WGTD's The Morning Show with Greg Berg

Analysis of current events and issues from Dr. Art Cyr,  Clausen Distinguished Professor of Political Economy and World Business - and Director of the Clausen Center. 

We speak with Thomas W. Jones, author of "From Willard Straight to Wall Street: a Memoir."   Jones was one of 80 black students at Cornell University who occupied Willard Straight Hall for two days in 1969.  Within a few years after his graduation from Cornell,  Jones was well on his way to a successful career on Wall Street.   His book explores the uncommon trajector...

Dr. Kevin Crosby is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Carthage College- and Director of the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium.  (This interview was recorded in 2019 but was preempted by NPR coverage impeachment proceedings in Washington DC. ) 

From 2006 comes this conversation with Lisa Phillips, author of "Public Radio: Behind the Voices."  It's an illuminating look at some of the most important people in the world of public radio at that time.   

We spend most of the program with Lisa Boucher, author of "Raising the Bottom: Making Mindful Choices in a Drinking Culture."  Boucher's mother was an alcoholic and she herself struggled with alcohol abuse until she quit drinking thirty years ago.   We end the hour with Guida Brown, Executive Director of the Hope Council on Alcohol and other Drug Abuse, who offers her thoughts on th...

We get an update on how the University of Wisconsin-Parkside is continuing to cope with the complications and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Joining us is Dr. Deborah Ford, Chancellor of UW-Parkside,  and Dr. Robert Ducoffe,  the school's Provost.   

From 2015 comes this interview with Laurence Steinberg, author of "Age of Opportunity:  Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence."  The book explores some of the new discoveries that have been made about the whole nature of adolescence and how the brain of the typical adolescent functions.  

From the archives comes this 2005 interview with Joel Seidemann, author of "In the Interest of Justice: Great Opening and Closing Arguments of the Last 100 Years."   

PBS is about to rebroadcast a two-part American Experience documentary titled "Clinton," an examination of the life and career of our 42nd President,  William Jefferson Clinton.  We speak with Barak Goodman,  who was the film's director, producer and writer.  

From 2002 comes this interview with Michela Wrong, author of "In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster of Mobutu's Congo."  The book is a chronicle of the rise and fall of Mobutu Sese Seko, who was the highly corrupt president of Zaire for 32 years.  

From the fall of 1998 comes this conversation with Dr. Sam Chell, a long-time member of the English faculty at Carthage College as well as an outstanding jazz pianist.   Professor Chell eventually began hosting an extremely popular program on WGTD:  "Saturday Night Bandstand."   This particular conversation was recorded shortly before Carthage celebrated the 100th annivers...

For Nan Calvert's monthly visit to the Morning Show,   she has brought with her Mabel Garrison, who is one of the country's leading experts on the Dragonfly - one of the most amazing insects found on earth.    We explore just some of the things that make Dragonflies such incredible creatures. 

Robert Weintraub's newest book is a meticulously researched biography of Alice Marble, one of the most important and influential tennis players of the 20th century - as well as a highly charismatic and somewhat mysterious figure.  Weintraub's book is titled "The Divine Miss Marble:  a Life of Tennis, Fame and Mystery."  

For the monthly visit of Bryan Albrecht, the president of Gateway Technical College, we are joined with Jonathan Delagrave, Racine County Executive, and Dr. Eric Gallien, superintendent of the Racine Unified School District, to talk about the ongoing ramifications of COVID-19.  

This interview is with Professor Khyati Joshi, author of "White Christian Privilege: The Illusion of Religious Equality in America."  The book examines some of the ways in which many aspects of American life are formulated around the assumption that Christianity is our collective 'norm' -  an assumption which often leads to discrimination against those of other faiths -  or against...

Today, July 13th, 2020, marks the 25th anniversary (to the day) of the beginning of the worst heat wave in Chicago history, a human disaster that resulted in over 700 deaths in and around Chicago that were directly linked to the effects of the record-breaking heat that was experienced for an entire week.  Erik Klinenberg's definitive book about the disaster is titled "Heat Wave: A Social Auto...

From the archives comes this 2017 interview with Heath Fogg Davis, author of "Beyond Trans:  Does Gender Matter."   

Best-selling author Gerald Koeppel talks about his most recent book, "Not a Gentleman's Work: The Untold Story of a Gruesome Murder at Sea and the Long Road to Truth."  

Victoria Phillips is the author of "Martha Graham's Cold War: The Dance of American Diplomacy."  Graham, one of the 20th century's most important and influential dancers and choreographers,  undertook a number of international tours under the auspices of the U.S. State Department - some of them conducted at the height of the Cold War. The book explores why the State Department believed t...

From the archives:  Rev. Todd Peperkorn,  who used to serve a Lutheran-Missouri Synod congregation in Kenosha, talks about his own struggles with clinical depression- and about how depression is a common problem among many members of the clergy.  His book is designed both to help the general public understand this and to help those clergy with such struggles to know how to seek help...

Kara Ernst Schalk and Rob Kroes talk about teaching summer theater classes at the Racine Theater Guild ....  virtually ..... to children.

We speak with J. Chester Johnson, author of "Damaged Heritage: The Elaine Race Massacre and a Story of Reconciliation."   The author's grandfather was one of the whites who participated in a horrific wave of killings in rural Arkansas in September of 1919 ... in which well more than 100 African Americans are believed to have been murdered.  Part of Johnson's story is of how he was a...

We explore Carthage College's plans for the fall semester with Dr. John Swallow, the president of Carthage,  and Dr. David Timmerman, the provost of Carthage.  We talk about what kinds of discussions have been taking place through every stage of COVID-19 - and also examine some of the most vexing challenges for a college or university that wants to resume in-person learning while keeping...

From 2013 comes this conversation with Susan Dunn, author of "1940:  FDR, Wilkie, Lindbergh, Hitler- the Election amid the Storm."  

For the Fourth of July, we listen back to a 2011 conversation with Harlow Giles Unger, talking about his book "Improbable Patriot:  The Secret History of Monsieur de Beaumarchais, the French Playwright who Saved the American Revolution."   Beaumarchais is perhaps best remembered for his groundbreaking plays that were the basis for the operas "The Marriage of Figaro" and "The Barber...