June 2003
Shows
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MONDAY JUNE 2ND
THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
For nearly three decades in the fifth century B.C., super-powers
Athens and Sparta battled each other for dominance over the Greek
city-states. After unprecedented brutality, strategic miscalculations,
and a devastating plague, Athens was finally defeated in a war
that ended the golden age of Greece and ruined the home of democracy,
Socrates and Plato. Perhaps even more significantly, the Peloponnesian
War inspired of one of the first great historical books, Thucydides’own
account of this war. Join us tonight as our old friend DONALD
KAGAN, professor of classics at Yale University, visits us in-studio
to discuss his new book 
The
Peloponnesian War.
TUESDAY
JUNE 3RD
WEDNESDAY JUNE 4TH
Taped interviews will follow the 7:05 Cubs game. Possibilities
include ANNE FORD on her struggle to raise a child with learning
disabilities; IRIS CHANG on the Chinese in America; MABEL CABOT
on China and Tibet; LAURO MARTINES on the plot against the Medici;
ALEXANDER VON HOFFMAN on Chicago’s Urban Housing.
THURSDAY
JUNE 5TH
JELLY’S LAST JAM
Tonight we take a look at the roots of jazz music with two experts.
HOWARD REICH, co-author of the new book 
Jelly's
Blues: The Life and Music of Jelly Roll Morton and jazz critic
at the Chicago Tribune, and noted jazz pianist MARCUS
ROBERTS will be on hand to discuss the ups and downs in the career
of famed jazz composer and musician Jelly Roll Morton. Morton
lived a tragic and tumultuous life, cheated out of royalties and
ridiculed by the press, but in 1992, new compositions and recordings
by Morton himself re-awakened interest in his contribution to
this distinctly American art form. Tune in for discussion, music...and
all that jazz.
FRIDAY
JUNE 6TH
JFK
John F. Kennedy once said that a president must have “character,
judgement, vigor, intellectual curiosity, a sense of history,
and a strong sense of the future” and our popular mythos
has certainly invested Kennedy with these traits. Our fascination
with the slain president may never cease, and recent revelations
of his clandestine affair with a 19-year-old intern have only
fueled the interest surrounding the 35th president. Tune into
the program tonight as ROBERT DALLEK, author of 
An
Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963, the book that
unearthed the long-hidden secret affair, talks about the life
and legacy of this remarkable president.
MONDAY
JUNE 9TH
SPORTS AND MEDIA
Did you follow every moment of Annika Sorenstam’s appearance
on the PGA Tour with bated breath? Or were you disgusted by the
media’s sensationalist coverage of it? Either way, tonight’s
program is for you. JOHN FEINSTEIN, author of the new book 
Open:
Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black, returns to Extension 720
tonight along with WGN Radio’s own DAVE KAPLAN to talk about
golf, sports, and recent trends in sportswriting and sports broadcasting.
TUESDAY JUNE 10TH
ISOLATION OR ENGAGEMENT: THE PROBLEMS OF AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY
Recent events, from September 11 to the war in Iraq, have demonstrated
just how interconnected America is with the rest of the world.
Instead of lamenting the new global community, some political
scientists argue that America should embrace this opportunity
to spread democracy and freedom. Tonight MICHAEL HIRSH, author
of the new book 
At
War with Ourselves joins Extension 720 immediately after the
Cubs game for an in-depth analysis of what works and what doesn’t
in our current foreign policy.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 11TH
ARE YOU GAME? ADVENTURES IN CAPITALISM
George Bernard Shaw once wrote: “Under fully developed
Capitalism civilization is always on the verge of revolution.
We live as in a villa on Vesuvius.” Tonight on Extension
720, JIM ROGERS—dubbed by Time magazine the “Indiana
Jones of finance”—will share his vast knowledge about
the inherent risks and revolutions in capitalism. He joins the
program to discuss his new book 
Adventure
Capitalist: How I Drove around the World for Three Years in a
Yellow Mercedes, Visited 116 Countries, Invested Globally, Set
a Guinness World Record, and Ate an Iguana. We will hear stories
of this remarkable trip as well as hear his views on the potential
eruptions in global finance.
THURSDAY
JUNE 12TH
REVELATIONS FROM THE CLINTON WHITE HOUSE
Tonight on Extension 720, COLONEL BUZZ PATTERSON joins
us to discuss his book 
Dereliction
of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Endangered
America's Long-Term National Security. Patterson was a military
advisor to Clinton while he was in office and will certainly offer
a unique perspective into what happened to national security under
Clinton and how that has affected today's global events. Sports
fans, fear not! If you were interested in learning more
about about Chicago's stadiums, COSTAS SPIROU AND LARRY BENNET
will be with us on July 2 after the 6:05 Cubs
game to talk about the old stadiums and the new.
FRIDAY
JUNE 13TH
VETERAN JOURNALIST TELLS ALL!
TOM BUCK, 33-year veteran of the Chicago Tribune,
joins us tonight immediately after the 6:05 Cubs game to talk
about journalism behind the scenes and his new book 
Buck,
Buck, What's up?: Tales from 60 Years in Journalism.
MONDAY
JUNE 16TH
SIR ISAAC NEWTON: MORE THAN AN APPLE
As the inventor of calculus, Sir Isaac Newton is the bane of high
school students everywhere. However, without his work, we would
not have mathematics or physics as we know it today. Indeed, Newton’s
contributions to modern thought cannot be over-emphasized. Tonight
JAMES GLEICK, author of a new biography on the famed scientist
and thinker—titled simply enough 
Isaac
Newton—joins us immediately after the Cubs game to talk
about Newton’s discoveries and his never-ceasing quest to
know the unknown.
TUESDAY JUNE 17TH
SPY WARS: BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE CIA’S CONFLICT WITH THE
KGB
During the last days of the Cold War, the CIA and the KGB engaged
in a clandestine battle of espionage and secrets, fueled mostly
by gung-ho spies raised in a post-Cuban Missile Crisis era of
paranoia. One of the men from the front-lines, MILT BEARDEN—a
thirty-year veteran of the CIA—will join us to discuss the
end of the Soviet era and his new book 
The
Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with
the KGB.
WEDNESDAY JUNE 18TH
CHICAGO LEGAL BATTLES THAT SHAPED HISTORY
The United States District Court for the Northern District
of Illinois is headquartered in Chicago and has been the site
of landmark cases involving such diverse figures as Joseph Smith,
Mark Twain, Abbie Hoffman, Michael Jackson, and Oprah Winfrey.
Tonight on the program, local author RICHARD CAHAN joins us, along
with JUDGE MARVIN E. ASPEN, to discuss Cahan’s book 
A
Court That Shaped America: Chicago's Federal Court from Abe Lincoln
to Abbie Hoffman.
THURSDAY
JUNE 19TH
SECRETS OF THE STOCK MARKET REVEALED?
Mathematician JOHN ALLEN PAULOS joins Extension 720 tonight to
discuss his new book 
A
Mathematician Plays the Stock Market, in which he attempts
to dispel some of the mystery behind the investor’s game.
Paulos will also be joined by Chicago Tribune financial
columnist BILL BARNHART. Financial wizards and first-time investors
should tune in to hear how you can understand and use the stock
market to your advantage, as well as hear tales of Paulos’
self-described “long and disastrous affair with WorldCom.”
At least it’s comforting to know that even the experts can
be fooled!
FRIDAY
JUNE 20TH
THE NEWS IN REVIEW
Once again, Extension 720 gathers a panel of experts
to discuss the news of the past month. From the war in Iraq to
the new tax cut, nothing will escape the scrutiny of former Tribune
managing editor DICK CICCONE, Notre Dame political science professor
PERI ARNOLD, and University of Chicago political science professor
CHARLES LIPSON. Be sure to join us for a no-holds-barred analysis
of the state of domestic and world affairs.
MONDAY
JUNE 23RD
TECHNOLOGY AND THE BODY
Whether we like to admit it or not, technology has become an integral
part of our lives and shapes not only our minds, but also our
bodies. Can you imagine running without those specially-engineered
cross-trainers? And undoubtedly we would not spend so much time
in front of the television if we didn’t have that comfortable
barca lounger with a built-in fridge and heated seat. EDWARD TENNER,
author of 
Our
Own Devices: The Past and Future of Body Technology, has been
dubbed by NPR “the philosopher of everyday technology,”
and he will be on hand tonight to expound upon the relationship
between the human body and the gadgets that surround us.
TUESDAY
JUNE 24TH
Tapes will follow the 7:05 Cubs game. Possibilities include ANNE
FORD on her struggle to raise a child with learning disabilities;
IRIS CHANG on the Chinese in America; MABEL CABOT on China and
Tibet; LAURO MARTINES on the plot against the Medici; ALEXANDER
VON HOFFMAN on Chicago’s Urban Housing.
WEDNESDAY
JUNE 25TH
ON THE ROAD WITH EXTENSION 720
Tonight on Extension 720, pack your bags and get the car ready,
because we're all going on vacation. Tune in to hear representatives
from the Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana tourism bureaus
on weekend getaways and "off the beaten track" highlights.
Still undecided on where to travel this summer? Tonight's program
will certainly give you some great ideas.
THURSDAY JUNE 26TH
THE REAL PROBLEM WITH AMERICAN EDUCATION
If the Glenbrook High School hazing incident is any indication,
American education is in a dire state. Some blame today’s
cynical and apathetic youth; some say that there are not enough
teachers and that they are not well-trained. Few, however, look
to the teacher’s unions as the source of many educational
problems. In his new book, 
The
Worm in the Apple: How the Teacher Unions Are Destroying American
Education, journalist PETER BRIMELOW makes a case for just
that argument. Tonight Brimelow will be joined by HERBERT WALBERG,
research professor of education and psychology at the University
of Illinois at Chicago, to discuss the problem with education
today and how it can be fixed.
FRIDAY
JUNE 27TH
MILT’S MUSIC
Once again,
MILT brings in some of his favorite musical selections for an
evening of music ranging from jazz, folk, country and classical
to unclassifiable.
MONDAY
JUNE 30TH
TALES FROM THE SILK ROAD
Extension 720
is pleased to welcome back CHERYL COLLINS, one of our distinguished
former producers, who has spent the last several months on the
famed “silk road” and in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and
the other “-stans.” Tune in tonight after the 6:05
Cubs game to hear her sharp reportage.
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