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The Leonard Lopate Show

Tuesday, September 04, 2007
  • Michael Palin
    Michael Palin

    And Now for Something Completely Different...

    On today's show: Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin takes us behind the scenes of the seminal British comedy troupe. And Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto describes his latest cookbook. Also, an ER doctor shares his debut collection of short fiction. But first, skeptical environmentalist Bjorn Lomborg will argue that we should stop worrying about climate change and learn to demand the facts.

Keep Your Cool

Time magazine has called Danish statistician Bjorn Lomborg one of the 100 most influential people in the world. His latest book makes a controversial argument: that the environmental movement has greatly exaggerated the dangers of climate change, and, as a result, distracted public attention from more urgent global crises.

Purchase Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming at amazon.com.

Events: Bjorn Lomborg will be speaking and signing books
Wednesday, September 5 at 1pm
United Nations Bookshop
2 United Nations Plaza

Iron Chef

As the Food Network's Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto represents his native Japan, but his cooking also borrows from Chinese, Italian, and French cuisine. His new cookbook includes 125 recipes for fusion dishes honed in Morimoto's restaurants in New York, Philadelphia, Tokyo, and Mumbai.

Purchase Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking at amazon.com.

Events: Masaharu Morimoto will be signing books and giving a cooking demonstration
Tuesday, September 4 at 8pm
Book Revue
313 New York Avenue, Huntington, NY

Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures

Vincent Lam's debut collection of short stories draws on his work as an emergency room physician, exploring the emotional aspect of the interactions between doctors and patients.

Purchase Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures at amazon.com.

Events: Vincent Lam will be speaking and signing books
Tuesday, September 4 at 4pm
192 Books
192 10th Avenue (at 21st Street)

Events: Vincent Lam will be the 2007-2008 Narrative Medicine Rounds Inaugural Speaker
Wednesday, September 5 at 5pm
Columbia University Medical School Alumni Auditorium, Black Building, 1st Floor
650 West 168th Street (at Fort Washington Avenue)

Events: Vincent Lam will be speaking and signing books
Wednesday, September 5 at 8pm
McNally Robinson Booksellers
52 Prince Street (between Lafayette and Mulberry)

And Now for Something Completely Different...

To call a bit of comedy "Pythonesque" is to say that it's smart, irreverent, probably absurdist, and, most importantly, absolutely hilarious. Michael Palin - along with John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Terry Gilliam - formed the seminal British troupe Monty Python, inspiring a new adjective while creating an entirely different style of sketch comedy that has kept audiences laughing for nearly forty years.

Purchase Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years at amazon.com.

Events: Michael Palin will be speaking and signing books
Tuesday, September 4 at 7pm
Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Triangle

Events: Michael Palin will be speaking at the 92nd Street Y
Wednesday, September 5 at 8pm

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.