Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

Part 1 Alice Genevieve Tucholke, author of 'Merry and Hark: A Christmas Story," based on a true story- a small owl accidentally finds itself transported from the woods to the heart of a huge city- but is taken in by a loving soul. Part 2: (from the archives) W. Bruce Cameron, author of "The Dogs of Christmas." Part 3: Charles M. Cohen, expert on the works of Dr. Seuss, discusses the 2007 50th anniversary release of "The Grinch who stole Christmas."

From 2019 - Professor Charles T. Clotfelter talks about his book "Big-Time Sports in American Universities," which examines the place of high profile athletic teams at our major universities. Although Professor Clotfelter raises concerns, he comes to this as a sports fan and his approach to the topic is nuanced and thoughtful.

From 2007- a memorable conversation about Handel's MESSIAH with choral legend Weston Noble- who was conductor-in-residence at Carthage College that year and participated in in the 2007 Sing Along Messiah performance. Also in this conversation is Trevor Parker, who was the tenor soloist that year. This year's Messiah Sing Along is Sunday evening, Dec. 17th, 6 pm, at First United Methodist Church in Kenosha.

I speak with Craig Gall, music director of the Kenosha Pops Concert Band, about their Christmas concert on Saturday evening, December 16th, in Carthage's Siebert Chapel. This is the 20th anniversary of the group's first Christmas concert.

We speak with Jessica DeBoer about the upcoming Sing Along Messiah this Sunday evening, December 17th, 6 pm, at First United Methodist Church in Kenosha.

For Nan Calvert's final program of 2023, she brought to our studios Erin Houlihan and Ellie Barbeau, who are with the Humble Oak Folk School .... which operates under the auspices of the Humble Oak Outdoor Learning and Arts Collective in East Troy.

Part One: Clayton Szczech, author of 'A Field Guide to Tequila." Part Two: (from 2008) Frederick Kaufman, author of "A Short History of the American Stomach."

Dr. Rana Limbo is co-founder and director emerita of a program called Resolve Through Sharing, which has trained tens of thousands of health care professionals over the past 40+ years to work with patients who have experienced the heartbreak of stillbirth, miscarriage or the death of a child. The program was created at a time when such losses were not openly or effectively addressed. The program is part of the Gundersen Health System.

(from 2014) Professor Devin Brown talks about his book "Tolkien: How an obscure Oxford professor wrote The Hobbit and became the most beloved author of the 20th century."

From 2004- Amotz Asa-El discusses his book "The Diaspora and the Lost Tribes of Israel."

From 2016- Opera composer Jake Heggie. (Heggie's most -often performed opera, "Dead Man Walking," received its long-awaited Metropolitan Opera premiere this past fall. It was a triumph.

This is a conversation with Norgie Metzinger, the director of the Lakeside Players' production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" which opened last weekend and runs for the next two weekends.

Georgia Hall and Pat Badger talk about Saturday night's Candlelight Christmas Concert at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Racine - a concert featuring Caritas, Mark Paffrath and the Choral Arts Society (among others.) We also briefly look back over the 30-year history of the Music & More series.

In one of three previews of holiday-themed offerings here in southeastern Wisconsin, we rebroadcast a conversation from earlier in the year with George Baumgardt, founder and artistic director of the Spirit of Racine Music Makers. They are presenting a free holiday concert on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 that will features the Kiwanis Youth Orchestra as special guests. The concert takes place at The Covenant at Murray Mansion.

Dr. Art Cyr, from the faculty at Carthage College, offers his thoughts on Henry Kissinger (who just passed away at the age of 100), JFK (who was assassinated sixty years ago this year), and Abraham Lincoln (who established Thanksgiving as a national holiday.) He also talks about the current state of affairs with the economy in China.

As something of a followup to last week's interview with David Brooks (author of "How to know a person") we are sharing an interview from 18 months ago with Ryan Jenkins and Steven Van Cohen, co-authors of "Connectable: How leaders can move teams from Isolated to All=In." The book explores some of the same concerns raised in Brooks' book but with an emphasis on the workplace.

From 2009 - James D. Stein talks about his book "How Math Explains the World: A Guide to the Power of Numbers from Car Repair to Modern Physics."

From 2011 - Niall Ferguson talks about the experience of interviewing Henry Kissinger for a National Geographic documentary. (The documentary was released on DVD.) Kissingers died this past week at the age of 100.

We talks with sports journalist Mike Richman about his book "George Allen: A Football Life." it's a sprawling and meticulously researched biography of one of the most successful head coaches in NFL history.

Part 1 - Dr. James Kinchen, director of choral activities at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, talks about this weekend's choral concert, which include a performance of "Ballad of the Brown King" by Margaret Bonds, with texts by Langston Hughes. Part 2- Brian Gill from the Theatre Arts faculty, talks about Steve Martin's play "Meteor Shower." It will be performed at Parkside over the next two weekends.