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The Leonard Lopate Show
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The Design of Future Things by Donald A. NormanToo Smart?
Scientists and marketers are furiously working on smart products to improve our everyday lives - like navigation systems, and homes that anticipate their residents’ needs. A design expert tells us why you should be concerned about some of those new products. Also: brain chips that turn thought into action. Plus, the spiritual side of birdwatching. Men’s figure skating champion Brian Boitano. And Please Explain is all about the science of consciousness - from dreams to Freudian slips!
The Leonard Lopate Show is hosting a new listener photo project! Send us a photo of an object that has special meaning to you, and tell us the story behind the object. Find out how to submit here.
Concerns About the Design of Future Things
Designers and marketers are working on new smart technologies like advanced navigation systems, and homes that anticipate residents’ every need. Design consultant and computer science professor Donald A. Norman says that we should be concerned about some of these products. His new book is The Design of Future Things.
The Design of Future Things is available for purchase at amazon.com
Weigh in: Are you concerned about any aspects of smart technology? Would you want to live in a home that anticipated your needs?
A Brain Chip That Turns Thought Into Action
In 2005, with the help of a brain chip, a quadriplegic man used a robotic arm to pick up a piece of candy. The chip was the most sophisticated brain-computer interface ever tested in humans. And now it's on its way to becoming wireless. Leonard talks to the researcher who devised the chip, Dr. John Donoghue, Professor of Neuroscience at Brown University.
Learn more about the Donoghue Lab, Neuroscience Dept. at Brown
Sightings: Essays on Birdwatching
Author Sam Keen writes about the spiritual side of birdwatching in his new essay collection, Sightings.
Sightings Design of Future Things is available for purchase at amazon.com
Please Explain: The Science of Consciousness
When you see a blue flower, do you see the same blue flower that I do? When you feel cold is it the same sensation I feel? On Please Explain we look at the biology of consciousness...and what brain science reveals about who we are and how we experience the world around us.
Gerald Edelman is a Nobel Laureate, Director of The Neurosciences Institute, and author of many books about the neurobiology of consciousness including Wider Than the Sky. Christof Koch is Professor of Biology and Engineering at the California Institute of Technology and author of The Quest for Consciousness.
Call us at 212-433-9692 with your questions.
Wider Than the Sky is available for purchase at amazon.com
The Quest for Consciousness is available for purchase at amazon.com
Weigh in: What would you like to know about consciousness?
Learn about The Neurosciences Institute
Christof Koch's homepage
Brian Boitano’s Skating Spectacular
Men's figure skater Brian Boitano has won more professional titles than any other skater. His "Brian Boitano Skating Spectacular" features fellow champion skaters Dorothy Hamill, David Pelletier, and Viktor Petrenko, as well as the music of Barry Manilow. It airs Saturday, December 22 at 4 pm on NBC.
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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.
Video Pick: David Chang on Momofuku
The Leonard Lopate Show
Recent Videos:
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- David Plouffe on The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama’s Historic Victory
- Ken Auletta on Googled: The End of the World as We Know It
- Paul Shaffer on We’ll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives: A Swingin' Show-Biz Saga
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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.
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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.
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