Please Explain (The Leonard Lopate Show)

Doling out 15 percent of the check to the waiter is standard, but how much should you tip cab drivers and hairdressers?  Today’s Please Explain is all about tipping. Milla Bloch and Diane Gottsman explain how much to give, to whom, and where tipping comes from.

Do you have different tipping methods based on service? Do you tip a cab driver the same way you tip a waitress or a hairdresser?

Current and former waiters: do you tip more generously than others?

Rubber is all around us: from sneakers to tires to basketballs. On today’s Please Explain, we'll find out where rubber comes from, how it’s created and used, and how it changed the world. We're joined by John Loadman, analytical chemist and author of  Tears of the Tree: The Story of Rubber--A Modern Marvel, and Joe Jackson, author of The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire.

Today’s Please Explain is all about the sport of roller derby, from its earliest roots to its modern day revival. Alex Cohen (aka Axles of Evil) and Jennifer Barbee, the authors of Down and Derby: The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby, stop by our show today. Alex Cohen is a skater and trainer, and also served as the derby consultant/choreographer for Drew Barrymore’s film "Whip It!"

Ever since Joseph Priestly discovered how to "impregnate water with fixed air" in the 18th century, carbonated beverages have been ubiquitous. Sodas have been used to cure diseases, fight alcoholism, and spread American culture around the globe. On this week's Please Explain, we’ll find out what soda is, what’s in it, and when it became so popular. We’re joined by Dr. Kelly Brownell, the co-founder and director of the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and Darcy O'Neil, beverage master and author of the book Fix the Pumps, a history of soda from the 18th century to the present.

Today’s Please Explain is all about breakfast cereal. Food historian Andy Smith, the author of Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine, among other books, joins us along with Edwin Chavey, aka Mr. Breakfast, director of the Mr. Breakfast Website and "The Cereal Project," a database of 1,200 cereals made in the United States, to explain what cereals are made of, how truthful health claims made about some are, and how there got to be so many varieties.

Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in North America, and the number of reported cases has been steadily climbing over the last decade. We’re joined by Brian Fallon, associate professor of clinical psychiatry and director of the Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center, and Dr. Carolyn Britton, associate professor of clinical neurology at Columbia University Medical Center, and chief neurologist for the Lyme research studies conducted by Columbia’s Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases Research Center. They’ll discuss how the disease is spread, diagnosed, and treated, and how we can protect ourselves while we’re outside this summer.

As summer nears its close, many of us are flying away to get our last taste of summer vacation, but nothing ruins a good jaunt to Europe like a bout of jet lag. In fact, jet lag was once considered such a problem that Congress set up a special unit at NASA devoted to studying the condition. Joining us to explain why jet lag occurs and how we can prevent it are Dr. Kevin Gregory, a former scientist at the NASA Jet Lag Center and the current senior scientist at Alertness Solutions Inc., and Dr. David M. Rapoport, Director of the Sleep Medicine Program at NYU Medical School.

Wondering what to do with this summer's bounty? This week's Please Explain is all about canning, pickling, and preserving. We're joined by  Katherine Alford, director of the Test Kitchen at The Food Network, and food writer Eugenia Bone.

This week's Please Explain will answer all of our caffeine-related questions, from whether or not we should drink coffee before we run a marathon to how caffeine differs from other stimulants. Bennett Alan Weinberg, co-author of the book The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World's Most Popular Drug, explains how the world's most popular drug affects us.

Do you have a question about how caffeine affects you? Ask it as a comment!

This summer’s high temperatures have brought headaches and heat advisories. On today’s Please Explain, we’re taking a look at some of the health risks that extreme heat brings—from dehydration to heat stroke. Dr. Susi Vassallo, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, explains how heat affects the body.