Ryan Swanson on Theodore Roosevelt and his role in shaping America's love of athletics (8/20/19)

08/20/19 • 57 min

Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI Radio in New York

Plagued by such ailments as rippling asthma and grossly myopic eyesight as a child, Theodore Roosevelt was told to give up exercise completely by a doctor while he was attending Harvard. If he didn't, the doctor swore he would die of a heart attack. Still, Roosevelt pressed on. His body was his weakness, the one hill he could never fully conquer. But, oh, how he tried! Roosevelt developed a lifelong obsession with athletics that he carried with him into the highest office in the nation. As President of the United States, he boxed, practiced Ju-Jitsu, played tennis, conducted harrowing “point-to-point” walks, and invited athletes to the White House constantly. With Roosevelt in office, baseball’s first ever World Series took place, interscholastic sports began, and schools began to place a legitimate emphasis on physical education. Additionally, the NCAA formed and the United States hosted the Olympic Games for the first time. Join us for a discussion about TR’s role in fostering America’s love affair with athletics and his role in the birth of professional sports with Ryan Swanson, author of The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete, in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.

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David Kirp talks about his book The College Dropout Scandal. (8/19/19)

While there has been a great deal of discussion recently about increasing college access—who gets admitted and what they pay—little attention is given to the fewer than 60 percent of college freshmen in America that graduate within six years. Often students leave college with a mountain of debt, worse off economically than if they had never attended. David Kirp is a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley and a contributing writer for the New York Times. His new book “The College Dropout Scandal” addresses the scope of the problem and explores some possible solutions. Join us for look at the financial state of college in America today with David Kirp in this installment of “Leonard Lopate at Large” on WBAI.

Next Episode

Sue Roe on Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dali (8/21/19)

The artists and writers that invented Dadaism and later surrealism in the early 20th century had a simple goal. They wanted to produce art that extended beyond the limits of realism, juxtaposing elements of the real world in new and shocking ways and shining a light, so to speak, on the workings of the unconscious. In her new book “Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dali” biographer and art historian Sue Roe looks at the Parisian neighborhood of Montparnasse where many of the artists behind these critical movements in art history lived. Join us for a discussion of Dada and surrealism and where it came from with Sue Roe in this installment of Leonard Lopate at Large on WBAI.