Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

In his latest graphic novel “The Dairy Restaurant” writer and New Yorker cartoonist Ben Katchor retells the history of where we choose to eat—a history that starts with the first man who was allowed to enter a walled garden and encouraged by the garden's owner to enjoy its fruits. He also examines the historical confluence of events and ideas that led to the development of a “milekhdike (dairy) personality” and the proliferation of Jewish dairy restaurants in America before they mostly disappeared. Join us for a look at the role that the dairy restaurant has played in America’s culinary landscape in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

Former Minnesota Attorney General and environmental attorney Barbara Freese stared corporate denial in the face when cross-examining coal industry witnesses over a decade ago who were disputing the science of climate change. The experience inspired her to research all of the damage that corporate denial had caused in recent years. The resulting book, “Industrial-Strength Denial: Eight Stories of Corporations Defending the Indefensible, from the Slave Trade to Climate Change” is a sobering look at the dynamics of delusion and public deception. Join us for a conversation with Barbara Freese on the dangers of misinformation at the hands of powerful companies in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

How much is a human life worth? The calculations that that corporations and governments use to generate such a horrific number are often buried in technical language, yet they influence our economy, laws, behaviors, policies, health and safety. Howard Steven Friedman’s new book “Ultimate Price: The Value We Place on Life” explains in simple terms how economists and data scientists at corporations, regulatory agencies and insurance companies develop and use these price tags and examines their limitations. Join us for a discussion of the price of life in the free market with Howard Steven Friedman in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

A once-thriving community founded by formerly enslaved and free people of color, Mossville, Louisiana has become a breeding ground for petrochemical plants and their toxic black clouds. Many of the town’s residents have been forced from their homes and those that stay suffer from prolonged exposure to contamination and pollution. Amid this chaos and injustice stands one man, a local resident named Stacey Ryan, who refuses to abandon his family’s land and his community. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, director Alexander Glustrom and producers Katie Mathews and Daniel Bennett discuss their documentary “Mossville: When Great Trees Fall” that chronicles Ryan’s heroic stand against the powerful chemical conglomerate that took over his town.

Sayu Bhojwani is the founder and president of the New American Leaders Project, a national, nonpartisan organization focused on bringing New Americans into the political process. From 2002 to 2004, she served as New York City's first-ever Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. In 1996, Sayu started South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!), to develop the leadership potential of immigrant youth in Queens. The first and only organization of its kind, SAYA! currently works with over 500 kids each year. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Sayu discusses the effect new Trump administration policies enacted since the start of the pandemic will have on immigrants in America.

Democratic socialism is on the lips of activists and politicians from both the left and the right. Some call it extremism; some call it common sense. But what is it and what effect would it really have on American life as we know it? Michael J. Thompson and Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker’s new anthology “An Inheritance for Our Times: Principles and Politics of Democratic Socialism” includes both personal accounts and intellectual arguments from activists and theorists advocating a democratic socialist outlook. Join us for a look at democratic socialism from the inside out with Michael Thompson & Greg Zucker in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

People often believe that the years immediately prior to AD 1000 lacked any major cultural developments or geopolitical encounters, that the Europeans hadn’t yet reached North America and that the farthest feat of sea travel was the Vikings’ invasion of Britain. But how, then, to explain the presence of blonde-haired people in Maya temple murals at Chichén Itzá, Mexico? In her latest book, “The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World?and Globalization Began,” Yale University professor and historian Valerie Hansen argues that the year 1000 was the world’s first point of major cultural exchange and exploration. Join us for a rethinking of this period in history with Valerie Hansen in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

As regular listeners know, there are few building issues that our favorite masters of home repair Alvin and Lawrence Ubell don’t know how to fix. But with most large construction projects shut down across the country, in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Larry and Al discuss the way that COVID-19 has affected small businesses and the construction locally and take your questions about home repair projects that can be tackled while we’re all sheltered in place.

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" and the acclaimed "Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion." He is also a regular contributor to The Boston Globe’s op-ed page. As an activist, Michael has focused his efforts on multi-cultural coalition building to reduce violence and promote grassroots leadership from our most impacted communities. In this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Michael talks about how Ireland and the UK are coping with the pandemic.

Before he became a familiar journalistic voice at WNYC or WBAI’s former general manger, Robert Hennelly was national affairs correspondent for Pacifica Network News. His 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 talks about the government response to the coronavirus at the local, state and federal level.