Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

Christina Keim, author of "Unwanted: The Causes and Effects of America's Horse Population Crisis."

We speak with Mark Gould, who for almost three decades was the principal or co-principal trumpeter for the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera. His book "Tales from the Pit" is an exceptionally frank and entertaining memoir about his years with the Met and his unlikely journey to get there.

We preview the next Racine Theater Guild production - Oscar Wilde's classic comedy "The Importance of Being Earnest" with Doug Instenes, managing and artistic director of the RTG, who is also the stage director for this production. (It opens this Friday and runs for the next three weekends.)

From 2009- for Labor Day- Joe Lamacchia, author of "Blue Collar and Proud of It: The All-in-One Resource for Finding Freedom, Financial Success, and Security Outside the Cubicle."

We celebrate the 25th anniversary of CUSH - Congregations United to Serve Humanity - with three representatives of this Kenosha-based organization: Grant Pitts, Executive Director and Organizer .... Karen Kempinan, President of the Board of Directors ..... and Rev. Kathleen Gloff, a member of the Board of Directors and President of WISDOM Wisconsin (to which CUSH belongs.) The group has worked on various issues related to social justice such as the environment, homelessness, immigration, and equal right for the LBGTQ+ community. They have a celebratory banquet planned for October 23rd.

In honor of the city of New Orleans and its citizens twenty years after Hurricane Katrina, we replay this interview with Jason Berry, author of "City of a Million Dreams: A History of New Orleans at Year 300." The book was originally published in 2018. A documentary film of the same name has been created that is expected to be made available through streaming in the next few months.

Hurricane Katrina unleashed its savage fury 20 years ago this weekend. This is a rebroadcast of a conversation with Christopher Cooper in which he talks about his book "Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security."

Earlier this year marked the 50th anniversary of the final withdrawal of American troops from South Vietnam, amid a scene in Saigon that could only be described as desperate and chaotic. We begin with Tom Clavin, co-author of "Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam." After that comes a portion of a conversation with Lewis Sorley in which he talks about his book "A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America's Last Years in Vietnam." The book was originally published in 1999, and has been re-released in several different editions over the years. Sorley passed away on September 25, 2024 at the age of 90.)

We talk with Kevin Ervin, current co-owner of Frank's Diner, one of the best-known landmarks in downtown Kenosha- which is about to celebrate its 99th anniversary on September 13th. Ervin shares the story of how the diner was built (from a kit) 100 years ago- what prevented them from opening for an entire year- and what it means to take ownership of such a beloved institution.

We speak with Todd Kapp, CEO and Founder of Kivi Bio, which is one of the tenants of the Kenosha Innovation Center. We talk about - among other things - what the field of biotechnology entails and what Kivi Bio is doing to help others launch their own biotechnology ventures.

From 2023- Gail Merrifield Papp, author of "Public/Privater: My Life with Joe Papp at The Public Theater." The author's husband, Joe Papp, was an important theatrical impresario who founded The Public Theater as an outgrowth of The Shakespeare Workshop. The Public Theater's most noteworthy productions over the years have included "Hair," "A Chorus Line," and "Hamilton." PBS is now streaming a marvelous American Masters documentary titled "Joe Papp in Five Acts."

From 2008- Joseph M. Marshall, author of "The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History." In this intriguing book, the author presents how the Lakota people see that moment in American history that has come to be thought of as Custer's Last Stand.

From 2004 - A conversation with author Suzi Parker about her irreverent book "Sex in the South: Unbuckling the Bible Belt," in which she - herself a southerner - examines some of the interesting attitudes about sex and sexuality that she has encountered over the years.

On the eve of a new school year, we speak with Dr. Lynn Akey, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. We talk about the dramatic reorganization of the school in the hopes of allowing it to offer more cost-effectively ..... new offerings from the school .... and the challenging environment within which the school is still managing to flourish.

Nicole Terrizzi discusses her book "Learning in Free Fall: A Testimony of Mental Health, Poverty and Race in American Education." The book is a memoir of her experience as a young teacher in a struggling inner city school.

We talk with Anna Barrington about her novel "The Spectacle" - which is set in a world she has worked in for a number of years .... high-end, luxury artwork.

Chris Paulson, director of the Racine Heritage Museum, talks about a new project in which they are digitalizing the diaries of Racine's George Horlick.

Andrew D. Blechman, author of "Leisureville: Adventures in a World Without Children." The book explores the rise of retirement communities in which children are expressly excluded. What does it mean to live in such an environment? What is attractive about that for so many seniors? What is gained? What is lost?

Two KUSD teachers - Kristen Singer and Nic Cicerale - and two KUSD students - Dallen Arendt and Stephen Stockholm - have just returned from the Festival Fringe (or Fringe Festival) in Edinburgh, Scotland ..... the largest performing arts festival in the world. Over the course of three weeks, more than 3,500 plays are performed in several hundred different venues by actors for sixty different countries. KUSD presented Mary Zimmerman's theatrical treatment of Ovid's "Metamorphosis."

In honor of Dave McGrath, longtime morning anchor at WGTD, who retired this past Friday after just over 25 years at the station, we are resharing a memorable interview with him and his wife Guida Brown in which they recount their experience of following the so-called Buddy Holly Tour. This involved retracing the final concert tour of Buddy Holly, which was cut short by a plane crash in rural Iowa on February 3, 1959 that killed Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper.