wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

The Leonard Lopate Show

Friday, November 04, 2005
  • coffee beans

    Energetic Discussions

    On today’s show, two top athletes explain how they get the energy and stamina to run the New York City Marathon. And on our regular Please Explain feature, we’ll take a look at how the rest of us get our energy: coffee! Plus, a new collection of hundreds of letters written by American women, and an off-Broadway musical that depicts the horrors of Cambodia’s killing fields.

Open Phones

Listeners call in to discuss the New York City marathon.

NYC marathon (New York Road Runners)

Marathon Runners

The NYC Marathon is estimated to draw over 35,000 runners this Sunday. We’ll talk to two competitors who will be leading the elite pack: world record holder Paul Tergat and one of America’s top women, Jen Rhines.

Music: “Tomorrow” by Amp
“Poor Leno” by Royksopp

Women's Letters

Lisa Grunwald tells us about Women’s Letters, a new collection of over 400 letters written by American women, from Revolutionary times to the present.

Music: Soundtrack from October Sky Tracks 9 and 15

Cambodia Agonistes

Dancer Sam-oeun Tes ("Rady"), formerly a of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, and Tisa Chang, the artistic/producing director of the Pan-Asian Repertory Theater, tell us about thier musical, Cambodia Agonistes. The new off-Broadway production portrays the tragedy of Cambodia’s killing fields in the 1970s.

CAMBODIA AGONISTES runs off-Broadway at the West End Theatre (263 W. 86th Street between Broadway & WEA in the Church of St. Paul & St. Andrew, 2nd floor) October 29th – Nov. 20th. For tickets, call TicketCentral at (212) 279-4200 or click here.

» Pan-Asia Repertory Theater website

Music: Classical Music from Cambodia by Homrong Chum Ngek Tracks 3 and 7

Please Explain: Coffee

After oil, coffee is the world’s most traded commodity. Over 400 billion cups are consumed every year. On this week’s Please Explain feature, we’ll take an in-depth look at the world’s most popular beverage with Mark Pendergrast, author of Uncommon Grounds:The History of Coffee and How it Transformed Our World, and Donald Schoenholt, a specialty coffee roaster and coffee expert, and the head of Gillies Coffee.

» Please Explain series

Music: Sonatine Soundtrack Track 6

National Book Award Winners

The Leonard Lopate Show

A number of this year’s National Book Award winners have appeared on The Leonard Lopate Show. Click here to see the list!

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.

Please Explain: Eco-Labels

The Leonard Lopate Show

Your broccoli, shampoo, and air conditioner might bear labels declaring them to be organic, cruelty-free, or energy efficient, but what do those labels mean and are they true? Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Project Director for Consumer Reports' GreenerChoices.org and Consumers Union’s Senior Scientist for Policy Initiatives, and Dara O'Rourke, founder and CEO of GoodGuide.com, took a look at what eco-labels indicate, how standards are set, and what they mean for consumers and manufacturers around the world.

Our 3-ingredient Challenge wins a James Beard Award

The Leonard Lopate Show

On May 3, the Lopate Show won its third James Beard Award for our 3-ingredient challenge. In August, we asked our listeners to call in and name 3 ingredients and then challenged New York chef and 3-ingredient expert Rozanne Gold to whip up a recipe! You can listen to the 3-ingredient challenge and get some inspiration for simple, delicious, and unexpected dishes.