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The Leonard Lopate Show
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Bridging the Gaps
On today’s show, a history of happiness…and how it came to be seen as a fundamental right in America. Also on the show: a celebration of 100 years of Catalan Cinema. And we’ll pay tribute to 50 years of the Public Theater. Plus, this week’s Please Explain is all about bridges. And we’ll end the show with our latest Past Present feature from the WNYC Archives.
50 Years of the Public Theater
We celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Public Theater with its new artistic director, Oskar Eustis, and one of its biggest fans, Rosie Perez.
Events: Rosie Perez and Oskar Eustis will be participating in:
The Public Sings
Monday, January 30th at 7:30pm
New York City Center
West 55th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues)
For tickets: call 877-581-1212 (toll free) or 212-581-1212; or click here
Listen to Sara Fishko's piece "New York Shakespeare"...a history of Shakespeare in the Park originally broadcast on 6/24/2005.
Music:
Aquarius, Track 1, from the HAIR soundtrack, and One, Track 11, from A Chorus Line soundtrack.
Happiness Is...
The Declaration of Independence lists the “pursuit of happiness” as an inalienable right. In Happiness: A History, Darrin McMahon explores how our modern, Western ideal of happiness evolved over the past 2,000 years.
Music:
Tracks 7 and 8 from the Mumford Soundtrack, Hollywood Records both scored by Bill Schnee.
Another Spanish Cinema: Film in Catalunya
Film historian Roman Gubern and filmmaker Jordi Torrent (“East of the Compass”) pay tribute to Catalan Cinema--the subject of a current festival at Lincoln Center.
» Read a review of the Catalan Cinema
Music:
Tracks 10 and 15 from Cancion: Lyrical Guitar Music of Spain by Richard Jacobowski, Gateway Classics composed by Federico Mompou
Times Square in the 1940's
Though she's now all but forgotten, Cornelia Otis Skinner was a well-known American actress and author in the mid-20th century. In today's Past Present feature, we'll hear her monologue Times Square at the Theatre Hour, originally performed on WNYC in the early 1940s. Ms. Skinner's sketches of an aggressive vendor, a gossipy young woman, and a Southern tourist suggest that the array of characters in Times Square might not have changed that much in the last 60 years.
» Past Present series
Please Explain: Bridges
There are 2,027 bridges in New York City. On this week's edition of Please Explain, we'll learn how bridges work, and how they serve the communities that build them. Khaled Mahmoud, bridge engineer and president of Bridge Technology Consulting, joins us. He's also chairman of the Bridge Engineering Association. Also, Henry Petroski, Professor of Civil Engineering and History at Duke University. Mr. Petroski is also the author of several books, including Engineers of Dreams, a history of America's great bridges, and the forthcoming Success Through Failure: The Paradox of Design.
Music:
Tracks 1 and 6 on the Sonatine Soundtrack
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Patrick Swayze
The Leonard Lopate Show
Patrick Swayze mixed grace with athleticism in his movies – and rose to stardom with roles in “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost.” He died just recently after a battle with pancreatic cancer. And you can hear his interview with Leonard Lopate from July 16, 2002, when he came by to discuss appearing in the film, “Green Dragon.”
- Comments [2]
The Silver Anniversary of the Silver Palate
The Leonard Lopate Show
Sheila Lukins was one half of a partnership that helped popularize gourmet cooking throughout America – first, through their gourmet food shop in New York City and then with the cookbook, The Silver Palate, which remains one of the top-selling cookbooks of all time. She collaborated on 2 other cookbooks that simplified gourmet cooking for the home cook. She died recently from brain cancer at the age of 66, and you can listen to her 2007 conversation with Leonard Lopate and her business partner Julee Rosso about the 25th Anniversary of the publication of The Silver Palate.
Dominick Dunne
The Leonard Lopate Show
Dominick Dunne was a famous novelist and Hollywood producer. But he may be best remembered for covering trials of the rich and famous – from Claus von Bulow to O. J. Simpson. He died just recently at the age of 83. But you can still hear his interview with Leonard from November 23, 2001, when he was discussing crimes, trials, and punishments.
Video Pick: The J.D. Allen Trio
The Leonard Lopate Show
Recent Videos:
- Robert Stone on Nixon and Earth Day
- Moby on Music Business
- Nicholas Bakalar on The Medicine Cabinet of Curiosities
- Robert Feldman on The Liar in Your Life
- Matt Taibbi on Goldman Sachs
- Arianna Huffington on Pigs at the Trough
- Joel Grey on Images from My Phone
- Lawrence McDonald on The Fall of Lehman Brothers
- Comments [4]
Let’s Go Swimming!
The Leonard Lopate Show
According to the Centers for Disease Control, bacterial, viral, and parasitic organisms found in recreational water in the United States sicken thousands of people every year, and even result in deaths. We’ll speak with chemist and industrial hygienist Monona Rossol about the protozoa, amoebas and other things that love to go swimming with us. Monona is also founder and President of Arts, Crafts and Theater Safety.
- Comments [33]
Frank McCourt
The Leonard Lopate Show
Frank McCourt has been a guest many times on this show over the years, starting in 1996 for the memoir, Angela’s Ashes, that would earn him a Pulitzer Prize. Fame came to him late in life, after he’d retired at the age of 65 from teaching English and creative writing at public schools here in New York. He was a sweet, eloquent man who spoke with grace and humility; he just died at the age of 78 after a battle with cancer. You can hear him speaking with Leonard Lopate for his Survival Kit in 2000, and in 2005, for his memoir, Teacher Man.
- Comments [1]
Science and Faith
The Leonard Lopate Show
Earlier this week, Pres. Obama announced that he plans to nominate geneticist Dr. Francis Collins to lead the National Institutes of Health. You can listen to Leonard’s 2006 conversation with Dr. Collins about how he reconciles his personal faith with his professional scientific knowledge.
FDA to Regulate Tobacco?
The Leonard Lopate Show
May 14, 2009
Congress is getting ready to a vote on whether to make tobacco subject to FDA regulation. You can listen to a segment we did in May about the bill and what it would mean for the cigarette companies.
- Comments [9]
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.
Leonard is on Facebook
Now Leonard is on Facebook! We’re posting photos, status updates, links to notable interviews, and lots more. Check it out.
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.
- Comments [4]
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?
