October 2003
Shows
Click on
linked books to explore buying them from the wgnradio.com/store
Due
to the Cubs playoff schedule, the October listing is subject to
change. Check back to wgnradio.com for daily updates on the status
of Extension 720 programs.
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 1st
BERLIN’S JEWISH HOSPITAL
After the 6:00 Cubs game, we welcome DANIEL SILVER, author of
the new book 
Refuge
in Hell: How Berlin's Jewish Hospital Outlasted the Nazis.
It tells the remarkable tale of how this hospital survived Hitler’s
regime and the Holocaust.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 2ND
DICTIONARIES
How do dictionaries change and evolve? Who decides what words
are included in the dictionary? When is a word no longer a slang,
but part of the everyday vernacular? On hand to answer these burning
questions and more will be JOHN MORSE, president and publisher
of 
Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary, which has just been published
in its 11th edition. Joining him will be fellow language expert
ERIN MCKEAN, senior editor of the 
New
Oxford American Dictionary.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3RD
Tapes will play after the 7:00 Cubs playoff game.
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 6TH
CHICAGO MAYORAL HISTORY
In between the two Daleys (and after Jane Byrne) came Harold Washington,
who still holds an important place in Chicago mayoral history.
The Chicago Historical Society has an exhibition on Washington’s
tenure currently running, and we will be discussing that, as well
as the other heads of the Second City tonight with LONNIE BUNCH,
president of the Chicago Historical Society, PAUL GREEN, WGN Radio’s
political commentator and one other expert.
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 7TH
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 8TH
Extension 720 takes a seat on the bench while the Chicago Cubs
play in the National League Championship Series.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 9TH
THE EMERGENCE OF HOMO SAPIENS
Extension 720 tonight commemorates the centennial of famed paleoanthropologist
Louis Leakey’s birth with a program in his honor. On October
10-11, the Field Museum is holding a tribute to celebrate Leakey’s
many achievements, and three of the guests for that conference
will be on tonight’s program to discuss Leakey’s legacy
and the current state of anthropology. They are MEAVE LEAKEY,
a distinguished anthropologist in her own right, ROBERT MARTIN,
provost and vice president of academic affairs at the Field Museum,
and JONATHAN KINGDON, a famed British anthropologist and author
of the new book 
Lowly
Origin: Where, When, and Why Our Ancestors First Stood Up.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10TH
The Cubs pinch-hit for Milt tonight as they play in the National
League Championship Series.
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 13TH
THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY
Extension 720 tonight celebrates the beginning of another exciting
season for the Chicago symphony, as well as the beginning of a
new president’s tenure. Join us as DEBORAH CARD, the new
president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, JOE GUASTAFESTE,
bass, BRANT TAYLOR, 'cello, and MAX RAIMI, viola, discuss the
orchestra’s history, the upcoming season and play some of
its greatest recordings.
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 14TH
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15TH
Once again, Extension 720 takes a seat on the bench as
the Cubs face the Marlins in the 6th and 7th games of the National
League Championship Series.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 16TH
SCIENCE IN NAZI GERMANY
During Hitler’s regime, the Nazis manipulated science to
create justifications for their curious beliefs. In his new book
Hitler's
Scientists: Science, War, and the Devil's Pact, John
Cornwell examines German science until 1933 and demonstrates how
biology, chemistry, physics and engineering were all manipulated
by Hitler for ill, with some fascinating long-term consequences.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17TH
A
VISIT FROM THE LINCOLN PARK ZOO
Tonight on Extension 720, we welcome representatives
from the Lincoln Park Zoo to discuss the history and new additions
to Chicago's northside landmark. Joining us will be MARK ROSENTHAL,
curator of large mammals and author of the new book 
Ark
in the Park: The Story of Lincoln Park Zoo and LYNNE
PIEPER, director of the Children's Zoo and Farm at the Zoo.
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 20TH
WOMEN AND EDUCATION
Tonight’s Extension 720 program raises the fascinating question:
has gender equality in education become such a standard that women
are now ill-served by the educational system? JAMES TOOLEY, professor
of education policy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne joins
us tonight to discuss how women and men are different, and thus
how our schools should reflect and respect that difference. Tooley
is the author of the new book 
The
Miseducation of Women, which sparked a national conversation
about gender in education when it was published in Britain and
is certain to raise similar questions tonight.
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 21ST
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Basic grammar, correct pronunciation and proper spelling all appear
to be relics of the past. What has caused this sudden decline
in American language? Should we blame e-mail and cell phones,
or are we suddenly too lazy or too busy to be bothered with such
trifles. We will discuss these issues and more tonight with JOHN
MCWHORTER, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, associate
professor of linguistics at the University of California Berkeley,
and author of the new book 
Doing
Our Own Thing: The Degradation of Language and Music and Why We
Should, Like, Care.
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 22ND
FRESH TAPES FROM THE VAULT
Tonight, Extension 720 brings out the best of some of
our recent recorded interviews. During the first hour, distinguished
judge ROBERT BORK discusses his new book 
Coercing
Virtue: The Worldwide Rule of Judges. The second hour
features Lynne Olson and Stanley Cloud discussing their new book
A
Question of Honor: The Forgotten Polish Heroes of World War II.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 23RD
GREAT BOOKS
Hemingway wrote that “All good books are alike in that they
are truer than if they had really happened.” Extension 720
tonight welcomes four master-teachers from two colleges that wholeheartedly
believe that truth is found in great literature. BRUCE GANS and
SONIA CSASZAR of Wright College in Chicago, and DAVID SHINER and
ALBERT FERNANDEZ of Shimer College in Waukegan join us tonight
to discuss the format and benefits of a great books curriculum.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24TH
THE NEWS IN REVIEW
Once again, Extension 720 invites experts in domestic
and international politics to discuss the highlights and lowlights
of recent current events. Tune in to hear DANIEL DREZNER, professor
of political science at the University of Chicago, KAREN ALTER,
professor of political science at Northwestern University, and
our old friend DICK CICCONE take on the California recall, the
Valerie Plame leak scandal, the recent events in Iraq and Israel
and much, much more.
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 27TH
SHAKESPEARE
British author and documentarian MICHAEL WOOD joins Extension
720 tonight to discuss the Bard of Avon. Wood is author of the
new book 
Shakespeare,
which accompanies his acclaimed documentary for the BBC. We will
explore the time in which Shakespeare lived, as well as listen
to scenes from some of his most famous works in performance.
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 28TH
CATHOLICISM IN CRISIS
Though the Catholic Church provides a spiritual home for sixty
five million Americans, it also serves as the country’s
largest provider of education (besides the government) and the
most extensive provider of non-profit health care. Because of
this vast presence in American society, Catholicism’s recent
crises affect more than just its followers. Tonight on Extension
720 we welcome PETER STEINFELS to discuss the current state of
the Catholic Church. Steinfels is a columnist for the New
York Times and author of the new book 
A
People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America.
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 29TH
BEHIND THE TIMES
It’s been a rough year for the New York Times;
the Jayson Blair scandal led to the resignation of Rick Bragg
and the departure of Executive Editor Howell Raines. Despite these
setbacks, the Times still enjoys a long and prestigious history,
one that we will explore with ARTHUR GELB. His new book 
City
Room chronicles his forty five years at the paper, where
he began as a night copy boy and eventually became the managing
editor. He also spent time as a cultural correspondent and was
the first critic to review Woody Allen and the first to praise
a young Barbra Striesand. Tune in to hear his fascinating stories
of life at the paper of record.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 30TH
RECONSIDERING FDR AND THE NEW DEAL
A recently discovered manuscript by Supreme Court Justice Robert
H. Jackson, on the bench during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s
presidency, gives an entirely new perspective on the only president
to be elected to four terms. Tonight we welcome JOHN BARRETT,
editor of 
That
Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt,
MARK LEFF, professor of history at the University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign, and JAMES WOLFINGER, professor of history at
DePaul University, to reevaluate Roosevelt and the accomplishments
of his administration, including the New Deal and World War II.
FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 31ST
HISTORY OF THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
Tonight on Extension 720, SIMON WINCHESTER returns to discuss
his further investigations into the history of the Oxford English
Dictionary. Winchester’s first volume on the dictionary,
The
Professor and the Madman, was a New York Times
bestseller, and this next installment—
The
Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary—continues
the fascinating history behind the definitive catalogue of the
English language.
Archive
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