The Leonard Lopate Show

In our Please Explain feature, we set aside time every Friday afternoon to get to the bottom of one complex issue. Ever wonder how New York City's water system works? Or how the US became so polarized politically? We'll back up and review the basic facts and principles of complicated issues across a broad range of topics — history, politics, science, you name it.

Please Explain: Farm Subsidies

The Leonard Lopate Show

May 09, 2008

Find out how farm subsidies work, who gets them, and how they affect the prices of the food that reaches our tables. Dan Morgan is an investigative reporter for the Washington Post and co-author of Harvesting Cash, a year-long series on waste and abuse in the farm-subsidy program which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2007. Catherine Richert is the Agricultural reporter at The Congressional Quarterly.

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Please Explain: Malaria

The Leonard Lopate Show

May 02, 2008

Malaria kills more than 1 million people each year, many of them children. Yet the disease is preventable. Find out how malaria spreads, why it’s so devastating in Africa, and how it can be stopped. Nobel laureate Dr. Peter Agre is director of the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute. John McArthur is CEO and Executive Director of Millennium Promise.

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Please Explain: DNA

The Leonard Lopate Show

April 25, 2008

DNA testing has been in the news lately, thanks to the raid on the FLDS compound in Eldorado, Texas where authorities don’t know which children belong to which parents. We find out what DNA is, how it defines us, and how DNA testing works. Dr. Timothy Bestor is Professor of Genetics and Development at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Brian McCabe is Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia.

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Please Explain: Plastic

The Leonard Lopate Show

April 18, 2008

It’s virtually impossible to get through the day without using plastic, but it’s only been widely available to consumers for about 100 years. We find out what plastic is, why it’s so useful, and whether we should be concerned about its widespread use. Dr. Mark Michalovic is Educational Consultant with the Chemical Heritage Foundation. Robert Malloy of UMass Lowell is a researcher in the areas of plastics product design, polymer processing, recycling of thermoplastics.

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Please Explain: Foreclosure

The Leonard Lopate Show

April 11, 2008

Find out about the different types of foreclosures, the legal process by which a property can be seized, how the real estate collapse has is affecting New Yorkers, and the industry that is thriving on America’s housing woes. Michael MacKenzie is US Markets Correspondent for the Financial Times. Josh Zinner is the co-director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project; he previously served as long-time Director of the Foreclosure Prevention Project at South Brooklyn Legal Services.

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Please Explain: Crying

The Leonard Lopate Show

April 04, 2008

Get out your tissues - Please Explain is all about crying. What are tears made of? How did crying evolve? Is it a uniquely human phenomenon? Does it have health benefits? Vassar psychology professor Randy Cornelius has been developing an evolutionary theory of weeping that focuses on tears. Tom Lutz, director of the MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for Performance program at UC-Riverside Palm Desert, is the author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears.

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Please Explain: Games of Make Believe

The Leonard Lopate Show

March 28, 2008

We look into how children play games of make believe, and whether kids’ imaginations have changed along with trends in technology and education. Dr. Susan Linn is Associate Director of the Media Center of the Judge Baker Children's Center, Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the author of most recently The Case For Make-Believe: Saving Play in Our Commercialized World. Dr. Elizabeth Goodenough teaches at the University of Michigan Residence College and is the author of most recently Under Fire: Childhood in the Shadow of War.

Weigh in: What games of make believe do your children play? Are they different from what you remember playing when you were a kid?

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Please Explain: NPR

The Leonard Lopate Show

March 21, 2008

NPR says that its mission is to present "fair, accurate and comprehensive information and selected cultural expressions for the benefit of, and at the service of our democracy." That's easier said than done.

Find out how NPR shapes its news and political coverage, who makes judgment calls on a daily basis, and what happens when problems arise. Alicia Shepard is NPR Ombudsman.

Weigh in: What are your comments and/or complaints about NPR's coverage of news and politics? What would you like to hear more or less of?

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Please Explain: Balance and Proprioception

The Leonard Lopate Show

March 14, 2008

Find out about two senses we often take for granted - balance and proprioception (the sense that indicates body movement and placement). Science writer Sandra Blakeslee is author of the book The Body Has a Mind of Its Own: How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better. Scott McCredie is author of Balance: In Search of the Lost Sense.

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Please Explain: Parkways

The Leonard Lopate Show

March 07, 2008

Parkways are a kind of road common in the New York City area, but more rare in the rest of the USA. Find out what parkways are, and how they fit in to the American transportation system. Dr. Timothy Davis is Lead Historian for Park Historic Structures & Cultural Landscapes Program at the U.S. National Park Service.

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