Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

This special episode of the Morning Show is a walking tour of the Racine Zoo.  It can also be experienced visually if you go to WGTD's Facebook page.

Bryan Albrecht, the president of Gateway Technical College, pays his monthly visit to the program.  With him is Roger Tadajewski, Executive Director of the National Coalition of Certification Centers. 

Roger Bennett, cohost of the program/podcast "Men in Blazers,"  talks about his memoir "Reborn in the USA: an Englishman's Love Letter to his Chosen Home."   Bennett - born and raised in Liverpool, England - always thought of himself as 'an American trapped in an Englishman's body."  He recently became an American citizen.    After that comes an interview with Lucy Lethbridge, author of "Servants: a Downstairs History of Britain from the Nineteenth Century to Modern Times."  

Doug Instenes and Joycelyn Fish preview the Racine Theater Guild's virtual production of "The Laramie Project," a play that was created after the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming.  The production has involved the participation of almost one hundred people- a combination of RTG performers and members of the community that include the mayor, a local college president, a retired judge, local clergy, and more.   The production is shared with the public this coming Friday. 

From 2001 -  Two Carthage College faculty members: Dr. Chris Renaud, Professor of Classics .... Dr. Dan Schowalter, Professor of Religion .... and two Carthage students: Elizabeth Hack and Jerry Monson ....discuss their memorable trip to Greece.  This conversation underscores the vital importance of such trips, which were made pretty much impossible by the COVID-19 pandemic and which we hope will soon be possible again. 

From 1998 -  Kurt Chalgren, long-time staff member for KIDS from Wisconsin - and three of the students who were part of KIDS from Wisconsin that summer:  Kristen Singer,  Scott Weyrauch, and Will Ray.  The current KIDS from Wisconsin perform at Kenosha's Pennoyer Park Bandshell next Saturday, July 24th, at 12 noon.  (NOTE: Kristen is now a highly regarded teacher with Kenosha Unified,  Will has gone on to sing on Broadway, and Scott lives and works in Florida as both a performer and educator.) 

Kristin Contino discusses her novel "A House full of Windsor."  The main characters are a mother and daughter, Debbie and Sarah.  Debbie is a hoarder, with a house filled to the brim with memorabilia related to the Royal Family (especially Prince Charles and Princess Diana.)  Sarah is a television personality who dispenses advice on all kinds of matters related to daily living.  The book does a terrific job of helping us understand how and why someone can become a hoarder- and how challenging it is for their loved ones who want to help them. 

J.B. McKinnon, author of "The Day the World Stops Shopping: How Ending Consumerism Saves the Environment and Ourselves." 

John Cunningham, chief executive of the National AIDS Memorial. 

Ariel Sabar, author of "Veritas: a Harvard Professor, a Con Man, and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife."  The book is the true life chronicle of how a highly regarded Biblical scholar was taken in by a con man and deceived into believing in the authenticity of a ancient scroll fragment purportedly from an early Gnostic gospel rumored to confirm that Jesus was married.  

Jessica Joan

Matthew Reed discusses his play "I Remember," which is being performed this coming weekend at Kenosha Rhode Center for the Arts.   

We talk about the Fleeing Artists Theater's production of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, which takes place this weekend and the following weekend in the Lincoln Park Floral Gardens.   

Best-selling author Earl Swift talks about his latest book: "Across the Airless Wilds: The Lunar Rover and the Triumph of the Final Moon Landings." The book explores the story behind the lunar rover, an essential part of Apollo 15, 16 and 17 that helped make those three missions far more significant than the previous missions to the moon.  

From 2008:   Brooks Hansen, author of "The Brotherhood of Joseph:  a Father's Memoir of Infertility and Adoption in the 21st Century." 

From 2017-  Sportswriter John Feinstein talks about "The Legend's Club: Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano, and an Epic College Basketball Rivalry."  

Cynthia Fisher, founder of Patients Right Advocate, a non-profit that seeks greater transparency in the health care industry. 

Trumpeter Tim Burke, born and raised in Racine, has an impressive resume that includes stints with the Stan Kenton Orchestra and Woody Herman's Thundering Herd- as well as extensive experience playing trumpet in a plethora of Broadway musical productions in Chicago.  He returns to his hometown this Sunday night as soloist with the Racine Concert Band.  (This is the unabridged interview- and also includes an additional bonus question at the end about Tim's participation in the upcoming national tour for "Frozen.") 

Richard Lui, author of "Enough about Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness."  Lui learned something about selflessness after having to care for his father as he struggled with Alzheimer's Disease.  

We speak with Lynda Guttormsen Guy from the Four Seasons Garden Club about the organization's Secret Garden Walk, which is coming up this Saturday, July 10th.  Five beautiful private gardens are on this year's tour.