May 2002
Shows
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WEDNESDAY
MAY 1ST
Extension 720 takes a seat on the bench tonight as the Cubs travel
to San Diego for a late game.
THURSDAY MAY 2ND
THE WORLD OF PSEUDOSCIENCE: AN ENCORE PRESENTATION
In considering the unknown questions of the world, the great Scottish
philosopher David Hume noted "the usual propensity for mankind
towards the marvellous…that can never be thoroughly extirpated
from human nature." Hume was wary (and weary) of the human tendency
of embracing the mysterious and supernatural at the expense of
the rational. MICHAEL SHERMER, our guest, has inherited Hume's
skepticism. In fact, Shermer is the Founding Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
of Skeptic Magazine. He has made a career exploring the outskirts
of the scientific world, utilizing his vast knowledge of "real"
science to debunk the pseudosciences, often encountering the utterly
absurd in the process. Tonight we journey with Shermer to THE
BORDERLANDS OF SCIENCE: WHERE SENSE MEETS NONSENSE.
FRIDAY MAY 3RD
Extension 720 is off again as the Cubs travel to Los Angeles for
another late game.
MONDAY MAY 6TH
HARDBALL ON THE HILL
Time permitting following the 7:05pm ballgame, we will be airing
our interview with JIM ROBERTS, author of 
Hardball
on the Hill. Though currently without a major league team,
Washington, D.C. remains a bastion for baseball. Beginning with
inter-unit pickup games in the great Washington military camps
during the Civil War, through the two "terms" of the Washington
Senators, to the baseball background of our current president,
baseball has always been a part of the politics of our capital.
Hear the story, after, appropriately, Cubs baseball.
TUESDAY MAY 7TH
THE ETERNAL FRONTIER
Time permitting following the 7:05pm ballgame, we will be airing
our interview with TIM FLANNERY, author of 
THE
ETERNAL FRONTIER: AN ECOLOGICAL HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA AND ITS
PEOPLES. A whirlwind look at over 65 million years, Flannery describes
the evolving history of the continent and offers a peek at our
somewhat bleak future. A fascinating interview, which shall begin
immediately following the game.
WEDNESDAY MAY 8TH
THE CHICAGO OUTFIT
Rick Kogan will be hosting our look at a venerable Chicago institution:
the Mafia or, as it is better known here, the Chicago Outfit.
GUS RUSSO, author of 
The
Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underworld in the Shaping of Modern
America, will head tonight's panel as we look at the colorful
world of organized crime in our fair city.
THURSDAY MAY 9TH
John Williams will be guest-hosting Extension 720 tonight on a
topic that is, as yet, undetermined. Check back to this site for
details.
FRIDAY MAY 10TH
THE LBJ TAPES: VOLUME II
Tonight, the next installment of the Lyndon Johnson tapes. In
his previous volume, 'Taking Charge', historian MICHAEL BESCHLOSS
transcribed the 36th president's phone conversations from the
Kennedy assassination through his initial plans for the Great
Society, ending with the Gulf of Tonkin incident and Johnson's
nomination as Democratic candidate in 1964. The second volume
of this fasinating trilogy 
Reaching
for Glory: The Johnson White House Tapes, 1964-1965 covers
the period from his landslide 1964 election through his agonized
decision to intervene with massive U.S. ground forces in Vietnam
the following July--perhaps the most important period of Johnson's
administration. Our interview with Beschloss will include numerous
audio clips from these tapes, and begins at 9:00pm.
MONDAY MAY 13TH
UNMASKING DEEP THROAT
One of the great mysteries in American history remains the identity
of "Deep Throat", the sensitively placed member of Richard Nixon's
White House who helped Woodward and Bernstein expose the Watergate
scandal. LEN GARMENT, a prominent lawyer in Nixon's administration
and one of the President's top advisers, has his own theory that
he unfolds in 
In
Search of Deep Throat: The Greatest Political Mystery of Our Time.
Was it Mark Felt? Alexander Haig? David Gergen? Who? Find out,
time permitting, after the 7:05pm ballgame tonight.
TUESDAY MAY 14TH
POLITICS IN REVIEW
WGN's Steve Bertrand will be guest-hosting tonight's look at the
national political scene and the prospects (and potential consequences)
of this November's elections. Joining us will be Washington insider
ELIZABETH DREW, whose latest book is 
Citizen
McCain, and more. A full two hours begins at 9:00pm.
WEDNESDAY MAY 15TH
JACK WELCH
Time permitting following the baseball game, we'll be airing our
interview with JACK WELCH. When he took his post as CEO of General
Electric in 1981, the value of the corporation stood at less than
$20B, a shadow of its once-great influence. By the time he left
on September 8 of this year, GE's worth stood at over $400B, the
most valuable company in the world. Trader Jack's legendary management
style has been a model for CEOs and business leaders around the
world. His new memoir 
Jack:
Straight From the Gut details his story and explains the seemingly
simple reasons for his success. This tape will head tonight's
line-up of recent, never-before-heard interviews.
THURSDAY MAY 16TH
We're still working on tonight's program. Check back to this site
for further details.
FRIDAY MAY 17TH
AMERICA'S MOST WANTED
Following the ballgame, we hope to air our interview with JOHN
WALSH, the host of TV's 'America's Most Wanted'. Walsh's most
recent book is 
Public
Enemies: The Host of America's Most Wanted Targets the Nation's
Most Notorious Criminals.
MONDAY MAY 20TH
THE FUTURE OF AIR TRAVEL
Of the many guests appearing on Extension 720 following 9/11,
JOHN NANCE of ABC News was among the most informative, detailing
the mechanics behind the attacks. A former pilor, he is perhaps
the leading observer of air travel and the air industry in the
United States. He is also an accomplished novelist, the newest
of which is 
Turbulence,
but we'll look broadly at air travel tonight in a full two-hour
program with Nance and others.
TUESDAY MAY 21ST
Check back to this site for further details on tonight's post-baseball
program.
WEDNESDAY MAY 22ND
NAVAL HISTORY
More attention is generally given to ground warfare, but a compelling
argument can be made that naval power was the decisive factor
in international conflict during the twentieth century. RONALD
SPECTOR, a renowned military historian (and former marine), has
a recent book 
At
War at Sea: Sailors and Naval Combat in the Twentieth Century,
which we will detail, time permitting, after the game tonight.
THURSDAY MAY 23RD
This full two-hour program remains under construction. Check back
to this site for details.
FRIDAY MAY 24TH
Tonight, time permitting after the game, we go in search of ancestral
roots. International journalist FRANK VIVIANO retraces the history,
and mysteries, of his family, leading back to the Sicilian countryside
and the birth of the Mafia. His search is grippingly detailed
in 
Blood
Washes Blood: A True Story of Love, Murder, And Redemption Under
the Sicilian Sun.
MONDAY MAY 27TH
MUDDY WATERS
Born in rural Mississippi, Muddy Waters revolutionized blues and
paved the trail for rock and roll. Milt continues our musical
crusade on this Memorial Day with at a look at the life and music
of the legendary artist, the bulk of whose work was in our fair
city. ROBERT GORDON, author of 
Can't
Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters, will join
us along with some local blues and jazz afficianados.
TUESDAY MAY 28TH
Recorded interviews will follow tonight's ballgame, on anything
from Shakespearean acting to the Catholic Church scandal.
WEDNESDAY MAY 29TH
WHAT
WENT WRONG?
We're pleased to welcome the dean of all Middle East scholars,
BERNARD LEWIS, professor emeritus of Princeton University, to
the program this evening. No one in America knows more about Islam,
and we'll take advantage of our time with this esteemed scholar
to hammer out what is happening in the Middle East and why. Lewis's
latest book is 
What
Went Wrong?: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response.
THURSDAY MAY 30TH
This program remains under construction. Check back to this
site for details.
FRIDAY MAY 31ST
SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW/REVIEW
Several of the big blockbusters have been released; more are
yet to come. But which are the truly great films out there, if
any? Our traditional panelists and old friends PENELOPE MESIC
and GENE PHILLIPS, plus more, will investigate this evening, for
the full two hours.
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