WGTD's The Morning Show with Greg Berg

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Mark Obmascik's newest book is "The Storm on our Shores: One Island, Two Soldiers, and the Forgotten Battle of World War Two."  The island in question was Attu, one of the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska - and Japan's takeover of this remote island was the first time a foreign power had seized American territory since the War of 1812.  The book exam...

This interview is with Jacqueline Novogratz, author of "The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World."  She is the founder and CEO of the Acumen Fund,  a non-profit global venture fund that takes an entrepreneurial approach to solving the problems of poverty in Third World countries. 

This is an interview from 2010 with comedy legend Carl Reiner.  The occasion of this conversation was the publication of Reiner's children's book "Tell me a Scary Story .... but Not Too Scary!"   But the conversation covers every facet of Reiner's amazing career in show business.  

We celebrate the 150th anniversary of PEO - the Philanthropic Education Organization - which began inauspiciously in 1869 with seven women in Mount Pleasant, Iowa who wanted to help other interested women gain the educational opportunities that they themselves had experienced.  PEO has grown to become an organization with 6,000 chapters across the United States.  

Nan Calvert co-hosts a thorough discussion about Biochar,  which is actually an ancient process receiving new attention in which biomass (wood based waste) is converted by heat into a material that resembles charcoal but which has properties that allow it to dramatically improve soil, enhance crop yield, and even have a positive effect on reducing global warming.  The special guest for t...

Dr. Art Cyr, Clausen Distinguished Professor of Political Economy and World Business and Director of the Clausen Center at Carthage College, pays his monthly visit to the program to offer his analysis on a number of current events and issues, including Brexit, the Mueller Report, the recent mayoral election in Chicago, and more. 

Dr. Mark Petering, Associate Professor of Music at Carthage College, talks about his career as a composer- and about his newest work "Cityscape," which receives its world premiere this Saturday night in a performance by the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra.   

Psychologist Laurie Helgoe's new book is called "Fragile Bully: Understanding our Destructive Affair with Narcissism in the Age of Trump."  In her book, Dr. Helgoe explains how narcissism can be manifested in many different ways- how all of us have some degree of narcissism in our personalities, and how at least a little bit of narcissism is a healthy and necessary thing-  and the many w...

Madeleine May Kunin served the state of Vermont for three terms as governor and was the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland during the Clinton administration.   Her newest book is titled "Coming of Age: My Journey to the Eighties."  

 Steven Solomon's book "Water: the Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization" examines the crucial role that access to water has played in the  rise, fall and ongoing fortunes of civilizations and cultures through history,  from Ancient Egypt to Ancient China - and how rising concerns about the world's clean water supply are raising vexing political and social questions all...

From the archives comes an interview recorded in 2005 with Bob Cowser, an English professor at St. Lawrence University who also loves football - and returned to the game in middle age.  His book about that experience is titled "Dream Season: A Professor Joins America's Oldest Semi-Pro Football Team."  The book is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at semi-professional football, which f...

Steven Brill's provocative book "Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America's 50-Year Fall and Those Fighting to Reverse it" paints a picture of the United States in decline and divided not by left and right but rather by the protected and unprotected.   He also argues that certain shifts in American society in the 1960's have led to a deeply entrenched new aristocracy.  

Part One is a conversation about the Racine Heritage Museum and all that they offer- and about their upcoming fundraiser event called "Swing into Spring."  Part Two features Dr. James Kinchen, director of choral activities at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside,  talking about performances coming up on the next two Monday evenings - Schubert's Mass in G on April 8th and Faure's Requiem...

This is an interview with Pulitzer-Prize winning writer Matt Richtel,   author of "An Elegant Defense:  The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System:  A Take in Four Lives."   The book explores the nearly miraculous capacity of our body's immune system to ward off all sorts of threats - but also how difficult life can be when the immune system, in one way or ano...

My guest is Christy Wopat, author of a disarmingly honest and open memoir titled "Almost a Mother:  Love, loss, and finding your people when your baby dies."   She and her husband experienced the heartache of giving birth to premature twins that both died very shortly thereafter.   She chronicles her struggles to emerge from such a deep sorrow.   Wopat also write...

Astronaut Al Worden was the command pilot for Apollo 15, which went to the moon in 1971.  His fascinating memoir is titled "Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon."   

Natalie Kelly, a professional translator, talks about her work and about the intricacies of language in her book "Found in Translation:  How Language Shapes our Lives and Transforms the World."  

Award-winning sports writer and NPR contributor Ron Rapoport talks about his new book "Let's Play Two:  The Legend of Mr. Cub, the Life of Ernie Banks."    Banks played his entire major league career for the Chicago Cubs and was one of the most beloved yet misunderstood players in Cubs history. 

This conversation was recorded with baseball player Ransom Jackson back in 2016 after the publication of his memoir "Handsome Ransom Jackson:  Accidental Big Leaguer."   Mr. Jackson passed away on March 20th, so we are replaying this interview in his memory.   His memoir includes a plethora of wonderful stories about the great players he played with and played against- inc...

Kurt Chalgren, a choral music legend, died this past Friday.   In his memory, we replay two interviews with him- one from 1996 in which he talks about Kids from Wisconsin.  In the other, from 2014 (his last visit to the Morning Show),  he remembers creating Ye Olde English Christmas Feaste 40 years earlier. 

Part One features Dr. Wael Farouk, director of keyboard studies at Carthage,  previewing this week's Lakeside Piano Festival.  Part Two is a discussion of Carthage's current theatrical production,  "Marie Antoinette," with director Herschel Kruger and two students involved in the production.  

Tim Madigan enjoyed a very close friendship with Fred Rogers for a number of years.  His book "I'm Proud of You" is all about that friendship and what it meant to the author.  

David Lipsky's remarkable book "Absolutely American: 4 Years at West Point" chronicles what he saw and experienced in four years as an observer at West Point Military Academy.   

In his book "Race & Social Change:  a Quest, a Study, a Call to Action," Max Klau explores how society has achieved breakthroughs towards greater racial justice in the past - and what is necessary in order for that progress to continue.  Klau not only writes about society as a whole through the sweep of recent history, but also writes about his own personal journey in his understandi...

Part One is a conversation with concert pianist Jorge Federico Osorio, who is playing a guest recital at Carthage this coming Tuesday evening as part of the Lakeside Piano Festival.  Part Two, from the archives, is with the author of a new biography about Napoleon Bonaparte.