July 2005
Shows
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FRIDAY,
JULY 1ST
MILT’S MUSIC
To kick off this holiday weekend, tonight MILT takes us through
some highlights of his personal collection during this year’s
installment of Milt’s Music. Tune in to hear everything
from country to classical to unclassifiable on this night of musical
exploration!
MONDAY,
JULY 4TH
REMEMBERING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
Though Extension 720 will be taking the night off, we will still
be commemorating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration
of Independence. To celebrate this 4th of July, we will air Milt’s
recently recorded discussion with legendary biographer and historian
DAVID McCULLOUGH. Tune in right after the 6:05 p.m. Cubs game
to hear McCullough’s take on the first year of the Revolutionary
War, as outlined in his new book 
1776.
TUESDAY,
JULY 5TH
ADVERTISING IN THE INTERNET AGE
Legendary ad man David Ogilvy once said: “What really decides
consumers to buy or not to buy is the content of your advertising,
not its form.” Though that maxim may have been true in the
early days of marketing, when print, radio and television dominated
advertising, the advent of the Internet has changed the industry
completely. How can a company market its products effectively
in this world of online ads and podcasting? That question will
be discussed after tonight’s 6:35 p.m. Cubs game, when Extension
720 welcomes marketing consultant JOSEPH JAFFE, author of the
new book 
Life
after the 30-Second Spot: Energize Your Brand with Bold Alternatives
to Traditional Advertising.
WEDNESDAY,
JULY 6TH
CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE
“Architecture is the art of how to waste space,” or
so thought architect Philip Johnson. But architecture is really
the art of filling space, especially the space in the sky that
we see every day. Chicago has seen many architectural changes
in the last few years, and the recent demolition of the Sun-Times
building and the construction of the Trump International Hotel
and Tower are yet another phase in the continual evolution of
Chicago’s architectural character. Tonight we will be discussing
the look of the city, from skyscrapers to parks to homes, with
two experts on Chicago architecture: JAY PRIDMORE, co-author of
the newly revised and expanded edition of 
Chicago
Architecture and Design, and LYNN BECKER, architecture
critic for the Chicago Reader.
THURSDAY,
JULY 7TH
LONDON BOMBINGS
After tonight’s 6:35 p.m. Cubs game, Milt Rosenberg hosts
a panel discussion on the implications of today's bombings in
London. Joining the program in-studio are TOM MOCKAITIS, professor
of history at DePaul University, and JOHN MEARSHEIMER, professor
of political science at the University of Chicago. We will be
also calling out to FREDERICK KAGAN, national defense expert at
the American Enterprise Institute, MORT KONDRACKE, editor of Roll
Call and host of Fox News' "The Beltway Boys,"
and TIM NAFTALI, a counterterrorism expert and professor at the
University of Virginia's Miller Center for Public Affairs.
FRIDAY,
JULY 8TH
MORE ON LONDON
Due to breaking news, the program with Peter Stark has been canceled.
After tonight’s 6:35 p.m. Cubs game, we will once again
chat with some experts to discuss the latest news on the London
bombings. Our guests include CHARLES LIPSON, professor of political
science at the University of Chicago.
MONDAY,
JULY 11TH
PERFORMING SHAKESPEARE
Acting has been described as anything from “merely the art
of keeping a large group of people from coughing” and “a
masochistic form of exhibitionism.” Tonight, we will attempt
to unlock the art and enigma of acting with representatives from
the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Currently in rehearsals for Shakespeare’s
The Comedy of Errors, director TIMOTHY GREGORY and actors
KRISHNA LE FAN, GAIL RASTORFER and BRIAN HAMMAN will be on hand
to rehearse scenes and discuss just how the Bard’s words
on the page are brought to life on the stage.
TUESDAY,
JULY 12TH
THE PORN GENERATION
Tonight’s program will focus on the effects that increasingly
loose social and moral standards have had on American culture
and society over the past few decades. From music to movies to
magazines, this loosening of standards is affecting not only our
current society but also the next generation. Our guest for this
discussion is BEN SHAPIRO, a syndicated columnist and first-year
student at Harvard Law School, whose latest book is 
Porn
Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future.
WEDNESDAY,
JULY 13TH
A NIGHT AT RAVINIA
The Ravinia Festival celebrates its 101st year this summer and
yet another stellar summer of classical music has been assembled.
This season will feature a variety of works stretching from Mozart
to Mahler, as well as the special theme of highlighting music
suppressed by the Third Reich. Our guests tonight are JAMES CONLON,
newly appointed music director and Ravinia’s president and
chief executive officer WELZ KAUFFMAN. They will highlight the
many wonderful concerts ahead this season, complete with audio
examples of some of the masterworks.
THURSDAY,
JULY 14TH
THE LATEST IN BIOETHICS
Tonight, Extension 720 is pleased to welcome for a return
appearance our old friend LEON KASS. Currently chairman of the
President's Council on Bioethics and a senior fellow at the American
Enterprise Institute, Kass is one of the foremost experts on the
emerging field of bioethics, and he will be discussing stem cells
and more on tonight's program.
FRIDAY,
JULY 15TH
THE GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME
Batman Begins and War of the Worlds may be cleaning
up at the summer box office, but in ten or fifteen years will
they be regarded as among the best movies ever made? While that
judgment is left to history, our panel of film experts tonight
will be discussing some of the truly great films. From Citizen
Kane to Schindler’s List they will be evaluating
and ranking the old and new classics of cinema, as well as listening
to some of the dialogue that made these films great. Our guests
include JUSTINE ELIAS, film critic for Time Out Chicago,
JR JONES, film critic at the Chicago Reader, and VIRGINIA
WEXMAN, professor of English at the University of Illinois at
Chicago.
MONDAY,
JULY 18TH
WAR OF THE WORLDS
"No one would have believed in the last years of
the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly
and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal
as his own"-- so begins H.G. Wells' classic science fiction
tale War of the Worlds. After the 6:10 p.m. Cubs game,
Extension 720 explores the various incarnations of this tale--from
the Orson Welles radio play to the new movie with Tom Cruise--as
well as its implications. Our guest is GARY WOLFE, professor of
humanities and English at Roosevelt University and a science fiction
expert, and the inspiration for tonight's program is the recent
Sourcebook's publication of 
War
of the Worlds: Mars' Invasion of Earth, Inciting Panic and Inspiring
Terror from H.G. Wells to Orson Welles.
TUESDAY,
JULY 19TH
SUPREME COURT NOMINATION
Tonight after the 6:10 p.m. Cubs game, WGN News
anchor STEVE BERTRAND hosts a special edition of Extension 720
on President Bush's nomination to the Supreme Court. Joining us
in-studio is STEVEN LUBET, professor of law at Northwestern University
Law School. We will also phone out to MARK SILVA, Chicago Tribune
White House Correspondent, ELEANOR SMEAL, former head of the National
Organization for Women and current president of the Feminist Majority
Foundation, and CLARK FORSYTHE of Americans United for Life.
WEDNESDAY,
JULY 20TH
NEWS REVIEW
After tonight's 6:10 p.m. Cubs game, WGN news anchor
STEVE BERTRAND guest hosts a roundtable discussion of all the
latest news stories. Our panel of experts will discuss the Supreme
Court nomination battle, the London bombings, and other top stories.
They include: LYNN SWEET, Washington bureau chief at the Chicago
Sun-Times, DAN MIHALOPOULOS, City Hall reporter for the Chicago
Tribune, ANDREW SHAW, political reporter at ABC 7 Chicago,
and LINDA GREENHOUSE, Supreme Court correspondent for
the New York Times and author of 
Becoming
Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun's Supreme Court Journey.
THURSDAY,
JULY 21ST
DROUGHT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Tonight, JOHN WILLIAMS--filling in for a vacationing Milt Rosenberg--will
host a two part program focusing on the current drought here in
Illinois. The first hour features a discussion on the current
situation with WGN agribusiness correspondent ORION SAMUELSON,
GIDON ESHEL, professor of physical oceanography and climate at
the University of Chicago, and ELIZABETH KOLBERT, staff writer
for the New Yorker and author of a three-part series
on climate change, "The Climate of Man." Our second
hour will feature ERIC KLINENBERG, professor of sociology at New
York University and author of 
Heat
Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, which
examines the heat wave that hit Chicago in July of 1995.
FRIDAY,
JULY 22ND
REACTION FROM LONDON
After the 7:05 p.m. Cubs game, we aired Milt's conversation
with legendary mystery novelist P.D. JAMES about her reaction
to the bombings in London. Besides her literary career, James
is also the Baroness of Holland Park.
MONDAY,
JULY 25TH
TUESDAY JULY 26TH
A live or recorded edition of Extension 720 will follow these
7:05 p.m. Cubs games. More updates will be posted at this site
soon.
WEDNESDAY,
JULY 27TH
AN INTERFAITH CONVERSATION
The International Interfaith Conference--the annual meeting of
the International Council of Christians and Jews--has just finished
its convention here in Chicago, and tonight we will be having
four representatives from this important conference on the show
to discuss the current issues in interfaith dialogue. Initially
started as a reaction to the Holocaust, this council now focuses
on increasing communication between the three Abrahamic religions:
Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Our guests are RABBI DAVID ROSEN,
director of International Interreligious Affairs at the American
Jewish Committee, EVA SCHULZ-JANDER, a German Catholic and head
of the German Coordinating Council of Societies for Christian-Jewish
Cooperation, VICTOR GOLDBLOOM, former head of the Canadian Council
of Christians and Jews and a former Canadian cabinet minister,
and PETER VON BUTLER, former German Ambassador to Belgium.
THURSDAY,
JULY 28TH
WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS
Tonight, Extension 720 explores one of the darker aspects
of the American criminal justice system--people who have been
wrongly convicted of crimes. Whether forced into confessions by
overzealous police officers or released based on new DNA evidence,
there has been a striking number of overturned convictions recently
in Illinois. Our panel discussing this important issue tonight
is ROB WARDEN, director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions
at the Northwestern University Law School, THOMAS FRISBIE, co-author
of the newly revised book 
Victims
of Justice Revisited, and GARY GAUGER, who was convicted
of killing his own parents and sentenced to death in 1994 before
being exonerated in 2000 and pardoned by Gov. George H. Ryan in
2002.
FRIDAY,
JULY 29TH
CHICAGO CORRUPTION
There's been another round of indictments and resignations
at City Hall--is this situation normal in Chicago or does this
most recent spate of corruption signal the beginning of the end
of the Daley regime? Tonight, we will be exploring the most recent
entries in the long history of corruption in Chicago politics
with a panel of experts, including JAY STEWART, president of the
Better Government Association, DICK KAY, political reporter for
NBC 5 News, and MARK BROWN, columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Archive
of previous show topics:
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