On Demand
The Leonard Lopate Show Archive
February 2005
Senses and Sensibility
Monday, February 28, 2005
Historian Caroline Elkins investigates the violent struggles surrounding British colonialism in Kenya. She challenges the standard British version of the Mau Mau rebellion, and uncovers disturbing stories of British labor and prison camps in her new book, Imperial Reckoning. Next, Pulitzer Prize-winner Irwin Unger, and his wife and co-author Debi, examine the larger-than-life history of one of America's most prominent families: The Guggenheims. Then, stage, screen, and television star Marge Champion has been chosen as a 2004 inductee into the National Dance Hall of Fame. She looks back at her long career in musicals with a special night of memories and movie clips held at the Film Forum. And Martin Lindstrom looks to the future of marketing. He points out that 75 percent of our emotions are rooted in what we smell, and he argues that successful companies will need to find ways of appealing to all five senses of potential consumers.
To Sleep, Perchance to Dream
Friday, February 25, 2005
Neurologists Charles Pollak, Director of the Weill Cornell Center for Sleep Medicine in Manhattan, and Ronald Chervin, Director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of Michigan, tell us how to get a good night’s sleep. We’ll look at the science of sleep, from sleep stages to sleep disorders, and find out what sleep really does for us. Then, when Helen Hunt, Hilary Swank, and Michael Clarke Duncan won Academy Awards, they each thanked acting coach Larry Moss for his guidance. He joins us to share some of his insights on teaching, and tells us about his new book, The Intent to Live. Next, Rabbi Mark Borovitz re-examines his years of criminal activity and his time in prison, before the spiritual awakening that urged him to change his life and become a rabbi at age 50. And, each Friday in February we’re re-airing an archival interview to celebrate Leonard's 20th anniversary at WNYC. Today, we’ll hear an archival interview with Canadian writer Alice Munro from 2002. She tells Leonard about her prolific career and her 10th collection of short stories, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.
A Surreal Life
Thursday, February 24, 2005
In this week’s Underreported series we look into the relationship between Cuba and Venezuela. Cuban historian Jane Franklin outlines the economic and security agreements that have recently been signed, and explains what this relationship means for Latin America and relations with the U.S. Then, Leonard talks to Sister Rose Thering, the subject of the short documentary "Sister Rose's Passion." The Oscar-nominated film traces Sister Rose's work battling anti-Semitism and challenging the official Church doctrine that blamed the Jews for the death of Jesus. Next, Michael Taylor, co-curator of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s current exhibit on Salvador Dali, joins us for a discussion of Dali's life and career, and his relationship to the larger Surrealist movement. Finally, Philip Short unravels the disturbing events in the life of one of the century's bloodiest dictators--Pol Pot.
Iraq and a Hard Place
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Journalist Kathy Dobie examines the stories behind some of the 5,500 U.S. military personnel who have gone AWOL since the beginning of the war in Iraq. She tells us why many soldiers feel that desertion is the only option. We’ll also hear from soldiers Jeremiah Adler and Curtis, about why they decided to desert. Next, actor John Rubenstein fleshes out the conflicts his character—an attorney caught between the pull of his conscience and the pull of his career ambitions—faces in a revival of the 1931 play Counsellor-at-Law. Then, Joel Lobenthal looks at the raucous life of leading lady Tallulah Bankhead. And finally, Anne Marie Oliver and Paul Steinberg use years of research to reveal the inner world of suicide bombers in their book The Road to Martyrs' Square.
Mending Fences
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
President Bush is visiting Europe this week. Today, a look into how the war in Iraq has changed the relationship between Europe and the U.S., and whether we need each other's goodwill. Plus, we reconsider the life and work of John James Audubon. He's considered a great illustrator, but can we also call him one of the greatest American artists ever? Then Andrew Sean Tivoli shares his new novel, The Confessions of Max Tivoli. And actor Bruno Ganz tells what it's like to play the role of Adolph Hitler.
From the Top Down
Monday, February 21, 2005
Sweatshops aren't just in cities and developing countries. Today, we'll investigate suburban sweatshops in places like Long Island. Then, one of France's best dramatists, Jean-Claude Carriere, looks into 16th c. Catholic church morals in his new play, The Controversy of Valladolid. New York musician Butch Morris explains his ambitious new project - he's conducting different ensembles every day of the week for the entire month of February. And we'll find out how a group of Hungarian Holocaust survivors may have been seriously cheated by the U.S. government.
Think Without Thinking
Friday, February 18, 2005
Today, a look into the power of thinking without thinking - that's those few seconds when your mind jumps to its own conclusions. Leonard asks writer Malcolm Gladwell all about snap judgments. Plus, we'll rebroadcast an interview with Elia Kazan from 1989. We're airing some of our favorite archival material each Friday this month in celebration of Leonard's 20th anniversary at WNYC.
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The Talk of the Town
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Punctuation expert Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, rallies for the proper use of commas and apostrophes, and demystifies colons, semi-colons, and hyphens. Then, Roger Ebert joins us for a look at his second volume of 100 essays that celebrate film: Great Movies II.
Lessons from the Past
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Word maven Patricia T. (You Send Me) O'Conner explores the ever-changing, though always strange, English language. Today she looks at the use of archaic words in literature. Then, we’ll talk to Jared Diamond, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel. His latest book, Collapse, investigates what causes some societies to fail. He argues that environmental collapse often plays a huge role, bringing about the demise of a culture’s political and economic systems.
Shelf Lives
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
On this week’s Please Explain feature, we investigate the expiration dates of different foods. We’ll look at the science behind "sell by" and "best by" dates with Dr. Susan Sumner, Director of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Virginia Tech, and Tod Marks, Senior Editor with Consumer Reports. They’ll tell us how to interpret all these food labels, and they'll tell us what happens if you drink a glass of expired milk. Then, Christopher de Bellaigue joins us for a nuanced portrait of the many political and cultural forces that have helped shape present-day Iran: In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs.
Eternal Sunshine
Monday, February 14, 2005
Charlie Kaufman has written some of the most innovative screenplays in recent memory: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, and Being John Malkovich. He tells us about his unique approach to film, and his unconventional ideas about what makes a good love story. And we’ll hear from William Hague, the former leader of Britain’s Conservative Party, about the long and influential political career of William Pitt the Younger. Pitt became the youngest Prime Minister in England’s history in 1784, when he was just twenty-four years old.
Heart and Sole
Friday, February 11, 2005
The New Yorker’s Hendrik Hertzberg compares and contrasts the Vietnam War with the war in Iraq. And he explains why he thinks that, despite the recent elections, Iraq is still a very, very long way from democracy. Next, we’ll talk to another New Yorker writer, Burkhard Bilger, about the merits of Stone Age shoes. His article in the current issue of the New Yorker follows one man’s search for the best footwear ever made. Finally, we finish the show with a re-broadcast of a classic interview from 1989. Each Friday in February we’re re-airing an archival interview to celebrate Leonard Lopate’s 20th anniversary on-air at WNYC. Today we’ll hear a conversation with cartoonists Matt Groening and Robert Mankoff. The interview took place before the launch of The Simpsons, and we’ll hear Matt Groening tell Leonard about his future plans for an cartoon based on these characters.
Now That I've Found You
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Mandolin player extraordinaire Sam Bush shares his thoughts on bluegrass past and present--from its country roots to the pop and jazz influences of "new grass" music. Then, we'll hear from Rounder Records co-founder Ken Irwin. He and two partners founded the independent record label in order to support roots music and little-known musicians. Along the way, they helped launch the careers of several major artists, including Allison Kraus, who signed with Rounder when she was just 14 years old. Next, director Laurie Kahn-Leavitt looks back at the illustrious life of Tupperware in a new documentary. And on our Thursday Underreported feature we look into the world of insurance, with particular attention to areas where it's falling short.
Test Your Mettle
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Alvin and Larry Ubell, the self-appointed "Gurus of How-To," uncover some of the nuts and bolts of home repair. Call 212-267-WNYC with questions. Then, Peter DeLeo describes a disastrous sightseeing trip to the Sierra Nevadas that tested all of his survival instincts. After living through a plane crash, he faced broken bones, blizzards, and extreme hunger as he searched for help for himself and his companions. Next, two-time Booker Prize-winner Peter Carey (Oscar and Lucinda and True History of the Kelly Gang) tries his hand at non-fiction with an account of discovering the world of anime with his son: Wrong About Japan. And Kwame Anthony Appiah explores the boundaries and meanings of different markers of identity--such as race, nationality, sexuality, and religion--in The Ethics of Identity.
A Recipe for Happiness
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
Ruth Reichl, editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, chocolatier Jacques Torres, and Mort Rosenblum, author of Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light, take us on a delicious journey in search of the most scrumptious chocolate experiences in New York. Next, curator and critic John Szarkowski. He acted as director of photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 1962 to 1991, and joins us now to talk about a new exhibit of his photography. Then, author Sam Lipsyte discusses the premise of Home Land, a new novel written as an abjectly honest update to a high school alumni newsletter. Finally, in Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, economist Richard Layard investigates the root causes of happiness.
Troubled Waters
Monday, February 07, 2005
Robert O'Harrow Jr. investigates the growing technology behind surveillance and data collection in No Place to Hide. Then, geophysicist and adventurer Pasquale Scaturro became the first explorer in history to run the length of the Nile—a 3,250-mile journey from Ethiopia to Alexandria—in April of 2004. He joins us with an account of the dangerous, 114-day long journey. Jennifer Haigh’s debut novel, Mrs. Kimble, won the PEN/Hemingway Award. She tells us about her second novel, Baker Towers—a story set in a post-WWII Pennsylvania mining town. And producer Martin Smith previews Frontline’s in-depth, two-hour history of the complicated alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia. The new documentary, "House of Saud," looks at rare archival footage, new interviews, and previously untold stories to help unravel the troubled Saudi-US relations of the past 60 years.
The Picture Show
Friday, February 04, 2005
Today we devote our entire show to film. On our regular Friday feature, Please Explain, we look into the changing technology of how movies are made. We'll talk to John Tintori, an editor and professor at NYU, and Giovanni Cozzi, a digital technology and projection systems expert from Emerging Pictures film company. Next, Peter Cowie analyzes the visual imagery of John Ford’s Westerns, and explains how these films helped shape our perceptions of the American West. Then, film critic David Thomson (author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film) offers his version of the evolution of the Hollywood aesthetic: The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood. Finally, as part of our celebration of Leonard Lopate's 20th Anniversary on-air at WNYC, we're re-airing an archival interview with British filmmaker Michael Powell from 1987.
Stories Without Borders
Thursday, February 03, 2005
In this week’s Underreported feature, Nicolas de Torrente, executive director of Doctors Without Borders, discusses his organization’s report on the top ten underreported humanitarian stories of 2004. Then, David Harrington, artistic director and violinist with the Kronos Quartet, joins us to discuss the group’s new recording, Mugam Sayagi. The album explores the music of Azerbaijani composer Franghiz Ali-Zadeh. We’ll talk to Tom Bissell about his collection of six short stories set in the troubled physical and emotional landscapes of Central Asia: God Lives in St. Petersburg. And journalist and civil rights activist Gilbert Jonas examines the struggles and accomplishments of the NAACP during its first 60 years.
The State of Indian Nations
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Tex G. Hall, President of the National Congress of American Indians, will deliver the third annual State of Indian Nations Address this week. He joins us today to outline some of the major issues facing American Indians. Next, trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas discusses the connection he feels towards the rural mountain culture he celebrates in his new album, Mountain Passages. Then, Sherill Tippins recreates the time when W.H. Auden, Carson McCullers, Jane and Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, and Gypsy Rose Lee all lived under one roof. Finally, William Powers discusses struggling to fight poverty and save the environment as an aid worker in Liberia: Blue Clay People.
Gender Matters
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Harvard president Larry Summers stirred up a hornet's nest when he recently said that men and women have different aptitudes for science. We’ll talk to Dr. Robin Bell, director of the Advance Program at the Earth Institute, and Leonard Sax, author of Why Gender Matters, about some real and perceived differences between the sexes. Then, we’ll speak with Swedish detective novelist Henning Mankell. His latest book, Before the Frost, begins his newest mystery series—the stories of rookie Swedish police officer Linda Wallander. Next, Elizabeth Andoh explores the ways in which Western food was incorporated into Japanese cuisine at the end of the 19th century. And Steve Fraser charts the ever-evolving place that Wall Street holds in America’s imagination: Every Man a Speculator.
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