Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

In his latest book “Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons from a Misunderstood Founder” investigative journalist Christian Parenti reconsiders the history of America’s founding and the men who orchestrated it. A figure whose role in history has been all but rewritten by Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical blockbuster, a new portrait of the revolutionary mind of Alexander Hamilton emerges in this book. Join us for a look at the man beyond the myth in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(8/31/20) CUNY Graduate Center professor Julie C. Suk’s new book “We the Women: The Unstoppable Mothers of the Equal Rights Amendment” is the true story of the women who persisted across generations to change the US Constitution. Join us for a look back at the founding mothers of the ERA and the forgotten female activists who transformed our lives for the better in the name of gender equality in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(8/27/20) The basic premise of journalist and historian Richard Kreitner’s new book “Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union” is simple—The United States of America has never lived up to its name and never will. This disunionist impulse may have found its greatest expression in the Civil War, but the seduction of secession wasn’t limited to the South or the 19th century. It was there at our founding and has never gone away. Join us for a revolutionary journey through American history in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(8/18/20)Four teenage boys are high school seniors at two very different schools within the city of Los Angeles, the second largest school district in the nation with nearly 700,000 students. In his latest book, “Show Them You're Good: A Portrait of Boys in the City of Angels the Year Before College” through extensive interviews with the four teens, author Jeff Hobbs captures the joys and challenges of being a young person confronting the future in contemporary America. Join us for a journey through the eyes of a high school senior in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(8/17/20) If there's one thing we know about Donald Trump, it's that he lies. But he's by no means the first president to do so. In his latest book “Lying in State: Why Presidents Lie—And Why Trump is Worse” professor of English and journalism at Brooklyn College and media critic for The Nation Eric Alterman asks how we ended up with such a pathologically dishonest commander in chief. Join us for a look at how we arrived in this age of alternative facts in the final installment of Leonard Lopate at Large’s three-part summer series on WBAI looking back at the presidency of Donald Trump.

Donald Trump's campaign chairman went to jail. So did his personal lawyer. His long-time political consigliere was convicted of serious federal crimes and his national security advisor pled guilty to others. Several Russian spies were indicted in absentia. Yet despite all this, a years-long inquiry led by special counsel Robert Mueller and only the third presidential impeachment in American history, Donald Trump survived to run for re-election. Why? Through dozens of interviews with prosecutors in Mueller's office, the President’s legal team, Congressional investigators, White House staffers and several key players (including some who are now in prison), CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin attempts to make sense of the chaos in his latest book “True Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Investigation of Donald Trump.” Join us for a look back at the political crises President Trump faced before the pandemic in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

Richard Nixon tried it first. Hoping to make communist bloc countries uneasy and thus unstable, Nixon let them think he was just crazy enough to nuke them. He called this the madman theory. Nearly half a century later, President Trump has employed his own madman theory, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not. Through interviews with current and former Trump administration officials, CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto’s book “The Madman Theory: Trump Takes On the World” is the first comprehensive portrait of the impact of the President’s erratic foreign policy as told from the inside. Join us for a look at Donald Trump’s legacy around the globe in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(8/12/20) As demographics in the US shift toward a non-white majority, Americans inspired to vote for the first time will increasingly decide our elections. Grace Lee and Marjan Safinia’s new two-part PBS documentary series “And She Could Be Next” profiles a defiant group of women of color who as candidates and activists are harnessing the political power of this powerful new demographic. Join us for a conversation on the way democracy can be improved with the participation of the nation’s most marginalized peoples in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(8/11/20) “Leave it as it is,” Theodore Roosevelt reportedly declared when gazing across the Grand Canyon for the first time. “The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.” Roosevelt’s rallying cry signaled the beginning of a battle that still rages today. To write his latest book “Leave It As It Is: A Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt's American Wilderness,” bestselling author David Gessner set off on a road trip across America guided by Roosevelt’s crusading environmental legacy. Join us for a look at TR’s most enduring legacy—the national parks system—in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

(8/10/20)More than a decade after Michael Pollan transformed the conversation about what we eat, a combination of global diet trends and corporate interests have left American agriculture in a state of emergency. In his latest book, “Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It” former farmer and food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones Tom Philpott exposes the small handful of seed and pesticide corporations, investment funds and magnates who benefit from the practices that are putting our food supply in danger and the farmers and activists who are valiantly pushing back. Join us for a look at how to preserve one of the nation’s most critical resources in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.