Featured
Recent Episodes and Articles
Latest Episode / Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Food and Wine, Fat and Weight
Segments and Articles
Eating Fat Doesn't Make Us Fat
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
For decades, many people have believed that fat,
especially saturated fat, makes us gain weight, but that turns out not
to be true. Investigative journalist Nina Teicholz documents how the low-fat nutrition advice of the past 60 years has had disastrous consequences for our health.
An Insider's Guide to Pairing Wine with Food
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Pairing wine and food can bring out the best qualities in each, but how do you know what’s the right combination? Two experts, Eric Asimov and Florence Fabricant,
have spent much of their careers figuring out this delicious dilemma
and they explain the tools we need to do it at our own tables. In Wine with Food: Pairing Notes and Recipes from the New York Times,
they pair 100 wines with more than 100 dishes and offer a guide to help
us make your own choices about which wine to serve with great food.
Glenn Greenwald on Edward Snowden and the 'Inept and Menacing' NSA
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald
went to Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have
evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating
only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be
the NSA contractor Edward Snowden, and his revelations about the
agency’s widespread, systemic overreach triggered a fierce debate over
national security and information privacy.
Change and Conflict in Modern-Day China
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Evan Osnos, Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, describes the profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval occurring in China. In Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, Faith in New China,
he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the
clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party’s
struggle to retain control. He asks probing questions about why a
government with more success lifting people from poverty than any in
history chooses to put strict restraints on freedom of expression and
how two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth has affected Chinese
from all walks of life.
The New China and Revealing Edward Snowden
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Evan Osnos, The New Yorker’s
correspondent in China, tells us about the profound political, economic,
and cultural upheaval he’s seen in that country. And Glenn Greenwald
gives us the full story behind his meetings with an “anonymous source”
last year who turned out to be the NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
Kara Walker at the Domino Sugar Factory
Monday, May 12, 2014
Artists Kara Walker talks about her new public work in the old Domino Sugar factory on the river in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, “A
Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby, an Homage to the unpaid and
overworked Artisans who have refined our Sweet tastes from the cane
fields to the Kitchens of the New World on the occasion of the
demolition of the Domino Sugar Refining Plant.” She’s joined by curator Nato Thompson.
Walker’s artwork explores issues of race, discrimination and exclusion,
sexual exploitation, and power. Here, she explores the history of sugar
and its many implications both historic and contemporary and the work
occupies the 90,000-square-foot industrial relic of the old Domino Sugar
refinery.
Guest Picks: Kara Walker
Monday, May 12, 2014
Artist Kara Walker
talked about her sculpture installation in the Domino Sugar factory in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She shared a few of her favorite things with us.
“Horses of God” and the Making of Suicide Bombers
Monday, May 12, 2014
Director Nabil Ayouch
tells us about his film “Horses of God,” a drama set in the slums on
the outskirts of Casablanca, based on a horrific 2003 bombing. The film a
character study of children growing up without hope. Yachine and Nabil,
inseparable friends, fall under the influence of Yachine’s violent
older brother, Hamid, after he’s released from prison as a new Islamic
fundamentalist. “Horses of God” opens May 14 at Film Forum.
Seriously Not All Right
Monday, May 12, 2014
Ron Capps
witnessed atrocities in Kosovo, the brutal cruelties perpetrated in
several conflicts in Africa, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the
genocide in Darfur, serving as both a senior military intelligence
officer and as a Foreign Service officer for the U.S. Department of
State. The cumulative effect of these experiences, combined with the
helplessness of his role as an observer, propelled him into a deep
depression and a long bout with PTSD. He writes about his experiences in
Seriously Not All Right: Five Wars in Ten Years.
Lasting Effects: Government Spying, Creating Art, PTSD
Monday, May 12, 2014
Investigative filmmaker Michael Kirk
reveals the inside story of how the government came to spy on millions
of Americans since September 11, 2001, and the lengths the government
has gone to to keep the program a secret. Kara Walker talks about her new public sculpture at the old Domino Sugar factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Director Nabil Ayouch
tells us about his film “Horses of God,” which is set in the slums of
the outskirts of Casablanca and is based on a horrific 2003 bombing. Ron Capps,
who served as a military intelligence officer and as a diplomat for the
U.S. Department of State, explains how witnessing war crimes, ethnic
cleansing, and genocide caused him to develop PTSD.
How the Government Came to Spy on Millions of Americans
Monday, May 12, 2014
Investigative filmmaker Michael Kirk
tells the inside story of how the government came to spy on millions of
Americans—from September 11, 2001, up through the present. His
Frontline documentary “United States of Secrets”
explores the secret history and scope of the government's unprecedented
post-9/11 surveillance program (and the lengths the government went to
keep the program secret from the public). “United States of Secrets”
premieres May 13 on PBS.
"Fed Up" Shows That Sugar Makes People Fat and Sick
Friday, May 09, 2014
Producer Laurie David talks about the documentary “Fed Up,”
which upends the conventional wisdom of why we gain weight and how to
lose it. The film unearths the dirty little secret your favorite brands
and restaurants don’t want you to know—far more of us get sick from what
we eat than anyone ever realized and this is in largely due to added
sugar in 80 percent of items sold in grocery stores. “Fed Up” opens May 9
at the Angelika.
“Exercise is essential for good health. But we can’t exercise our way out of the obesity epidemic. And if you just look at one small stat from the movie, which is a child who drinks one soda a day would have to be on a bicycle for an hour and 15 minutes to get rid of that soda,” Laurie David said. “There really aren’t enough hours in the day to exercise this food off.”
We should only be eating about 6-9 teaspoons of sugar a day, “But most of us are consuming about 22 teaspoons a day, which is an incredible amount of sugar. But the problem is, they’re not even aware they’re consuming it,” she said. “You don’t necessarily know you’re consuming sugar when you’re using store-bought salad dressing, or store-bought tomato sauce, or healthy granola bars. It’s added to all these foods.”
Although many people think that cutting down on fat will lead to weight loss, fat is not the problem—sugar is what causes people to gain weight. When the food industry created low-fat and nonfat versions of foods, they added sugar to those products to make up for the flavor lost when fat was removed. “Fed Up” shows how powerful food companies are and how they’ve taken advantage of the confusion about what constitutes a healthy diet. It also looks at the role advertising and marketing has worked to exacerbate the problems of obesity. “It’s outrageous that we allow these companies to market food that we know is unhealthy to children,” she said.
Read labels and pay attention to the sugar content in foods and drinks. If you want to cut out added sugar and improve your diet and health, avoid processed foods as much as possible. As Michael Pollan recommends in Food Rules: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Pollan also has this nugget of advice: “If it’s a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.”
“Exercise is essential for good health. But we can’t exercise our way out of the obesity epidemic. And if you just look at one small stat from the movie, which is a child who drinks one soda a day would have to be on a bicycle for an hour and 15 minutes to get rid of that soda,” Laurie David said. “There really aren’t enough hours in the day to exercise this food off.”
We should only be eating about 6-9 teaspoons of sugar a day, “But most of us are consuming about 22 teaspoons a day, which is an incredible amount of sugar. But the problem is, they’re not even aware they’re consuming it,” she said. “You don’t necessarily know you’re consuming sugar when you’re using store-bought salad dressing, or store-bought tomato sauce, or healthy granola bars. It’s added to all these foods.”
Although many people think that cutting down on fat will lead to weight loss, fat is not the problem—sugar is what causes people to gain weight. When the food industry created low-fat and nonfat versions of foods, they added sugar to those products to make up for the flavor lost when fat was removed. “Fed Up” shows how powerful food companies are and how they’ve taken advantage of the confusion about what constitutes a healthy diet. It also looks at the role advertising and marketing has worked to exacerbate the problems of obesity. “It’s outrageous that we allow these companies to market food that we know is unhealthy to children,” she said.
Read labels and pay attention to the sugar content in foods and drinks. If you want to cut out added sugar and improve your diet and health, avoid processed foods as much as possible. As Michael Pollan recommends in Food Rules: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Pollan also has this nugget of advice: “If it’s a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, don’t.”
Sol LeWitt's Life and Work
Friday, May 09, 2014
Dutch filmmaker Chris Teerink talks
about conceptual artist Sol LeWitt, who was a notoriously camera-shy,
self-effacing, and generous soul and is among the 20th century’s most
important conceptual artists. In his documentary “Sol LeWitt,” Teerink weaves together rare archival material with footage of the 2011 installation of Wall Drawing #801: Spiral—a white line spiraling down the black wall of a cupola for more than three miles.
“Violet” on Broadway
Friday, May 09, 2014
Sutton Foster talks about the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway production of “Violet,” with the play’s director, Leigh Silverman.
It tells the story of a young woman’s quest for beauty amidst the
image-obsessed landscape of the 1960s. Facially disfigured in a
childhood accident, Violet dreams of a miraculous transformation through
the power of faith. “Violet” is playing at the American Airlines
Theatre on Broadway.
Please Explain: Polio and Why It's on the Rise
Friday, May 09, 2014
This week, for the first time ever, the World Health
Organization declared the spread of polio an international public health
emergency that undermines the nearly 30-year effort to eradicate
disease. Dr. Rebecca Martin,
Director of the Global Immunization Division in the Center for Global
Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, talks about
the crippling disease polio, the global effort to eradicate it, and why
there’s been an increase in polio infections this year in Pakistan, and a
re-emergence in countries previously free of the disease, such as
Syria, Somalia and Iraq.
Exercise Is Good for Your Brain
Friday, May 09, 2014
New York Times Phys Ed columnist Gretchen Reynolds discusses
a large-scale Cardia study, which shows that the more physically active
you are at age 25, the better your thinking tends to be when you reach
middle age. The findings also suggest that even if you neglected to
exercise when you were young, if can start now you can still improve the
health of your brain. She wrote about it in her article "Early Fitness Can Improve the Middle-Age Brain."
Gaining Weight and Losing Ground
Friday, May 09, 2014
Laurie David talks about her new
documentary “Fed Up,” which explores what’s driving America’s obesity
epidemic and why cutting the fat from our diets hasn’t led to widespread
weight loss. Director Leigh Silverman and star Sutton Foster tell us about the Broadway musical “Violet.” Filmmaker Chris Teerink discusses the conceptual artist Sol LeWitt. This week’s Please Explain looks at polio and why a disease that was once on the verge of eradication is making a comeback.
The Most Radioactive Place in New York Is Now a Superfund Site
Thursday, May 08, 2014
The former location of the Wolff-Alport Chemical
Company in Ridgewood, Queens is the most radioactive spot in New York
City. Today the EPA added the
property to the list of federal Superfund sites. The other two
superfund sites in the city are Newtown Creek and the Gowanus Canal. Nate Lavey video producer for The New Yorker talks about the history of the property and the risks to people who work there now.
Work began at the site nearly 100 years ago, with the production of rare earth metals as additives to steel and lighter flints. One of the byproducts of that industrial process is thorium – a radioactive element. “At that time they took their thorium byproduct and dumped it into the city’s sewer system,” said Lavey. “[The owners] would have known that thorium was radioactive…but they probably didn’t have a good idea of how dangerous the chemicals they were handling were.” The contamination is fairly localized to the site, but Lavey noted that the EPA is looking at nearby blocks as well.
Currently the site (at 1125-1129 Irving Avenue) houses an auto-body shop, a deli and a construction company. “The amount of residual radiation is pretty low, especially when you compare it to nuclear disasters we’re all familiar with” said Lavey. While radiation levels are low, they are still elevated. Working on the site is equivalent to getting about 30 chest x-rays a year, which is well below the amount of radiation exposure deemed safe for nuclear power plant workers. The risk to customers is minimal. The EPA has already installed some shielding at the site.
Although the site is now designated for Superfund remediation, it’s unclear how the cleanup will proceed and who will pay for it.
Work began at the site nearly 100 years ago, with the production of rare earth metals as additives to steel and lighter flints. One of the byproducts of that industrial process is thorium – a radioactive element. “At that time they took their thorium byproduct and dumped it into the city’s sewer system,” said Lavey. “[The owners] would have known that thorium was radioactive…but they probably didn’t have a good idea of how dangerous the chemicals they were handling were.” The contamination is fairly localized to the site, but Lavey noted that the EPA is looking at nearby blocks as well.
Currently the site (at 1125-1129 Irving Avenue) houses an auto-body shop, a deli and a construction company. “The amount of residual radiation is pretty low, especially when you compare it to nuclear disasters we’re all familiar with” said Lavey. While radiation levels are low, they are still elevated. Working on the site is equivalent to getting about 30 chest x-rays a year, which is well below the amount of radiation exposure deemed safe for nuclear power plant workers. The risk to customers is minimal. The EPA has already installed some shielding at the site.
Although the site is now designated for Superfund remediation, it’s unclear how the cleanup will proceed and who will pay for it.
Why the NYPL Abandoned its Renovation Plans
Thursday, May 08, 2014
Scott Sherman, contributing writer at The Nation,
discusses the recent decision by the New York Public Library to abandon
its controversial plans to remodel the 42nd Street building.
No Wire Hangers! Mothers in the Movies
Thursday, May 08, 2014
Time movie critic Richard Corliss looks at how mothers have been portrayed on the screen. Mom in the Movies: The Iconic Screen Mothers You Love (and a Few You Love to Hate)
is his fully illustrated book about how Hollywood has celebrated,
vilified and otherwise memorialized dear old Mom. He writes about the
Criminal Moms, like Shelley Winters in “Bloody Mama,” and the eccentric
Showbiz Moms from “Gypsy” and “Postcards from the Edge.” In addition to
Great American Moms there are plenty of frightening mothers, like Angela
Lansbury in “The Manchurian Candidate” and Faye Dunaway playing the
terrifying Joan Crawford in “Mommie Dearest.”
