Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

Part One- Parker Munoz talks about the Racine Theater Guild's production of J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, which runs now through April 21st. Munoz is the director of this production; it's his first time directing at the RTG. Part Two- Greg Schroeder, bell choir director at Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church in Racine, talks about the bell choir festival that is coming up on Saturday, April 18th .... in which the bell choirs of five ELCA congregations in southeastern Wiisconsin will join forces. The concert itself is 2:00 and is free and open to the public.

From 2004- Neal Bascomb, author of "The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goals, and Less than Four Minutes to Achieve it." The book was written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Roger Bannister running the first sub-four minute mile in history.

From the archives- Doug Stewart, author of "The Boy Who Would be Shakespeare: A Tale of Forgery and Folly." This is the true story of a 19th-century English teenager names William Henry Ireland - who wrote a series of works that he claimed were forgotten works by the great William Shakespeare. The book explores not only how he pulled off this deception- but also why.

Mark Kurlansky, author of "To Catch a FishL. Essays on the Joy, Frustration, Curiosity and Allure of Fishing,"

From 2010 - Bonnie Blodgett, author of "Remembering Smell: a Memoir of Losing - and Discovering - the Primal Sense: a Medical Journey through Anosmia and the Science of Olfactory Recovery."

Here are three food-related interviews from the Morning Show archives. Part One: "Baking at Home with the C.I.A." (CIA stands for the Culinary Institute of America." Part Two: "Soup Night: Recipes for Creating Community around a Pot of Soup." Part Three: "Smashed, Mashed, Boiled and Baked - and Fried, Too; a Celebration of Potatoes in 75 Irresistible Recipes."

From 2015- Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, author of "Dr. Mutter's Marvels: A True story of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine." It tells the story of Thomas Dent Mutter, a medical innovator in the mid-nineteenth century who - among other things - pioneered the use of ether as an anesthesia as well as the sterilization of surgical tools.

From 2002 - Betty Cowley, author of "Stalag Wisconsin: Inside World War Two Prisoner Camps." The book examines the story of the dozens of prisoner-of-war camps in Wisconsin during World War Two. <sadly, the interview is not preserved in its entirety>.

Part One: Jennifer Clemens, Asst. Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. We preview an event coming up on April 16th titled "Power and Perception: Democracy, Enforcement, and Trust in U.S. Courts: a timely and crucial discussion of the evolving role of the judiciary in American life." We also talk about what it's like to teach political science at this turbulent moment in our nation's history. Part Two: from the archives, we speak with Curt Smith, co-author of "The Presidents and the Pastime: The History of Baseball and the White House."

Gavin Newsham talks about his newest book- "Project Tiger: The Birth of Genius and the Price of Greatness." The book examines the formative years of Tiger Woods with a special emphasis on the unconventional and sometimes controversial choices made by Tiger's father, Earl Woods, in grooming his son for golf greatness. Woods has just been arrested for the second time for DUI after a serious rollover crash last Friday.

For Women's History Month- we replay this conversation with Dr. WIlliam Kuhn, former history professor at Carthage - and a nationally-published author several times over- about his book "Jackie Stories." It includes illuminating stories about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis from eight of her friends.

In a followup to Friday's show, we speak to an expert on Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing tabletop games - Skip Williams. He is one of the organizers of an annual event (Gary Con) in Lake Geneva that honors the co-creator of the game, Gary Gygax. This interview is designed in part to help people who know nothing about Dungeons & Dungeons to understand something about what the game is, how it is played, and what is the source of its immense appeal.

From 2006 - Richard Kurin, author of "Hope Diamond: The Legendary History of a Cursed Gem."

In honor of the opening day for another season of major league baseball, we replay our conversation with NPR's Linda Homes ("Pop Culture Happy Hour") in which she talks about her debut novel "Evvie Drake Starts Over." The title character is a struggling major league pitcher who is trying to regain his form and confidence.

Part One: We speak with UW-Parkside librarians Shauna Edson and Heather Spencer about the research they have been doing into an interesting chapter in the school's history: how Parkside was host to Gen Con, the largest convention that gathers together fans of Dungeons and Dragons and other table-top role-playing games. Parkside hosted Gen Con from 1978 to 1984. They are in the midst of creating an oral history project about it and are still in search of first-person accounts from anyone who visited gen con at Parkside during those years. Part Two: best-selling author Rick Riordan, who has created (among other things) the popular Percy Jackson series for young readers. This particular interview concerns his "The Trials of Apollo" series.

Dr. Art Cyr his commentary of current events and issues, including our current conflict with Iran, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling regarding President Trump's tariffs, and more.

From the archives (for Women's History Month). - a conversation about Annie Oakley, one of the most legendary and charismatic from the Old West. She was the subject of an American Experience documentary film. My guest is Virginia Scharff, a professor of history at the University of New Mexico, who was one of the guest experts featured in the film.

We learn about the early years of basketball legend Larry Bird through Keith O'Brien's new book "Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird."

For Women's History Month- Kimberly Heckler talks about the biography she has written about her mother-in-law, Margaret Heckler .... the first woman to score the political triple crown of serving in the U.S. Congress, serving in the U.S. Cabinet, and serving as a U.S. Ambassador. As a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts, she helped insure that women were able to access credit. As Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan, she helped nudge the administration towards a more meaningful response to the AIDS epidemic. Heckler's book is titled "A Woman of Firsts: Margaret Heckler, Political Trailblazer."

For Women's History Month- we replay our 2016 conversation with Michael Schulman, author of "Her Again: Becoming Meryl Streep." The book examines the early years of Streep's life and the very beginning of her career.