Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

Racine writer/poet Nicholas Michael Ravnikar talks about The Poetry Movement- and about the Bus Poems Contest he is coordinating which is encouraging local writers to pen poetry that may be displayed on Racine city buses.

In honor of National Assisted Living Week, we speak with Nancy Davies and Lisa DeBartolo, who are community outreach coordinators for Library Terrace Assisted Living in Kenosha. This is a general conversation about what the term assisted living means- and what people should consider when thinking about this as an option for themselves or for a loved one.

From 2009 - 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."

From 2003 - a conversation with renowned sportswriter Frank DeFord, talking about his novel AN AMERICAN SUMMER. DeFord was a longtime writer for Sports Illustrated as well as a longtime sports commentator on NPR's Morning Edition. He passed away in 2017.

We open with an interview with boxer Gerry Cooney, who at two different points in his career was the #1 heavyweight boxing contender - and renowned as one of the hardest hitters of his generation. His memoir about his life and career is titled "Gentleman Gerry." After that is a 2010 interview with Gary M. Pomerantz, author of "Wilt, 1962- The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era." It tells the story of the legendary night when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single NBA game.

Our guest is Ashley Hanson, Vice President for Enrollment at Carthage College. We talk with her about the challenging process of college recruitment- and how that process was made still more challenging this past year with what has been dubbed "the FAFSA Debacle," the disastrous roll-out of a simplified version of the federal financial form that was fraught with complications and delays - and which could have had catastrophic consequences. She'll tell us what Carthage did to try and ameliorate the effects of the problem.

We talk about a 4-week program with the Kenosha Public Library called "Terrific Talkers," which is designed primarily for babies and toddlers (as well as their parents, guardians and caregivers) for assessing and assisting in the development of language skills. It kicks off on Monday, September 9th and culminates on Saturday, October 5th. It's part of a larger, ongoing program series called Growing KPL Kids. Today's program begins with speech pathologist and author Stephanie Cohen, who will be the special guest presenter on October 5th. After that, we'll hear from Tess Fox-Pawlaczyk, early literacy librarian for KPL, who is also one of the primary organizers of this series of events.

On the eve of another academic year, we speak with Dr. Lynn Akey, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

From 2008- John Warne Monroe, author of "Laboratories of Faith: Mesmerism, Spiritism and Occultism in Modern France."

From 2008 - Jerelle Kraus, author of "All the Art that fit to Print (and some that wasn't)- Inside the New York Times Op-Ed Page."

From 2008- New Orleans based journalist Jed Horne talks about his book "Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City." Today marks the 9th anniversary to the day of the dissipation of Hurricane Katrina, one of the most terrible natural disasters in American history.

Samuel Sattin, author of "Unico: The Awakening ... an Original Manga." We'll also talk about two other books intended for young readers: "Made in Asian America" and "Louder than Words."

As another school year gets underway, we hear from Dr. John Swallow, the president of Carthage College. We talk in particular about the near record-breaking number of new students on campus this fall- and what an accomplishment that was in the challenging environment of higher education in 2024- a challenge made even steeper by a disastrous problem involving FAFSA, a Federal program involved with financial aid. We also hear about several notable additions to the administration and staff - and renovation work going on.

Exactly wo months ago today, former Racine County Executive Jonathan De La Grave passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 51. Today's Morning Show features two interviews I did with him. The first dates back to sometime between 2010 and 2015, when he was director of Racine County Human Services. The second was recorded in the summer of 2020, not long after he tested positive for COVID-19. He believed - as I did - that there might some benefit to him sharing his own COVID story with the public.

From 2016- Constantine Markides, author of "Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian." The subtitle refers to American swimmer Anthony Ervin, a two-time gold medalist in the 50-meter event. Ervin has also contended with Tourette's Syndrome for most of his life.

Ellen Ruppel Shell, author of "Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History - with Eels."

From 2008- Leander Kahney, author of "Inside Steve's Brain," an illuminating look at the personality, creativity, and imagination of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. <There are technical limitations to this recording. Our apologies.>

As a followup to yesterday's interview with Ian O'Connor, we pull up this interview with him from 2008 in which he talks about his book "Arnie and Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry."

In a Bonus offering, we share this interview from the archives with Jeff Pearlman, author of "Gunslinger: The Remarkable, Improbable, Iconic Life of Brett Favre." (2016). Pearlman's book is quoted in O'Connor's biography of Aaron Rodgers.

Sportswriter Ian O'Connor talks about his latest book, "Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers." The book explores the background of this renowned quarterback .... the reasons for his estrangement from most of his family .... and how and why he has become such a divisive and controversial figure in recent years.