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The Leonard Lopate Show

Monday, April 02, 2007
  • Matzo Ball Soup (pepperdjane/flickr)
    Matzo Ball Soup (pepperdjane/flickr)

    Matzo Ball Medicine

    The Great Matzo Ball debate: firm or fluffy? Just in time for Passover, Joan Nathan joins us for our matzo ball recipe swap. We'll hear your favorite matzo ball soup recipes, family stories, and matzo ball mishaps. Plus, a doctor explains why many medical breakthroughs are the result of accidents. Alfred Molina on his role in the film The Hoax. Also: Charles Rangel on his life from the streets of Harlem to the halls of Congress.

Medical Accidents

Viagra was developed during experiments on medications designed to treat angina. Dr. Morton Meyers says that most significant breakthroughs in medical research usually come about by accident. Dr. Meyers is author of the new book Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs.

Events: Dr. Morton A. Meyers will be speaking
Thursday, April 5 at 5:30 pm
The Science, Industry and Business Library
188 Madison Avenue, at 34th Street
Seating is limited and is first come, first served.
For more information, visit the NYPL website.

matzah ball soup

We Want Your Matzo Balls

Jewish food expert Joan Nathan co-hosts our 2007 Matzo Ball Recipe Swap. We'll share some of our favorite submissions on-air on April 2.

JOAN NATHAN'S MATZO BALLS
from New American Cooking by Joan Nathan

I suppose that, being who I am, I cannot write a cookbook without a recipe for matzo balls. We have all heard about the properties of chicken soup, but the curative effects of matzo balls are less well known. Whenever friends are suffering from the effects of chemotherapy, one of foods that they ask me to bring is chicken soup with matzo balls.

3 tablespoons chicken fat or vegetable oil
6 large eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger or 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 ¼ cups matzo meal
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
3 quarts water

1. Mix the chicken fat or vegetable oil with the eggs, salt, ginger, nutmeg, matzo meal and parsley together in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

2. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Take the matzo mix out of the refrigerator and, after dipping your hands into a bowl of cold water, gently form balls the size of large walnuts. Add the salt to the water and drop in the balls. Simmer slowly, covered, for about 20 minutes, remove from water with a slotted spoon, and add to the soup.

Yield: about 12
-Joan Nathan

Alfred Molina in "The Hoax"

The Hoax, a film directed by Lasse Hallström, is inspired by true events in the life of Clifford Irving, the writer who nearly pulled off one of the most audacious media scams in history. Leonard talks to Alfred Molina, who stars in The Hoax.

Congressman Charles Rangel's Attitude

Leonard and Charles RangelAfter he nearly died in the Korean War, Congressman Charles Rangel says that he lost his right to complain about anything again in life. That attitude has probably helped him survive more than 35 years in politics. His new memoir is And I Haven't Had a Bad Day Since: From the Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress.

Events: Charles Rangel will be speaking and signing books
Tuesday, April 3 at 7 pm
The Hue-Man Bookstore
2319 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, between 124th and 125th Streets

Charles Rangel will be speaking and signing books
Wednesday, April 4 at 7 pm
Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble
1972 Broadway, at 66th Street

Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska Politics

The Leonard Lopate Show

August 08, 2008
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is Sen. John McCain’s VP running mate. To find out more about Gov. Palin and Alaska politics, check out our States of the Union: Alaska segment from Aug. 8, 2008.

Sen. Joe Biden on the Lopate Show

The Leonard Lopate Show

Sen. Obama has chosen Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware to be his running mate. To find out more about his personal and political life, listen to Leonard’s Aug. 2007 interview with Sen. Biden. At the time, the Senator from Delaware was still a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Barack Obama, Circa 2004

The Leonard Lopate Show

As the Democratic Convention is underway in Denver, listen to 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.

John McCain in 2000

The Leonard Lopate Show

Sen. John McCain spoke with Leonard in September 2000 about his memoir, Faith of My Fathers. He discussed his family's naval background, his time in POW camps, as well as his own presidential ambitions for the 2000 election.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle on the Leonard Lopate Show

The Leonard Lopate Show

Oprah’s Book Club has just chosen David Wroblewski’s novel The Story of Edgar Sawtelle as its newest selection. Hear Wroblewki talk about his acclaimed novel on the Lopate Show in June 2008.

States of the Union

The Leonard Lopate Show

Why is New York a blue state, Wyoming a red, and Ohio a shade of purple? Looking ahead to Election Day 2008, Leonard talks to journalists, scholars, and activists from each of the 50 states to find out what motivates voters from Maine to California.

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?