Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

Ronald Gruner talks about his fascinating new book COVID Wars: America's Struggle Over Public Health and Personal Freedom," which examines the painful divide in the American public over the COVID-19 pandemic and our national response to it. The book also examines how that same divisiveness was evident to varying degrees in past epidemics and pandemics as well.

From 2003- A discussion of the book "Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb: A Tour of Presidential Gravesites" with Richard Norton Smith, one of the contributors to the book.

From 2013 .... Lori Hartwell discusses her book "Chronically Happy: Joyful Living in Spite of Chronic Living." Hartwell has lived for most of her life with chronic kidney disease. She is the founder and president of the Renal Support Network .... and co-host of "KidneyTalk," a biweekly webcast centered on issues related to CKD.

We speak with Amy Greil, executive director of the Kenosha Community Foundation, about the ongoing work of the KCF. Also in the conversation is John Kuehl, great nephew of local philanthropist Grace Kolakowski. Kuehl worked with Greil to set up a fund within the KCF to support the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra.

Today's Morning Show began with Nakeyda Haymer, Racine County Violent Crime Reduction Coordinator- and Wisconsin lead for the group Voices of Black Mothers United, which is comprised primarily of women who have lost children (or in the case of Ms. Haymer, her beloved brother) to gun violence. Haymer talks, among other things, about an event happening later today (Friday) in Racine called Bigger than Basketball- a basketball game involving local youths playing with local police officers as teammates.

For Kailyn Palomares's April visit to the Morning Show, we discuss the Pike River Restoration Project with Samanthan Kerkman, Kenosha County Executive .... Daniel Gashke, Vice Chair of the Kenosha County Board .... and Dave Giordano, Executive Director of Root Pike WIN.

BONUS - We speak with two musical theater graduate students at Carthage College, Lucas Burr and Chynna Chung, who are part of a production of the musical "Next to Normal" that is being performed this coming weekend at the Rhode Center for the Arts in downtown Kenosha. Lucas is the music director, Chynna is the costume designer, and both of them are in the cast.

Leslie Ehm talks about her book "Swagger: Unleash Everything You Are and Become Everything You Want." She is using the word 'swagger' a bit differently than we tend to use it in everyday speech. She sees it as an essential quality for making our way through the world successfully and joyously.

Jason and Erica Redman talk about their book "Mission: Invincible Marriage- A Battle-Tested Guide to an Enduring Relationship." Jason Redman is a former Navy SEAL who was seriously injured during his deployment in Iraq. Their marriage endured through that incredibly difficult period.

From 2011- paralegal and environmental activist Erin Brockovich talks about the novel "Hot Water" that she co-authored with C.J. Lyons.

From 2017 - best-selling author Don Winslow talks about his novel "The Force."

We began today's Morning Show with Tyler August, Wisconsin State Representative for the 31st Assembly District (in Walworth County) and the current Majority Leader for the State Assembly. Our interview includes a conversation about Governor Evers's proposed state budget and the republicans' response to it.

From 2012 - Benjamin and Christopher Wagner talk about their documentary film about Fred Rogers, "Mr. Rogers and Me."

From 2019- Sarah Steward Holland and Beth Silvers, co-hosts of the podcast "Pantsuit Politics" and author of "I think you're wrong- but I'm listening: A Guide to Grace-filled Political Conversation." These two friends are from opposite sides of the country's political divide but have found a way to be respectful of each other's political views.

We speak with writer Samuel Ashworth about his novel "The Life and Death of August Sweeney." The title character is a famous (and infamous) TV chef .... the other main character is the doctor who is performing his autopsy and seeking to learn more about how he died- and, more importantly, how he lived. The story lines of these two character intersect in remarkable fashion- and along the way, we learn a great deal about the world of fine cuisine as well as the work done by forensic pathologists. Ashworth is an award-winning writer, screenwriter, and professor of creative writing.

Dr. Thomas Carr (Carthage College) , who is co-Poet Laureate for Racine, talks about the Poetry for Dinosaurs program he created in January. With him is Andrew Goebel, a volunteer assistant, and Nick Ramsey, who is part of the steering committee for the Poets Laureate project for Kenosha and Racine.

Today's program features both a newly-recorded interview and an interview from the archives- both concerning the so-called Red Scare in the years following World War Two. First is New York Times reporter Clay Risen talking about his book "Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America." The book examines the nature of the Red Scare, the way it extended beyond the infamous congressional hearings to involve many facets of American life, and the reverberations of it to the present day. After that, from 2021, comes an excerpt from a conversation with best-selling author Larry Tye, talking about his book "Demogogue: The Life and Long Shadow of Senator Joe McCarthy." McCarthy is the figure most vividly remembered from the Red Scare, but Tye was able to gain access to McCarthy's personal archives to paint an exceptionally clear portrait of the man.

From 2009- Andrei Cherny discusses his book "The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour." The book chronicles the extraordinary and inspiring story of how a small group of Americans planned and carried out the airlift to the beleaguered citizens of West Berlin during the Soviet blockade of that city.

My guest is Scott Coey, who is a social studies teacher at Bradford High School in Kenosha - and a member of the school board for the Racine Unified School District. We talk about the operational referendum that is going before Racine voters on Tuesday, April 1st- and then talk about his career in education, what led him to become a teacher, and the trips to foreign countries that he has led over the last few years.

In an interview dating all the way back to the late 1990s, I speak with a sensational local basketball player by the name of Sonja Henning - a graduate of Racine's Horlick High School - who was at the time the all-time leading scorer among Wisconsin high school girls basketball players. She went on to play professionally. She is now a practicing attorney.