Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

Ralph Houghton was the coordinator of Fine Arts for the Kenosha public schools for many years.  Saturday night, May 18th, at 7:00 there is a free concert at Reuther High School Auditorium, which is being renamed the Ralph J. Houghton Performance Center.  There will be performances by the KUSD Madrigal Singers, the Golden Strings, and the Kenosha Alumni Band with Ralph's son Steve (a superb professional percussionist) as a special guest.  We are replaying this interview with Ralph Houghton from many years ago in tribute to this great champion of the arts in Kenosha. 

Joshua A. Douglas, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law, examines efforts across the country to expand the voting rolls such as lowering the minimum voting age or extending the right to vote to felons ... as well as efforts to remove barriers that can discourage or prevent people from exercising their right to vote.  His book is titled "Vote for Us: How to Take Back our Elections and Change the Future of Voting." 

We are discussing Aerial Arts, in which a person is suspended above the floor or ground- sometimes a large distance off of the ground - by silken hammocks and/or silken strips which they hold on to and with which they can assume various positions.  It can be done as dance, for therapy, and even for Yoga.   We speak to two instructors at the Spiral Space Yoga Gallery where aerial arts are taught.  (They are presenting a showcase of their students on Friday night, May 17th, at The Branch- 1501 Washington Ave. in Racine.  The event is a fundraiser.) 

In Part One, we find out about an exciting exchange program called "Two Worlds-One Art" involving choral singers from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Jianghan University in Wuhan, China.   In Part Two, we meet composer Dana Wilson; a new piece by Dr. Wilson will be premiered this weekend by the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra.  

May is Mental Illness Awareness Month.  Part One is with Lisa Zanin, co-president of the Kenosha County chapter of NAMI- the National Alliance on Mental Illness.   Part two is a portion of a 2005 conversation with Paul Raeburn, author of "Acquainted with the Night."  Raeburn, a former writer for Business Week,  writes about his son's and daughter's respective struggles with mental illness.   

Kenosha's own Betsy Ade returns to the Morning Show to tell us more about what it was like to be a contestant on NBC's "The Voice."  (She was recently eliminated.)  She takes us behind the scenes to describe what it was like to be coached by the show's celebrity judges,  how the songs she sang for the series were chosen,  what kind of relationship she had with her fellow contestants,  and much more.  

From 2007 comes an interview with best-selling author Joe Drape and a book called "Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend."  It tells the story of Jimmy Winkfield,  the last of the great African-American horse jockeys. 

From 2008 comes a memorable interview with Mort Zachter, author of a book called Dough: A Memoir.   It's the true story of Mort's two uncles (who never married),  the day-old baked goods shop that they ran for all of their lives,  and the rather odd way that they chose to live their lives.   It is a very intriguing and entertaining book.  

This is the monthly visit of Bryan Albrecht, the president of Gateway Technical College.  His guest is Terry Crocker, CEO of BRP - which makes boats. Much of this conversation focuses on the technological advancements that have been made in boating, somewhat similar to what we have seen in automobiles over the last few years.   Mr. Crocker will be the speaker at Gateway's commencement exercises next week.  

In Part One, we talk about this weekend's concert by the Choral Arts Society that will be devoted to music of the Beatles.  Our guests include artistic director Jim Schatzman and guest musician Mark Paffrath.   In Part Two, we share a 2004 interview from the Morning Show archives with Tony Barrow, long-time manager of the Beatles.  The occasion for our conversation was the publication of the book "Paul McCartney: Then and Now," which Barrow co-wrote. 

Working with the poor in Cameroon. 

David A. Salomon's book is titled 'The Seven Deadly Sins: How Sin Influenced the West from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era."  

I am often asked what interview is my favorite among the thousands that I have done over the past twenty years as host of "The Morning Show."  This is it.  Alexandra Zapruder's book "Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust" is a collection of diaries written by young people during the Holocaust.  These would be diaries somewhat similar to the famous diary of Anne Frank.  Ms. Zapruder's book was initially published in 2002.  It was re-released in a second edition several years ago- and there is also a multi-media edition available. I am sharing this interview because of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was this past Thursday.  We Must Never Forget. 

Robert Trachtenberg's book "When I Knew" collects the stories of about 100 different gay people who answer the question "When did I know that I was gay?"   Some of the stories shared are hilarious- while others are quite poignant.  

We introduce you to Noah Mercadillo, a sophomore at Tremper High School in Kenosha, who has won first place in both the Kenosha Symphony and Racine Symphony youth auditions.   He performs the opening movement of the Haydn Cello Concerto in C major with the RSO this Saturday evening.  (At one point during the interview, Noah plays his cello.) In part two, we hear from RSO artistic director Pasqual Laurino,  who will conduct Saturday evening's concert. 

Anne Morse Hambrock is a well-known local harpist, harp teacher, and composer - but today we talk about her work as a writer and artist as expressed in her new book "Conversations with the Infinite."  We also talk about the Holocaust Remembrance Day event at the Kenosha Public Museum (for which Anne will be playing harp)  which will feature a talk by Holocaust survivor Nathan Taffel.  We finish out the program by replaying a Morning Show conversation with him recorded back in 2008. 

In part one,  Brian Gill (from the theater faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside) discusses "Love's Labours Lost," an early comedy by William Shakespeare that UW-Parkside will present over the next two weekends.  In part two, we meet Susan Dreyfus, president of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, who is the keynote speaker at this Friday's Non-Profit Breakfast at UW-Parkside "Celebrating 50 Years of Powerful Partnerships." 

My guest is Penny Farmer, author of "Dead in the Water: My 40-year search for my Brother's Killer."  

Carthage College's First Lady, Cameron Swallow, talks about her involvement in an organization called Better Angels, which seeks to help people from both sides of the political aisle - 'reds' and 'blues' - to be able to speak more respectfully with one another and be able to develop appreciation for and understanding of each other.  Better Angels has a skills workshop coming up this Saturday morning, May 5th.  In our conversation, Cameron Swallow shares what it is like to be part of a politically divided family. 

Robin Gerber's 2010 book is "Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman who Created Her."   The book chronicles the story of the Barbie Doll.