We speak with three members of the Kenosha Police Department .... detectives Chad Buchanan and Ryan Pfeiffer and Crime Prevention Officer John Wenberg ... talking about the prevalence of scams and frauds that are perpetrated over the internet - and what people need to do to keep themselves from becoming victims.…

We celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Racine Literacy Council with three guests: Laura Sumner Coon, executive director of the RLC, Ann Zogg, who is a volunteer tutor, and Victor Mexia, whose wife and daughter have participated with him in the RLC's Family Literacy Program.

Dr. Art Cyr pays his first visit to the Morning Show in 2025 with today's conversation in which, among other things, we talk about the first six weeks of President Trump's second term-- including the dramatic scene in the Oval Office that Professor Cyr called "a brutal verbal assault" in his most recent column.…

Today's Morning Show is the first to air during Women's History Month 2025. Part One: Laura Semmer, illustrator of "The ABC's of Women's History," a lovely children's book written by Rio Cortez. Part Two: from the Morning Show archives .... Bryant Johnson, who was the personal trainer of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, talks …

March 2nd is the date that Theodore Geissel ... aka Dr. Seuss .... was born in 1904. From the archives comes this 2004 interview with Charles D. Cohen, talking about his book "The Seuss, the Whole Seuss, and Nothing but the Seuss." Cohen is perhaps the world's foremost expert on all matters related to Dr. Seuss. This book was published to mark the …

In the wake of the news of the death of award-winning actor Gene Hackman, we are replaying a 2004 interview with Hackman and his longtime friend Daniel Lenihan ... talking about "Justice for None," the second of three historical novels which they co-authored.

This is a bonus for Morning Show listeners- a brief conversation with Michael Gelman, executive producer of "Live with Kelly and Mark" (Kelly Ripa and Mark Conseulos.) They will be co-hosting a special program on Monday that will celebrate some of the most noteworthy Oscar winners from the night before. Gelman discusses some of the challenges invol…

We speak with Richard Rothstein about the book he co-authored with his daughter Leah Rothstein .... "Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law." The book examines the phenomenon of residential segregation - in which Blacks and Whites in America tend to live apart from one another despite all of the breakthroughs made …

From 2004 - Ellis Cose discusses his intriguing book "Bone to Pick: of Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Reparation and Revenge." This was part two of today's program. I chose to replay this interview because the theme of 'forgiveness' is central to the plot of Pedro Calderon de la Barca's "Life is a Dream," a Spanish masterwork from the 17th century th…

We talk about an exciting partnership between the United Way of Kenosha County and the Community-Based Learning Program at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside that resulted in the creation of an interactive online map house on the United Way's website that allows people to find resources and services in the community. Our guests: Carolynn Friesch,…

We speak with State Representative Robert Wittke, who represents the 63rd assembly district (which includes most of Caledonia and most of Franklin.) Our conversation includes his reflection on Governor Evers's proposed biennial budget.

Part One- Jeffrey Boutwell, author of "Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of Democracy." The author's distant ancestor George Boutwell was an important force for racial equality in the 19th century. He helped secure the Republican presidential nomination for Abraham Lincoln- assisted in the crafting of the 13th and 15th amendments- was a fie…

From 2009- John Lucas, author of "Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat: The Dire Warning- Churchill's First Speech as Prime Minister."

From 2008, Mary Roach discusses her book "Bonk! - The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex."

This interview was recorded this morning for broadcast next week - but because it concerns a theatrical production that is opening tonight, I want to share the interview as a supplement to today's podcast episode. The play is "Life is a Dream" by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, one of history's most notable theatrical masterworks. My guests: Neil Schar…

This is the complete interview with Paul Beston talking about his book "The American Kings," which tells the story of seven American heavyweight boxing champions: John L. Sullivan, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. (An excerpt played on today's program.)…

We preview the Racine Theater Guild's newest production, "And in this corner: Cassius Clay," which runs this weekend and the next. Shawn Holmes, director of the production, joins us - along with Aquil Ocacio, who is one of two actors portraying the title character. For part two, we replay an excerpt from an interview with Paul Beston in which he ta…

From 2005- Award-winning teacher Ron Clark talks about his book "The Excellent Eleven: An Award-Winning Teacher's Guide to Raising Children Who Love to Learn."

We speak with Jennifer Charpentier, Executive Director of the Gateway Technical College Foundation.

We discuss the acute affordable housing shortage in our area with Ron Cronovich, Professor of Economics at Carthage College. He is the moderator for an event at Carthage on February 27th titled "Equity and Housing Development" that is sponsored by the Carthage Business and Professional Coalition.

Former FBI agent Mike German discusses his new book "Policing White Supremacy- The Enemy Within."

From 2003- Jeffrey Makoff, co-author of "Get Off the Fence: 10+1 Steps to Help You Make that Big Decision."

Kathleen DeLaski discusses her book "Who Needs College Anymore? - Imagining a Future Where Degrees Won't Matter." She contends that colleges and universities need to reinvent themselves for the 21st century and think beyond the standard model of granting degrees.

From 2002 - Rachel Simon discusses her memoir "Riding the Bus with my Sister: A True Life Journey." In this moving book, the author talks about her developmentally disabled sister who loved riding the city buses of their hometown of Reading, Pennsylvania. Rachel Simon took it upon herself to ride the buses with Beth in order to get to know her bett…

From 2005- Doug Gordon, author of "The Engaged Groom: You're Getting Married! Read This Book! - Your Complete Wedding Guide."

Lindsay Jill Roth talks about her book "Romances and Practicalities: A Love Story (maybe yours!) in 250 Questions." Roth and her British boyfriend / eventual fiancee found themselves separated by thousands of miles for most of their courtship, so she compiled a list of questions with which the two of them could come to a deeper understanding of one…

For Kailyn Palomares's February visit to the Morning Show, she is celebrating Valentine's Day a little early by bringing in Emily Porter, ecologist at Hawthorn Hollow, to talk about love and mating in the natural world.

We speak with Dr. Lynn Akey, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. We talk about new programs at Parkside as well as the possibility of some major restructuring of the school.

We talk about a recent 15-day Carthage Study Tour of Cuba with Dr. Jeffrey Roberg and Dr. Maribel Morales Martinez - as well as two students, Loren Bucur and Claire Gunther, who participated in the trip.

We speak with author Buddy Levy about his newest book, "Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History's Greatest Arctic Rescue." The book chronicles the earnest efforts of several different explorers to reach the North Pole via airplane or airship (after repeated attempts to reach the North Pole on the ground failed.)…

From 2015, renowned sportswriter John Feinstein talks about his novel for young readers titled "The Walk On." It tells the poignant and exciting story of a talented young high school quarterback who moves to a new town where his school's starting quarterback is the son of the coach.

From 2013- Dara-Lynn Weiss, author of "The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet." Weiss attracted a tremendous amount of attention (some of it quite critical and negative) with an essay in which she spoke candidly about her young daughter's struggles with obesity. She wrote this book in the wake of that experience.…

Part One: We speak with Dr. Erin Weber, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Carthage. She recently earned a $498,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for her study of a virus that could potentially affect a large portion of the world's potato crop. Her research could help unlock the secrets of how these viruses do the damage that they do.…

We preview the Lakeside Players' production of the musical ANASTASIA, which opens this weekend at the Rhode Center for the Arts in downtown Kenosha (and runs for three weekends.)

One of our favorite interviews from 2024- Dayvin Hallmon, founder and conductor of The Black String Triage Ensemble, an all-volunteer string orchestra comprised of people of color who will assemble at the scene of violence and play music to try and bring calm and healing.

This is the unabridged version of the interview with Frank McGrath in which he talks about what he and his family experienced with the horrific Eaton Wildfire that destroyed 80-90% of their community of Altadena, CA- including the their home. A GoFundMe account has been created for their family ..... https://gofund.me/59defcdd. Many such funds have…

Frank McGrath (nephew of WGTD News Director Dave McGrath) talks about the horrific Eaton Wildfire that tore through their community (Altadena, California) and destroyed most of the homes in town, including their own.

From 2010- Black historian Howard Dotson talks about his book "Becoming American: The African-American Journey."

Andrew Sillen, author of "Kidnapped at Sea: The Civil War Journey of David Henry White." The book chronicles the story of a free black teenager who was kidnapped and forced to serve aboard a Confederate vessel during the Civil War.

From 2010 - Mary Roach, author of 'Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void" - which explores some scientific oddities related to working and living in outer space.

From 2007 - one of my all-time favorite interviews .... with Mark Kreidler, author of "Four Days to Glory: Wrestling with the Soul of the American Heartland." It follows the efforts of two outstanding high school wrestlers in their senior year- both 3-time state champions in their respective weight divisions- contending for a fourth state champions…

We talk with David Anderson, music director of the Lake Geneva Symphony Orchestra, about their fundraising gala "Puttin' on the Glitz" that's coming up on Saturday evening, February 8th.

Brendan Conway, a spokesperson for WE Energies, talks about the proposed natural gas power plant that they are proposing to build in the town of Paris.

We talk about the proposed power plant in Paris, WI - and concerns about the environmental impact it might have - with Abby Novinski-Loras, executive director of the group Healthy Climate Wisconsin.

Today's Morning Show features excerpts from three of my previous interviews with best-selling author Michael Perry. We begin with a portion of a 2012 conversation about his book "Visiting Tom: a Man, a Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace." After that is an excerpt from an interview from 2009 about "Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting.…

Best-selling author Michael Perry. (He is appearing at the Racine Theater Guild on Saturday evening, Michael Perry.)

We speak with Dr. Jeffrey Weiss, superintendent of the Kenosha Unified School District, about the referendum on which Kenoshans will be voting on February 18th.

From 2007 - Dana Buchman, author of "A Special Education: One Family's Journey Through the Maze of Learning Disabilities."

From 2006- one of my favorite author interviews- David Standish, author of "Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth's Surface."

We introduce you to the new Poets Laureate of Kenosha and Racine ....... Nico Moore, poet laureate for Kenosha, and Mary Skillings and Thomas Carr, co-poets laureate for Racine. They will be meeting the public in an event coming up on February 22nd at Vintage & Modern Books in downtown Racine at 6:30 pm.…