Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

For National Autism Awareness Month, we replay this 2007 conversation with J. Elder Robison, talking about his memoir "Look me in the eye: My Life with Aspberger's."

From 2010- W. B ruce Cameron talks about his best-selling novel "A Dog's Purpose

We preview three different musical events happening this weekend: the University of Wisconsin-Parkside orchestra concert Saturday afternoon .... the Racine Symphony Orchestra Saturday night ..... and the musical "Head over Heels" at Carthage College.

For Holocaust Remembrance Day.... here is my complete interview with Alexandra Zapruder, author and editor of "Salvaged Pages: Young Persons' Diaries from the Holocaust."

For Holocaust Remembrance Day - here is a portion of my 2002 interview with Alexandra Zapruder, author and editor of "Salvaged Pages: Young Persons' Diaries from the Holocaust." The book presents 15 diaries that are somewhat comparable to the famous diary of Anne Frank. Each of them offers a unique and compelling account of what it was like to live through those terrifying and tragic events. <The entire interview, which lasted nearly eighty minutes, is also being shared in its entirety in a separate episode.>

Ross Benes talks about his newest book, "1999: The Year Low Culture Conquered America and Kickstarted our Bizarre Times." The book examines the dramatic emergence of the Jerry Springer Show, Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation, the video game Grand Theft Auto, and other examples of what Benes refers to as 'low culture.'

In honor of Earth Day ..... Part One: (from 2022) Carole Douglis, co-author (with Peter Fiekowsky) of "Climate Restoration: The Only Future That Will Sustain The Human Race." Part Two: (from 2024) Eric Schaeffer, founder and director of the Environmental Integrity Project, which monitors the work of the EPA.

From 2012 - artist Christian Patchell talks about his book "I put the 'Can' in Cancer."

From 2015 ---- We speak with Gary Stamm, a well-known local actor in community theater productions both in Racine and Kenosha, and a frequent guest on the Morning Show. In this instance, we spoke with Gary Stamm about the experience of being a contestant on the Food Network program "Chopped" - a special episode in which all of the contestants were outstanding amateur chefs who were also grandfathers.

From 2001- We speak with Dan Schowalter, a former member of the religion faculty at Carthage College- and three distinguished theology professors who came to Southeastern Wisconsin for an event titled "Ancient Gospels and the Modern Church" ..... J. Andrew Overman (Macalester College), Stephen Patterson (Willamette University), and Helmut Koester (Harvard University Divinity School.) Professor Koester passed away in 2016.

From 1999 - A conversation about the American Boy Choir, which at the time was one of the premiere choral organizations in the country. The guest, Greg Lyne, was a former member of the ensemble. (At the time of this interview, Mr. Lyne was on the staff of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America - which used to be in Kenosha.)

In honor of National Poetry Month, we are replaying a 2001 interview with Rebecca Presson Mosby, one of the editors of "Poetry Speaks" (from Source Books in Naperville, IL)- which includes a companion compact disk recording in which one can hear historic recordings of famous poets of the last century reciting their own poetry. (We play excerpts from it in the course of this interview.) Because of time constraints, we could only play an abridged version of the interview on today's Morning Show broadcast. This is the interview in its entirety.

Dr. Ron Cronovich, Professor of Economics at Carthage College, talks about Tariffs: What are they? How do they work? Are they good or bad? (Is that the right question to ask?) What is the primary motivation behind President Trump's policy on tariffs? What does it mean to have a Trade Deficit with another nation? Is that good or bad? What are the intended and unintended consequences of the sort of Trade War in which the United States is currently engaged?

Dr. Art Cyr, a member of the faculty of Carthage College - and a monthly visitor to the Morning Show - joins us to share his perspective on a variety of topics and concerns. In this particular conversation, we discuss President Trump and his tariff proposals .... Senator Chuck Schumer and his decision to work with Republicans to pass the stopgap spending bill one month ago that averted a government shutdown .... the removal of South Korea's president from office .... and the Trump administration's lack of success in organizing peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Ronald Gruner talks about his fascinating new book COVID Wars: America's Struggle Over Public Health and Personal Freedom," which examines the painful divide in the American public over the COVID-19 pandemic and our national response to it. The book also examines how that same divisiveness was evident to varying degrees in past epidemics and pandemics as well.

From 2003- A discussion of the book "Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb: A Tour of Presidential Gravesites" with Richard Norton Smith, one of the contributors to the book.

From 2013 .... Lori Hartwell discusses her book "Chronically Happy: Joyful Living in Spite of Chronic Living." Hartwell has lived for most of her life with chronic kidney disease. She is the founder and president of the Renal Support Network .... and co-host of "KidneyTalk," a biweekly webcast centered on issues related to CKD.

We speak with Amy Greil, executive director of the Kenosha Community Foundation, about the ongoing work of the KCF. Also in the conversation is John Kuehl, great nephew of local philanthropist Grace Kolakowski. Kuehl worked with Greil to set up a fund within the KCF to support the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra.

Today's Morning Show began with Nakeyda Haymer, Racine County Violent Crime Reduction Coordinator- and Wisconsin lead for the group Voices of Black Mothers United, which is comprised primarily of women who have lost children (or in the case of Ms. Haymer, her beloved brother) to gun violence. Haymer talks, among other things, about an event happening later today (Friday) in Racine called Bigger than Basketball- a basketball game involving local youths playing with local police officers as teammates.

For Kailyn Palomares's April visit to the Morning Show, we discuss the Pike River Restoration Project with Samanthan Kerkman, Kenosha County Executive .... Daniel Gashke, Vice Chair of the Kenosha County Board .... and Dave Giordano, Executive Director of Root Pike WIN.