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Alan Alda and Dr. Harold Varmus discuss the 2012 World Science Festival, May 30 – June 3. The Foundation’s mission is to cultivate a general public informed by science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.

Michael Armstrong describes the1970-72 Knapp Commission investigation into police corruption, prompted by the New York Times' report on whistleblower cop Frank Serpico. In They Wished They Were Honest he examines how the commission affected the NYPD's public image, what leads to police corruption, and the toll it takes on society.  

Twenty five years ago, the novel “The Bonfire of the Vanities” was published. Written by Tom Wolfe, the book tells the story of a greedy, white Wall Street trader who accidentally kills a black teenager in the South Bronx, then deliberately flees the scene of the accident. Highlighting issues of class privilege, racism, greed, and politics, the book was a commercial and critical success, and came to define an era in New York City and in America. Journalist and personal finance expert Alvin Hall joins to answer the question: How much has New York changed in 25 years?

David Sharps, president of The Waterfront Museum, talks about what visitors can learn about New York City's barges and waterfront history at the museum.

Food trucks are expanding eating options all over New York. David Weber, founder and president of the New York City Food Truck Association (NYCFTA), Deborah Smith, owner of the Green Pirate Juice truck, and Jim Drew, owner of Phil's Steaks truck, discuss the growing mobile food movement. Weber’s book The Food Truck Handbook: Start, Grow and Succeed in the Mobile Food Business looks at the ins and outs of navigating in the industry.

The visitor center, which opens this week, will allow access to a huge trove of New York City's archival photos along with other pieces of the city's history -- including legal documents, the city's TV and radio recordings, and gifts given to mayors over the years, like a Waterford crystal baseball bat given to Mayor Giuliani by the Yankees.

Richard Zacks describes the lewd underbelly of 1890s New York and the efforts of Theodore Roosevelt, then police commissioner, to clean it up. In Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt's Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York, tells how young Roosevelt’s crackdown succeeded, even too well.

The Bloomberg administration is on board with proposed legislation that may eliminate the "Wild West" atmosphere of intercity buses that many officials say is wreaking havoc on city streets, especially in Chinatown.

New York is in the midst of a TV and film production boom. The Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment reports there are 13 TV pilots in development in the city so far this spring. That's on top of a record 23 series that were filmed in New York last year.

New York Public Library President Anthony Marx talks about the library's plan for its 42nd Street building, and will address the criticism and controversy over those plans. that Scott Sherman and Caleb Crain raised on our show on March 12th

Greg David, director of the Business & Economics Reporting Program at CUNY Journalism School and contributor to Crain's New York Business, discusses the past half-century of New York's big business that he chronicles in his new book, Modern New York: The Life and Economics of a City.

EVENT:  Greg David will be hosting a book signing tonight at 7 at the Barnes & Noble on 82nd street and Broadway. 

New York University is the latest city institution to evoke controversy with its ambitious expansion plan, which would more than double the amount of density on two Greenwich Village area superblocks. Vin Cipolla, president of the Municipal Art Society, Brad Hoylman, Chair of Community Board 2, and Mark Crispin Miller, an NYU faculty member, discuss what the plan means for the city, for Greenwich Village, and for NYU faculty and students. The Municipal Art Society is hosting a panel discussion on the merits and drawbacks of the plan on March 27.

New York state and New York City say they're joining forces to sue two stores that have been helping smokers avoid taxes by selling roll-your-own cigarettes.

Dr. Sarah Henry, chief curator of the Museum of the City of New York, and Ellen Lupton, Cooper-Hewitt’s senior curator of contemporary design, discuss the results of our contest to find the top 10 objects that tell the story of New York. 

The American Kennel Club has released its annual ranking of most popular dog breeds. For the 21st successive year, the Labrador Retriever took the top spot in the country, while the Yorkshire Terrier remained at the top of the pack of favorite breeds for New Yorkers.

This week’s Please Explain takes a look at something familiar (yet still mysterious) to every New Yorker: the subway. John Tauranac, architecural historian and designer of city and transit maps, and Andrew Sparberg, former Long Island Railroad manager and director of the railroad technology program at Technical Career Insitutes, talk about how the subway was built and how it transformed the metropolitan area.

If history is any guide, the winners of the Best Short and Feature Documentary categories at Sunday night's Academy Awards will likely be New Yorkers. Since 2005, half of the winning directors and 10 of the 14 winning producers have called New York City home.

New York City Comptroller - and expected 2013 mayoral candidate - John Liu discusses his state of the city address. 

Julie Shapiro, DNAinfo.com reporter, talks about the Preschool Gifted and Talented Tests offered now through February 10 in New York City. Last year, only 6 percent of test takers were selected for a spot in one of the city’s prestigious gifted kindergarten programs, and to beat these odds, parents sometimes go to extremes to prepare their preschool children for the standardized test. Julie Shapiro’s article “How to Prepare your Preschooler for Gifted and Talented Tests” appears on DNAinfo.com.