Please Explain (the Leonard Lopate Show)

From the cavernous Chinatown restaurants where carts of dumplings are wheeled around, waiting to be pointed to and picked up like an eager single teenager at the prom, to foie gras, flank steak and braised duck chins, dim sum is a changing force in Chinese cuisine in this country. Dim sum takes years to master, seconds to eat, and contains within its tapioca wrapper the history of waves of Cantonese immigration. Ed Schoenfeld, restaurateur, Chinese food aficionado and owner-operator of Red Farm, a Zagat top rated Chinese restaurant in New York, and a New York Times critics-pick.

Now that you're equipped with a variety of new egg recipes, today's Please Explain will answer all of your egg-buying questions! Omega-3, Free Range, Cage Free, Organic… What do these labels mean? Why do eggs come in different colors? Why don’t you have to put farmers market eggs in the fridge?  Here to answer all these questions and more is Cathy Erway, Serious Eats contributor and author of The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove. She also blogs at Not Eating Out In New York and has a podcast called Eat Your Words on Heritage Radio. She wrote this article about egg labeling. We'll also be joined by Mary Carpenter, owner and operator of Violet Hill Farm in West Winfield, NY. She keeps poultry and supplies a wide variety of eggs to the Union Square and McCaren Park greenmarkets. Matt Kaplan, who works at the Violet Hill greenmarket stalls, will stop by our studio and bring some eggs for show and tell!  

This week’s Please Explain is all about trails - from the ancient nomadic paths that travelers relied on for survival, to modern hiking trails that help us find our way in the wilderness. Robert Moor began writing his book, On Trails: An Exploration, while thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2009. He’ll talk about animal trails (ants, buffaloes, elephants), long-lost Cherokee trails, and discuss the colonial origins of American hiking trails.  

With many people still trying to come to terms with the news from Orlando, Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights, and Dallas, the conversations around gun control, racial profiling, and police tactics, are front and center. But one element missing from these conversations is concrete data, largely because the federal government does not collect it. For this week’s Please Explain, we are going to discuss the data behind the high profile shootings in the news: how it’s being collected, and what it reveals. Jamiles Lartey, reporter for Guardian US will talk about their project, The Counted, which is tracking the number of people killed by law enforcement in 2015 and 2016. Ben Casselman, Senior Editor and Chief Economics Writer at 538, will discuss his site’s series “Gun Deaths in America” which goes far broader and analyzes all gun deaths in the U.S.

Sometimes it's impossible to avoid an argument. That's why on today's Please Explain, we're learning how to make a convincing case with Stanley Fish, law professor and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His latest book, Winning Arguments: What Works and Doesn't Work in Politics, the Bedroom, the Courtroom, and the Classroom, is a guide to using wit, observation, logic and rhetoric to win the toughest arguments, whether at the workplace or at home.   Need to win an argument? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

Dolphins have long been regarded for their remarkable intelligence and social skills. When the dolphin genome was first sequenced in 2011, scientists learned that the beloved aquatic mammals are even more like us than we previously thought. This week's Please Explain is all about dolphins, their remarkable intelligence and their relationship to humans, with journalist Susan Casey, author of Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins. She embarked on a two-year global adventure to explore the nature of dolphins.  Have questions about dolphins? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

We’re untangling the science and cultural history of hair on this week’s Please Explain with a leading expert on the fascinating fiber, Kurt Stenn, the author of Hair: A Human History. He served for over 20 years as a Professor of Pathology and Dermatology at the Yale University School of Medicine, in addition to working as the Director of Skin Biology at Johnson & Johnson where he helped found a biotech startup on hair follicle regeneration. He’ll talk about the evolutionary history of hair, in addition to its role in art, fashion, cultural identity and even the economy.  Do you have questions about hair? Ask us in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

After the shooting in Orlando, and mass shootings in the past, there is intense focus on mental illness, and questions of whether mental illness can be linked to mass shootings. On this week's Please Explain, David Kessler, former FDA Commissioner of 20 years, will discuss mental illness and emotional anxiety, and explain how certain stimuli can capture our attention, and even control our actions. Dr. Kessler’s latest book is “Capture: Unraveling the Mystery of Mental Suffering.” He'll reveal how the psychological phenomenon of "capture" influences addiction, abuse, and can even lead to violence, like mass shootings.  

For the past 2000 years, paper has been the essential object that fuels education, art, commerce, dissemination of ideas… and the list goes on and on. In his new book, Paper: Paging Through History, the bestselling author of Cod and Salt, Mark Kurlansky writes, “Studying the history of paper exposes a number of historical misconceptions, the most important of which is this technological fallacy: the idea that technology changes society. It is exactly the reverse. Society develops technology to address the changes that are taking place within it.”  He joins us to talk about the history of paper on today's Please Explain. We'll also be joined by paper-maker Donna Koretsky, co-founder and owner of Carriage House Paper in Brooklyn, as well as co-curator of the International Paper Museum in Boston. Have questions about paper? Give us a call at 646-829-3985!

New research reveals that some birds rival primates in terms of intelligence, according to science writer Jennifer Ackerman. She joins us for today's Please Explain, which is all about birds and their remarkable intelligence! Her new book The Genius of Birds uncovers little-known facts about the powerful bird brain. She traveled the globe for her research -- from laboratories in Barbados and New Caledonia, to the mountains of central Virginia. Do you have questions about birds? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook! Events:  Jennifer Ackerman will be participating in this year’s World Science Festival from June 1 through 5. She'll be speaking at the Science Story and Café at the NYU Kimmel Center  on June 4th from 12:30 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. She'll also speak at Science and Story on June 4 from 8:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. at the NYU Kimmel Center, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium.   

Spring is finally here, and we're kicking off the growing season with a Please Explain that’s all about urban agriculture and city gardens! Find out the best ways to maximize your green space - whether it’s a window box, rooftop plot or a community garden. We’ll also look at the city’s growing rooftop-farm movement, discuss public garden spaces and find out why rooftop gardens are an ecological necessity in our urban landscape. Joining us is Annie Novak, co-founder and head farmer of the nation’s first commercial green roof row farm, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm in Brooklyn. She’s also the manager of the Edible Academy at New York Botanical Garden, founder and director of Growing Chefs and author of The Rooftop Growing Guide. We’ll also be joined by Gerard Lordahl, Director of Open Space Greening Program at GrowNYC, a non-profit which operates local environmental programs, including the city Greenmarkets.  Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

The English language is spoken by millions of people around the world, and despite that fact, it remains relatively fluid. Because it’s so adaptable, who knows what the future will hold in store for English? On today's Please Explain, we’ll attempt to find out with Simon Horobin, Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College. He's the author of How English Became English: A Short History of a Global Language. We’ll also learn how modern English developed and became standardized, in addition to how it has evolved through the centuries and in different global communities. Do you have questions about the history and future of English? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!  

Has technology destroyed our ability to have meaningful face-to-face conversations? What happens when we look up from our phones and try to communicate? On today's Please Explain, media scholar and MIT professor Sherry Turkle reveals how our relationship with technology has harmed our ability to empathize. She's also the author of the bestselling book Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in the Digital Age.  Do you have questions about technology and modern conversation? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

Charter schools have been growing in popularity over the past few years in communities across the country, most notably in New York and Washington, D.C. Advocates say they're the solution to failing inner city schools, while critics argue they're corporatizing public education. We have a lot of questions about charter schools, and on today's Please Explain we'll talk find out how they began, how they're funded, as well as some of successes and failures of the system.  Dr. Michael Fabricant, a professor at the Hunter College School of Social Work and executive officer of the Ph.D. Program in Social Welfare, and Dr. Michelle Fine, a Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology, Women's Studies, and Urban Education at the Graduate Center, CUNY, will join us to talk about charter schools. They’re the authors of Charter Schools and the Corporate Makeover of Public Education: What's at Stake?   

President Obama said last month that our Supreme Court, "is supposed to be above politics, not an extension of politics. And it should stay that way.”  But has the Court ever been non-partisan in practice? Is it even possible for nine justices to stay out of politics? In light of the contention over Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination, we're looking at the politics of the Supreme Court on today's Please Explain.  Jeffrey Toobin, staff writer at The New Yorker, senior legal analyst at CNN and author of the forthcoming book American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst, joins us to shed some light on the inner-workings of the Supreme Court. Nina Totenberg, NPR's award-winning legal affairs correspondent, also joins the conversation.   

What is folk music? Spanning genres, geographical locations, and eras in time, it’s the music of the people. Although American folk music has been around for a long time, you could say it had its biggest explosion in the 1960s in Greenwich Village. In fact, New York has experienced a bit of a folk revival in recent years. On today's Please Explain, we're exploring folk music with Eli Smith, the co-founder of the Brooklyn Folk Festival, the banjo player for The Downhill Strugglers and the former co-host of The Down Home Radio Show. Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, a multi-instrumentalist performing at this year's Brooklyn Folk Festival, joins Eli in the conversation. They'll also perform live in our studio!  Event: The Brooklyn Folk Festival will be held at St. Anne’s Church (157 Montague Street between Clinton and Henry) from April 8th-10th. It will feature 35 bands, workshops and events including an old time string band, freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement, shape note, country blues and international folk m

There's a whole world of magical creatures out there, and on today's Please Explain we're unraveling the truth behind cryptozoology, which may or may not be a pseudoscience. Loren Coleman, one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, an honorary member of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club and director of the International Cryptology Museum, joins us to discuss creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Joe Gisondi, a professor of journalism at Eastern Illinois University and the author of Monster Trek: The Obsessive Search for Bigfoot, also weighs in on the discussion.  Do you have questions about Bigfoot, unicorns, centaurs or other magical creatures? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!

The presidential primaries are in full swing, and that leaves us with a lot of questions about the intricate rules, politics and process of choosing our next president. What’s the difference between a primary and a caucus? Delegates and superdelegates? Why do political parties even have conventions? For these answers and more, we turn to Jacob Weisberg, editor-in-chief of The Slate Group, host of the “Trumpcast” podcast on Slate.com and author of The Bush Tragedy.  Do you have questions about our presidential primary process? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook! Event: Slate's Culture Gabfest LIVE will be held on April 6th at 7:30 p.m. at the SVA Theater at 333 West 23rd Street. For tickets and event information, visit the event page.    What's the difference between a primary and a caucus? One of them do not have a secret ballot https://t.co/CqYEvuM9Lo — Leonard Lopate Show (@LeonardLopate) March 25, 2016 The delegate structure was meant to prevent someone like #B

If you thought that dinosaurs were extinct, think again. According to a new exhibit at The American Museum of Natural History, birds are a form of living dinosaur! The myriad evolutionary connections between birds and dinosaurs are apparently found in bird bone structure, flight mechanisms, feathers and nesting patterns. We now know more than ever about these common traits thanks to new technologies like CT scanners, synchrotrons and advanced computer modeling that paleontologists have used to examine fossils, bones, and other ancient remnants. On this week’s Please Explain, we’ll dive into these connections with Dr. Mark Norell, the chair of the American Museum of Natural History's Division of Paleontology.  Event: Dr. Norell's exhibit “Dinosaurs Among Us,” at the American Museum of Natural History opens March 21st and will run until January 2nd, 2017. The exhibit will open exclusively to AMNH members March 18th through March 20th. For tickets and more information, click here.  Want to hear more from Dr. Mar

Mark Zuckerberg, the 31-year-old co-founder, chairman and CEO of Facebook, recently announced that he and his wife plan to donate 99% of their wealth - approximately $45 billion - to charity. On today's Please Explain, Michael Hobbes, a freelance writer who also works for a human rights NGO, talks about how philanthropy is changing, from the Rockefeller and Carnegie foundations, to Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg's altruism.  Do you have questions about philanthropy? Send us your questions in a comment below, or let us know on Twitter or Facebook!