Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

In the wake of the tragic deaths of Rob Reiner and Micele Reiner, we are replaying a memorable interview with Rob's father, Carl Reiner, one of the great legends from the early days of television. This interview was recorded more than a decade ago.

From the archives- a 2007 conversation with choral legend Weston Noble talking about Handel's Messiah. This interview took place just before the third annual Sing Along Messiah at First United Methodist Church in Kenosha. Also participating in the conversation was Carthage graduate Trevor Parker, who was the tenor soloist for that particular performance. (Recently, the 20th anniversary Messiah Sing Along took place at First United Methodist Church.)

In honor of The New Yorker magazine's 100th anniversary this year, we replay this 2008 conversation with Robert Mankoff, who served the venerable for many years as its Cartoon Editor. The occasion of this interview was the publication of The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Book. In this contest, each issue features a cartoon with no caption attached. Readers are invited to contribute their own potential captions. The staff of magazine chooses three finalists- and readers are invited to select the winning entry. The contest began in 1999 as a one-shot deal, but it was so enormously popular that it quickly became a continuing series.

Kailyn Palomares is back- and her guest this month is Marcia Wensing, a plant pest and disease specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. She inspects Christmas tree farms and plant nurseries of all kinds, looking for pests, diseases, and invasive species.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of The New Yorker magazine, we replay two 2015 conversations with important contributors to the magazine's legacy. First , you'll hear from long-time copy editor Mary Norris, talking about her book "Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen." After that, we talk with cartoonist Matthew Diffee, whose work has appeared quite often in the magazine. His book is titled "Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart, Attractive People."

Here is the second of two interviews I recorded earlier this year with renowned composer Ricky Ian Gordon about his memoir "Seeing Through: A Chronicle of Sex, Drugs and Opera." The memoir was recently rereleased in paperback. We have already reshared the first interview, which focused mostly on personal matters in Gordon's life. This second interview takes up matters more directly related to his wide-ranging and exciting career.

Andrew Gulli, managing editor of The Strand, talks about the new collection of mysteries published over the past twenty five years: "Best of the Strand Magazine: 25 Years of Twists, Turns, and Tales from the Modern Masters of Mystery and Fiction." (A portion of this interviews aired a couple of weeks ago. This is the interview in its entirety.)

(From 2009) We talk about what is means to be Bilingual with three Carthage College professors: Wayne Thompson (Sociology), Matt Borden (Spanish), and Dimitri Shapovalov (Music.) - and what can happen when chooses to raise one's children to be bilingual.

As WGTD celebrates its 50th anniversary, it's only right that we take a moment to celebrate the legacy of WGTD's own Dave McGrath, who was the station's longest-running news director .... from 1999 until earlier this year. This is the Morning Show that happened on his last day as news director. His wife, Guida Brown, was on hand - as were a number of his friends and colleagues to wish him well and to talk about his long and varied career.

In honor of WGTD's 50th anniversary, today's Morning Show features excerpts from six memorable Morning Shows - spanning more than 25 years. Two of the interviews feature longtime news director Bill Guy, who created the show in the early 1980s and was its primary host until his death in 1999. Three of the interviews feature noteworthy guests from the community- and the other three guests include one of the greatest figures in the early days of television .... and a former U.S. president.

We celebrate 50 year of WGTD on the air with this rebroadcast of an interview from earlier this year with Gary Vaillancourt, who was on staff when the station went on the air on December 23, 2025- and shortly thereafter became general manager. [ We remind you of a public reception in honor of our 50th anniversary that's happening on Friday, December 12th 7:30- 10:30 in the Inspire Center on the Kenosha campus of Gateway Technical College.... 3520 30th Avenue. You can tour the studios, meet the staff, look at station memorabilia, and even record an anniversary greeting. ]

We speak with a representative of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation about some of the special challenges that this holiday season poses for people who are prone to addiction to alcohol or other drugs.

We talk with Doug Instenes, managing and artistic director of the Racine Theater Guild, who is also stage director for the RTG's production of the musical CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, which runs for the next two weekends (December 12-21).

As WGTD approaches its 50th anniversary of being on the air, I thought it would be fun to share one of my favorite interviews done by my predecessor, longtime news director Bill Guy, who created the Morning Show and was its primary host for many year. This interview was recorded in 1998- and it concerned the republication of a fascinating document: the 1925 City Plan for Kenosha by Harland Barthomew. Bill had an insatiable curiosity, and especially loved anything related to history- so he was in heaven as he conducted this particular interview with two representatives of the Kenosha County Historical Society (who were responsible for the republication) - Bob Fuhrman and Don Jensen - as well as the man who was the City Planner for Kenosha in 1998, Ray Forgianni.

From 2014 comes a conversation with former WGTD general manager Gary Vaillancourt, who was around when the radio station went on the air fifty years ago this month. This particular conversation, however, focused on a more personal topic- the fear he experienced when he was misdiagnosed with a life-threatening illness.

WGTD is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month. This interview is with two people who joined the WGTD team early in its history: Jayne Herring, who became one of the station's news directors in 1980 - and Barb Axelson, whose first on-air work for WGTD in 1983 was as an intern with Gateway's radio program. *WGTD is hosting a public reception in honor of its 50th anniversary on Friday, December 12th ... 7:30- 10:30 a.m. . There will be coffee from East View Coffee in Kenosha and kringle from O & H Danish Bakery in Racine. You can tour our studios, meet the staff, view station memorabilia, and even record an anniversary greeting that will be heard over the air in coming weeks. The event occurs in the Inspire Center, which is the northernmost building on the Kenosha campus of Gateway Technical College.

From 2009- John Eisenberg, author of 'That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory." We're replaying this interview as the Packers look forward to a very significant showdown with one of their division rivals, the resurgent Chicago Bears.

We preview Saturday night's Candlelight Concert at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Racine. We speak with Jim Schatzman and Pat Badger, Artistic Director and Associate Conductor respectively of the Choral Arts Society, which is headlining the concert. Other participants will include Mark Paffrath, Victoria Vollman, and dancers from the Studio of Classical Dance Arts.

In honor of WGTD's 50th anniversary, we speak with Former Circuit Court Judge Emily Mueller - a former chair of the Board of Trustees at Gateway Technical College - who has been a faithful listener to WGTD for several decades (and for a time was part of the station's Advisory Board.) Currently, Emily Mueller is president of the board of directors of the Racine Theater Guild. (The station is hosting a coffee and kringle reception on Friday, December 12th, 7:30 to 10:30 am in the Inspire Center on the Kenosha campus of Gateway Technical College.)

We talk with Dr. James Kinchen, director of choral activities at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, about upcoming performances of the Nguzo Saba Suite by Glenn Burleigh- a work celebrating Kwanzaa that was commissioned by UW-Parkside as part of the school's 25th anniversary celebration. This vibrant work will be performed this Sunday afternoon, Dec. 7th at 3 pm and this Monday evening, Dec. 8th at 7 pm in the Frances Bedford Concert Hall.