottlieb describes the childrearing practices of the Beng people of West Africa. And director Fernando Meirelles on his Oscar-nominated film, “City of God”.
The Condor Years
Friday, February 13, 2004
Between 15,000 and 30,000 people were tortured and murdered under Operation Condor, a Chilean-led conspiracy among six South American dictatorships to eliminate leftist rebels and sympathizers. John Dinges uncovers the facts he learned about Condor while poring through secret files on Chile released after a Spanish judge pressed charges against Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Then art historian and curator Angus Trumble looks at the history of the smile from ancient Greek sculpture to the Mona Lisa and Angelina Jolie. And Secret Admirers wraps up with open phones; Leonard asks listeners to call in and tell whom they most admire.
A Look Across the Big Pond
Thursday, February 12, 2004
Philip Stephens analyzes the life and work of British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Why has Blair stood so staunchly with President Bush? Has Blair’s Third Way between anti-government conservatism and tax-and-spend socialism been a success? Then Christina Thomas and Freddie Hancock on the annual BAFTA awards (the British equivalent of the Oscars). Journalist Jacob Levenson on the disturbing rise of AIDS in Black America. And Secret Admirers continues as writer Rick Moody meets up with musician John Lurie of The Lounge Lizards.
Royal Rivals
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
The gurus of how-to, Alvin and Larry Ubell, answer listeners' home-repair questions. Then a discussion with historian Jane Dunn on the rivalry between two of the most powerful women in Western history - Elizabeth I of England and Mary Queen of Scots. Novelist Anchee Min, a survivor of China's Cultural Revolution, on her latest novel, a fictionalization of the life of Tsu Hsi, the Last Empress of China. And Secret Admirers continues as NPR senior correspondent Jacki Lyden talks with the object of her admiration, author and native Iranian Azar Nafisi.
My Architect
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Journalist Dilip Hiro looks into the end of the Iraq War and its fall-out. HW Brands examines the history of the lone star state and Texas’ struggle for statehood. Then, writer, actor and producer Marlo Thomas shares some words of wisdom. And the continuation of Secret Admirers, with an unlikely pair-- Marcus Samuelsson, the youngest chef ever to receive a three-star restaurant review from The New York Times meets with one of his idols, architect Richard Meier.
Misleader
Monday, February 09, 2004
As the 2004 presidential election comes closer, critiques of the candidates are heating up. Today Eric Alterman and Mark Green tell why they think George W. Bush is more of a misleader than he is a leader. Then two of Mark Rothko’s children, Dr. Christopher Rothko and Kate Rothko Prizel, talk about their father’s progress as a painter in 1949, when he was poised to become a major figure among Abstract Expressionists. Physicist Brian Greene uses the dual concepts of space and time to guide us towards a deeper understanding of the cosmos. And we kick off Secret Admirers, our Valentine’s Day series, with a conversation between writers Tracy Chevalier and Margaret Atwood.
Food Frontiers
Friday, February 06, 2004
Spain has been given credit for discovering the New World; now it’s getting credit for the discovery of a new world of cuisine. Regular guest and Gourmet magazine editor Ruth Reichl is here with food journalist Arthur Lubow to talk about Spain’s food laboratories. Then a discussion with David Kirp on the pros and cons of America’s market-driven educational system.
Coach Class
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Dean Smith coached the University of North Carolina basketball team for almost forty years, turning out stars like Michael Jordan, Kenny Smith, and George Karl. He’s here to explain his coaching philosophy: play hard, play smart, and play together. Then Andrew Schneider talks about asbestos poisoning in Libby, Montana. Elizabeth Alexander on what she calls “the black interior” - African-American creativity. And a discussion with Guy Cheli about Sing Sing prison.
Pox Japonica
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
During World War II, Japanese medical researchers intentionally spread cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and anthrax throughout China, killing an estimated 580,000 innocent people. Daniel Barenblatt is here to talk about Axis Japan’s secret germ warfare experiments. Then scientist Steven Johnson explains the neuroscience of everyday life. Writer Alison Smith describes her painful teenage years. And a discussion with Peter Robinson on his new novel, Playing With Fire.
Neanderthal Taxonomy
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
A discussion with James Boylan, founder of the Columbia Journalism Review, on journalistic lies and ethics. NYU paleoanthropologist Katerina Harvati explains her recent startling findings that suggest that Neanderthals were not the ancestors of modern human beings. The findings potentially put to rest the decades-long debate over human origins. And bestselling author Anita Shreve shares her latest novel, All He Ever Wanted.
The Hutton Report
Monday, February 02, 2004
New Yorker staff writer John Cassidy discusses the findings of the recently-released Hutton report, exonerating British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Then Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead, explains that the war in Iraq won’t soon be over for the veterans, even after they return home. New Yorker staff writer and Harvard Medical School professor Jerome Groopman talks about the role of hope in coping with serious illness. And journalist Richard Cohen on his battle with multiple sclerosis. He was diagnosed with the disease in 1972 at the age of 25.
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