WGTD's The Morning Show with Greg Berg

From 2005 ..... T. R. Reid discusses his book "The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy." Much has happened in the twenty years since this book was published- and it's interesting to consider what has come to pass as Reid envisioned as well as the ways in which events have not played out quite as he imagined they would.

(from 2006) Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan talk about their book "Sinatra: A Life."

From 2022- Kate Colbert, co-author/editor of "Commencement: The Beginning of a New Era in Higher Education."

Part One- Ted Williams, author of "Earth Almanac: A Year of Witnessing the Wild from the Call of the Loon to the Journey of the Gray Whale." (2020) Part Two- David Rothenberg, author of "Thousand Mile Song: Whale Music in a Sea of Sound." (2008)

From 2007- Tim Jeal, author of "Stanley: The Impossible life of Africa's Greatest Explorer" (Henry Morton Stanley)

Former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens discusses his book "Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life." The book explores what resilience is and how essential it is for living a truly successful and happy life.

From 2017- Corina Chocano talks about her essay collection titled "You Play The Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Train Wrecks, and Other Mixed Messages."

For Memorial Day - from 2006 - Sergeant Daniel Hendrix, author of "A Soldier's Promise- The Heroic Story of an American Soldier and an Iraqi Boy."

For Memorial Day- from 2007- Tom Bissell, author of "The Father of All Things: A Marine, His Son, and the Legacy of Vietnam."

From 2001- Paul Dickson discusses his book "Sputnik: The Shock of the Century." The title refers to the Soviet satellite that was sent into orbit in 1957 - a development which was nothing less than terrifying for many Americans who feared what the Soviet Union might be able to do with such technology.

Gerald Early discusses his book "Play Harder- The Triumph of Black Baseball in America." The book was written in cooperation with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

From 2008- Anthony Rudel, author of "Hello, Everybody - The Dawn of American Radio."

In his monthly visit to the program, Dr. Art Cyr- a member of the faculty at Carthage College and a nationally-syndicated columnst- offers his thoughts on the legacy of Pope Francis, the most recent national election in Canada, and President Trump's recent trip to the Middle East.

For National Military Appreciation Month (and in anticipation of Memorial Day) ..... from 2017 comes this interview with Daniel P. Bolger, author of "Our Year of War: Two Brothers, Viet Nam, and a Nation Divided." The book is the true story of two brothers from Nebraska - Chuck and Tom Hagel - who served together in the Viet Nam conflict- but who seriously disagreed about the conflict and America's place in that conflict.

Part One- In light of the recent announcement that the late Pete Rose is now eligible for entry into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame, we are replaying our conversation with Keith O'Brien, author of "Charlie Hustle- The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball." Part Two- Kostya Kennedy talks about his book "The Story of Baseball in 100 Photographs."

From 2005 - Steven Squyres, author of "Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the Exploration of the Red Planet." Squyres was the Principal Investigator on the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. His book is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the project.

From 2008- Adam Sexton talks about his graphic novel rendition of Shakespeare's MacBeth. (We're replaying this in honor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside's production of MacBeth which closed on May 11th.)

We preview the American Experience documentary "Mister Polaroid," which airs this coming Monday evening on channel 10 in Milwaukee and on PBS stations across the country. The film tells the story of Edwin Land, the inventor of the Polaroid camera, which revolutionized photography. You'll hear from Ronald Fierstein, one of the expert guests in the film - first in a 2015 interview about his book "A Triumph of Genius: Edwin Land, Polaroid, and the Kodak Patent War." After that, you'll hear a follow up interview with Fierstein recorded earlier this week.

Kendall Victorine tells us about the Four Seasons Garden Club's annual plant sale, which is coming up this Saturday at Harbor Market in downtown Kenosha.

We get a preview of the Racine Theater Guild's production of the musical LEGALLY BLONDE, which opens tomorrow night, from Doug Instenes, managing and artistic director of the Racine Theater Guild and the stage director of this production.

Claudia Rowe discusses her new book "Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care." Rowe has done extensive research into how the foster care system works in America- and how the way it is set up often creates terrible alienation rather than a sense of connection and belonging. The book includes a look at how the foster care has been approached over the generations.

From early 2024- Kenneth Davis, author of "The World in Books: 52 Works of Great Short Non-Fiction."

From 2009- Shiloh Somaya Gowda, author of "Secret Daughter: A Novel."

Happy Mother's Day. From the archives: Hope Edelman, author of "Motherless Mothers: How Losing a Mother Shapes the Parent You Become." (from 2007)

Here is the complete 2009 interview with Adrian Goldsworthy (excerpted in yesterday's Morning Show) in which he discusses his book "How Rome Fell."

We begin the interview with Aldo Cazzullo, a renowned Italian journalist, talking about his newest book- which is also his first book intended for an international audience ... "The Neverending Empire: The Infinite Impact of Ancient Rome." The book sketches the long history of the Roman Empire and explores the many ways in which it is still a vital part of cultural and political life in the West. We finish out the hour with a portion of a 2009 interview with Adrian Goldsworthy, who discusses his book "Why Rome Fell." (We'll share the Goldsworthy conversation in its entirety in tomorrow's podcast.)

We preview Saturday night's concert of the Kenosha Symphony with conductor Robert Hasty and guest cellist Alexander Hersch, an award-winning young cellist who is also responsible for creating a series of compelling videos featuring some of his favorite chamber music. (They can be viewed on YouTube.) He'll be playing the Haydn Cello Concerto in C Saturday night. Also, Katie Gray talks about the Lakeside Players' production of the musical "Hairspray" that opened last weekend and runs for the next two weekends. Behind the show's lively score is a story about diversity and inclusiveness.

We talk about the 25 years of the Arthur F. and Mary Lou Mahone Foundation- and the annual Reaching for Rainbows Pursuit of Excellence Gala that will be happening at Carthage this Friday evening - an event at which a number of collegiate scholarships will be given, and past recipients will be honored. We speak with Tim Mahone and Ardis Mahone Mosley- Tamara Coleman, CEO of the Racine YMCA and the parent of a scholarship recipient- and Kalon Bell, a 2012 Mahone scholarship recipient who has returned to Kenosha to give back to his home community.

Gabe Henry discusses his new book "Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Eezier to Spell." The book, though entertaining, is a thoroughly serious and meticulous chronicle of the concerted efforts that have been made over the years to make the English language easier to spell. Advocates for such reforms have included Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, Mark Twain, and Theodore Roosevelt. Needless to say, all of those efforts have been unsuccessful. The book also sketches the history of the language and how it became so unpredictable in its spelling.

From the archives- Fern Schumer Chapman, author of "Brothers, Sisters, Strangers: Sibling Estrangement and the Road to Reconciliation."

From 2016- Dr. Allan J. Hamilton talks about his book "Lead with your Heart: Lessons from a Life with Horses."

From 2012 - Michael Wallis talks about his book "David Crockett: The Lion of the West." The title refers to a famous early American known to most people as Davy Crockett. The book seeks to separate fact from myth.

Attorney-turned-writer Mike Papantonio talks about his latest book .... a novel titled "The Middleman" ..... which sheds light on the so-called 'middlemen' in the pharmaceutical industry who help to drive up costs for consumers.

Brian Gill joins us from the theater faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to talk about their production of Shakespeare's MacBeth, which is performed for the next two weekends on the main stage of The Rita. MacBeth is the shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies and a truly remarkable play around which a great deal of mystique has developed over the years.

We explore undergraduate research with a member of the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and three UW-Parkside students who were recently honored for their outstanding research work. Dr. David Higgs, Professor of Biological Sciences, will be joined by Connor Alton, Mallory Farmer, and Magnus Schroeder.

For the last day of National Autism Awareness Month, we are sharing a 2012 interview with best-selling author Sy Montgomery, talking about her book "Temple Grandin: How the girl who loved cows embranced Autism and changed the world." After that comes an excerpt from a 2006 interview with Temple Grandin herself, talking about her best-known book, "Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior." In the book, Grandin explains how her autism has actually enhanced her ability to understand the thinking of animals and how they see and move through the world.

Elizabeth Minnich discusses her remarkable new book "The Evil of Banality- On the Life and Death Importance of Thinking." At the heart of Minnich's book is an examination of the phenomenon of what she calls Extensive Evil, where many people allow some sort of evil to occur. American Slavery, the Holocaust, and the Genocide in Rwanda are three examples of Extensive Evil (as opposed to Intensive Evil, in which an evil act is perpetrated by an individual or small group of people. Minnich contends that it is when we live life thoughtlessly that we so easily become participants in evil on a widespread scale. Minnich worked for many years with Hannah Arendt, who coined the phrase "the banality of evil" in the early 1960s and was harshly criticized for it.

We preview an Independent Lens documentary airing tomorrow night titled "Free For All," which chronicles the history of public libraries in the United States and highlights some of the people who have figured most prominently in that history. The film also celebrates the many ways in which public libraries have been called upon to transform themselves in the 21st century and broaden what it means to be a public library.

For National Autism Awareness Month, we replay this 2007 conversation with J. Elder Robison, talking about his memoir "Look me in the eye: My Life with Aspberger's."

From 2010- W. B ruce Cameron talks about his best-selling novel "A Dog's Purpose

We preview three different musical events happening this weekend: the University of Wisconsin-Parkside orchestra concert Saturday afternoon .... the Racine Symphony Orchestra Saturday night ..... and the musical "Head over Heels" at Carthage College.

For Holocaust Remembrance Day.... here is my complete interview with Alexandra Zapruder, author and editor of "Salvaged Pages: Young Persons' Diaries from the Holocaust."

For Holocaust Remembrance Day - here is a portion of my 2002 interview with Alexandra Zapruder, author and editor of "Salvaged Pages: Young Persons' Diaries from the Holocaust." The book presents 15 diaries that are somewhat comparable to the famous diary of Anne Frank. Each of them offers a unique and compelling account of what it was like to live through those terrifying and tragic events.

Ross Benes talks about his newest book, "1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted our Bizarre Times." The book examines the dramatic emergence of the Jerry Springer Show, Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation, the video game Grand Theft Auto, and other examples of what Benes refers to as 'low culture.'

In honor of Earth Day ..... Part One: (from 2022) Carole Douglis, co-author (with Peter Fiekowsky) of "Climate Restoration: The Only Future That Will Sustain The Human Race." Part Two: (from 2024) Eric Schaeffer, founder and director of the Environmental Integrity Project, which monitors the work of the EPA.

From 2012 - artist Christian Patchell talks about his book "I put the 'Can' in Cancer."

From 2015 ---- We speak with Gary Stamm, a well-known local actor in community theater productions both in Racine and Kenosha, and a frequent guest on the Morning Show. In this instance, we spoke with Gary Stamm about the experience of being a contestant on the Food Network program "Chopped" - a special episode in which all of the contestants were outstanding amateur chefs who were also grandfathers.

From 2001- We speak with Dan Schowalter, a former member of the religion faculty at Carthage College- and three distinguished theology professors who came to Southeastern Wisconsin for an event titled "Ancient Gospels and the Modern Church" ..... J. Andrew Overman (Macalester College), Stephen Patterson (Willamette University), and Helmut Koester (Harvard University Divinity School.) Professor Koester passed away in 2016.

From 1999 - A conversation about the American Boy Choir, which at the time was one of the premiere choral organizations in the country. The guest, Greg Lyne, was a former member of the ensemble. (At the time of this interview, Mr. Lyne was on the staff of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America - which used to be in Kenosha.)

In honor of National Poetry Month, we are replaying a 2001 interview with Rebecca Presson Mosby, one of the editors of "Poetry Speaks" (from Source Books in Naperville, IL)- which includes a companion compact disk recording in which one can hear historic recordings of famous poets of the last century reciting their own poetry. (We play excerpts from it in the course of this interview.) Because of time constraints, we could only play an abridged version of the interview on today's Morning Show broadcast. This is the interview in its entirety.

Dr. Ron Cronovich, Professor of Economics at Carthage College, talks about Tariffs: What are they? How do they work? Are they good or bad? (Is that the right question to ask?) What is the primary motivation behind President Trump's policy on tariffs? What does it mean to have a Trade Deficit with another nation? Is that good or bad? What are the intended and unintended consequences of the sort of Trade War in which the United States is currently engaged?