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March Shows
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WEDNESDAY MARCH
1ST
THE NOT SO BLIND WATCHMAKER
 From
Darwin to Dawkins scientists have fought shy of ascribing direction to
the random process of mutation and selection that drive evolution. In
his latest book  NonZero:
The Logic of Human Destiny, author Robert Wright marshals evidence
which, he believes, demonstrates that the outcomes of cultural and biological
evolution have in some sense been predetermined. Could it indeed be that
the outlines of the modern world were already written in the DNA of the
first primordial life? Find out tonight on Extension 720.
THURSDAY MARCH
2nd
THE INSIDE STORY
 We
all know that our ancestors had some unusual ideas about the function
of the internal organs. Aristotle, for example, observes that ' ..the
spleen looks rather like a bastard liver... ' and thus concludes that
it does the liver's work for the left side of the body. Tonight's guest
Sherwin Nuland explores the fascinating history of our misconceptions
about the internal organs in his new book  The
Mysteries Within: A Surgeon Reflects on Medical Myths. Tune in
for the inside story, both true and erroneous, tonight on Extension 720.
FRIDAY MARCH 3rd
EUREKA!
 Have
you ever wondered why some people seem to be able come up with the Grand
Unified Theory of Everything in the bath while you spend the whole time
hunting for the soap? Tonight's guests Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein
have, in their new book  Sparks
of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People,
produced a close examination of the thought processes that some of the
world's greatest minds have used in order secure their 'Eureka' moments.
Liquid Plumber for the brain, tonight on Extension 720.
MONDAY MARCH 6TH
DEAD SEA SCROLLS
Vastly significant and endlessly fascinating, for the first time in 50
years, The Dead Sea Scrolls will visit Chicago in a special exhibition
at The Field Museum. Written on parchment and papyrus more than 2,000
years ago, the scrolls contain what are believed to be the oldest surviving
copies of the books of the Old Testament. Offering profound insights into
the nature of Judaism and the context into which a nascent Christianity
emerged, tonight's show will review in the presence of an expert panel,
including Professors James Phillips and Sarah Tanzer, the history and
interpretation of these ancient texts.
TUESDAY MARCH
7TH
THE END OF PEACE
 Perhaps
it was hopelessly naive, the great well of optimism as we emerged from
the fearful decades of the Cold War. But with peace evidently secure it
did indeed seem plausible that we were witnessing, in Fukuyama's evocative
phrase, 'The End of History'. Yet the killing has continued and in the
slaughter of Bosnia, Rwanda and Kosovo the cost of low-intensity regional
conflict rivals all of our murderous past. In  The
Coming Anarchy: Shattering Derams of the Post Cold War, Robert
Kaplan urges the international community to trade post Soviet optimism
for realism and a new world order guided by the grim strictures of Metternichian
politics. Join Kaplan and fellow panelists, Father Patrick Gaffney and
Professor Charles Lipson, in conversation with Milt Rosenberg, tonight
on Extension 720.
WEDNESDAY MARCH
8TH
OVEREXPOSED
 Concerning
exercise Socrates held that for men and women, '...experience showed that
to let all things be uncovered was far better than to cover them up.'.
Tonight's guest, Wendy Shalit, takes a rather different view. A mere three
years since completing her BA in philosophy, Shalit, author of
 A
Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue, has written a
striking and powerful argument for the rehabilitation of this neglected
virtue. Join Shalit and Milt as they draw a discrete veil over modern
vulgarities tonight on Extension 720.
THURSDAY MARCH
9TH
THE NEW OLD STYLE COUNTRY
'Chicago has become home to a motley array of outsiders who have taken
up honky-tonk's values--the stripped-down instrumental attack, the devastatingly
direct lyricism, the punch-in-the-gut emotion--with a vengeance. Call
it alternative country, insurgent country, honky-tonk punk--it's a brand
of in-your-face twang made by people born long after Hank Williams curled
up and died in the back seat of a white Cadillac.', So says Greg Kot Tribune's
rock critic and a shrewd observer of Chicago's curious relationship with
country music. Join Milt and guests, Greg Kot, Kelly Kessler and Rob Miller
as they explore the life, death and rebirth of 'real' country music and
its unlikely long distance relationship with the urban heart of the Midwest.
FRIDAY MARCH 10TH
Extension 720 is struck out as the Cubs warm up for the 2000 season
MONDAY MARCH 13TH
WISE OWLS?
 'Human
wandering through the zoo, what do your cousins think of you?' Well tonight's
question is even more basic than Archy's. Do animals think anything of
you, indeed do they think at all? Most of us have heard fables of the
lows and highs of animal intelligence from goldfish with seven-second
memories to great apes capable of graduating highschool. Tonight's guest
Harvard Professor Marc D Hauser has spent many years carefully studying
the nature of animal intelligence. His new book  Wild
Minds: What Animals Really Think is an illuminating study of the
'mental toolkits' possessed by animals from insects to apes. So put the
human out in the yard, curl up in your favourite chair and find out what
homosapiens know about what you know, tonight on Extension 720.
TUESDAY MARCH
14TH
MARXISM
'The world would not be in such a snarl - if Marx had been Groucho instead
of Karl.' Whether or not you agree with Isiah Berlin's birthday message
to the mustachioed comic, it's clear that Marxists of the political variety
have some rather awkward questions to face. The genocides wrought in communist
countries, the economic collapse of the former Soviet Union and the difficulties
of European Social Democracies could all provide grounds for the rejection
Marx's ideas. Tune in tonight as our expert panel debates Marx's legacy
and the validity and future of Marxist thought.
WEDNESDAY MARCH
15TH
SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH...
Returning to the theme of smart animals, we spend a night whistling and
squeaking in the pool with our cetacean friends. Tim Cahill outdoors man
and explorer extraordinaire has produced a lavishly illustrated new book
 Dolphins,
in which he sets out some of the latest research on these endearing animals.
Joining Cahill will be Ken Ramirez of the Shedd Aquarium who will tell
all about Chicago's own pod of Whitesided Dolphins and Belugas. Tune in
tonight as our expert panel performs a stunning display of verbal agility,
entirely without the aid of fish flavored inducements.
THURSDAY MARCH
16TH
MARRIAGE IN MIND (POSTPONED FROM FEBRUARY)
'My true love hath my heart and I have his, by fair exchange one for the
other given...' The transactions of modern love can often seem cheaply
brought when compared to the agonies and ecstasies of the great romances
of literature and history. In  Wing
to Wing, Oar to Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying (The Ethics of
Everyday Life)
by Amy and Leon Kass, profound and beautiful writings on love, marriage
and courtship are collected. Taken together these provide a persuasive
defense of married life. Tune in for some literary advice, that will last
long after the roses have wilted, tonight on Extension 720
FRIDAY MARCH 17TH
RELIGION IN REVIEW (POSTPONED FROM FEBRUARY)
Bosnia, Northern Ireland, The Golan Heights it seems that the central
geopolitical issues of the day are also and essentially religio-political
issues. In domestic affairs the religion dominates the political agenda,
whether the issue is the right to life or the separation of church and
state. In an attempt to unravel the knottiest religious controversies
Milt is tonight joined by Professor Scott Appleby and Steve Kloen of the
Tribune, in a discussion of the current issues confronting the major religions
in America and around the world.
MONDAY MARCH 2OTH
SPRING TRAVEL
Plan to listen before making your spring travel plans. Tonight's guests
are Sun-Times travel editor Andrea Heanus, Tribune travel
writer Bob Cross, and Peter Carrideo of CRC Travel.
TUESDAY MARCH
21ST
THE ILLINOIS PRIMARY
Tune in for a night of intense political discussion as the smoke filled
backrooms of Studio A play host to WGN's in-depth analysis of the Illinois
primary.
WEDNESDAY MARCH
22ND
BLUE BERET BLUES
 Acclaimed
journalist William Shawcross joins Extension 720 to discuss his latest
book  Deliver
Us From Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict.
Drawing on broad access to global policymakers, including UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan, as well as high American diplomats and humanitarian
aid professionals, Shawcross delivers a dramatic behind the scenes report
of the mixed results with which the West has tried to alleviate disorder
around the world since the end of the Cold War. Joining Shawcross in discussion
tonight will be Dean Peritt of Chicago Kent College of Law and Professor
Ed Kolodziej co-author of  Coping
with Conflict After the Cold War.
THURSDAY MARCH
23RD
USE AND ABUSE OF LANGUAGE
The slings and arrows of outrageous language will not be suffered lightly
as Extension 720 stands firm against a sea of troubled words. Our regular
panel of English language experts Ellen Hunt, Susan Harris and Professor
Craig Serles will air their many grievances against advertisers, academics
and all abusers of the mother tongue tonight on Extension 720.
FRIDAY MARCH 24TH
Tonight's show is still warming up. We'll let you know what it is as soon
as it leaves the dug-out
MONDAY MAR 27TH
WWII FLIERS
Tonight Milt welcomes Fred Olivi, Byron Kinney and Sanford Kahn to hangar
A. All are former WWII B-29 veterans: Fred Olivi was the co-pilot on 'Bockscar'
the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Kahn was a B-29 bombardier
flying missions over Japan and Kinney was the pilot of a B-29 also flying
combat missions over Japan. At the end of the war Kinney was involved
the rescue of American POW's including 1936 American Olympic Team Member,
Louis Zamperini. Ironically the camp where Zamperini was held was located
near the site of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics.
TUESDAY MARCH
28th
DESERT ISLAND BOOKS (POSTPONED FROM FEBRUARY)
If you were doomed to spend the rest of your days alone on a remote desert
island what books would you take with you to while away the endless hours?
Tonight we challenge our expert panel including, professor Larry Lipking,
Great Books advocate Max Weismann and impeachment trial lawyer David Schippers,
to discuss the books that would make a solitary existence bearable. A
lively discussion of great writing from a distinguished panel of avid
readers tonight on Extension 720
WEDNESDAY MARCH
29TH
AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
 Since
1995, when tonight's guest Ward Connerly first burst onto the American
scene as the University of California Regent who forced the nation's largest
public university to become color blind in its admissions policies, Connerly
has led a national campaign to end race preference. In 1996, he passed
Proposition 209 in California and two years later he led I-200, an identical
measure, to victory in Washington state. Connerly joins Extension 720
to discuss race preference, affirmative action and other matters raised
in his new book  Creating
Equal: My Fight Against Race Preferences.
THURSDAY MARCH 30TH
THE PIANO'S ROLE
 Imagine
'You Must Remember This' performed on a harpsichord, Jerry Lee Lewis pounding
on a celeste or The Moonlight Sonata performed on a spinet? Beginning
with Cristofori's invention three centuries ago the piano has had a profound
affect upon the musical and cultural heritage of the world unmatched by
other instruments. Tonight our expert panel including, Professor Stephen
Zank contributor to the new book  PIano
Roles: Three Hundred Years of Life with the Piano, will consider
the piano's legacy in a discussion illustrated with musical examples.
Join Milt for conversation about the Piano tonight on Extension 720.
FRIDAY MARCH 31ST
EUROPEAN FASCISM
 Sadly
fascism did not die with its protagonists. Across Europe Neo-Nazi and
fascist groups are experiencing a resurgence of support, and in some cases
even attaining political power. This gravely troubling development has
been comprehensively documented by tonight's guest Martin A. Lee in his
book  The
Beast Reawakens: Fascism's Resurgence From Hitler's Spymasters to Today's
Neo-Nazi Games and Right-Wing Extremists. Joining Lee in conversation
will be Professor Eric Johnson who, in his new book  Nazi
Terror: The Gestapo, Jews, and Ordinary Germans, has produced
a meticulous study of way in which fascists seized and maintained their
hold on power in Nazi Germany. Tune in tonight as the lessons of history
and the troubles of the present are discussed on Extension 720.
Archive of previous show topics:
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