WGTD's The Morning Show with Greg Berg

Part One- for Black History Month- we speak with Lucas E. Morel and Jonathan W. White, co-authors and co-editors of "Measuring the Man: The Wirings of Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln." Part Two- "Lincoln's Lie: A True Civil War Caper Through Fake News, Wall Street, and the White House" by Elizabeth Mitchell.

We speak with writer Carla Kaplan about her new book "Troublemaker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford." Mitford (1917-1996) grew up in the British aristocracy but was driven to literally run away from home in order to escape a life that she found to be stiflingly unbearable. She eventually found her way to the United States where she became a well-known writer and social commentator. She was, among other things, a proud Communist as well as a tireless social activist. The book is not only about Jessica Mitford- It also touches on the complicated legacy of the entire Mitford family, including Jessica's colorful and often controversial sisters.

Dr. Matt Cecil, Provost for the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, talks about a new initiative which pledges that the faculty, staff and student body of the school will be "A.I. Fluent" by 2028. We discuss the concerns that have prompted this - what its implementation might look like - and the challenges as well as the opportunities that A.I. already represents in the realm of higher education.

Mark Havens and Chris Entwisle, co-authors of "Wail: The Visual Language of Prestige Records." Prestige was an influential, innovative, small independent record label (devoted mostly to Jazz) that came to prominence in the 1950s. The book talks about the unconventional ways in which this company operated- with special focus on the distinctive art work of its album covers.

We speak with Stephanie Sklba, executive director of the Racine County Food Band, and Dawn Merritt, treasurer for Empty Bowls Racine, which is happening this Monday, March 2nd at Racine's Festival Hall. We talk about all that goes into making this exciting event happen- and we also talk about the important work of the Racine County Food Bank. (Empty Bowls Racine also benefits HALO and the Hospitality Center.)

For Black History Month- from 2010- Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson talks about her book "The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration." The book explores the largely untold story of the massive 'migration' of blacks from the south to other parts of the United States over the course of the twentieth century.

For Black History Month- from 2015- Christina Vella, author of "George Washington Carver: A Life."

For Black History Month: Gerald Early, author of "Play Harder: The Triumph of Black Baseball in America." The book explores the remarkably long history of blacks playing baseball in America long before Jackie Robinson - tracing that history to the present day.

We speak with best-selling author Steve Berry about his latest thriller, "The Devil's Bible," which is part of his highly popular Cotton Malone series.

We preview a theatrical production that opens next Wednesday at Carthage College in the studio theater: "Dear Elizabeth" by Sarah Ruhl. We speak with three Carthage seniors: Annaliese Ruhs, who is the director - and Jessie Skonesey and Chase Juster, who comprise the two-person cast. The play is based on letters that were exchanged between two gifted 20th century poets - Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell - over the course of thirty years.

We speak with Steven C. Law, the author of "The Story of Bob: The life and Times of Rev. Robert W. Wood." Rev. Wood was a decorated World War Two veteran who became a United Church of Christ pastor - and he was also a closeted gay man. Rev. Wood was one of the first American clergymen to speak out openly for gay rights - but his story is largely forgotten even in the gay community.

We preview this weekend's performances of "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Willams, one of the most beloved masterworks in the history of American theater. The performances are being done by the Kenosha Academy of Performing Arts Repertory Theater. We speak with Braxton Molinaro, Creative Director and the director of this production (in which he is also appearing) .... and Elizabeth McLaughlin (Eunice), who is one of the professional actors brought in to be part of this production. She has appears in things like "Pretty Little Liars" and "Hand of God." Performances of "Streetcar" are Feb,. 20 and 21 at 7:00 and Feb. 22 at 2:00 at Circa on Seventh in Kenosha. Tickets are avalable through kaparep.com.

We speak with Tim Rebers and Andrew Varela, who comprise two-thirds of the trio Tenors MIKE, based in Milwaukee - - - who present concerts that combine elements of opera, musical theater, jazz, and even rock. They are performing a concert at Carthage College (in the Johnson Arts Center Recital Hall) this Thursday evening, February 19th, at 7:00.

We speak with Dr. Jan Yager, author of "Time Masters: 11 Secrets to Greater Productivity and Life Fulfillment."

For Black History Month: Joe Drape discusses his book "Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend" .... the story of Jimmy Winkfield, the son of a black sharecropper who became one of the country's finest jockeys. (from 2007)

We have been replaying memorable interviews with author Michael Schumacher, a guest on the Morning Show on at least a dozen occasions over the course of three decades. One of my most memorable conversations with Michael on the program was actually the one occasion when he wasn't there to talk about one of his books- but rather to pay tribute to his good friend Bill Guy- long-time news director for WGTD and my predecessor as host of The Morning Show by talking about the art of great interviewing. Earlier that morning, we received word that Bill Guy had just died at the age of 50 after a valiant battle with liver cancer. Consequently, this Morning Show visit from Michael became a memorial tribute to Bill, someone who had interviewed Michael on a number of occasions on the program and always enjoyed the experience.

Part One- for Friday the 13th- we hear about an unlucky turn of events for the Lakeside Players, who are cleaning up from an unfortunate flood in the basement of the Rhode Center for the Arts. We talk with two board members about the flood- what the community can do to help- and how their current production, the musical "The 25th Annual Puttnam County Spelling Bee" is still opening tonight, on schedule. Part Two- For Valentine's Day, we speak with the author and illustrator of a new book for very young children titled "100 Words to Say I Love You." Sandra Magsamen is one of the most acclaimed children's book authors and illustrators before the public today.

For Kailyn Palomares's February visit to the Morning Show, we are talking with Aaron Schiller, Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Wisconsin DNR.

Part One- Investigative Reporter Rico Moore talks about allegations of inhumane conditions in ICE detention facilities. Part Two- from 2019, best-selling author Reyna Grande talks about her book "A Dream Called Home: a Memoir," which explores her own immigrant experience.

We speak with Jan Cress Bondi, author of "The Navigator's Letter: The True Story of Two World War 2 Airmen, a Doomed Mission, and the Woman who Bound Them Together." The story concerns the author's mother Polley, and two men who served our country as airmen: Polley's brother John B. White and Polley's friend and future husband Bob Cress. The two men participated in what turned out to be an ill-conceived air raid on oil fields in Romania - an attack that ended up being the costliest air raid of the war. Bondi was inspired to write the book after looking through hundreds and hundreds of her mother's letters. [Bondi is signing books at Boswell Books, 2559 Downer Avenue in Milwaukee, WI on Thursday, February 12th at 6:30 pm.]

David Brooks has been a well-known columnist for the New York Times for the past 22 years (as well as a prominent political commentator on television.) He recently announced that he is leaving the New York Times and moving to The Atlantic. This is a rebroadcast of my 2024 interview with Mr. Brooks about his remarkable book "How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. " This interview generated more positive feedback from listeners than any other interview I have done in recent years. It is a pleasure to re-share it today.

On this 60th Super Bowl Sunday, we replay a conversation with one of the authors of "Super Bowl Gold" (from Sports Illustrated) that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first Super Bowl.

We continue our ongoing memorial tribute to Kenosha's own Michael Schumacher, a nationally-published author many times over, who passed away on December 29th at the age of 75. This interview from ten years ago concerns the book "Torn in Two: The Sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell and One Man's Survival on the Open Sea."

Part One- Hal Eisner, author of "My Accidental Career: My 58-year Adventure as a Broadcast New Reporter." Part Two- (from 2019). Mitchel Zuckoff, co-author of "Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11." Zuckoff was a journalist in Boston who ended up covering the events of September 11, 2001 as they unfolded. (This September will mark the 25th anniversary of 9-11, and in the coming months we will occasionally share archival interviews related in one way or another to 9-11.).

Our guest is Hope Otto, Director of Health and Human Services for Racine County. We talk with her about what a challenging time this is for the entire human services sector. Specific topics include- disruptions in federal aid ..... homelessness in Racine ..... and about the Jonathan Delagrave Youth Development and Care Center.

Part One- We speak with Adam Smith, a free-lance production assistant for TV and radio commercials based in Milwaukee. He is also a screenwriter, and he is organizing a public table read series called "Voices Off Paper" that will feature the work of local screenwriters. Part Two- A portion of a conversation with the late Bob Newhart, talking about his memoir "I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This: And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny."

We speak with Dr. Alyssa Dweck, an OB/GYN, about Urinary Tract Infections in women and what one can do to reduce the likelihood of contracting a UTI.

Dr. Ashely Alker draws upon her experience and expertise as an ER doctor in penning her informative and entertaining book "99 Ways to Die - and How to Avoid Them."

From 2007 - Dr. Atul Gawande talks about his book "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance."

Darlene Rivest, a well-known violinist in Southeastern Wisconsin, previews Violin Intensive, a five-day event at DeKoven Center that is drawing adult violinists from across the country and even from a couple of other countries. We also talk about Darlene's own wide-ranging career as a violinist.

For Holocaust Remembrance Day (which was January 27) - Mikhal Dekel, author of "Tehran Children: A Holocaust Refugee Odyssey." (from 2019)

In our ongoing memorial tribute to Kenosha's own Michael Schumacher, a nationally-published author many times over, we are replaying a 2020 conversation about Schumacher's long friendship with Allen Ginsberg. (Schumacher passed away on December 29th at the age of 75. He was a guest on the Morning Show more than a dozen times over the course of three decades.).

One of our favorite interviews from 2025- Samuel Ashworth discusses "The Death and Life of August Sweeney: a Novel." The main character is a young forensic pathologist who is doing an autopsy in the hopes of understanding more about both the death and the life of a controversial chef named August Sweeney.

Part One- We speak with Mike DeRubis, who is with the non-partisan group Voters First Wisconsin, which is working to eliminate gerrymandering, reduce the influence of Big Money in politics, and to reform the way that certain elections are done in our state. Part Two- from 2018- historian Jon Meacham talks about his book "The Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels." The book examines those periods in our country's history when we have been as bitterly divided as we are today- and how our nation was able to come together again.

One of our favorite interviews from 2025: Juliette Fay talks about her novel "The Harvey Girls," which was based on a fascinating slice of Americana. Fred Harvey created what is widely regarded as the first hospitality chain in the United States- a network of restaurants and hotels primarily in the West. The women who worked at his establishments were known as Harvey Girls - and these were actually well-paying and respectable jobs at a time when employment options for women were severely limited. In a followup conversation, we speak with Andrew DeBoer, father-in-law of local music teacher Jessica DeBoer, about his extensive collection of Fred Harvey memorabilia.

Part 1 - We preview the Service Above Self Expo coming up this Saturday, January 31st at Fountain Hall in Sturtevant. The event is sponsored by the Racine Founders Rotary Club. My guests are Dan Widmar, who is its current president, and Laura Sumner Coon, a member of the club and the primary coordinator of the event. They are expecting at least thirty different local non-profits to participate, sharing with the public what volunteer opportunities they have to offer. Part 2- from the archives- Mark O. Hubbard, author of "Ara: The Life and Legacy of a Notre Dame Legend- the authorized Biography of Coach Ara Parseghian."

One of our favorite interviews from 2025: Elizabeth Minnich, author of "The Evil of Banality: On the Life and Death Importance of Thinking." In this book, Minnich explores the nature of evil - and particularly the phenomenon of what she calls "extensive evil" in which many people are involved in the perpetuating of evil without consciously doing so or without fully grasping the role that they are playing. It underscores the importance of living mindfully.

From 2003 - Richard Tofel, author of "A Legend in the Making: The New York Yankees in 1939."

We are paying memorial tribute to Kenosha-based author Michael Schumacher, who was a guest on The Morning Show a dozen times over the course of three decades. (He passed away on December 29th at the age of 75.). This interview concerns his book "The Contest: The 1968 Election and the War for America's Soul." (This interview occurred in 2018.). We plan on sharing more archival interviews with Michael Schumacher over upcoming Saturdays.

In his first visit to the Morning Show since November, Dr. Art Cyr offers his thoughts on several different current events and issues- especially the recent U.S. activity in Venezuela.

We speak with writer Monte Burke about his new book "Men of Troy: The Epic Afternoons, Wild Nights, and Enduring Legacy of Pete Carroll's USC Trojans." After a rough experience as a head coach for two NFL teams, Carroll achieved great success (including two national championships) with USC .... and then achieved comparable success with his return to the NFL as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. The book examines the ways in which Carroll earned a reputation as a 'player's coach.'

The Morning Show interview from 2025 that probably generated more comment than any other was this conversation with David Eliot, author of "Artificially Intelligent: The Very Human Story of A.I."

Today's program began with David Anderson, music director of the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra, talking about the ensemble's gala coming up on February 14th. After that is an archival conversation with Larry Tye, author of "Jazz Men," which examines the careers and influence of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong.

Today is Martin Luther King Day. One of the issues that most concerned Dr. King - especially in the last several years of his life - was access to housing regardless of race. The book at hand examines the practice of "Redlining," a means used to exclude certain types of people from various neighborhoods. Josh Silver's book is titled "Ending Redlining through a Community-Centered Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act." The book underscores how it is not enough to pass laws with the best of intentions; those laws must be properly and carefully implemented. GB

From 2016- We talk with Marc Cushman about his book "Lost in Space: The Authorized Biography of a Classic Sci-Fi Series."

In memory of Kenosha's own Michael Schumacher, who passed away on December 29, 2026 at the age of 75, we are going to be devoting the next few Saturday episodes of the podcast to archival interviews featuring Schumacher. This interview is the first interview that I did with Schumacher. The year was 1999 and the book in question was "Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life." One of the greatest film directors in cinematic history, Coppola directed The Godfather, The Godfather Part Two, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, Peggy Sue Got Married, and The Rainmaker .... co-wrote the screenplay for Patton .... and produced American Graffiti, The Secret Garden, and The Black Stallion. I hope you enjoy this. GB

We pay tribute to Kenosha's own Michael Schumacher - a nationally-published authors many times over who passed away on December 29th at the age of 75 - by hearing from an array of his friends who knew him and loved him.

From 2014 - We remember Kenosha's own Michael Shumacher, a nationally published author who passed away on December 29th, by replaying this conversation that occurred during the 2014 Kenosha Festival of Cartooning. Schumacher was joined in our studios by his friend Denis Kitchen, one of the leading figures in the underground comic book movement - with whom Michael collaborated on a highly regarded biography of cartoonist Al Capp. (Tomorrow's Morning Show will feature a gathering of some of Michael Schumacher's friends reflecting on what he was like and what it meant to have him as a friend.)

Part One: Beth Bush talks about the next production at the Racine Theater Guild, opening this Friday: "Ripcord," which tells the story of two badly mismatched roommates in a senior living facility who grow to have a grudging understanding of and affection for each other. Part Two: One of our favorite interviews from 2025- Gordon Korman talks about his book "Snoop - a novella intended for young readers that ends up being an intriguing commentary on our addiction to screens.

We talk with Dr. Mary Lenard, a member of the English faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and Anna Stadick, director of the UW-Parkside library, about the upcoming mini-course titled "Four Evenings with Jane Austen" in honor of the legendary writer's 250th birthday. The course is cost-free, except for securing copies of the three novels that will be studied. There are no exams or papers; it's simply an opportunity to read some great literature and discuss it with a Jane Austen expert.

One of our favorite interviews from 2025: James Rebanks talks about his memoir "The Place of Tides" in which he recounts his experience of moving to a small, remote island off the coast of Norway.