wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

The Leonard Lopate Show

Monday, June 23, 2008
  • Karl Rove
    (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

    Big Brain

    Karl Rove has become a mythic figure in the political world. We take a look at the man behind the myth. Also, hear the story of how one woman confronts her family's past as prominent slave traders. Federico Garcia Lorca's 1929 poems, written in New York City during a difficult time in his life. Plus: is the human brain an elegant organ, or a clumsy contraption?

Karl Rove: Man and Myth

Karl Rove has become a kind of mythic kingmaker in the public imagination. Paul Alexander’s new book about the man behind the myth is The Rise and Fall of Karl Rove.

Confronting a Family’s Slave-Trading Past

Katrina Browne’s forefathers were members of the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. Browne’s new film about confronting her family’s history and legacy is "Traces of the Trade." It airs nationwide on PBS on June 24. It will also be screened at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival on Jun 22 at 6 pm, and June 23 at 1:30 pm and at 9 pm at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center (165 West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam).

Garcia Lorca in NYC, 1929

When Federico Garcia Lorca attended Columbia University for one difficult year in 1929, he wrote some remarkable, strange, and beautiful poems. They’ve now been published in a new bilingual edition called Poet in New York; Pablo Medina and Mark Statman are the translators.

Clumsy Brain

Is the human brain an elegant, sophisticated organ? Or is it a clumsy, haphazard construction? NYU psychologist Gary Marcus’s new book about how to adapt to the brain’s flaws is Kluge.

Event: Gary Marcus will be speaking
Tuesday, June 24 at 6:30 pm
American Museum of Natural History
Central Park West and 79th Street
To purchase tickets, go here.

National Book Award Winners

The Leonard Lopate Show

A number of this year’s National Book Award winners have appeared on The Leonard Lopate Show. Click here to see the list!

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.

Please Explain: Eco-Labels

The Leonard Lopate Show

Your broccoli, shampoo, and air conditioner might bear labels declaring them to be organic, cruelty-free, or energy efficient, but what do those labels mean and are they true? Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Project Director for Consumer Reports' GreenerChoices.org and Consumers Union’s Senior Scientist for Policy Initiatives, and Dara O'Rourke, founder and CEO of GoodGuide.com, took a look at what eco-labels indicate, how standards are set, and what they mean for consumers and manufacturers around the world.

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.