Life 2.0

It was a random Facebook post by a young friend of mine that seemed to be filled with despair about another horrible human tragedy that prompted this particular episode of the Life 2.0 podcast. The post started with..."What's happening to our world?..." and went on from there. I've been pondering (once again) what appears to be the deterioration of the human condition, until I think back to the ti...

This is a total free-fall, free-for-all, freebie S&S episode in which a listener wants to know whether Garry and John are really doing this podcast or if it's AI-generated. From there, it's a deep dive into another year of Shark Week (more JAWS!), the evolution (or devolution) of the human condition when it comes to the DUI/OWI of Tony Romo, John explains to Garry the phenomenon of owning a Je...

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Sweetness.   Worked with Walter on his foundation, golf outings, and other assorted projects for a couple of years. There's a whole chapter on him in my first book, "Living An Uncommon Life."   One of my favorite memories is when I once brought my three-year-old son Andy to the office. We had meetings with K-Mart about a major sponsorship for a project. About halfway throu...

111 years ago today, July 24th, 1915, the Eastland was bound for a day trip across Lake Michigan filled with employees of The Western Electric Company. Over 2,500 people boarded the boat, docked on the Chicago River, and less than an hour later, 844 men, women, children, and crew were killed in what was the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.   So, how is it possible t...

In light of the recent attempt by a rabid fan to get at everyone's benign weather uncle, Al Roker, Garry & John share a couple of near-miss stories when it came to having a listener cross the radio threshold. Then it's a rollback to their first paying jobs and the lessons gained from pouring concrete or pulling nails for a few hours a day compared to being an "influencer" in the 21st century....

It's a rare occurrence that I find myself in Green Bay, Wisconsin, this morning. Even though I'm a Chicago Bears guy, I can't help but think about my long friendship with the greatest guard in the history of the NFL-Jerry Kramer. Last night I had dinner in Lambeau Field at the 1919 Club, and the images of Lombardi and those great Packer teams over the years are embedded in the culture here. So, th...

He's quite possibly the most recognizable meteorologist on the planet, and he's Garry & John's special guest on this episode of Saints and Sinners! The favorite son of Aurora, Illinois, where he would send letters to Chicago radio stations as a boy, offering to provide them with a more accurate forecasts, to the millions of viewers who watched him for decades on WGN-TV to his latest foray into...

I was out of the internet landfill for three days last week, which was a blessing in disguise. I took a break from my usual routine and spent some time cleaning out old audio files. I came across a folder of shows I did back in 2015/16 for CBS called Life Matters, and there are 30 episodes in the file with some great conversations, like the one I had with Pulitzer Prize winner (and one of my favor...

Yep, you read that right. Only these two guys could have an unscripted conversation that covers everything from Garry's impressive mane to John's follicle- challenged dome and the time Carol Channing wanted to meet John for a date (and he was the dessert!) Then there's the guy who carved his way out of a frozen grave with a dagger made of his own feces. Add in Garry's comments on air conditioning...

GM and JSA are back at it for episode zwei (that's number two for your non-Germanic types), and besides exploring the dark corners of each other's minds, it's a show chock-full of Dracula stories (John's dad had a Bela Lugosi crush) Garry's thoughts on how AARP needs to let us live in denial as long as possible and of course beating up a little bit on the radio industry in light of the recent "iHe...

What happens when artificial intelligence intersects with human intelligence? Well, since humans have a hard enough time discerning what reality is, chances are if you don't have your firewall of common sense up, AI is gonna take you to the cleaners, because behind the beauty that insists they have your best interests at heart, is a lower life form human who doesn't. After getting a text from a fr...

What happens when you put a Radio Hall of Fame broadcaster (Garry Meier) and an award-winning radio voice (John St. Augustine) in the same podcast space? Not really sure, but certainly worth a listen! In this first episode, we go behind the glass in the world of radio with war stories about Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, and hate mail. Add in "Earth Matters with Bill Kurtis," a discussion about Disclos...

Legendary stand-up comedian and favorite son of Harvey, Illinois, Tom Dressen, passed away on June 17th at the age of 86. From hardscrabble beginnings, to forming the Tim and Tom comedy duo with Tim Reid in 1969, to finding himself as the opening act for Frank Sinatra and 61 appearances on the Tonight Show, Tom was an everyman who made it big, but most importantly, never forgot where he came from,...

Jim Alstott’s spiritual awakening didn’t happen on a mountaintop in Nepal; it happened on a Florida beach at nearly 400 pounds, exhausted, broken, and ready to give up. That night, a voice that wasn’t quite his own told him things would change. And they did. Blending irreverent humor with profound spiritual inquiry, Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was it Something I Ate? traces one man’s...

I arrived at Coast Guard Air Station Chicago in June of 1980. After my 4 years were up, I returned to civilian life, but I always wondered what happened to the men and women I served with...Joltin'Joe, The Penguin, Doc, The Sheik, Metz, Brenda, DJ, Strolie... Fast forward to 2019, when Coastie veteran Mike Phillips came across one of our helicopters, CG 1459, sitting outside in a parking lot. What...

In an age when most people get their news from a handheld device locked into the platform of their choice, which feeds their confirmation bias, Charlie Meyerson stands as a testament to old-school journalism and fact-based reporting. He's a winner of the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for his work, a relentless purveyor of truth at all costs, and add to that. a mighty fine flautist. Charlie is...

Let me be clear. There's nothing "happy" about Memorial Day. It was created as "Decoration Day" shortly after the Civil War to commemorate those who lost their lives. Somehow over the years, it's become a three-day weekend, and an excuse for retailers to sell more tires, mattresses, and televisions. It's the official start to summer. But for two fathers, Memorial Day is filled with the memories of...

It's a glorious morning in the outskirts of Chicago. A light rain is falling; the baby robins in the nest under the overhang of the house next door are looking for breakfast, and a slight rumble of thunder interrupts the early-morning silence. All of these things have me remembering my friend, the late, great Earl Hamner. This Saturday Rewind takes us back to November of 2001 and my conversation w...

Ah, nothing like a colonoscopy to bring a little perspective! It occurred to me as I went through the wonderful pre-procedure flush that sometimes getting totally cleaned out and starting all over again is a really good thing. Add to that a short preview of an upcoming podcast project with radio legend Garry Meier, a few hours digging in my sister's garage and finding evidence that at one time, I...

On this overcast spring morning, I am reminded of a different place and time, when my whole life was encased in a massive two-story building that my family lived in until 1966. It was just this side of heaven to me, as every adventure was in our backyard, or just down the street with my best friend, Garry. 50 plus years later, so much has changed outside, but inside, where it counts, it remains th...

On this, the 56th anniversary of the first official Earth Day in 1970, I pulled a few of the "Earth Matters with Bill Kurtis" episodes that aired in national syndication on the radio for a decade. It was a great project that shed light on some of the darker environmental issues we face, as well as a few reminders that if you think globally and act locally, you can make a world of difference.   Mus...

There are as many definitions of love as there are hearts in the world. But what about that which lies above and beyond the human experience? My guest, Glenn Aparicio Parry, writes, "What we are experiencing is tantamount to a shamanic dismemberment. We need to dismember to remember; we need to put ourselves back together again in ways that are healthy and whole. We are compelled to reconstruct th...

After 9 days and over 600,000 miles, the crew of Integrity has safely returned to Earth after taking a lap around the Moon. I couldn't wait to talk with Ashlee Nichols, the award-winning producer and content creator, who is currently working with NASA+ in telling the story of Artemis II. It's a listen behind the scenes about the massive amount of effort that goes into the media end of things, and...

It's been quite a week for your host. First, watching Artemis II break the surly bonds of Earth brought me back to being a 10-year-old boy as we rocketed to the moon in 1969. Then, I received a message from someone who used to listen to my show nearly 30 years ago, who took the information they heard and applied it to their own life, which led them to their own life's calling. It's the perfect seg...

At 14, Christian Picciolini went from naïve teenager to white supremacist -- and soon, the leader of the first neo-Nazi skinhead gang in the United States. How was he radicalized, and how did he ultimately get out of the movement? He is the best-selling author of Romantic Violence: Memoirs Of An American Skinhead. This Saturday Rewind goes back to 2017 as Chris and I discuss his riveting, revealin...