WNYC New York Public Radio Most Emailed of the Day

Risk and the Road (The Leonard Lopate Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:28 GMT

We’ll look into Wall Street’s love affair with risk, how that helped lead to the economic crisis, and what can be done to keep the same thing from happening again. Then, director Richard Linklater talks about his latest film, “Me and Orson Welles.” Also, Viggo Mortensen discusses the challenges of starring in the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road.” Plus, we look into why many young people are abandoning the small towns they grew up in for big cities, and how that’s effecting rural America.

The Looting of America (The Leonard Lopate Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

Les Leopold, director of the Labor Institute and the Public Health Institute, seeks to correct the myths that blame the financial meltdown on low-income home buyers who got in over their heads, people who ran up too much credit-card debt, and government interference with free markets. In The Looting of America: How Wall Street’s Game of Fantasy Finance Destroyed Our Jobs, Pensions, and Prosperity—and What We Can Do About It, he looks into how Wall Street undermined the economy by turning to highly lucrative but extremely risky financial approaches.

Exploding Debt (The Brian Lehrer Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

Joshua Gordon policy director at The Concord Coalition and Bob Kuttner co-founder of The American Prospect magazine discuss the ballooning national debt and its impact on stimulus efforts.

The Orchid Hypothesis (The Brian Lehrer Show: Monday, 23 November 2009)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:10 GMT

A new theory of genetics asserts that mankind's most troublesome genes may be vital to our adaptability, if given the right kind of nurturing. David Dobbs, contributor to The Atlantic, writes about the orchid hypothesis in this month's issue and discusses his findings.

Evolving Developments (The Brian Lehrer Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

A court decision in favor of tenants at Stuyvesant Town/ Peter Cooper Village could have major implications for other landlords who get government benefits. Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael Cestero talks about the city’s housing policy and weighs in on halted development. Plus, today is the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species.

525 Clinton: From Construction Fatality to Stalled Development

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:39 GMT

In November 2008, WNYC aired a two-part report called "The Cost of Doing Business." It was an in-depth look at a construction accident that took the life of Mexican immigrant Jose Palacios. Palacio....

Happy Birthday, Evolution! (The Brian Lehrer Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

Richard Dawkins, biologist, "professor of the Public Understanding of Science" at Oxford University author of many books on science, most recently, The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution, talks about Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, which was published on 24 November 1859.

Hollowing Out the Middle (The Leonard Lopate Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

Recent articles and books have celebrated the migration of highly productive and creative workers to key cities. Sociologists Patrick J. Carr describes what happens to the towns that they desert, and to the people who are left behind. In Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means for America, written with Maria J. Kefalas, they describe what they learned by moving to a small Iowa town whose young people are leaving in droves.

A Less Open Internet? (The Brian Lehrer Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:38 GMT

Two news stories today may mean that the internet is getting a little less open. Julia Angwin wrote in the Wall St. Journal today about how the number of volunteer editors on Wikipedia has dropped precipitously over the past year. Then, Jeff Jarvis of Buzzmachine.com discusses reports that Rupert Murdoch is in negotiations with Microsoft to provide content exclusively to Bing, and not Google.

Risk and the Road (The Leonard Lopate Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:28 GMT

Denialism (The Leonard Lopate Show: Monday, 23 November 2009)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

New Yorker staff writer Michael Specter examines how and why Americans have come to mistrust institutions, especially the institution of science. For centuries, the general view of science was that it is neither good nor bad, but it merely supplies information. In Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives, he looks into why science has come to be viewed as a political constituency that’s not always in our best interest.

Ad Hoc at Home (The Leonard Lopate Show: Monday, 23 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:50 GMT

Chef Thomas Keller, whose restaurants The French Laundry in Yountville, California, and Per Se in New York have revolutionized American haute cuisine, turns his attention to simple food for the home cook. His cookbook Ad Hoc at Home is inspired by the menu of his casual restaurant, Ad Hoc in Yountville. It includes more than 200 recipes for family-style meals, such as flaky biscuits, chicken pot pies, New England clam bakes, and cherry pies.

Me and Orson Welles (The Leonard Lopate Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:47 GMT

Filmmaker Richard Linklater discusses his new movie "Me and Orson Welles." It’s based in real theatrical history, and is a romantic coming-of-age story about an actor who lands a role in "Julius Caesar," which is being re-imagined by a young, brilliant director named Orson Welles. "Me and Orson Welles" opens in New York Wednesday, November 25, at Lincoln Plaza Cinema and Angelika Film Center.

Musical Language (Radiolab: Friday, 21 April 2006)

Wed, 09 May 2007 20:09 GMT

What is music? How does it work? Why does it move us? Why are some people better at it than others? In this hour, we examine the line between language and music, how the brain processes sound, and we meet a composer who uses computers to capture the musical DNA of dead composers in order to create new work. We also re-imagine the disastrous 1913 debut of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring…through the lens of modern neurology.

Thomas Hampson (The Leonard Lopate Show: Monday, 09 November 2009)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:08 GMT

Baritone Thomas Hampson is an artist, educator, communicator, and music advocate. He discusses being the New York Philharmonic's first Artist-in-Residence, and the Hampsong Foundation, which is devoted to using the art of the song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding.

Event: Thomas Hampson is performing with the New York Philharmonic
Tuesday, November 10, at 7:30 pm
Avery Fischer Hall
10 Lincoln Center Plaza
More information about this and other performances and tickets here.

Overload (The Brian Lehrer Show: Monday, 07 March 2005)

Mon, 07 Mar 2005 16:10 GMT

Thomas de Zengotita, contributing editor to Harper’s Magazine, teaches Dalton School and at the Draper Graduate Program at New York University and author, Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way You Live In It(Bloomsbury 2005) on how the media shapes our world
» Mediated
» salon.com article

Evolving Developments (The Brian Lehrer Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

Sculptors of Monumental Narrative (Radiolab: Friday, 25 September 2009)

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:00 GMT

Dickson Despommier tells us the story of how the insatiable millionaire John D. Rockefeller turned an eye to the untapped market of the American South and ended up eradicating the hookworm (and, in the process, a number of other awful afflictions) with an ingenious contraption. Then Patrick Walters introduces us to Jasper Lawrence, a modern-day entrepreneur whose passion for hookworms stems from lifelong battles with allergies and asthma. But unlike Rockefeller, Jasper sees this parasite as friend, not foe.

Whole album as concert: roaring or boring? (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:59 GMT

A growing number of artists – from rock star Bruce Springsteen to the hip-hop group Public Enemy to singer-songwriter Liz Phair – have performed entire, old albums on the stage recently. One critic says those shows are “a cruel perversion of a concert's real-time magic.” Another claims they are often better than regular gigs. Our guests include Washington Post music critic Chris Richards.

The Jazz Loft

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:11 GMT

In 1957, photographer W. Eugene Smith moved into a loft at 821 Sixth Avenue. It became a hangout for artists, writers and especially jazz musicians, who rehearsed and jammed there. By the time Smith....

Risk and the Road (The Leonard Lopate Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:28 GMT

The Undead Come Alive (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 27 October 2009)

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:00 GMT

With TV shows like HBO’s True Blood and films like Zombieland, vampires and zombies are dominating pop culture this year. Today: Armed with garlic and baseball bats, we debate which creature inspires better music. Also: the Brooklyn vocal trio Pearl and the Beard are about to hit the road, but first they perform live in our studio.

The Road (The Leonard Lopate Show: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:24 GMT

Actor Viggo Mortensen talks about his career and his role in the film "The Road," based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel about a father and son struggling for survival in a desperate, post-apocalyptic America. "The Road" opens nationwide Wednesday, November 25.

Smackdown: Vampires vs. Zombies (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 27 October 2009)

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:04 GMT

It's been a big year for the undead. Vampires are sucking blood on TV shows like True Blood and Vampire Diaries and in the upcoming film New Moon. Zombies are stumbling through movies starring Woody Harrelson (Zombieland) and books by zombie-loving scribe Max Brooks (The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks). In a special Halloween edition of Soundcheck Smackdown, we debate whether vampires or zombies have inspired better music. We're joined by Tom Moon, author of the spookily titled book 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die, and Jason Rekulak of Quirk Books, publisher of the Jane Austen satire Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Tell us: Which has inspired better music -- vampires or zombies? Why do you think vampires and zombies are a big part of pop culture right now?

Happy 23 to Leonard Lopate (The Leonard Lopate Show: Wednesday, 05 March 2008)

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:00 GMT

Join Leonard to celebrate his 23rd anniversary as a host here at WNYC! Also: the complexities of South Africa's AIDS crisis. A new documentary about American military doctors. Psychologist Carol Gilligan's first venture into fiction-writing. Plus: are pharmaceutical companies overmedicating us?