From June 2007 to October 2008, I was a part-time, volunteer producer on the Leonard Lopate Show, an interview/talk show on WNYC Radio, 93.9 FM (810 AM) in New York City. I wrote the introductory statement and the interview questions, and provided feedback to the show's host during the live recording. Below is a complete listing of the segments I helped produce.
A Contrarian History of Marriage. Susan Squire gives us a history of marriage from a contrarian's perspective — from Adam and Eve, to the Renaissance, to modern ideas of love matches. Her new book is I Don't.
The new film "Elegy" is based on a novella by Philip Roth; it's about a cultural critic whose life is thrown into disarray when he becomes romantically involved with one of his students. Isabel Coixet is the director; Patricia Clarkson co-stars. It opens today at the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.
Find out about the latest cutting-edge research into memory, and what scientists are doing to prevent and treat Alzheimers and other forms of dementia. Sue Halpern's new book is Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research.
There are millions of birders in the U.S. today. Find out the history of birdwatching in America, from the colonial times to the present. Scott Weidensaul's recent book is Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding.
In the 17th century, Dutch trader Van den Bogaert set out through present-day New York's Indian territory in search of beaver pelts. His actual diary entries have been brought to life in a new graphic novel, Journey Into Mohawk Country, by writer and illustrator George O'Connor and historian Charles Gehring.
Dr. Thomas Graboys is a physician battling a particularly aggressive form of Parkinson's disease and progressive dementia. His new memoir about dealing with his illness is Life in the Balance: A Physician's Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss with Parkinson's Disease and Dementia.
The Teapot Dome Scandal of 1922 was a major federal corruption disaster under Warren G. Harding, who's widely considered one of the worst presidents in American history. Laton McCartney's new book is The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country.
Actors Chris Cooper and Patricia Clarkson co-star in the new film "Married Life." It's a dark comedy about a 1940s man who falls for a younger woman but still loves his wife.
John Burnham Schwartz's new novel, The Commoner, is based on the life of Japan's Empress Michiko, who was the first commoner to marry into the Japanese imperial family.
Antonio Skarmeta, author of The Postman, has set his latest novel in Chile. It's called The Dancer and the Thief.
Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza is the main entrance to Prospect Park, and it's been called New York City's answer to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. However, the space as it is used today is difficult to walk around, drive around, and is generally not very user-friendly. The Design Trust for Public Space is launching a new project to redesign Grand Army Plaza. Tupper Thomas of Prospect Park and Deborah Marton of the Design Trust for Public Space talk about how GAP could be improved.
Dr. Hugh Sampson of Mount Sinai School of Medicine responds to our controversial interview about allergies with journalist Meredith Broussard earlier this month. Dr. Sampson is an allergy activist and director of the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute.
Former spy Sergei Tretyakov ran Russia's post-Cold War espionage program in America - before he defected to the US! Pete Earley tells his story in Comrade J.
80-hour workweeks, exhaustion, mental and moral challenges: the first year of medical residency is one of the most harrowing of a doctor's professional life. Dr. Sandeep Jauhar writes about his own difficult residency at a busy New York City hospital in <i>Intern</i>.
NPR's Daniel Schorr has covered politics in print throughout the administrations of twelve presidents! His new book of political analysis past and present is <i>Come to Think of It: Notes on the Turn of the Millennium.</i>
The risk of food-related allergies has been greatly overblown, according to journalist Meredith Broussard (who's had food allergies herself). Her article in the January issue of Harper's magazine is "Everyone's Gone Nuts."
As rents keep rising, New York is an increasingly difficult place to be a working artist - let alone an aging working artist. We look into the pros and cons of staying and toughing it out, for artists of all ages. Artist Estelle Levy has decided to stay, while artist Deborah Beck has recently moved away. Professor Joan Jeffri is director of the Research Center for Arts and Culture at Columbia's Teachers College.
James Draper is curator of an exhibition of Lorenzo Chiberti's gilded bronze doors at the Met.
Tenor saxophonist Bennie Wallace pays tribute to be-bop pioneer Coleman Hawkins in his new album, "Disorder at the Border."
Author of <i>Soldier's Heart</i>, about teaching literature at West Point.
Author of new biography, <i>Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War</i>.
Producer of new anthology of ballads about disasters and murder.
Author of <i>Lords of the Land: The War for Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007</i>.
They discuss <i>Running the Table</i>, about world-class pool player Kid Delicious.
Author of <i>The Unheard</i>, a memoir about going to Africa with the peace corps as a deaf person.
Gold medal winning figure skater talks about her new memoir.
Winners of the 2007 Lasker awards, the Nobel Prize for America's medical community.
Author of new biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Writer, Director & Producer of "Rape of Europa", a documentary film.
Actor. Author of "Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself."
Former Chancellor of NYC Schools. Current Superintendent of Miami Dade County Schools.
Author of "Patriot Battles: How the War of Independence Was Fought."
Physicist. Author of "Faust in Copenhagen: A Struggle for the Soul of Physics."
Author of "Basilica", about the building of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Sports Commentator, author of "The Entitled."
Folk/Rock musician, new CD is "Versatile Heart."
Fiction writer, author of "Shakespeare's Kitchen."
Biographer. Author of "Shoot the Widow."
Human Rights activist, author of "A Poisonous Affair."