Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

The Morning Show interview from 2025 that probably generated more comment than any other was this conversation with David Eliot, author of "Artificially Intelligent: The Very Human Story of A.I."

Today's program began with David Anderson, music director of the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra, talking about the ensemble's gala coming up on February 14th. After that is an archival conversation with Larry Tye, author of "Jazz Men," which examines the careers and influence of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong.

Today is Martin Luther King Day. One of the issues that most concerned Dr. King - especially in the last several years of his life - was access to housing regardless of race. The book at hand examines the practice of "Redlining," a means used to exclude certain types of people from various neighborhoods. Josh Silver's book is titled "Ending Redlining through a Community-Centered Reform of the Community Reinvestment Act." The book underscores how it is not enough to pass laws with the best of intentions; those laws must be properly and carefully implemented. GB

From 2016- We talk with Marc Cushman about his book "Lost in Space: The Authorized Biography of a Classic Sci-Fi Series."

In memory of Kenosha's own Michael Schumacher, who passed away on December 29, 2026 at the age of 75, we are going to be devoting the next few Saturday episodes of the podcast to archival interviews featuring Schumacher. This interview is the first interview that I did with Schumacher. The year was 1999 and the book in question was "Francis Ford Coppola: A Filmmaker's Life." One of the greatest film directors in cinematic history, Coppola directed The Godfather, The Godfather Part Two, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders, Peggy Sue Got Married, and The Rainmaker .... co-wrote the screenplay for Patton .... and produced American Graffiti, The Secret Garden, and The Black Stallion. I hope you enjoy this. GB

We pay tribute to Kenosha's own Michael Schumacher - a nationally-published authors many times over who passed away on December 29th at the age of 75 - by hearing from an array of his friends who knew him and loved him.

From 2014 - We remember Kenosha's own Michael Shumacher, a nationally published author who passed away on December 29th, by replaying this conversation that occurred during the 2014 Kenosha Festival of Cartooning. Schumacher was joined in our studios by his friend Denis Kitchen, one of the leading figures in the underground comic book movement - with whom Michael collaborated on a highly regarded biography of cartoonist Al Capp. (Tomorrow's Morning Show will feature a gathering of some of Michael Schumacher's friends reflecting on what he was like and what it meant to have him as a friend.)

Part One: Beth Bush talks about the next production at the Racine Theater Guild, opening this Friday: "Ripcord," which tells the story of two badly mismatched roommates in a senior living facility who grow to have a grudging understanding of and affection for each other. Part Two: One of our favorite interviews from 2025- Gordon Korman talks about his book "Snoop - a novella intended for young readers that ends up being an intriguing commentary on our addiction to screens.

We talk with Dr. Mary Lenard, a member of the English faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and Anna Stadick, director of the UW-Parkside library, about the upcoming mini-course titled "Four Evenings with Jane Austen" in honor of the legendary writer's 250th birthday. The course is cost-free, except for securing copies of the three novels that will be studied. There are no exams or papers; it's simply an opportunity to read some great literature and discuss it with a Jane Austen expert.

One of our favorite interviews from 2025: James Rebanks talks about his memoir "The Place of Tides" in which he recounts his experience of moving to a small, remote island off the coast of Norway.

One of our favorite interviews from 2025..... Mary Roach, author of "Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy." Her book explores some of the intriguing ways in which human beings have developed ways to alter the human body with things like dentures, prosthetic limbs, mechanical hearts, hair transplants, and much more.

From 2003 - Daniel Glick talks about his memoir "Morkey Dancing: A Father, Two Kids, and a Journey to the Ends of the Earth."

Two more favorite interviews from 2025. Part One: Adam Nimoy talks about his new memoir "The Most Human: Reconciling with my Father, Leonard Nimoy." Part Two: Ken Belson, author of "Every Day is Sunday; How Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, and Roger Goodell Turned the NFL into a Cultural and Economic Juggernaut."

For Kailyn Palomares's January visit to the Morning Show, she brought with her two representatives of the Southeast Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission ..... Ben McKay, Deputy Director, and Laura Herrick, Chief Environmental Engineer. The SEWRPC works with municipalities in Southeastern Wisconsin on environmental and engineering plans.

We preview next week's 4th annual Arts Symposium at Carthage College. This year's event is titled "Borderlands and Crossroads: A Confluence of Art, Music, Film, and Everyday Life." This symposium, like its predecessors, celebrates the Samuel and Berry Schoen Collection of Soviet Art at Carthage. The event- which is free and open to the public- occurs January 13, 14 and 15. We speak with four members of the Carthage art faculty .... Leslie Brothers, Joshua McGowan, Lisa Bigalke, and Robin Holmes- as well as with current Carthage student Jared Werner- who are all participants in the symposium in one way or another. A selection of paintings from the Schoen Collection are already on display in the Johnson Arts Gallery. That exhibition is titled "Harvesting Light: Soviet Women in Labor and Life."

Here is another of our favorite interviews from 2025 .... with Kevin Ervin, co-owner of Frank's Diner, one of the most famous eating establishments in southeastern Wisconsin- the longest continuously-operating diner in the state- which last year celebrated its 99th anniversary of operation. (But it should have been its 100th anniversary. The story behind that is just one of the things we talk about in this interview.).

We talk with Dr. Thomas Carr, Associate Professor of Biology at Carthage College, about the ending of the relationship between Carthage's paleontology program and the Dinosaur Discovery Museum in Kenosha. (We will be issuing an invitation to the administration at the museum to give them the opportunity to share their perspective on the situation.)

One of our favorite Morning Show interviews from 2025 was with James Parker, author of "Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes: Odes to Being Alive." The various odes in this book include "Ode to Naps," "Ode to Giving People Money," and "Ode to Running in Movies." The book is both thought-provoking and hilarious.

One of our favorite interviews from 2025 was a conversation with B. J. Hollars about his book "Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary that Launched a President and Changed the Course of History."

One of our favorite Morning Shows from 2025 aired for a sad reason- the unexpected death of renowned sportswriter John Feinstein in March at the age of 69. A familiar voice to public radio listeners, he had been a guest on this program on at least five occasions. This program features excerpts from several of those interviews.