Lopate’s fans, many of whom joined Facebook groups or signed a petition demanding his reinstatement, were like the Pete Best partisans, enjoying WNYC’s struggle to find a suitable replacement. During a brutal year of firings and investigations and on-air self-policing and Brian Lehrer declaring his disgust for his gender, a key slot in the middle of WNYC’s day seemed to have no direction. Duarte Geraldino, Matt Katz and Rebecca Carroll showed particular promise, but even people who are really strong in other on-air roles, like Jonathan Capehart and Jenna Flanagan, struggled to fill two hours of thoughtful chat on wildly varied topics with huge ego guests. A revolving cast of guests hosts did the best they could for 9 months, but the trials of even informed, good interviewers revealed just how hard it is to sound smart for two hours.
With Lopate gone, the noon to 2 show was a disaster. After 30-plus years of discussing the city’s cultural life at an absurdly high level, Lopate was disappeared by station management like an Argentinian rebel during Operation Condor. No explanation was offered and because his firing occurred at the same time as that of fellow longtime host Jonathan Schwartz and the weird non-renewal of John Hockenberry (who was given a lavish going away party even as accusations of sexual harassment swirled), it was assumed that Lopate was somehow also accused of improprieties. In December 2017, Leonard Lopate was fired from the city’s dominant public radio station. That’s what’s happening at WNYC right now. Remember the scene in Birth of the Beatles where all the fans show up at the Cavern Club to protest the firing of Pete Best and the hiring of Ringo Starr? (You all remember that, right? You’re all about 50 like me, right?) Ringo refuses to be intimidated and amid the boos he just starts bashing the snare drum faster and faster until he wins the crowd over.