April 2003
Shows
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TUESDAY
APRIL 1ST
THE
HISTORICAL JESUS
The churches so dominate modern Christianity that its central
figure, Jesus of Nazareth, often seems lost in the shuffle. Behind
the facade of the churches, however, research into the life of
the historical Jesus continues to flourish. Last year, a major
discovery apparently revealed the first archaelogical evidence
referring to Jesus as an actual person and identifying James,
the first leader of the Christian church, as his brother. Based
on this discovery, two leading scholars in the field, HERSCHEL
SHANKS and BEN WITHERINGTON, have produced the new book 
The
Brother of Jesus. Just who was Jesus, and what do we know
about his life? Tune in at 9:00pm for the views of Shanks and
Witherington.
WEDNESDAY
APRIL 2ND
RICHARD
SCHICKEL ON MOVIE WAR
The great British actor Peter Ustinov once said, "Thanks
to the movies, gunfire has always sounded unreal to me, even when
being fired at." In that same spirit, RICHARD SCHICKEL remembers
his childhood and the legacy of World War II films in his new
memoir 
Good
Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip: Movies, Memory, and World War II.
The Time Magazine movie critic for many years, Schickel is one
of the leading scholars in the history of American film. Tonight,
following Cubs baseball, we will be examining, through the lens
of his long career, and a number of film clips, the portrayal
of historical events and how they shape our popular culture.
THURSDAY
APRIL 3RD
THE
FUTURE OF CAPITALISM
Critics of market capitalism have flourished in political and
academic circles for centuries. Herbert Marcuse tried to dampen
some of the enthusiasm, arguing, "Not every problem someone
has with his girlfriend is necessarily due to the capitalist mode
of production." Nevertheless, from the WTO protesters to
the lingering remnants of socialism, the critiques continue. Our
guests tonight, RAGHURAM RAJAN and LUIGI ZINGALES, both accomplished
professors at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business,
come not as critics but as advisers. Their new book 
Saving
Capitalism from the Capitalists: Unleashing the Power of Financial
Markets to Create Wealth and Spread Opportunity endorses free
markets as the key to prosperity for all. The dangers, they argue,
lie in regulation and the tyranny of special interest favors.
We will examine the future of capitalism, and take a hard look
at our current economic situation, with these two distinguished
guests, beginning at 9:00pm.
FRIDAY
APRIL 4TH
This post-baseball program remains under construction. Check back
to this site for updates.
MONDAY
APRIL 7TH
THE MORALITY OF LAUGHTER
Has our society become too serious? Our guest tonight argues that,
from politics to academics, Americans have lost their sense of
humor; and that, as a society, we take ourselves far too seriously.
FRANK BUCKLEY is professor of law at George Mason University and
author of the new book 
The
Morality of Laughter. He joins us for a light-hearted discussion
of a serious subject, beginning at 9:00pm.
TUESDAY APRIL 8TH
THE
WORLD OF POKER
If you ever travel to Las Vegas, you have the opportunity to play
Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, and a number of other "table"
games. But poker is left to the side, available to but little
noticed by most visitors. Nevertheless, the world of Las Vegas
poker is a haven for high-stakes gamblers. And each year, huge
poker tournaments are held for million of dollars--with accompanying
levels of excess in other areas. One of our guests tonight, JAMES
McMANUS, recently covered the World Series of Poker for Harper's
Magazine and has written a gripping story in the new book 
Positively
Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of
Poker. We will be discussing the bizarre world of professional
poker with McManus and others, beginning at 9:00pm.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 9TH
A VISIT FROM THE CSO
Our periodic musical excursions continue tonight with a visit
from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. An old friend of Extension
720, HENRY FOGEL, the retiring President of the CSO, will join
us along with LARRY COMBS, its chief clarinetist, renowned violinist
SAMUEL MAGAD, and many music clips. Our look at (and listen to)
one of the great orchestras of the world begins at 9:00pm.
THURSDAY APRIL 10TH
ISRAEL-PALESTINE
Overshadowed by the Iraq war but never forgotten, the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict continues to fester and cause innumerable problems for
our foreign policy and the world. Is it conceivable that a dramatic
U.S. victory in Iraq could re-spur the peace process? Many are
skeptical but the current administration seems committed to redoubling
its efforts after the war. This week, Northwestern University
is holding a major conference on these problems and prospects,
and a number of its prominent participants will join us tonight
at 9:00pm.
FRIDAY
APRIL 11TH
This program remains under construction. Check wgnradio.com for
updates.
MONDAY
APRIL 14TH
Recently recorded, never-before-heard interviews will follow the
7:05pm Cubs games. Among the possibilities: PAUL HENDRICKSON on
THE SONS OF MISSISSIPPI and the 1960s south; STUART EIZENSTADT,
longtime presidential adviser, on reparations and the Holocaust;
CARLOS EIRE on the youth in Cuba; LISA JARDINE on the life and
times of Christopher Wren; and much more.
TUESDAY
APRIL 15TH
GANGSTERS
"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster,"
declares Henry Hill at the beginning of GoodFellas. Perhaps our
guests tonight might have echoed this sentiment by saying, "As
far back as I can remember, I always wanted to study gangsters."
We will examine the often ugly but always gripping history of
the Chicago Mafia with GUS RUSSO, author of 
The
Outfit: The Role of Chicago's Underworld in the Shaping of Modern
America, and others, starting at 9:00pm.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 16TH
PASSOVER TAPES
Passover begins at sundown, but we will be with you from 9:00-11:00pm
with recently recorded interviews. Check back to this site for
updates on tonight's program.
THURSDAY APRIL 17TH
THE
GENERATION OF SEPTEMBER 12
Our guest tonight is STEVEN BRILL, a distinguished lawyer whose
now-defunct magazine Brill's Content attempted (and failed) to
revolutionize coverage of the American media. Now a columnist
with Newsweek, Brill has exhaustively covered post-September 11
America and the rapid evolution of what we now call “homeland
security.” From John Ashcroft and Tom Ridge to the low-level
agents patrolling our border, his new book 
After:
How America Confronted the September 12 Era examines the new
age in which we now live. How has America changed? Is this really
a new era? These are among the questions we will examine tonight.
FRIDAY
APRIL 18TH
This post-baseball program remains under construction. Check back
to wgnradio.com for updates.
MONDAY
APRIL 21ST
BASEBALL
Ahhh, Spring once again is upon us and with it another year of
Major League Baseball. When Dante wrote, "Abandon all hope,
ye who enter here", we assume he was not addressing Cub fans
at the outset of a new season. And so far, so good. Our annual
baseball program commences at 9:00pm tonight. Among our guests:
the official historian of Major League Baseball, JEROME HOLTZMAN,
whose latest book is 
The Jerome Holtzman Baseball Reader.
TUESDAY APRIL 22ND
Taped interviews will follow the 7:05 Cubs game.
WEDNESDAY
APRIL 23RD
A
CRISIS IN TEACHING?
G.K. Chesterton once observed, "Education is simply the soul
of a society as it passes from one generation to another."
If such is the case, American society has some explaining to do.
What is going on in our public schools? Our students consistently
rank lower than most others around the "developed world."
Despite heavy expenditures, little has been achieved in attempts
to alleviate the problem. Is teaching to blame? Two leading education
experts, VIVIAN TROEN and KATHERINE BOLES, think they have the
answer. Their new book is 
Who's
Teaching Your Children?: Why the Teacher Crisis is Worse than
You Think and What Can Be Done About It and both will be with
us beginning at 9:00pm.
THURSDAY APRIL 24TH
IRAQ ROUNDUP
The fighting is (essentially) over. But many, many problems lie
ahead. What is to be done and, more broadly, what lies ahead in
the Middle East? Our guests tonight will analyze the post-Iraq
environment in full. They are CHARLES LIPSON of the University
of Chicago, AHMAD SADRI of Lake Forest College, and EVAN OSNOS
of the Chicago Tribune, who just returned from Iraq where he was
embedded with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
FRIDAY
APRIL 25TH
Extension 720 takes the night off for the late Cubs game.
MONDAY APRIL 28TH
THE
DAY THE WORLD BLEW UP
Most Americans are well-familiar with the 1980 eruption
of Mount St. Helen's in Washington state. Fewer have even heard
of the greatest volcano eruption in modern history: that of Krakatoa
(in modern-day Indonesia) in 1883. SIMON WINCHESTER, a profilic
British author and historian, tells the story in a new book 
Krakatoa:
The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883. He joins us,
along with some local experts who will explain the causal processes
behind the great eruptions, beginning at 9:00pm as usual
TUESDAY
APRIL 29TH
WEDNESDAY APRIL 30TH
Extension 720 takes a seat on the bench for each of these evenings
as the Cubs head west for 9:15pm games.
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