Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

(10/24/2022) In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba became the first Jew to break out of Auschwitz—one of only four who ever pulled off that near-impossible feat. He did it to reveal the truth of the death camp to the world—and to warn the last Jews of Europe what fate awaited them at the end of the railway line. Against all odds, he and his fellow escapee, Fred Wetzler, climbed mountains, crossed rivers and narrowly missed German bullets until they had smuggled out the first full account of Auschwitz the world had ever seen—a forensically detailed report that would eventually reach Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and the Pope.

Join us when Award-winning journalist and bestselling novelist Jonathan Freedland tells the incredible story of Rudolf Vrba—the first Jew to break out of Auschwitz, a man determined to warn the world and pass on a truth too few were willing to hear on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

(10/21/22) According to Thomas B. Pepinsky, COVID-19 has killed more people than any war or public health crisis in American history, but the scale and grim human toll of the pandemic were not inevitable. "Pandemic Politics" examines how Donald Trump politicized COVID-19, shedding new light on how his administration tied the pandemic to the president’s political fate in an election year and chose partisanship over public health, with disastrous consequences for all. At a time when solidarity and bipartisan unity were sorely needed, Americans came to see the pandemic in partisan terms, adopting behaviors and attitudes that continue to divide us today.

Join us when Professor of Government and Public Policy at Cornell University, Thomas B. Pepinsky shares a uniquely American tragedy, in which Pandemic Politics reveals how the politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic had profound and troubling implications for public health and the future of democracy itself on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large

(10/19/22) Bill Keller, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, former executive editor of The New York Times, and founding editor-in-chief of the Marshall Project examines his first book, What’s Prison For? Punishment and Rehabilitation in the Age of Mass Incarceration.

While much of the national debate about prisons has focused on the history and enormous societal costs of mass incarceration in America, imprisonment itself remains an invisible cultural archipelago. In What’s Prison For?, Keller illuminates the contemporary prison experience and explores a swath of programs aimed at fulfilling one of the criminal justice system’s ostensible purposes: rehabilitation.

Join us when Bill Keller takes us inside prison walls, where we meet men and women who have found purpose while in state custody on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI 99.5FM.

(10-17-22) Jim Geraghty has been a passionate participant in the orphan drug revolution since its inception, a leader in the field as a strategy consultant, biotechnology executive, and venture entrepreneur. Advances in medicine have made possible better treatments for widespread, familiar human illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Yet there are thousands of much less common diseases, most of genetic origin, each classed as "rare" because it afflicts only a small number of people.

According to Jim Geraghty these patient groups were long ignored by a pharmaceutical industry that judged them too small to provide a return on the investment needed to develop an effective remedy. Yet these "orphaned" diseases collectively caused misery and expense, often far greater than did more common ailments, for tens of millions of individuals and their families.

In his book, Inside The Orphan Drug Revolution: The Promise of Patient-Centered Biotechnology, Jim Geraghty provides eyewitness accounts of advances as they occurred and portraits of the pioneering scientists and physicians, tireless activists, and visionary business leaders who made the revolution happen.

Join us for a discussion when Jim Geraghty addresses questions such as: why do drugs to treat orphan diseases cost so much - how can we ensure they are affordable - how can their effectiveness be responsibly assessed - how can access to them be expanded internationally and more on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

In a story that is shocking, eye-opening, and a powerful force for change, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Hermans explores the patterns that have been operating for more than three thousand years—and are still operating today—against powerful women across the globe, including Cleopatra, Anne Boleyn, Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and more.

Join us on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large, when Eleanor Herman expounds on this particular kind of rage—she calls unadulterated bloodlust—usually reserved for women, especially women in power or vying for it. From the ancient world, through the European Renaissance, up to the most recent U.S. elections, the Misogynist’s Handbook, as Eleanor Herman calls it, has been wielded to put uppity women in their place.

Pete is a lifelong environmentalist and outdoorsman owner of

Hudson Valley Native Landscaping specializing in woodland restoration, invasive species removal, native landscaping and tree care.

During this conversation Pete provides a colorful and dynamic perspective into the plant kingdom.

Pete approaches everything ecologically and aims to restore local woodland habitats while supporting pollinators through native landscaping. Started by John Messerschmidt in 2009, they are leaders in ecological landscaping serving Dutchess, Ulster, Columbia, Greene and Orange counties in New York.

According to Tim Bakken, while almost all the participants within the system hope that only guilty people will be convicted, the unfortunate reality is that innocent people are convicted and imprisoned at an alarming rate. With the privatization of defense institutions, accused innocent people are themselves responsible for finding the facts that could exonerate them. Though the poor are represented by public defenders—in fact, almost no one who is charged with a crime has enough money to pay for a complete defense—it is still accused people, not public officials, who bear the entire burden of proving their innocence.

Join us when Professor of Law at the US Military Academy, West Point examines his book The Plea of Innocence: Restoring Truth to the American Justice System ont this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Zelenskyy’s former press secretary tells the story of his improbable rise from popular comedian to the president of Ukraine. Luliia Mendel had a front row seat to many of the key events preceding the 2022 Russian invasion. From attending meetings between Zelenskyy and Putin and other European leaders, visiting the front lines in Donbas, to fielding press inquiries after the infamous phone calls between Donald Trump and Zelenskyy that led to Trump’s first impeachment.

Mendel saw first hand Zelenskyy’s efforts to transform his country from a poor, backward Soviet state into a vibrant, prosperous European democracy. Mendel sheds light on the massive economic problems facing Ukraine and the entrenched corrupt oligarchs in league with Russia. She witnessed the Kremlin’s repeated attacks to discredit Zelenskyy through disinformation and an army of bots and trolls.

Join us when Luliia Mendal shares her details about her own life as a member of Zelenskyy’s new Ukraine. Written with the sound of Russian bombs and exploding shells in the background. Mendel details life lived under Russian siege in 2022 as she says goodbye to her fiancé who joins the front lines, like so many other Ukrainian men on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Throughout this story of Zelenskyy, Ukraine, and its extraordinary people, Iuliia Mendel reminds us of the paramount importance of truth and human values, especially in these darkest of times.

Ten years after an attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, Ethan Chorin reveals Benghazi was a watershed moment in American history, one that helped create the world America lives in today: polarized, fearful, and dangerously unstable.

According to Chorin, Benghazi is not a story contained in 13 hours, but a decades-long history beginning with the rise of Muammar Gaddafi, stretching through 9/11, the War on Terror, and the Arab Spring. Chorin draws on his own experience during the Benghazi attack, his expertise as a former diplomat and scholar of Libyan history, and new interviews with Libyan insiders, eyewitnesses, and key players like Hillary Clinton and Ben Rhodes.

Join us when Chorin makes clear why Benghazi still matters so much ten years later—and why we can’t afford to continue overlooking and misunderstanding it on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in the Old Colony Housing Project in South Boston, a neighborhood that held the highest concentration of white poverty in the United States. After losing four of his eleven siblings and seeing his generation decimated by poverty, crime, addiction, and incarceration, he learned to transform personal and community trauma by becoming a leading Boston activist, organizer and writer.

McDonald serves as Author-in-Residence & Professor of the Practice at Northeastern University’s Honors Department, where he teaches his curricula: “Non-Fiction Writing & Social Justice Issues” and “The North of Ireland: Colonialism, Armed Resistance and the Struggle for Peace with Justice" every fall.

Regular contributor to the program Michael Patrick MacDonald is the author of the book All Souls: A Family Story From Southie and the acclaimed Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion.

On this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large, activist Michael Patrick McDonald will focus on Queen Elizabeth’s Complicated Relationship with Ireland, Britain’s First Colony on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.