Leonard Lopate

Lopate came to radio relatively late in life. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Williamsburg, he attended Brooklyn College and later Hunter College, where he trained as a painter (he studied with Ad Reinhardt and Mark Rothko), and worked in advertising for fifteen years.[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/fashion/20LOPATE.html "Leonard Lopate, Conversational Acrobat"], by Warren St. John. The New York Times, March 20, 2005. He was given the chance to host his first talk show on WBAI in 1977; what began as a whim became his life's work.

Lopate's longest-running program on WBAI was Round Midnight, a weekly late-night show, which featured interviews and free-form discussion on a variety of topics with listeners who called in to the station. The show ran through the mid-1980s, ending when Lopate moved to WNYC-FM to host a midday talk show with radio veteran Pegeen Fitzgerald, which subsequently evolved into The Leonard Lopate Show.

Lopate also appears regularly at the 92nd Street Y, where he interviews celebrities and moderates his ongoing panel series "Comparing Notes". He has appeared in a similar capacity at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Queens College, Brooklyn College, the New York Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Alliance Française, and The New School. He has also created a series of discussions on literature for the writers’ organization, PEN International.[http://www.ctforum.org/popups/bio.asp?event_bio_image_id=3617 "Leonard Lopate – Biography"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928190051/http://www.ctforum.org/popups/bio.asp?event_bio_image_id=3617 |date=2007-09-28 }}, The Connecticut Forum.

File:Gore Vidal and Leonard Lopate Shankbone 2009 NYC.jpg with Lopate in 2009]]

The Leonard Lopate Show aired on WNYC from noon to 2 pm every weekday until December, 2017. Segments of the show are available as podcasts found on iTunes and on the station's website.

The show's Peabody Award-winning format typically consisted of four interviews ranging from twenty to forty minutes in length and covered a broad range of topics including current events, history, literature, the arts, including jazz and gospel music, food and wine (he has won three James Beard Awards), and science. Guests were often interviewed to accompany a book release. Lopate interviewed politicians, poets, painters, novelists, filmmakers, actors, dancers, and more than a few Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners. He frequently interviewed actors, playwrights and producers to talk about their current NYC theatre productions.

Lopate introduced two ongoing features to the program. One was called "Please Explain", in which he talked with experts on a wide variety of topics that were not tied to book or movie releases and could be described as general interest. In 2006, some of the "Please Explain" topics he delved into included sainthood, nanotechnology, insomnia, infertility, and meditation.[http://www.wnyc.org/series/please-explain "Please Explain"], Please Explain The other feature was called "Underreported", in which Lopate delved deeply into political and social issues deemed not to have received sufficient media coverage.[http://www.wnyc.org/series/underreported "Underreported"], Underreported.

For the show's twentieth anniversary, in 2005, Tom Brokaw interviewed Lopate about the history of the show, Lopate's goals, and Lopate's interviewing style.[https://www.wnyc.org/story/50717-leonard-looks-back/ "Role-Reversal: Leonard Looks Back."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023732/http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2005/03/11 |date=2007-09-30 }} WNYC – Leonard Lopate Show, March 11, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-04-15.

The show was previously called New York & Company.[https://web.archive.org/web/19981202210951/http://wnyc.org/ WNYC home page], as archived December 2, 1998, 9:09:51 p.m., as accessed December 7, 2017.

{{See also|Me Too movement}}

In February 2017, a producer discussed with human resources at WNYC multiple comments Lopate had made to her that she considered sexually provocative. While she did not consider any single comment to be "fireable", she said the comments made her feel uncomfortable. The February incident led to an investigation that "resulted in one-on-one anti-harassment training for him and a warning to Lopate that he was creating an uncomfortable work environment." In March 2017, "a second producer filed a complaint against Lopate... describing comments she felt were inappropriate."{{Cite news|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-public-radio-fires-hosts-lopate-schwartz|title=New York Public Radio Fires Hosts Lopate and Schwartz|work=WNYC|access-date=2017-12-21}}

On December 21, 2017, with the "MeToo" movement in full swing across the country, WNYC fired both Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz, stating that investigations found that each individual had violated WNYC's standards "for providing an inclusive, appropriate, and respectful work environment";[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wnyc-leonard-lopate-jonathan-schwartz-fired/ "New York Public Radio Fires Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz"], CBS News (December 21, 2017, last updated 6:15 p.m. E.S.T.). they had been placed on leave 15 days earlier pending investigations.{{cite web

| url=http://www.wnyc.org/story/longtime-wnyc-hosts-put-leave

| title=Longtime WNYC Hosts Leonard Lopate, Jonathan Schwartz Placed On Leave

| website=WNYC

| date=6 December 2017

| accessdate=6 December 2017

| author=WNYC Newsroom

}} One producer complained that, as she was preparing for a segment about a cookbook, Lopate informed her that the name "avocado" comes from the Aztec word for "testicle".{{cite web |title=New York Public Radio Fires Hosts Lopate and Schwartz |url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-public-radio-fires-hosts-lopate-schwartz/ |website=WNYC |publisher=WNYC News |access-date=21 September 2021 |language=en |date=21 December 2017}} Another producer said that in 2009, when she wore a new dress, Lopate said, "I didn't know you were so 'bosomy'." Six former female producers were not give the opportunity to testify in Mr. Lopate's defense.

Lopate's former show was replaced by Midday on WNYC,[https://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/about Midday on WNYC (About)] (New York Public Radio), as accessed December 23, 2017. It had a rotating array of hosts and followed a format similar to that of The Leonard Lopate Show.Marritz, Ilya and Jessica Gould. [https://www.wnyc.org/story/new-york-public-radio-fires-hosts-lopate-schwartz "New York Public Radio Fires Hosts Lopate and Schwartz,"] WNYC website (December 21, 2017). WNYC abandoned that show for All of It with host Alison Stewart on September 17, 2018.{{cite web

| url=https://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/178473/wnyc-a-f-new-york-adding-alison-stewart-to-lineup

| title=WNYC-A-F/New York Adding Alison Stewart To Lineup

| website=AllAccess

| date=23 July 2018

| accessdate=7 November 2018

}}

On May 24, 2018, Lopate came back to the radio waves as the host of the Leonard Lopate at Large show. The program is broadcast on WBAI 99.5 FM (New York), and on WBAI.org, from Mondays through Fridays from 1:00 to 2:00 PM. It is also broadcast on the Robin Hood Radio network (AM 1020 WHDD-FM 91.9, WBSL-FM 91.7, WLHV-FM 88.1, and soon on 97.5 FM) Saturday afternoons from 4:00 to 5:00 PM and Tuesday afternoons from 12:00 to 1:00 PM. Lopate typically interviews one guest per show.

Lopate's younger brother is the writer Phillip Lopate.{{cite web|last1=Lopate|first1=Phillip|title=Phillip Lopate on Leonard Lopate, in Brothers: 26 Stories of Love and Rivalry.|url=http://www.smithmag.net/memoirville/2009/04/21/phillip-lopate-on-leonard-lopate-in-brothers-26-stories-of-love-and-rivalry/|website=Smith Magazine|date=April 21, 2009|access-date=4 March 2015}}

His mother, Frances Lopate, was an actor. She was famous for an Alka Seltzer commercial, along with her other work. Phillip Lopate wrote the book, A Mother's Tale about her. Leonard discussed his mother with Phillip on his show On February 22, 2017. [https://www.wnyc.org/story/remembering-leonard-mother-frances-lopate/]{{Cite book|isbn = 978-0814213315|title = A Mother's Tale|last1 = Lopate|first1 = Phillip|year = 2017| publisher=Ohio State University Press }}

Lopate is single after divorcing artist Melanie Baker. A previous marriage ended in divorce.{{cite web|url=https://www.ediblebrooklyn.com/2010/the_brooklyn_fridge-6/|title=Sitting Down With Leonard Lopate |first=Rachel |last=Wharton |date=March 11, 2010 |website=Edible Brooklyn |accessdate=May 5, 2020 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20191020233436/https://www.ediblebrooklyn.com/2010/the_brooklyn_fridge-6/ |archivedate=October 20, 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/realestate/leonard-lopate-wnyc-radio-host-at-home.html|title=Where a Talker Sleeps |work=New York Times |first=Joanne |last=Kaufman |date=November 7, 2014 |access-date=May 5, 2020 |url-access=limited}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Leonard Lopate}}

• [https://leonardlopateatlarge.com/ Official website for Leonard Lopate at Large broadcasts]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725142608/http://mediasearch.wnyc.org/search?q=lopate&x=0&y=0 Access to recent Lopate shows]
• [http://pleasantville.patch.com/articles/renowned-radio-host-recounts-career-highlights Renowned Radio Host Recounts Career Highlights]
• Leonard Lopate in conversation with the [http://brooklynrail.org/2010/03/art/in-conversation-leonard-lopate-with-phong-bui Brooklyn Rail]
• {{C-SPAN|50437}}

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Category:American radio personalities

Category:Living people

Category:People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Category:New York Public Radio

Category:Brooklyn College alumni

Category:1940 births