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The Leonard Lopate Show
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Jimmie Dale GilmoreCome On Back
The New York Times recently began reorganizing the way it covers pop culture. Michael Massing, contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review, argues that the coverage has become too superficial. Then, in the latest installment of our Summer Reading Series, Phillip Lopate looks back on the writings of Mikhail Zoshchenko--one of the most widely-read authors in Russia during the 1920s and 1930s. We’ll hear from Jimmie Dale Gilmore about his new album, Come On Back. And Richard Ellis looks at how traditional Chinese medicine contributes to species endangerment in Asia.
Superficial Coverage?
Michael Massing, contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review, argues that The New York Times’s new approach to pop culture reporting is resulting in superficial coverage.
Music: Music from Wynton Marsalis’ “Jump Start and Jazz,” tracks “Ragtime” and “1/2 Fiddle Bow Real”

Summer Reading Series: Mikhail Zoshchenko
In this week’s edition of our Summer Reading Series, Phillip Lopate looks at the work of Mikhail Zoshchenko. During the 1920s, he was one of the most widely read authors in Russia, and his satirical short stories appeared in popular journals. But by the 1930s, he faced increasing pressure from Soviet authorities to conform to the state mandate of “socialist realism,” and in 1943 his autobiographical work Before Sunrise was banned.
» Summer Reading Series
Music: music from movie “Hanging Up” by David Hirschfeld, , track “conference call”
Paying Tribute
Jimmie Dale Gilmore shares his new album, Come On Back, a tribute to his father Brian who died in 2000 of Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Music: J Dale Gilmore, tracks “Walking the floor over you” and “Peace in the valley”
Tiger Bone and Rhino Horn
Traditional Chinese medicine is a leading cause of species endangerment in Asia. Richard Ellis, author of Tiger Bone and Rhino Horn, discusses which animals are in danger, and what’s being done about it.
Music: resolution: by thievery corporation and “meta, beta, tarabeta” by pangeia instrumentos
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Tributes: Jeanne-Claude
The Leonard Lopate Show
Jeanne-Claude created environmental works of art with her husband and fellow-conspirator/collaborator Christo. Together, they wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin, the Pont-Neuf in Paris, and created The Gates, with billowy orange drapes, in Central Park. Jeanne-Claude just died at the age of 74. You can hear Leonard Lopate’s last interview with them both, from July 19, 1999.
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The Leonard Lopate Show
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The Leonard Lopate Show
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The Leonard Lopate Show
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The Leonard Lopate Show
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The Leonard Lopate Show
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The Leonard Lopate Show
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