Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

This is a 2002 interview with Peter Howe, author of "Shooting Under Fire:  the World of the War Photographer."  

Dr. Jerald Mast, Associate Professor of Political Science at Carthage College,  talks about Climate Change - sketching the history of how long various scientists have been voicing concern about climate change,  outlining when it began to be discussed by politicians, and how the issue is being approached today in this highly polarized political landscape in which we currently find ourselves.   He also talks about the large field of Democratic candidates for president and how central the issue of climate change is likely to be in the 2020 presidential race. 

This is a conversation about the intriguing Kander & Ebb musical "Flora the Red Menace,"  which served as Liza Minelli's Broadway debut (for which she won a Tony Award) when it opened back in 1965 ... but which has not been nearly as well-known nor as often performed as Kander & Ebb's two biggest hits,  "Cabaret" and "Chicago."   I speak with Neil Scharnick, Molly Kampfer and Cassidy Skorija about Carthage College's production of the show, which opens this weekend.   Neil is the director- Molly and Cassidy, two senior music theater majors at Carthage, are in the cast. 

This is the monthly visit of Bryan Albrecht, the president of Gateway Technical College.  We are talking about the concept of "Smart Cities" and how that has played out in a competition sponsored by FoxConn.   The program actually begins with Racine mayor Cory Mason.  We also talk with two individuals who were second round winners in the competition- one a Gateway horticulture instructor and the other a Gateway student in the construction management program.  

In an interview from 2003,  we hear Simon Winchester talk about his book "The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary.)   The OED, which took more than 70 years to assemble (with the help of hundreds of volunteers) was intended to be the world's first completely comprehensive dictionary, encompassing every single word of the English language (both past and present.)  

We begin with Timothy Jay Smith and his novel "The Fourth Courier," which is set in Poland in the early 1990's, when that nation was moving from communism to capitalism but experiencing much tumult in the process.  We finish with a 2011 interview with Erin Morgenstern, whose debut novel "The Night Circus" was a blockbuster bestseller.  

Elissa Brent Weissman is the editor of "Our Story Begins:  Your Favorite Authors and Illustrators share Fun, Inspiring and Occasionally Ridiculous Things They Wrote and Drew as Kids."   

Entertainment writer James Neibaur has written fascinating books about a wide array of film-related topics.  In this interview, we discuss his book "The W.C. Fields Films."   

Martin Puchner's book is "The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization."  Puchner examines the critical role that language- and particularly written language- has played in human development and in human history.

KAFASI stands for the Kenosha Aging and Family Services Inc., a non-profit agency that offers an array of 16 different services through its professional staff and a not-so-small army of 600+ volunteers.   The agency is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.   Their services include Meals on Wheels, Transportation Assistance, Daybreak Respite Services (that helps caregivers caring for people with dementia) and other offerings for the elderly- as well as Parenting Classes,  Anger Management Seminars, Family Restoration and much, much more. 

Today's Morning Show is a special treat- a walking tour through the Kenosha Public Museum's spectacular new exhibit "From Curiosity to Science" with KPM executive director Dan Joyce and retired Director of Interpretation Nancy Matthews (who had a major hand in the mounting of the exhibit.)  The exhibit demonstrates how the so-called Curiosity Cabinets and Curiosity Rooms of the 16th and 17th centuries helped pave the way for the emergence of modern science.  In a special treat, the hour ends with a 2006 interview with Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computers, talking about his much-discussed memoir "iWoz."  

This is a conversation with best-selling author Earl Swift, whose latest book is titled "Chesapeake Requiem:  A Year with the Water Men of Vanishing Tangier Island."  This small island - located in the middle of some of the richest fishing waters in the world - is being rapidly engulfed by rising sea levels.  Swift got to know some of the hearty souls who still live there.

Frederic Law Olmsted is the gifted American who was responsible for designing New York City's Central Park as well as significant and beautiful parks across the country.   Justin Martin's illuminating book about him is titled "Genius of Place:  The Life of Frederic Law Olmsted."  

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mark Obmascik's newest book is "The Storm on our Shores: One Island, Two Soldiers, and the Forgotten Battle of World War Two."  The island in question was Attu, one of the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska - and Japan's takeover of this remote island was the first time a foreign power had seized American territory since the War of 1812.  The book examines the island,  Japan's invasion,  and America's retaking of the island- coupled with the personal stories of two men caught on opposite sides of the conflict: an American soldier and a Japanese medical doctor. 

This interview is with Jacqueline Novogratz, author of "The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World."  She is the founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund,  a non-profit global venture fund that takes an entrepreneurial approach to solving the problems of poverty in Third World countries. 

This is an interview from 2010 with comedy legend Carl Reiner.  The occasion of this conversation was the publication of Reiner's children's book "Tell me a Scary Story .... but Not Too Scary!"   But the conversation covers every facet of Reiner's amazing career in show business.  

We celebrate the 150th anniversary of PEO - the Philanthropic Education Organization - which began inauspiciously in 1869 with seven women in Mount Pleasant, Iowa who wanted to help other interested women gain the educational opportunities that they themselves had experienced.  PEO has grown to become an organization with 6,000 chapters across the United States.  

Nan Calvert co-hosts a thorough discussion about Biochar,  which is actually an ancient process receiving new attention in which biomass (wood based waste) is converted by heat into a material that resembles charcoal but which has properties that allow it to dramatically improve soil, enhance crop yield, and even have a positive effect on reducing global warming.  The special guest for this program is Tom Marrero, co-owner of Wakefield Biochar.  

Dr. Art Cyr, Clausen Distinguished Professor of Political Economy and World Business and Director of the Clausen Center at Carthage College, pays his monthly visit to the program to offer his analysis on a number of current events and issues, including Brexit, the Mueller Report, the recent mayoral election in Chicago, and more. 

Dr. Mark Petering, Associate Professor of Music at Carthage College, talks about his career as a composer- and about his newest work "Cityscape," which receives its world premiere this Saturday night in a performance by the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra.