Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

(5/11/21) Given the raging national debate about providing tuition-free college funded at the national level, the time is right for a book that looks at how we can actually do it. In her new book The Path to Free College: In Pursuit of Access, Equity, and Prosperity, senior researcher at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research and professor of political science at Grand Valley State University Dr. Michelle Miller-Adams argues that free college is not some federal government giveaway, but rather a public investment in our most valuable resource—our nation’s people. Join us for a serious look at how to make federally funded college a reality in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(5/6/21) We live in an age where scams are the new normal. Today’s viral grifters have ascended to fame and descended into infamy, yet the question remains—why do these types of digital fraud continue to happen so frequently? In her new book Hype: How Scammers, Grifters, and Con Artists Are Taking Over the Internet―and Why We're Following, former Vice reporter and executive producer of the Netflix doc Fyre Gabrielle Bluestone breaks down the empty promises driving the social media ecosystem. Join us for a look at how to break out of this vicious cycle in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(5/4/21) Whether we realize it or not, all of us participate in the social contract every day. Caring for others, paying taxes and benefiting from public services are a major part of what binds us together as a society. Drawing on evidence and examples from around the world for her new book What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract for a Better Society, director of the London School of Economics Dame Minouche Shafik shows how every country can provide citizens with the basics to have a decent life and be able to contribute to society. But why stop there? Join us for a glimpse at how we can build a better society together in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(4/30/21) When it comes to Confederate monuments, there is no common ground. Polarizing debates over their meaning have intensified into legislative maneuvering to preserve the statues, legal battles to remove them and protestors taking matters into their own hands. As professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Karen L. Cox describes in her new book No Common Ground: Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice, these conflicts have raged well over a century. But never have they been as intense as they are today. Join us for a look at the battle to take down these reminders of our nation’s bloody legacy of slavery in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(4/28/21) Spring is finally here. But, with the pandemic still at dangerous levels in the New York area, many of us are still stuck at home. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Alvin and Lawrence Ubell of Accurate Building Inspectors discuss simple, do-it-yourself projects you can tackle to get your living space ready for the big comeback.

(4/27/21) By the time Todd Miller spotted him, Juan Carlos had been wandering alone in a remote border region for days. Parched, hungry and disoriented, he approached Todd and asked him for a ride. While his instinct was to oblige, he hesitated; aiding an unauthorized person’s entrance into the US is a federal crime. Todd has been reporting from international border zones for over 25 years. In his new book Build Bridges, Not Walls: A Journey to a World Without Borders, he invites readers to join him on a journey that begins with the most basic of questions—what happens to our collective humanity when the impulse to help one another is criminalized? Join us for a discussion of abolishing international dividing lines in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(4/26/21) It has been nearly three years since Leonard Lopate at Large premiered on WBAI on July 16, 2018. Over the course of 500 shows, Leonard has talked to many of the nation’s foremost thinkers, artists and activists. But most important of all has been the ongoing conversation between our listeners and us. It may be a one-sided conversation for the most part, but we did everything we could to include you in it from taking your calls in countless segments to hearing your feedback in so many personal emails. To commemorate this milestone for Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, executive producer Jesse Lent interviews Leonard about the highs and lows of the last several years and of a radio career spanning five decades.

(4/22/21) Investigative journalist Bob Hennelly’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, the Village Voice, the Christian Science Monitor, the Miami Herald, the Detroit Free Press along with dozens of other magazines and newspapers. In addition to his radio work for NPR and Richard Wolfe’s Economic Update, he is also a regular contributor to this show. With the Biden administration proposing major federal funding for infrastructure, Bob looks at how to identify the communities who have been disproportionately hurt by the pandemic due to a lack of public health facilities and accessible public transportation in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(4/22/21) Some of Abraham Lincoln’s most enduring policies came to him before the Civil War, visions of a country linked by railroads running ocean to ocean, canals turning small towns into bustling cities, public works bridging farmers to market. John F. Wasik’s new book Lincolnomics: How President Lincoln Constructed the Great American Economy tracks Lincoln from his time in the 1830s as a young Illinois state legislator pushing for internal improvements to his presidential fight to build the Transcontinental Railroad. Join us for a look at why Lincoln believed these brick-and-mortar developments were essential to lifting citizens above poverty in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(4/20/21) Long after the transatlantic slave trade was officially outlawed in the early 19th century by every major slave-trading nation, US merchants were still sending hundreds of illegal slave ships to the African coast. As revealed in the new book The Last Slave Ships: New York and the End of the Middle Passage from McDonald-Boswell assistant professor of history at Erskine College Dr. John Harris, the key instigators were slave traders who moved to New York City after the shuttering of another massive slavery market in Brazil in 1850. These traffickers were determined to make lower Manhattan a key hub in the illegal slave trade to Cuba. Join us for a look at how our government ignored and even abetted this human rights atrocity in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.