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The Leonard Lopate Show / March 02, 2004

The Leonard Lopate Show

Tuesday, March 02, 2004
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  • The Working Poor: Invisible in America
    The Working Poor

    Toeing the Line

    Millions of Americans live so close to the poverty line that even the smallest setback can be catastrophic. Pulitzer Prize-winner and former New York Times reporter David Shipler explains why so many of the United States' working poor are stuck in dead-end jobs with little opportunity for advancement. Then foreign correspondent Neely Tucker and his wife, Vita, talk about adopting their Zimbabwean daughter, Chipo, while Neely was covering the wars and AIDS epidemic in Africa. Sam Kashner shares his experience of being the lone student at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in 1976. And Richard Pollak reveals the often-unappreciated romance of container ships. Why should cruise ships and sailboats get all the attention?

David Shipler

David Shipler's new book is The Working Poor: Invisible in America. Shipler won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land.

Music: Soundtrack from Cider House Rules, Composed by Rachel Portman
Track 4: "Homer Asks Wally for a Ride "
Track 3: "Young Girl’s Burial"
Track 5: "Homer Leaves Orphanage"

Events: David Shipler at Barnes & Noble (Lincoln Square triangle), March 2nd at 7 pm for a talk and signing books

Neely Tucker

Neely Tucker is the author of Love in the Driest Season: A Family Memoir. He currently writes for the Washington Post.

Music: Chaminuka Music of Zimbabwe by Dumisani Maraire
Track 2: "Chaminuka"
Track 3: "Machekeche"
Track 8: "Yuwi Maiwe"
Track 5: "Kutambarara"

Events: All the Tuckers will be at the B&N on 82nd and Bway on March 3rd at 7:30pm for a talk and to sign books.

Sam Kashner

While at the Jack Kerouac School in Colorado, Sam Kashner's duties included typing Allen Ginsberg’s poems, cleaning the guru Rinpoche’s home, and keeping Gregory Corso from getting heroin. Kashner’s new book is When I Was Cool.

Music: The Times They Are A-Changin’ by Bob Dylan
Track 1: "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
Track 3: "With God On Our Side "

Richard Pollak

Richard Pollak's book is The Colombo Bay. Pollak spent time as a passenger aboard the "Colombo Bay," a massive container ship bound from Hong Kong to New York via the Suez Canal.

Music: Sea Power, A Global Journey, composed by Michael Whalen
Track 12: "Dawn of the Lofotens"

Bill Richardson on Diplomacy

The Leonard Lopate Show

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson will be joining Obama’s cabinet as Commerce Secretary. You can hear him talk about his experience in foreign policy and diplomacy on the Lopate Show in April 2007.

(<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedkerwin/">tedkerwin</a>/flickr)

Plaxico Burress on the Lopate Show

The Leonard Lopate Show

NY Giants star Plaxico Burress is in the headlines this week for his self-inflicted gunshot wound. You can hear him on the Leonard Lopate Show in July 2008 talk about his life on and off the football field, and what it was like to win the 2007 Super Bowl.

Tom Daschle on Fixing America’s Health Care System

The Leonard Lopate Show

Former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle has accepted President-Elect Barack Obama’s offer to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. You can hear Tom Daschle talk about his prescriptions for fixing American’s health care crisis on the Leonard Lopate Show in March 2008.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama, Circa 2004

The Leonard Lopate Show

Listen to President-Elect Barack Obama on the Leonard Lopate Show in November 2004. He had recently won a seat in the U.S. Senate, and only a few months before, his rousing speech during the 2004 Democratic National Convention catapulted him into the national spotlight.

Guest Picks

The Leonard Lopate Show

Find out surprising facts about some recent guests on the Leonard Lopate Show. Check out our Guest Picks section! Did you know that football star Herschel Walker loves Judge Judy, Laurie Anderson is a big fan of agility training for dogs, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi likes Johnny Depp?