Life 2.0

The Saturday Morning Rewind takes us back to 2015, and my conversation with the late, great Arun Gandhi, the youngest grandson of Mohandas Gandhi. In going through more vintage audio, I came across our conversation (one of many over the years) and was sad to find out that Arun had passed away in 2023, which makes this conversation even more important. Its an exercise in the idea of non-violence th...

So, what do Bill Kurtis, Jean-Michel Cousteau & Ed McMahon all have in common? They're all part of the ongoing purge of my vast Aurora Media Productions audio archives. These vintage clips are like digging up buried treasure, because I haven't heard this stuff for years. Add in a current offering from radio hall of famer Garry Meier, and you've got a solid half hour of common sense for uncommo...

Just about a month ago, I was watching Super Bowl LX and waiting for the highly anticipated and controversy-stirring halftime show featuring Bad Bunny. Since I survived everyone singing the Macarena in the 90s, I could endure 15 minutes of Spanish music. But imagine my surprise when the camera panned over Bunny's shoulder, and I caught a glimpse of Rose Crelli in a tuxedo playing the violin at the...

This is one of those episodes that created itself out of bits and pieces of life stuff over the past week. It started with me finding an email from March 1st, 2020, about a radio concept that would become a reality, bringing my voice to Beijing, China, for a year. Part of that team was Cimcie Nichols, who also floated into my orbit again, and it was great to catch up on her latest effort called Ha...

Yesterday, the budget axe fell on the careers of nine on-air personnel at WGN-TV, including notable names like long-time entertainment critic Dean Richards and sports anchor Chris Boden, along with stalwart news anchors Ray Cortopassi, Sean Lewis, and Judy Wang. Reporters Julian Crews & Bronagh Tumulty, as well as meteorologist Mike Janssen and political analyst Paul Lisnek, have all been give...

She's one of my favorite gal-pals, and a true force of nature for all things good in the world. After leaving the "If it bleeds, it leads" media world (with a few awards in hand), Jen Weigel decided to turn her talents to creating content that lifts people up, not pushes them down. As always, it's a rousing conversation about the human condition and how each of us can make a difference in our own...

Three days a week, I watch the ebb and flow of discarded items get dropped off at the local Goodwill Store. From my perch on the treadmill at the gym, I have a ringside view of this $6.1 billion industry that takes in discarded items, slaps a price tag on them, and the re-sells it to people who wait in line for 30 minutes for the doors to open. But it wasn't until I inadvertently dropped off an it...

Once again, we are out buying cards, candies, and roses for our beloveds. But how did this all start? Why is it celebrated on February 14th? Beyond all that, this is the date that I remember when a bunch of 2nd graders helped me find my heart again, during a very turbulent time in my life, and how the power of love triumphs over all.

The first AFL–NFL World Championship football game was played on January 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The National Football League champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 35–10, winning their tenth championship and becoming the first NFL team to win double-digit championships. It wouldn...

In 1967, singer Danny Hutton invited Chuck Negron to join him and Cory Wells to form the band Three Dog Night. The group became one of the most successful bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, selling approximately 60 million records and earning Gold records for singles that featured Negron as lead vocalist, including "Joy to the World", "One", "Mama Told Me Not to Come", "Old Fashioned Love So...

He's one of a handful of men who played in Super Bowls I & II, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, and is the author of five best-selling books, including Run to Win, written with Bob Fox in 2023. Jerry Kramer turned 90 yesterday (and shares a birthday with my son, Andy). This Saturday Rewind was an easy choice, with another look back at the glory days of pro football, whe...

I had to wait a few days to mourn the Bears' loss to the Rams and gather my thoughts (not really), but once again, I am reminded that football (really all sports) is tribal warfare and is based on the woulda, coulda, shoulda game plan. That means that if we woulda changed a play, or coulda caused a turnover, or shoulda kicked a field goal, somehow we'd reach the promised land. I've got about 20 ye...

During his lifetime, Pete Huttlinger became widely known as one of the most awe-inspiring acoustic guitar players in the world. His unique arrangements and spell-binding musicality and precision entertained audiences from Nashville to Los Angeles to Milan. He toured with such major acts as LeAnn Rimes and John Oates of Hall & Oates and became John Denver's lead guitar player in 1994.  Born wit...

I had thought about taking the easy route today, as Da Bears are hosting the Packers tonight in the first playoff round and chatting up that decades-old rivalry. But then, the events of the past week wouldn't leave me alone, and I literally sat for an hour before turning on the mic this morning, arguing with myself if I had anything at all worth sharing as it pertained to making sense of the sense...

Here we are once again, at the beginning of a brand new calendar year. I've got a few thoughts on where we've been, why we are here, and where we are going in the next 365 sunrises. In addition, a good friend of mine sent me a sorta "Rules of the Road" message to start the new year, mostly as it pertains to those of us who are past the half-century mark, and I found it worth sharing. And just like...

As we celebrate New Year's Eve, I am reminded that today would have been John Denver's 82nd birthday. I've produced and hosted numerous tribute shows in his memory over the years, and every time I think it's no longer important to do so, I remember John's own words,  "Though the singer is silent, there still is the truth of the songs..." In a world of turmoil, his music and message continue to rin...

I've been a bona fide "Ted Head" since the age of 10 or so, when I read a story about TR as a boy, growing up in New York, and securing the skull of a dead harbor seal as the most impressive artifact for the Roosevelt Natural History Museum (which consisted of a drawerful of animal bones in his bedroom). A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine gifted me a copy of "In The Arena" by David S. Brown,...

This Saturday Morning Rewind is from Christmas 2022. It all started back in 1980 when I volunteered to be the Santa at the NAS Glenview Air Base during my first year of enlistment. Then, the CO of CGAS Chicago asked me to do it for the Coast Guard Christmas party. Then, a few of the guys on the crew asked me to do it for their kids. The word spread, and eventually, I donned the red suit and beard,...

This past week, I caught up with country music icon John Berry, who is on his 29th annual Christmas tour. While we were having a great breakfast that included JB, his wife Robin, manager Brian Smith, and a couple of the band guys, I couldn't help but think that there are few, if any, recording artists who have overcome as much as he has. At the age of 21, while riding his motorcycle, Berry was hit...

This past May, Chicago Cubs legend Randy Hundley and I went to hit a few balls at Top Golf, and a chance encounter with Patti Guzak has become one of the greatest "You're not gonna believe what happened next" moments you'll ever hear. As it turned out, Patti had a book concept on her computer for 16 years, and I am happy and proud to announce that "The Not-So-Exciting Adventures of Tuxedo Man" is...

As I prepare to head out shortly to a book launch for a new author that I am working with, I came across some great audio from Thanksgiving in 2004, and my conversation with the creator of "The Waltons," the late, great Earl Hamner. There's just something about the Virginia lilt in his voice, his down-home way, and simplistic way of seeing the world, that I needed to be reminded of this morning. ...

Back in 2021, I was approached by Michele Phillips to support her in creating a book based on her concept that you can actually energize your happiness by learning how to direct your PEA (Personal Energy Alignment) and change your life for the better. I agreed to take on the book; little did I know it would be the longest project I've ever worked on with an author. Four years later, this incredibl...

I have begun the process of culling the cassette herd of hundreds of tapes from my radio shows over the decades, which I have in storage, looking for the ones that might contain some valuable conversations.  Everything else is going into the Techno-Trash can. At the very top of the "keepers list" is my last on-air conversation with the late, great Capt. Jerry Coffee (USN Ret.), who was one of the...

Welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Rant! As I was about to fire up the Life 2.0 microphone, a power rodding company took up residence about 100 yards south of my studio, in an effort to unclog the sewer system, and that took me back to my days in the Sewer Dept. It also got me thinking about the two "miracle" strainers I have to send back to QVC, the guy that came in a couple weeks ago to...

What happens when genuine transformation meets unchecked power? Before Tony Robbins filled stadiums, before The Secret became a global phenomenon, before transformation became a multi-billion-dollar industry, there was Erhard Seminars Training (est). And behind est was a young woman who would help build one of the most influential personal development organizations in history—while struggling to f...