Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

For Black History Month: Joe Drape discusses his book "Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend" .... the story of Jimmy Winkfield, the son of a black sharecropper who became one of the country's finest jockeys. (from 2007)

We have been replaying memorable interviews with author Michael Schumacher, a guest on the Morning Show on at least a dozen occasions over the course of three decades. One of my most memorable conversations with Michael on the program was actually the one occasion when he wasn't there to talk about one of his books- but rather to pay tribute to his good friend Bill Guy- long-time news director for WGTD and my predecessor as host of The Morning Show by talking about the art of great interviewing. Earlier that morning, we received word that Bill Guy had just died at the age of 50 after a valiant battle with liver cancer. Consequently, this Morning Show visit from Michael became a memorial tribute to Bill, someone who had interviewed Michael on a number of occasions on the program and always enjoyed the experience.

Part One- for Friday the 13th- we hear about an unlucky turn of events for the Lakeside Players, who are cleaning up from an unfortunate flood in the basement of the Rhode Center for the Arts. We talk with two board members about the flood- what the community can do to help- and how their current production, the musical "The 25th Annual Puttnam County Spelling Bee" is still opening tonight, on schedule. Part Two- For Valentine's Day, we speak with the author and illustrator of a new book for very young children titled "100 Words to Say I Love You." Sandra Magsamen is one of the most acclaimed children's book authors and illustrators before the public today.

For Kailyn Palomares's February visit to the Morning Show, we are talking with Aaron Schiller, Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Wisconsin DNR.

Part One- Investigative Reporter Rico Moore talks about allegations of inhumane conditions in ICE detention facilities. Part Two- from 2019, best-selling author Reyna Grande talks about her book "A Dream Called Home: a Memoir," which explores her own immigrant experience.

We speak with Jan Cress Bondi, author of "The Navigator's Letter: The True Story of Two World War 2 Airmen, a Doomed Mission, and the Woman who Bound Them Together." The story concerns the author's mother Polley, and two men who served our country as airmen: Polley's brother John B. White and Polley's friend and future husband Bob Cress. The two men participated in what turned out to be an ill-conceived air raid on oil fields in Romania - an attack that ended up being the costliest air raid of the war. Bondi was inspired to write the book after looking through hundreds and hundreds of her mother's letters. [Bondi is signing books at Boswell Books, 2559 Downer Avenue in Milwaukee, WI on Thursday, February 12th at 6:30 pm.]

David Brooks has been a well-known columnist for the New York Times for the past 22 years (as well as a prominent political commentator on television.) He recently announced that he is leaving the New York Times and moving to The Atlantic. This is a rebroadcast of my 2024 interview with Mr. Brooks about his remarkable book "How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. " This interview generated more positive feedback from listeners than any other interview I have done in recent years. It is a pleasure to re-share it today.

On this 60th Super Bowl Sunday, we replay a conversation with one of the authors of "Super Bowl Gold" (from Sports Illustrated) that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first Super Bowl.

We continue our ongoing memorial tribute to Kenosha's own Michael Schumacher, a nationally-published author many times over, who passed away on December 29th at the age of 75. This interview from ten years ago concerns the book "Torn in Two: The Sinking of the Daniel J. Morrell and One Man's Survival on the Open Sea."

Part One- Hal Eisner, author of "My Accidental Career: My 58-year Adventure as a Broadcast New Reporter." Part Two- (from 2019). Mitchel Zuckoff, co-author of "Fall and Rise: The Story of 9/11." Zuckoff was a journalist in Boston who ended up covering the events of September 11, 2001 as they unfolded. (This September will mark the 25th anniversary of 9-11, and in the coming months we will occasionally share archival interviews related in one way or another to 9-11.).

Our guest is Hope Otto, Director of Health and Human Services for Racine County. We talk with her about what a challenging time this is for the entire human services sector. Specific topics include- disruptions in federal aid ..... homelessness in Racine ..... and about the Jonathan Delagrave Youth Development and Care Center.

Part One- We speak with Adam Smith, a free-lance production assistant for TV and radio commercials based in Milwaukee. He is also a screenwriter, and he is organizing a public table read series called "Voices Off Paper" that will feature the work of local screenwriters. Part Two- A portion of a conversation with the late Bob Newhart, talking about his memoir "I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This: And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny."

We speak with Dr. Alyssa Dweck, an OB/GYN, about Urinary Tract Infections in women and what one can do to reduce the likelihood of contracting a UTI.

Dr. Ashely Alker draws upon her experience and expertise as an ER doctor in penning her informative and entertaining book "99 Ways to Die - and How to Avoid Them."

From 2007 - Dr. Atul Gawande talks about his book "Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance."

Darlene Rivest, a well-known violinist in Southeastern Wisconsin, previews Violin Intensive, a five-day event at DeKoven Center that is drawing adult violinists from across the country and even from a couple of other countries. We also talk about Darlene's own wide-ranging career as a violinist.

For Holocaust Remembrance Day (which was January 27) - Mikhal Dekel, author of "Tehran Children: A Holocaust Refugee Odyssey." (from 2019)

From 2008- Frederick Kaufman, author of "A Short History of the American Stomach".

In our ongoing memorial tribute to Kenosha's own Michael Schumacher, a nationally-published author many times over, we are replaying a 2020 conversation about Schumacher's long friendship with Allen Ginsberg. (Schumacher passed away on December 29th at the age of 75. He was a guest on the Morning Show more than a dozen times over the course of three decades.).

One of our favorite interviews from 2025- Samuel Ashworth discusses "The Death and Life of August Sweeney: a Novel." The main character is a young forensic pathologist who is doing an autopsy in the hopes of understanding more about both the death and the life of a controversial chef named August Sweeney.