WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1 Harry Caray's death focused the national spotlight on all that is good about baseball -- the glory, the joy, the roar of the crowd, the crack of the bat, the Seventh Inning Stretch. And that's exactly what's on tap tonight after the very early baseball game, with a panel of baseball aficionados, including Steven Riess, Professor of History at Northern Illinois University. They will discuss the enduring popularity of this graceful and truly American pastime. So kick back, grab a few brews, some dogs and of course, tune in for a rousing edition of Extension 720. THURSDAY, APRIL 2 Did you ever wonder why doors have "push" or "pull" written on them, as if you couldn't figure out what to do with the door all by yourself? But often you can't, and that's because the door was poorly designed by folks who did not take so-called "human factors" into account. Tonight, Patrick Whitney, Director of the Institute for Design at Illinois Institute of Technology, and Amy Schwartz, a cognitive psychologist at IDEO design firm, discuss the art and science of human factors and how they should dictate the design of the products we use every day. FRIDAY, APRIL 3 If the mythological Neptune still ruled the seven seas, then perhaps the domain shared by fishermen, marine biologists, oceanographers, and recreational divers would remain a pristine watery world. But of course, this is not the case, and Carl Safina, former fisherman and current Director of the Living Oceans Program at the National Audubon Society, documents one of the ongoing underwater struggles_between commercial fishing and the viability of fish habitats_in his new book, Song for the Blue Ocean (Henry Holt). Safina and other modern day Cousteaus plunge to depths tonight to see what else is happening under the sea. MONDAY, APRIL 6 David Horowitz's experience is not unique. This one-time radical who counted himself a close confidante of the Black Panthers in the 60's emerged as a major conservative thinker in the 90's. His story epitomizes the experiences of a generation that grew disenchanted with all that the 60's chaos spawned and later came to embrace cultural conservatism. Horowitz has told his tale in Radical Son: A Generational Odyssey (Touchstone Books) and tells more on tonight's program. TUESDAY, APRIL 7 Conspiracy theories, conjecture and rumors have kept afloat the uneasy feeling that the public doesn't know the whole truth about the events surrounding Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. Thirty years and a day after he was shot dead in Memphis, we reexamine his murder with author Gerald L. Posner, an expert on the JFK assassination who believes that Oswald acted alone. It is not surprising, then, that he arrives at the same conclusion in Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Random House). And how did he arrive at that conclusion? Find out more tonight. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8 In ten years, Jerry Springer and his top-rated daily fight-fest on television might be a dim memory, but today it exemplifies the theory put forth by linguist and best-selling author Deborah Tannen in The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue (Random House). She contends that in this information age, the only way to explore an idea is to pit one side against the other in a debate which translates into a lot of yelling, screaming, half-truths, and misinformation. But tonight will be different -- tune in for a well-reasoned discussion with Tannen on the nature of the argument culture and how to transcend it once and for all in favor of civilized discourse. THURSDAY, APRIL 9 Easter is arguably the most significant holiday for Christians, for not only does it mark Christ's death and resurrection, but also the birth of Christianity. Under what historical, political and religious conditions did the religion evolve and who were its key players? John Dominic Crossan, one of the world's leading scholars on the historical Jesus, strives to answer those questions through an anthropological, historical and archaeological approach in The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Really Happened in the Years Immediately after the Execution of Jesus (Harper San Francisco). Tonight, he and other religious scholars will examine the origins of the Christian faith and how it gained its spiritual foothold in the ancient world. FRIDAY, APRIL 10 Milt is taking the night off as it is the first night of Passover, so we will run selected treasures of Extension 720 archives. Some possibilities include Rosemary Bray's memoir, Unafraid of the Dark (Random House), or Two Gun Cohen (St. Martin's Press) by Daniel Levy. MONDAY, APRIL 13 The truth behind the criminal element: the Meyer Lanskys, John Gottis, Frank Costellos, Bugsy Siegels and even that shady character in your neighborhood: and their doings makes for top-notch storytelling. In Tough Jews: Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams (Simon and Schuster), author Rich Cohen spins the yarns about the gangsters who loomed large in his father's Brooklyn neighborhood. Cohen also reflects on whether these men, with their grit and daring might serve as role models for today. He will discuss his provocative musings tonight, with a panel of experts on ethnic mobs. TUESDAY, APRIL 14 Reporters eclipse the real newsmakers by making news themselves. On-line editors let accuracy and the details slip away in favor of getting information on the Internet as quickly as possible. The breadth and volume of on- and off-line magazines should mean that everyone can find something to read, except that every `zine has the same thing on the cover. After tonight's early ballgame, James Warren, bureau chief of the Chicago Tribune's Washington office (and co-host of WGN Radio's Unconventional Wisdom) and a panel of media critics review the latest trends in magazine publishing. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15 The adolescent world of temptation--drugs, alcohol, sex, peer pressure--worries every mother and father, try as she or he may to say, "Oh, but it doesn't happen to my kid." But after spending three years following teenagers through their daily lives, journalist Patricia Hersch learned that, in fact, it does. In A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence (Fawcett Columbine), she portrays her subjects as susceptible to "teen culture", and as vulnerable, resilient, lonely and scared individuals. Tonight's panel of child development experts, including Hersch, examines how kids can find their way to adulthood without stepping on land mines along the way. THURSDAY, APRIL 16
A panel of linguists explains the most fundamental aspects of their discipline, including how and why human beings acquire language skills. FRIDAY, APRIL 17 We've left tonight to discuss any international security crises, presidential and congressional wheelings-and-dealings, local scandals or anything else that hits the front page with fury. And, of course, an expert panel of news commentators will be on hand to analyze what's new. MONDAY, APRIL 20 These are just a few of the heavy-hitters of history, philosophy, and literature for whom University of Chicago Professor of Humanities Herman Sinaiko has great admiration., and about whom he has written his book, Reclaiming the Canon: Essays on Philosophy, Poetry and History (Yale University Press). He is our professor this evening, and will show us why the canon persists as the ultimate teaching guide to who we are. TUESDAY, APRIL 21 By now it is probably evident that the baseball season is in full gear. After tonight's game, tune in for a live program or a pre-recorded gem from the archives. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 Political science, politics, the study of government--call it what you may--it is an amorphous yet inclusive field of study that investigates policy, democracy, law, culture, economics and war. The Midwest Political Science Association is in town for its annual meeting and tonight, three of its finest representatives will assess all of the above. THURSDAY, APRIL 23 Right Reverend John Shelby Spong, the Episcopal Bishop of Newark, NJ, has issued a grave ultimatum in his new book, Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile (Harper San Francisco). He claims that true Christianity relies on thoughtful readings of the Bible, not blind and literal adherence to its words, and on justice and love, not judgment. Such perils of fundamentalism, he asserts, might eventually alienate true believers. Tonight's panel, including Spong and a ranking representative of traditional Christianity, will debate the future of Christianity in America. FRIDAY, APRIL 24-TUESDAY, APRIL 28 The Cubs battle Los Angeles and San Diego on the West Coast and Extension 720 is preempted these nights. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29 Leave it to screed-meister and "Crossfire" combatant Patrick J. Buchanan to title his 21st Century manifesto The Great Betrayal: How American Sovereignty and Social Justice Are Being Sacrificed to the Gods of the Global Economy (Little, Brown). He hears that same great sucking sound that confounded Ross Perot, except now he has evidence that NAFTA and GATT sold out the middle class and eradicated its hopes to live the American Dream. You can bet that he is honing this argument in preparation for the Big One in 2000, so tune in tonight as Buchanan and a leading economist flesh out these crucial political matters. THURSDAY, APRIL 30 After the ballgame tonight, we welcome Mark Dornan, beer and wine connoisseur at the Beverage Tasting Institute, for our annual beer show.
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