Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

Having escaped religious persecution in Eastern Europe in 1903, the grandfather and great-uncle of the former Hasbro CEO Alan Hassenfeld arrived in America as penniless teenage immigrants—refugees who went from hawking rags on the streets of New York City to building what became the world's largest toy company, Hasbro. Alan's father, Merrill, brought Mr. Potato Head and G.I. Joe to consumers and his only brother, Stephen, made Hasbro a Fortune 500 company and Hollywood player. Alan was the free spirit who wanted to write novels, date beautiful women and travel the world. He never wanted to run Hasbro and no one ever believed he would—or could. In 1989 Stephen died of AIDS. "Kid Number One," as Alan liked to call himself, was suddenly chairman and CEO. Silencing the skeptics, he took the company to greater heights and then almost killed it with a series of bad decisions including Hasbro's acquisition of rights to POKéMON. G. Wayne Miller’s book “Kid Number One: Alan Hassenfeld and Hasbro” takes a hard look at Alan’s rise and fall in the company. Join us for a look at the darker side of toy making in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

When does a scientific discovery become accepted fact? Why have scientific facts become easy to deny? And what can we do about it? In his latest book “The Workshop and the World: What Ten Thinkers Can Teach Us About Science and Authority” philosopher and science historian Robert P. Crease considers the origins of our scientific infrastructure and the role of 10 of the world’s greatest thinkers in shaping it. Join us for a discussion of some of the greatest scientific the world has ever known with Robert P. Crease in this installment of Leonard Lopate on WBAI.

More than one out of every six American children lives below the poverty line. But statistics alone can’t convey just how rampant this issue has become. In his new book “Invisible Americans: The Tragic Cost of Child Poverty,” Jeff Madrick brings to light the often invisible reality and irreparable damage of child poverty in the US. Join us for a discussion with Jeff Madrick about this disturbing phenomenon in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

Michael Patrick MacDonald is the author of the best-selling memoir, "All Souls: A Family Story From Southie" and the acclaimed "Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion." He has been awarded an American Book Award, A New England Literary Lights Award, and a fellowship at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Study Center. He is also a regular contributor to The Boston Globe’s Op Ed page. As an activist, MacDonald 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 Patrick MacDonald weighs in on where the UK and Ireland are headed following a contentious Brexit Day.

In his new book “Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump--and Democrats from Themselves” former Republican strategist Rick Wilson draws from his decades of national political experience to offer this case-by-case takedown of a president he considers the worst in history. In this eye-opening work, Wilson blows the lid off Trump’s 2020 Republican war machine, laying out the exact strategies and tactics he believes his campaign will use against the Democratic nominee and how the Democrats can avoid falling into Trump’s trap. Join us for a frank look at President Trump’s campaign tactics with Rick Wilson in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

Anastasia Nesvetailova and Ronen Palan’s new book “Sabotage: The Hidden Nature of Finance” is an intellectual detective story tracing the origins of financial sabotage, starting with the work of a prescient American economist who saw the capacity for banks and businesses to dissemble and profit as early as the 1920s. Join us for a discussion with this husband and wife team about how our plagued modern financial system got this way in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

In the late 1930s, as part of the government employees tracked down 3,000 men and women who had been enslaved before and during the Civil War. The federal workers asked them probing questions about slave life. What did they think about their slaveholders? What songs did they sing? What games did they play? Did they always think about escaping? The result was a remarkable compilation of interviews known as the Slave Narratives. Richard Cahan’s book “River of Blood: American Slavery from the People Who Lived It: Interviews & Photographs of Formerly Enslaved African Americans” highlights those narratives―condensing tens of thousands of pages into short excerpts from about 100 former slaves and pairs their accounts with their photographs, taken by the workers sent to record their stories. Join us for a discussion with Richard Cahan about these important images and the accounts that inform them in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

Throughout its history, New York City has been a battleground for international espionage, a place where secrets are created, stolen and passed on through clandestine meetings and covert communications. In over 200 entries, H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace’s beloved guidebook “Spy Sites of New York City: A Guide to the Region’s Secret History” takes you inside this shadowy world and reveals the places where it all happened. Join us for a look at a side of the city you’ve never seen before with H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace in this edition of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

In the 1820s, few Americans could imagine a viable future for black children. Even abolitionists saw just two options for African American youth—permanent subjection or exile. Anna Mae Duane’s book “Educated for Freedom: The Incredible Story of Two Fugitive Schoolboys Who Grew Up to Change a Nation” tells the story of James McCune Smith and Henry Highland Garnet, two black children who beat the odds, finding freedom as their country struggled to grow from a slave nation into a free country and forever altering the course of American history in the process. Join us for a discussion of their heroic story with Anna Mae Duane in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

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. His work has been featured on “60 Minutes” and C-Span's “America and the Courts.” In latest appearance on Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI, Bob talks about his latest reporting on local and national politics.