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The Leonard Lopate Show

Tuesday, April 03, 2007
  • Joanna from Kurdistan
    Joanna from Kurdistan

    Survival of the Kurds

    Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were killed in Saddam Hussein's Iraq. A Kurdish woman from Baghdad talks about her determination to survive. Also: a new play that explores the impact of 9/11 and the war in Iraq on the lives of three individuals. Then, a novel about the discovery of a lost manuscript by Herman Melville. And we look into whether Pakistan bears much of the blame for the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Sarah Chayes driving the road from Kabul to Kandahar

How Pakistan is Helping the Taliban

Journalist and businesswoman Sarah Chayes says that Pakistan is largely to blame for the reemergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan – and that the Bush administration has been far too gentle with Pakistan. Her recent article, "Days of Lies and Roses," is in the Boston Review.

Dying City

Dying City, now at Lincoln Center, is set in a downtown Manhattan apartment. The play looks at how 9/11 and the war in Iraq transform the lives of 3 characters. Leonard talks to playwright Christopher Shinn and actor Pablo Schreiber.

Herman Melville's Lost Manuscript

Sheridan Hay’s debut novel, The Secret of Lost Things, imagines what happens when an 18-year old discovers a lost manuscript by Herman Melville.

Events: Sheridan Hay will be speaking and signing books
Wednesday, April 4 at 7 pm
Upper West Side Barnes & Noble
2289 Broadway, at 82nd Street

A Kurdish Woman's Struggle to Survive

Hundreds of thousands of Joanna Al-Askari Hussain’s fellow Kurds were murdered under Saddam Hussein. As part of her struggle to survive, she became a Kurdish freedom fighter during the Iran-Iraq war. She joins Leonard, as well as her biographer Jean Sasson, author of Love in a Torn Land.

Bill Richardson on Diplomacy

The Leonard Lopate Show

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson will be joining Obama’s cabinet as Commerce Secretary. You can hear him talk about his experience in foreign policy and diplomacy on the Lopate Show in April 2007.

Plaxico Burress on the Lopate Show

The Leonard Lopate Show

NY Giants star Plaxico Burress is in the headlines this week for his self-inflicted gunshot wound. You can hear him on the Leonard Lopate Show in July 2008 talk about his life on and off the football field, and what it was like to win the 2007 Super Bowl.

Tom Daschle on Fixing America’s Health Care System

The Leonard Lopate Show

Former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle has accepted President-Elect Barack Obama’s offer to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. You can hear Tom Daschle talk about his prescriptions for fixing American’s health care crisis on the Leonard Lopate Show in March 2008.

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.

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?