August 2005
Shows
Click on
linked books to explore buying them from the wgnradio.com/store
MONDAY,
AUGUST 1ST
CUBS NATION
Tonight at 10 p.m., immediately following the WGN Sports special
celebrating Ryne Sandberg’s induction into the Baseball
Hall of Fame, Extension 720 talks all things Cubs with GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI,
senior writer for ESPN: The Magazine and author of 
Cubs
Nation: 162 Games. 162 Stories. 1 Addiction.
TUESDAY,
AUGUST 2ND
BEER: AN APPRECIATION
Benjamin Franklin once quipped, “Beer is proof that God
loves us and wants us to be happy.” Not only is beer good
for the soul, but for many it is also the perfect companion drink
for America’s pastime-baseball. And after tonight’s
6:05 p.m. Cubs game, we will be expounding upon this essential
summer beverage with two brewing experts: JERALD O’KENNARD,
editor of Tastings Magazine, the publication of the Beverage
Testing Institute here in Chicago, GREG HALL, brewmaster at Goose
Island Brewing Company, and RANDY MOSHER, home brewing expert,
instructor in beer style at the Siebel Institute and author of
Radical
Brewing: Recipes, Tales and World-Altering Meditations in a Glass.
WEDNESDAY,
AUGUST 3RD
A NIGHT WITH MELLBERG AND WEHMAN
After tonight’s 6:05 p.m. Cubs game, Extension 720 has a
special treat for listeners. Our old friend BILL MELLBERG (mimic
extraordinaire) will be in-studio, along with his accompanist
KENT WEHMAN, to perform some of his great impressions of presidents,
politicos and other emminentos.
THURSDAY,
AUGUST 4TH
FREE SPEECH IN ACADEMIA
Someone once said that “the aim of education should be to
teach us rather how to think, than what to think—rather
to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves,
than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.” Tonight,
Extension 720 will be discussing the state of education on college
campuses, and specifically, the decline of free speech in academic
life. Our guests: DAVID FRENCH, president of the Foundation
for Individual Rights in Education, and DONALD DOWNS, professor
of political science, law and journalism at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and author of several relevant books including
Restoring
Free Speech and Liberty on Campus.
FRIDAY,
AUGUST 5TH
WHAT HATH HIROSHIMA WROUGHT?
Tomorrow marks the sixtieth anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima—the
first nuclear attack that not only helped bring about the end
of World War II, but also launched a new era in political history.
It kicked off the arms race between the United States and the
Soviet Union, beginning the Cold War and fostering the necessary
rise of strategic theory. Tonight after the 6:10 p.m. Cubs game,
we will be discussing some of the political consequences of Hiroshima
with a panel of experts, including RICHARD FRIEDMAN, president
of the National Strategy Forum, JOHN MEARSHEIMER, professor of
political science at the University of Chicago, and (joining us
by phone) SHARON GHAMARI-TABRIZI, author of 
The
Worlds of Herman Kahn: The Intuitive Science of Thermonuclear
War.
MONDAY,
AUGUST 8TH
VDH ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
After tonight's 7:05 p.m. Cubs game, our interview with
columnist and classicist VICTOR DAVIS HANSON on the rise of illegal
immigration (originally recorded in May) aired. Hanson is the
author of several relevant books on the subject, including 
Mexifornia:
A State of Becoming.
TUESDAY,
AUGUST 9TH
THE SUPREME COURT
Just a few weeks ago, President Bush nominated John G. Roberts
to replace Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court of the
United States. O’Connor’s retirement marked the end
of an unprecedented eleven years without a change in the court’s
roster. Tonight, we will be examining the current legacy of the
Rehnquist Court, critiquing some of their recent decisions, and
discussing the ongoing confirmation of Justice Roberts with two
distinguished legal minds: STEPHEN PRESSER, professor of legal
history at the Northwestern University School of Law, and GEOFFREY
STONE, professor of law at the University of Chicago Law School
and editor of the Supreme Court Review.
WEDNESDAY,
AUGUST 10TH
TRAFFIC AND TRANSIT IN CHICAGO
The morning commute seems to get longer every day, the CTA budget
woes continue, and with the recent bombings on the London Underground,
the safety of Chicago’s mass transit and expressway systems
is being questioned. Tonight on Extension 720, we will be discussing
all these transit issues and much more with JOSEPH SCHOFER, professor
of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University,
and DAVID SCHULZ, director of the Northwestern’s Infrastructure
Technology Institute, as well as adjunct professor of civil engineering
at Northwestern University.
THURSDAY,
AUGUST 11TH
BLACK CONSERVATISM
Though the African American community is usually associated with
liberal politics and the Democratic Party, there is an emerging
movement of blacks on the political right who reject affirmative
action and embrace political and moral conservatism. Tonight,
we will examine the phenomenon of black conservatism with three
representatives of the New Coalition for Economic and Social Change—a
group dedicated to promoting “a conservative multicultural
perspective on economic and social policies.” Our guests
will be LEE H. WALKER, president of the New Coalition, BRUCE MONTGOMERY,
a member of its board of directors, and RALPH CONNER, public relations
director for the Heartland Institute, which is the umbrella organization
for the New Coalition.
FRIDAY,
AUGUST 12TH
THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
It is said that the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund once responded
to a criticism of his Latin: “I am the Roman Emperor and
am above grammar.” Unfortunately, most of us do not rule
the known world, and thus we must concern ourselves with proper
usage of our native tongue. And tonight, our resident panel of
language experts—SUSAN HARRIS, ELLEN HUNT, and CRAIG SIRLES—will
be on hand to catalogue some recent egregious errors of the English
language by people (academics, journalists and politicians) who
should know and do better.
MONDAY,
AUGUST 15TH
ESCAPING CAMBODIA
After tonight's 7:05 p.m. Cubs game, we played Milt's
recent conversation with LUONG UNG, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge
regime in Cambodia and author of the new book 
Lucky
Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left
Behind.
TUESDAY,
AUGUST 16TH
FROM THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
After the 7:05 Cubs game, Extension 720 welcomes RICHARD
HAASS, author of 
The
Opportunity: America's Moment to Alter History's Course.
Haass is currently the president of the Council on Foreign
Relations in New York and the former Director of Policy Planning
for the Department of State, where he served as the principal
advisor to then Secretary of State Colin Powell.
WEDNESDAY,
AUGUST 17TH
TERROR AND THE INTERNET
Increasingly, al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations
are using the internet as a form of recruitment, communication
and propaganda. How can we effectively stop such organizations
from using websites, chat rooms and e-mail to their purposes?
And how can this be done while still protecting people's right
to express themselves online? All these issues and more will be
discussed after the 6:05 p.m. Cubs game tonight with JOE MORRIS
and ANDREW DE LA ROSA, partners in the firm of Morris and De La
Rosa, a law firm with offices both here and in London that is
on the cutting edge of such legal issues. Joining them will be
MICHAEL HEILER, a special agent with the FBI's cyber intrusion
squad here in Chicago.
THURSDAY,
AUGUST 18TH
SHAKESPEARE'S HISTORIES
Tonight, we continue our celebration of the recent publication
of 
The
Complete Arkangel Shakespeare. In this final
installment, we examine Shakespeare's historical plays, which
dramatized the War of the Roses and the final triumph of the Tudor
dynasty. Though regarded by some as propaganda, when closely examined,
these plays actually contain sophisticated musings on the nature
and effect of power. On hand to discuss such masterpieces as Richard
II, Richard II and Henry V will be NICK RUDALL,
founding director of the Court Theatre and professor of classics
at the University of Chicago, and CAROL SYMES, professor of history
at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
FRIDAY,
AUGUST 19TH
THE ART OF VOICE-OVER
Tonight, Extension 720 explores the world of voice over acting--from
commercials to radio dramas such as The Twilight Zone. We'll have
four expert voice-over talent who will be sharing their tales
of the trade and playing some of the highlights of their career.
Our guests will be four veteran Chicago voice artists, including
MEG THALKEN, CHRISTIAN STOLTE, ILYSSA FRADIN and DAVID DARLOW.
MONDAY,
AUGUST 22ND
TAPES FROM THE VAULT
After tonight's 7:05 p.m. Cubs game, we aired two recently
recorded interviews. The first was with noted author FRANCINE
DU PLESSIX GRAY, talking about her latest book 
Them:
A Memoir of Parents. The second was with MARCI HAMILTON,
professor of law at Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo'
School of Law and author of 
God
vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law.
TUESDAY,
AUGUST 23RD
THE TRIAL OF WYATT EARP
After tonight’s 7:05 p.m. Cubs game, we travel back in time
to the Old West and the story of legendary lawman Wyatt Earp.
Though he is best remembered for his heroic role in the shootout
at the O.K. Corral, after that famous gunfight Earp was actually
put on trial for murder by the people of Tombstone, Arizona. We
will be discussing this curious chapter of Western history with
STEVEN LUBET, professor of law at Northwestern University and
author of 
Murder
in Tombstone: The Forgotten Trial of Wyatt Earp.
WEDNESDAY,
AUGUST 24TH
THE LIFE OF A P.I.
Many people think the life of private investigators as
filled with intrigue and danger, as portrayed by mystery novelists
Dashiell Hammett and Agatha Christie. But what is it really like
to be a private investigator? Not every day can be filled with
high-profile kidnappings and daring thefts. Tonight, Extension
720 welcomes a panel of three are private detectives to discuss
the life of the P.I. -- their cases, their background, and their
typical day. Our guests are STEVE KIRBY, president of Edward R.
Kirby and Associates Investigations, MIKE CARLSON, president of
Probe Incorporated, and PAUL CIOLINO, head of Paul J. Ciolino
and Associates Investigations and author of the recent book 
In
the Company of Giants: The Ultimate Investigation Guide for Legal
Professionals, Activists, Journalists and the Wrongfully Convicted.
THURSDAY,
AUGUST 25TH
THE GIULIANI LEGACY
In the months before September 11, 2001, the political
career of Rudolph Giuliani seemed to be imploding. He was embroiled
in a very public divorce battle and he had very dropped out of
his high-stakes Senate race with Hillary Clinton to fight prostate
cancer. However, the terrorist attacks completely changed the
trajectory of his life and career. Behind him, the city of New
York and the rest of the United States rallied to overcome the
tragedy of 9/11, and he is now considered a likely candidate for
president in 2008. Tonight we will be examining this remarkable
career with FRED SIEGEL, professor of history at The Cooper Union
for Science and Art in New York City and a senior fellow at the
Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., who has just
penned the first comprehensive look Giuliani’s career entitled
The
Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York and the Genius of American
Life. He will be joined by LARRY BENNETT, professor
of political science at DePaul University and head of their public
policy program.
FRIDAY,
AUGUST 26TH
EVOLUTION VS. INTELLIGENT DESIGN
Recently, President Bush's remarks that both evolution
and intelligent design should be taught in public school science
classes turned up the heat on a long-simmering debate. Tonight,
we will be exploring the theories of evolution and intelligent
design with two experts from both sides of the issue, who will
lay out their cases and debate the merits of each side. Our guests
are ROBERT RICHARDS, professor of professor of the history of
science and medicine at the University of Chicago, and PAUL A.
NELSON, fellow at Center for Science and Culture at the Discovery
Institute.
MONDAY,
AUGUST 29TH
CELL PHONES AND SECURITY
After the 7:05 Cubs game, Extension 720 welcomes cell
phone security expert HOWARD MELAMED, chief executive officer
of CellAntenna corporation, to discuss the possible legalization
of cellular jamming and the dangers that cell phone-using terrorists
pose to the United States and other countries.
TUESDAY,
AUGUST 30TH
A brief recorded edition of Extension 720 will follow this 7:05
p.m. Cubs game.
WEDNESDAY,
AUGUST 31ST
THE AFTERMATH OF KATRINA
The program on Chicago's immigrants originally scheduled
for tonight has been postponed... We will instead to do a program
on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, particularly
the impact of the continued flooding on the structural and sociological
makeup of the city. Our guests include CHARLES DOWDING, professor
of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University,
ALBERT HUNTER, professor of sociology at Northwestern, and PATRICK
MICHAELS, senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute
in Washington, DC.
Archive
of previous show topics:
|
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
2002
|
2003
|
|
2005
|
