Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

This brief interview is with Sonia Monzano, well-known as Maria on television's Sesame Street, talking about her newest book,  "A World Together," which celebrates diversity.  

We speak with poet and writer Paige Towler, co-author of "Girls Can!  Smash Stereotypes, Defy Expectations and Make History!"  

For Mental Health Awareness Week, we speak with Jack Rose, president of the Kenosha County chapter of NAMI- the National Alliance for Mental Illness. 

Darin Strauss's novel is titled "The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story."   This intriguing book is a work of fiction but carefully based on the life and career of the legendary Lucille Ball - and on what she was experiencing both professionally and personally in the difficult years immediately preceding the launching of "I Love Lucy." 

From 2005-  David Baron discusses his book "The Beast in the Garden: The True Story of a Predator's Deadly Return to Suburban America."   The book chronicles a situation in Boulder, Colorado in which cougars from the wild began entering residential neighborhoods in increasing numbers.  The story is a cautionary tale of what can happen when humans continue to encroach on the habitat of animals like the cougar without regard for the consequences. 

We talk about Volume Three of Marc Cushman's series "These are the Voyages: Gene Rodenberry and Star Trek in the 1970's."  This volume focuses on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which marked the celebrated franchise's debut on the big screen -  a film that was enormously expensive and complicated - and about which opinion remains sharply divided.  

From 2016 comes this conversation with Leonard Mlodinow, one of the world's most brilliant thinkers, and the author of "The Upright Thinkers: The Human Journey from Living in Trees to Understanding the Cosmos."   

Nature writer Ted Williams's book to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day earlier this year is titled "Earth Almanac:  A Year of Witnessing the Wild, from The Call of the Loon to the Journey of the Gray Whale."  

This is my most recent interview with best-selling author Deborah Tannen, talking about her most recent book: a memoir titled "Finding My Father: His Century-Long Journey from World War One and My Quest to Follow." 

Dr. Art Cyr-  Clausen Distinguished Professor of Political Economy and World Business and Director of the Clausen Center.   

Dr. Inder Paul Singh,  President of the Eye Centers of Kenosha and Racine.  

We get a COVID-19 update from Carlo Nevicosi,  Deputy Director of the Walworth County Health Department.   

Brad Balukjian, author of "The Wax Pack:  On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife."   Balukjian, an avid baseball card collector when he was young,  ordered a vintage pack of Topp's Baseball Cards and then crisscrossed the country in an attempt to connect with the dozen baseball players pictured on those particular cards.  

From 1995 comes this interview with Alice Parker, one of America's most beloved and admired choral composers and arrangers - and a close collaborator with conductor Robert Shaw for many years.   This interview was recorded during a visit that Parker paid to Carthage College as a guest artist.  Her stay included the world premiere of a work commissioned for Carthage's campus organist at the time, Dr. Susan Klozbach. 

From 2004-  Edward Conlon's "Blue Blood," his remarkable book about New York City police officers.  

Marc Cushman has written a new series of three books titled "These are the Voyages: Gene Rodenberry, Star Trek in the 1970's."  These books focus on the years after Star Trek: the Original Series was cancelled by NBC.   It was during the 1970's that the Star Trek phenomenon was truly born.  This interview focuses in particular on the groundbreaking Star Trek conventions as well as Star Trek's return to television in the form of an award-winning animated series.  

Valerie Tripp is one of the country's most successful and highly-regarded authors of fiction for young readers.   (She has written many of the books in the American Girl series.)   She has just begun a new series for National Geographic, and the first book is titled "Izzy Newton and the S.M.A.R.T. Squad: Absolute Hero."  

We talk with Jo Frost, well-known to millions as the Supernanny.   Among other things, we talk about some of the special challenges that parents are facing during this time of COVID-19. 

We begin with the mayor of Kenosha,  John Antaramian, and talk about how the city is working through some difficult issues regarding racial justice and equality.  After that, Emmy Award-winning talk show host Tamron Hall, who offers thoughts on how we can have difficult but fair conversations about race.  

Todd D. Snyder, author of "Bundini:  Don't Believe the Hype" - which tells the story of Drew "Bundini" Brown, the corner man for Muhammed Ali who coined many of his most colorful poetic phrases, including "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."   'Bundini' was in Ali's corner for the vast majority of his most important fights.  Before working with Ali,  Bundini was with Sugar Ray Robinson.   <NOTE:  Today's originally scheduled interview with Brad Balujkian, author of "The Wax Pack," has been postponed until next week.>