Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

FIRST THINGS FIRST, hip-hop is not just the music, and women have played a big role in shaping the way it looks today. FIRST THINGS FIRST takes readers on a journey through some notable firsts by women in hip-hop history and their importance. Factual firsts like Queen Latifah becoming the first rapper to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Lauryn Hill making history as the first rapper to win the coveted Album of the Year Award at the GRAMMYs, April Walker being the first woman to dominate in the hip-hop fashion game, and Da Brat being the first solo woman rapper to have an album go platinum, and metaphorical firsts like Missy Elliott being the first woman rapper to go to the future.

Laura Pappano is a veteran journalist who has covered the heated disagreements that surround K-12 education for over thirty years. Yet, today's high stakes battle is unlike anything she's seen before. "It isn't rooted in a passion for the success of all children," she writes. "Rather, it's about the hijacking of public education by a far-right Christian movement and the quest to do away with the community-rooted education enterprise." Parent involvement is no longer about baking treats or donating classroom supplies, she notes. It's about organizing to protect the very existence of public schools. Join us when award-winning journalist and founder of The New Haven Student Journalism Project, operated through Yale University’s Office of New Haven Affairs chronicles how this cultural and political war has unfolded in hot spots across the country and how mom activists, including in some cases conservative Christian women, are holding the line against the far-right takeover of public schools, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

According to Award-winning journalist and Regular Contributor Robert Hennelly, most of the labor activists that are reviving the American union movement were not on the planet when Martin Luther King Jr walked the earth. But the torch has been passed and the “dream” endures when ever there’s collective non-violent action that moves US forward. Hennelly, has a passion for uncovering the News behind the News. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, he has always had a keen interest in the roles of immigration, local politics, business, labor unions, real estate ownership, and environmental protection in the evolution of the United States. For more than 30 years, he has reported on a broad spectrum of major public policy questions, ranging from homeland security to the economy, environmental contamination to corruption, and occupational safety to homelessness. Join us today on Leonard Lopate at Large. When Bob Hennelly covers extend medical and compensation benefits to those involved in rescue operations following the 9/11 attacks and more on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Leonard Lopate, the Peabody and James Beard Award-winning broadcaster, is on WBAI where he began his radio career. Tune in weekdays from 1-2pm at 99.5fm New York or you can listen to the show live at WBAI.org. Join us for conversation on current events and call-in into the station to let your voice be heard (212) 209-2877. Listen to past shows: https://soundcloud.com/leonard-lopate Be a Friend: Twitter - https://twitter.com/lopate_leonard Support the Station (select the Leonard Lopate at Large from the pulldown menu): BAI Buddy: https://wbai.wedid.it

A site by site, crime by crime, outlaw by outlaw walking tour through the seedy underbelly of Roaring Twenties Manhattan—where gamblers and gangsters, crooks and cops, showgirls and speakeasies ruled the day and, always, the night. In Gangsterland, historian David Pietrusza tours the Big Apple’s rotten core. The Roaring Twenties blaze and sparkle with Times Square’s bright lights and showgirls, but its dark shadows mask a web of notorious gangsters ruling New York City.

Max Roach Centennial Celebrations in January Include Film Screening, Panel Discussion and Local NYC-NJ Concerts The revolutionary 1960 album We Insist!: Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite explored issues of social justice and racial inequality through the lens of jazz and poetry. In celebration of the centennial of Max Roach (1924-2007)—drummer, bebop pioneer and civil rights activist—this landmark work is reimagined for today’s world. In affiliation with Jazz at Lincoln Center, this special one-night only concert is led by musical director Nasheet Waits (of Max’s percussion ensemble M’Boom) featuring vocalist Cassandra Wilson, poets Sonia Sanchez and Saul Williams, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, and bassist Eric Revis. Join us for an in-depth discussion with Drummer and Music Educator, Nasheet Waits who’s interest in playing the drums was encouraged by his father, legendary percussionist, Frederick Waits, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Richard Rothstein is the co-author of JUST ACTION: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute, and Senior Fellow (Emeritus) of the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Leah Rothstein is the co-author of JUST ACTION: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law that describes how local community groups can redress the wrongs of segregation. Leah has worked on public policy and community change, from the grassroots to the halls of government. Join us for conversation on reforming community policy and practice to be focused on rehabilitation, not punishment on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Bestselling author and historian Steven Ujifusa tells the largely forgotten, colorful story of three businessmen who, driven by very different motives, made much of this immigration possible and forever changed the fates of millions. The men were Jacob Schiff, the managing partner of an investment bank who used his immense wealth to help Jews to leave Europe; Albert Ballin, managing director of the Hamburg-American Line, who created a transportation network of trains and steamships; and the notorious J.P. Morgan, who tried to take over the lucrative steamship business. Join us for a discussion on these titans of industry who forged powerful alliances and compelling rivalries on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large. Be a Friend: Twitter - https://twitter.com/lopate_leonard Support the Station (select the Leonard Lopate at Large from the pulldown menu)

We'd like to hear from you during this Holiday season. How have you been coping with winter, Municipal, State, and Global concerns? Although this is the mos festive time of year it sometimes doesnt feel that way. We would like you to share your remedies on dealing with the winter blues. Call-in in Join the discussion. Listen to past shows: https://soundcloud.com/leonard-lopate Be a Friend: Twitter - https://twitter.com/lopate_leonard Support the Station (select the Leonard Lopate at Large from the pulldown menu): BAI Buddy: https://wbai.wedid.it

Edited by Jennifer Cognard-Black and Melissa A. Goldthwaite - Good Eats: 32 Writers on Eating Ethically features a highly diverse ensemble of award-winning writers, activists, educators, chefs, farmers, and journalists, Good Eats invites readers to think about what it means to eat according to our values. These essays tell the stories of real people—real bellies, real bodies—including the writers themselves, who seek to understand the experiences, families, cultures, histories, and systems that have shaped their eating and their ethics. From gardening as an alternative to factory farming, to the indigenous cultures surrounding salmon and the corporate cultures surrounding chocolate, the topics featured in this collection expand our understanding of what ethical eating can be. Join us when Melissa A. Goldthwaite a Professor of English at Saint Joseph's University share the stories which describe efforts to change how food is made on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Michael Zweig illuminates all propositions with specific examples from US history, from the first settlement of the New World to current life, including his own lived experiences as an activist, educator, and organizer over the past six decades. As such, the book is an urgently needed resource for activists and organizers seeking structural and moral transformation of life in the US. Building on his analysis, Zweig also presents strategies for political action in electoral and movement-building work.

Photos from the 1990s present images of floods and fires that paralyzed the area, juxtaposed with continued bulldozing to clear the way for luxury housing. Politics reshaped Manhattan’s skyline by encouraging new commercial shopping, food, and restaurant destinations. This restructuring marked the beginning of the end of downtown’s blue-collar origins and white-collar replacements, challenging us to ask, “What was lost?”

Could this really be our future? If so, what has to happen now to achieve such a radical change? In How We Ended Racism, Justin Michael Williams and Shelly Tygielski reveal a path for real and lasting global impact―not just talking about it, studying it, or making small steps, but actually ending racism in one generation.

Williams and Tygielski draw from a wide array of scientific studies, as well as their practical successes in teaching a multitude of diverse groups across perceived “divides,” to show us how to shift our perspective and enact lasting change in our families, workplaces, communities, and beyond. Here they provide solid answers to the questions future generations will ask about this pivotal time in history, by laying out the eight conditions that needed to arise in humanity to realize this possibility.

Regular Contributor Bob Hennelly of Stuck Nation covers topics ranging from homeland security to the economy, environmental contamination to corruption, and occupational safety to homelessness. Joing us when Hennelly touches on the hearing held by Sen. Sanders for his Health, Education, Labor and Pension that featured testimony from Fain (UAW), Nelson (AFA CWA) and O’Brien (Teamsters) or Tammy Murphy, Gov. Murphy’s wife, as a viable replacement for the 3x indicted US Senator. And more on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large. Listen to past shows: https://soundcloud.com/leonard-lopate Be a Friend: Twitter - https://twitter.com/lopate_leonard Support the Station (select the Leonard Lopate at Large from the pulldown menu): BAI Buddy: https://wbai.wedid.it

From Brown v. Board of Education in the mid-twentieth century to the current Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Foley explores how organizations have resisted and complied with public policies regarding race. She examines how admissions officers, who have played an important role in the long fight to protect racial diversity in higher education, work around the law to maintain diversity after affirmative action is banned. Foley takes us behind the curtain of student admissions, shedding light on how multiple universities, including the University of Michigan, have creatively responded to affirmative action bans. On the Basis of Race traces the history of a controversial idea and policy, and provides insight into its uncertain future.

Lewin brings these general principles to life by considering the history of the genetics revolution, from the discovery of the double helical structure of DNA to the sequencing of the human genome and the possibilities of gene editing today. History shows us that each period of progress in science relied on dogmas that often advanced but sometimes retarded progress, and that views of reality often changed suddenly and dramatically. Join us when Ben Lewin concludes by asking if the reductionist manifesto that has dominated biology for the past half century can continue to hold, on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large.

Leonardo Freitas is the Chairman and Managing Director of Hayman-Woodward. Freitas is an entrepreneur with over twenty-five years of experience in government relations, international trade, and business development in the United States, as well as emerging markets, with a focus on Latin America and Asia.

In The End of Reality¸ Jonathan Taplin provides his perspective into the personal backgrounds and cultural power of these billionaires—Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Marc Andreesen (“The Four”) —and shows how their tech monopolies have brought middle-class wage stagnation, the hollowing out of many American towns, a radical increase in income inequality, and unbounded public acrimony. Meanwhile, the enormous amount of taxpayer money to be funneled into the dystopian ventures of "The Four," the benefits of which will accrue to billionaires, exacerbate these disturbing trends. Join us when film producer and scholar, Jonathan Taplin shares what he calls - the great con job of the twenty-first century—the metaverse, crypto, space travel, transhumanism—being sold by four billionaires (Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreesen, Elon Musk), leading to the degeneration and bankruptcy of our society, on this installment

Jewish Space Lasers: The Rothschilds and 200 Years of Conspiracy Theoriesis a deeply researched dive into the history of the conspiracy industry around the Rothschild family - from the "pamphlet wars" of Paris in the 1840s to the dankest pits of the internet today. Join us when journalist and conspiracy theory expert Mike Rothschild, who isn't related to the family, sorts out myth from reality to find the truth about these conspiracy theories and their spreaders on this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large

Leonard talks with ROLAND RICH, the former Australian Ambassador to the UN about his book. Leviathan.