Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

(1/28/21) We often think of slavery as a southern phenomenon, far removed from the booming cities of the North. But even though slavery had been outlawed in Gotham by the 1830s, Black New Yorkers were still far from safe. In his latest book, The Kidnapping Club: Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War, historian Jonathan Daniel Wells tells the story of the powerful network of judges, lawyers and police officers who circumvented anti-slavery laws to allow the kidnapping of both free and fugitive African Americans. Join us for a sobering look at this terrible chapter of the city’s history in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(1/27/21) Investigative journalist and regular contributor to the show 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 his latest appearance on Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Bob discusses the shamefully overlooked number of COVID-19 deaths among police, firefighters and EMTs who assisted in onsite relief efforts immediately following the events of September 11, 2001.

(1/26/21) Craig Unger’s new book American Kompromat: How the KGB Cultivated Donald Trump, and Related Tales of Sex, Greed, Power, and Treachery describes how a relatively insignificant targeting operation by the KGB’s New York rezidentura more than 40 years ago—an attempt to recruit an influential businessman as a new asset—triggered a sequence of intelligence protocols that morphed into the greatest intelligence bonanza in history. Based on extensive, exclusive interviews with dozens of high-level sources, American Kompromat reveals something more sinister than the average citizen could even imagine. Join us for a look at what may be the former president’s darkest secret in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(1/21/21)In his latest book, Pro Truth: A Practical Plan for Putting Truth Back Into Politics co-written with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, author Tim Ward explains how to protect yourself from lies and help restore honest discourse to our democracy. Join us for a look at how we can we turn back the tide of post-truth in our political system in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(1/19/21)Regular contributor to the program Michael Patrick MacDonald is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir All Souls: A Family Story From Southie. He is also a regular contributor to The Boston Globe’s op-ed page. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Michael brings us up to date with all of the major developments in the UK’s departure from the European Union that have happened since the last time he was on the show.

(1/15/21) It remains one of the most audacious spy plots in American history—a bold and extremely dangerous operation to invade Russia, defeat the Red Army and mount a coup in Moscow against Soviet dictator Vladimir Ilich Lenin. The Lenin Plot had the “entire approval” of President Woodrow Wilson. The result was thousands of deaths, both military and civilian, on both sides. Barnes Carr’s latest book The Lenin Plot: The Unknown Story of America's War Against Russia offers rare insight into the beginnings of the Cold War. Join us for a look at this largely untold episode in American history in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(1/13/21) It is the defining issue of our times, but what if we’re thinking about solving global warming in completely the wrong way. In his latest book What If Solving the Climate Crisis Is Simple? Michael Mann Distinguished Professor at Penn State University Tom Bowman explains that the issue is one of making a commitment not just to try but actually achieve permanent change. Join us for a look at what new solutions a change in perspective can bring to this vexing issue in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(1/12/21) As President Trump’s supporters cry out that their free speech has been stifled both in the bloody display at Wednesday’s storming of the US Capitol Building that killed four and the resulting fallout from Twitter, Facebook, Apple and others, we invite free speech expert and Touro College law professor Thane Rosenbaum to discuss what speech is actually protected in the American legal system. His book “Saving Free Speech...from Itself” aims to demystify this important issue. Join us for a discussion of what the First Amendment means today in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(1/7/21) On Wednesday, Jan. 6, when an armed mob of Trump supporters occupied the US Capitol building in DC for several hours at the President’s behest, the incident was almost entirely organized online. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, the David Austin Professor of Management at MIT and author of The Hype Machine: How Social Media Disrupts Our Elections, Our Economy, and Our Health—and How We Must Adapt Sinan Aral considers the role that online networking played in one of the lowest points in American politics.

(1/5/21) Barbara A. Res worked directly with Donald Trump for nearly two decades on some of his biggest projects and had nearly unlimited access to him. The future President even selected her to oversee construction of New York City’s Trump Tower, arguably the greatest success of his pre-political life. As Trump continues to shred every democratic norm in the waning days of his presidency, the author of Tower of Lies: What My Eighteen Years of Working With Donald Trump Reveals About Him, takes us into the closed-door meetings, boardrooms, limo rides and helicopter flights of his real estate days to help shed light on who this man really is in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.