Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

Oliver Milman joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark.

With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change.

Join on us as we discuss The Insect Crisis, with acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman who dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI 99.5FM.

(5/11/2022) Our Laundry, Our Town decodes and processes the fractured urban oracle bones of Alvin Eng's upbringing in Flushing, Queens in the 1970s. Back then, his family was one of the few immigrant Chinese families in a far-flung neighborhood in New York City. His parents had an arranged marriage and ran a Chinese Hand Laundry. From behind the counter of his parent’s laundry and within the confines of a household, rooted in a different century and culture, he sought to reconcile this insular home life with the turbulent yet inspiring street life that was all around them––from the faux martial arts of tv’s Kung Fu to the burgeoning underworld of the punk rock scene.

Finding his way in the downtown theater and performance world of Manhattan, he discovered the under-chronicled Chinese influence on Thornton Wilder’s foundational Americana drama, Our Town. This discovery became the unlikely catalyst for a psyche-healing pilgrimage to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China—his ancestral home in southern China—that led to writing and performing his successful autobiographical monologue, The Last Emperor of Flushing.

Join us as we re-examine the parameters of diversity, equity, and inclusion, with the author of Our Laundry, Our Town - Alvin Eng, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Join us for a discussion when sibling language experts and regular contributors to the program Kathryn and Ross Petras stop by. This language duo are authors of the bestselling You're Saying It Wrong: A Pronunciation Guide to the 150 Most Commonly Mispronounced Words—and Their Tangled Histories of Misuse and the hosts of a popular NPR podcast.

Kathryn & Ross Petras are the New York Times bestselling authors of You’re Saying It Wrong, as well as companion “word nerd” books That Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means and Awkword Moments, and numerous other non-fiction books. On this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large Kathy and Ross return to discuss language trends.

The United States federal government has spent over $10 billion on medical protective wear and emergency supplies, yet as COVID-19 swept the nation, life-saving equipment such as masks, gloves, and ventilators was nearly impossible to find.

In this nonfiction thriller, award-winning investigative reporter J. David McSwane takes us behind the scenes to reveal how traders, contractors, and healthcare companies used one of the darkest moments in American history to fill their pockets. Determined to uncover how this was possible, he spent over a year on private jets and in secret warehouses, traveling from California to Chicago to Washington DC, to interview both the most treacherous of profiteers and the victims of their crimes.

Join us when we discuss, Pandemic, Inc. the story of the fraudster who signed a multi-million-dollar contract with the government to provide lifesaving PPE, and yet never came up with a single mask. The Navy admiral at the helm of the national hunt for additional medical resources. The Department of Health whistleblower who championed masks early on and was silenced by the government and conservative media. And the politician who callously slashed federal emergency funding and gutted the federal PPE stockpile, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

In The Forever Prisoner, Cathy Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy recount dramatic scenes inside multiple black sites around the world through the eyes of those who were there, trace the twisted legal justifications, and chart how enhanced interrogation, a key “weapon” in the global “War on Terror,” metastasized over seven years, encompassing dozens of detainees in multiple locations, some of whom died.

Based on four years of intensive reporting, on interviews with key protagonists who speak candidly for the first time, and on thousands of previously classified documents. Join us as we discuss The Forever Prisoner, a powerful chronicle of a shocking experiment that remains in the headlines twenty years after its inception, even as US government officials continue to thwart efforts to expose war crimes, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

(5/3/2022) Join us when Ari Rabin-Havt reviews his book The Fighting Soul, which takes a step beyond profiles or televised interviews. As a close advisor and deputy campaign manager on Sanders’s presidential campaign, Rabin-Havt spent more hours between 2017 and 2020 with the Vermont senator than anyone else. Traveling the country for rallies and to support striking workers, the two visited thirty-six states, drove tens of thousands of miles, and ate in countless chain restaurants. One result was a meteoric and galvanizing presidential campaign. Another is The Fighting Soul, an unforgettable chronicle of life on the road with Sanders and the first in-depth portrait of this fiercely independent, and famously private, left-wing firebrand. Rabin-Havt will examine how Sanders has done more to shape our history than anyone else who has not reached the White House on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

(4/29/2022) Clash explores the political, economic, social, and technological forces that have shaped the relationship between U.S. presidents and the press during times of crisis. In addition to Trump’s presidency, Clash examines those of John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.

Some of these presidents faced military or international crises. Others were challenged by economic downturns or political scandals. Join us when we examine what happened between presidents and the press during these pivotal times, in order to further understand how we arrived at our current troubled state of affairs, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

(4/28/2022) As regular listeners know, there are few construction questions that Alvin and Lawrence Ubell of Accurate Building Inspectors don’t know how to answer. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, our favorite handymen will answer your questions on any home repair projects you may be working on this Spring.

(4/27/2022) Robert "Bob" Hennelly is an award-winning, print and broadcast journalist. For more than 30 years, he has reported on a broad spectrum of major public policy questions, ranging from homeland security to the economy, environmental contamination to corruption, and occupational safety to homelessness. Join us when Bob Hennelly shares his research on the Amazon workplace compensation policy, the chaos and confusion of mask mandates especially while COVID numbers begin to spike, healthcare worker assaults and more on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

The BBC has broadcast to over two hundred countries and in more than forty languages. With special access to the BBC’s archives, historian David Hendy presents a dazzling portrait of a unique institution whose cultural influence is greater than any other media organization.

Mixing politics, espionage, the arts, social change, and everyday life, The BBC: A Century on Air, is a vivid social history of the organization that has provided both background commentary and screen-grabbing headlines. Join us as David Hendy examines how topics woven so deeply into the culture and politics of the past century have touched so many, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.