Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

(2/19/21)The anti-facist movement Antifa is a common scapegoat for the political right in America in everything from the mass Black Lives Matter protests of last summer to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. But who are the people behind this controversial group and what do they really stand for? In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, the author of the 2017 book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook and lecturer at Rutgers University Mark Bray joins us for an honest look at Antifa.

(2/17/21) According to Donald Trump and many of his supporters, the former President cannot be held legally responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, because the First Amendment of the US Constitution protects freedom of speech. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, free speech expert, senior fellow at USC's Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy and regular contributor to the show Ellis Cose looks at exactly where those protections start and end for both Trump and the insurrectionists.

(2/15/21) You’ve heard it said over and over in the past four years that Donald Trump was “like no president in modern history,” but what about in all of American history? Known for his racist diatribes in public speeches and capitulation to the Confederacy, Lincoln’s Vice President Andrew Johnson was the first president to face impeachment. Though Johnson was only impeached once. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, presidential historian and author of The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation, Brenda Wineapple compares the two administrations.

(2/12/21) Freida Lee Mock’s new documentary Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in her Own Words is the story of how Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who couldn’t get a job despite tying first in her graduating law class, became one of the most consequential Supreme Court justices of the century. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Freida is joined by Lilly Ledbetter of the landmark Supreme Court decision on pay equality Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates Jennifer Carroll Foy.

(2/11/21) For too many students, today's PhD is a bridge to nowhere. According to The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education by Leonard Cassuto and Robert Weisbuch, 50 percent of students entering graduate school never complete the degree. Of those that do, less than one in eight will find full-time employment in their field of study. Join us for a look at why universities don’t prepare grad students for the jobs they can actually get in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(2/9/20)With so many of us working remotely because of the pandemic, you may be thinking about making your home office more permanent—or at least more comfortable. Regular contributors to the show, Alvin and Lawrence Ubell of Accurate Building Inspectors know a thing or two about home conversions. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Larry and Al take your calls about how to safely set up a workspace in your home or how to improve the one you’ve got.

(2/5/21) Land—whether meadow or mountainside, desert or peat bog, parkland or pasture, suburb or city—is central to our existence. In his latest book Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World, British-American author and journalist Simon Winchester examines what we human beings are doing—and have done—with the billions of acres that together make up the solid surface of our planet. Join us for a look at who claims to own the ground beneath our feet and why it matters in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(2/4/21) When it comes to filling your outdoor space with local plants, regular contributor to the show Pete Muroski of Native Landscapes in Pawling, New York has an encyclopedic knowledge of how to preserve your surrounding ecosystem. But as any New Yorker knows, not all of us have space for a garden or any outdoor space of own for that matter. And even if you are lucky enough to have a garden, odds are it will be pretty well frozen for the next several months. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Pete takes your calls on how to make the most out of an indoor garden and offers some suggestions for which plants to add to your household.

(2/1/21) Israeli journalist and historian Gershom Gorenberg’s latest book War of Shadows: Codebreakers, Spies, and the Secret Struggle to Drive the Nazis from the Middle East is a cinematic story of the race for information in North Africa during World War II. Years in the making, the book dispels the notion of the war as a clash of heroes and villains instead revealing the spiraling series of failures, accidents and desperate triumphs that decided the fate of the Middle East and the world beyond it. Join us for a look at an untold corner of WWII history in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(1/29/21)Chemist, artist and industrial hygienist Monona Rossol is the founder of Arts, Crafts and Theater Safety, Inc. The not-for-profit corporation is dedicated to providing health and safety services to the arts. She is also the Health and Safety Director for the Local 829 union of the United Scenic Artists International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Monona discusses whether the latest developments in vaccination and testing have affected our ability to move towards opening schools and businesses safely.