Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

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. Part Two: from the archives- we hear a renowned chef, the late Raghavan Iyer talk about his cookbook "Smashed, Mashed, Boiled and Baked- and Fried, Too: A Celebration of Potatoes in 75 Recipes." (from 2016)

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 been created for the many people in Southern California who have lost their homes and businesses to these terrible wildfires.

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. <This is the abridged version of the interview that aired today. We are also sharing the unabridged version of the interview in a separate posting.> There is a GoFundMe account that has been set up for Frank and his family: https://gofund.me/59defcdd - and of course, many such funds have been set up for many others who have suffered similar losses.

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 championship.

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." We finish up with part of my earliest interview with Michael Perry, a 2006 chat about his memoir "Truck: A Love Story." Michael Perry is appearing at the Racine Theater Guild this Saturday evening, February 1st.

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.