October 2005
Shows
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MONDAY,
OCTOBER 3RD
ROSH HASHANAH TAPES
As Milt takes the evening off to celebrate Rosh Hashanah,
we play two recently recorded interviews. During the first hour,
Milt talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist JANE SMILEY about
her latest book 
Thirteen
Ways of Looking at the Novel. The second hour features
Milt's conversation with JOEL OPPENHEIMER, owner of the Oppenheimer
Gallery here in Chicago, which specializes in natural history
art, particularly the art of John James Audubon.
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 4TH
RELIGION NEWS REVIEW
Over the past year, there have been several large stories on the
religion beat. The major story has—of course—been
the death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Cardinal Ratzinger,
but there have been many other developments in religion here in
America and around the world. Tonight, Extension 720 turns its
attention to the realm of religion and the latest developments
and trends with three well-regarded religion reporters: CATHLEEN
FALSANI of the Chicago Sun-Times, MANYA BRACHEAR of the
Chicago Tribune and MARY ANN AHERN of NBC5 News.
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 5TH
ANALYZING ECONOMICS
The changing climate of the American economy is a source of constant
speculation and concern; the rising prices of oil and gasoline,
President Bush’s proposed plan for Social Security reform,
and the latest statements and actions of the Federal Reserve all
receive almost constant media coverage. Our guest tonight is GARY
BECKER, professor of economics at the University of Chicago and
winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1992. He will be discussing
the current state of the study of economics, as well as addressing
some of the more pressing economic issues that America faces,
including his take on Social Security reform.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 6TH
AMERICA BEFORE AND AFTER COLUMBUS
In 1492, as all schoolchildren know, Columbus sailed the ocean
blue and in the process inadvertently discovered the Americas.
But before the Europeans came, the so-called New World was filled
with thriving civilizations and cultures that were profoundly—and
often negatively—affected by Columbus and his successors.
Tonight, we will be exploring the history of pre-Columbian America
and discussing the impact that European colonization had on the
civilizations of the Americas with JOEL PALKA, professor of anthropology
at the University of Illinois at Chicago, RYAN WILLIAMS, assistant
curator of archaeological science at the Field Museum, and CHARLES
C. MANN, author of the new book 
1491:
New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.
FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 7TH
SHORT STORIES
Tonight’s program is dedicated to the art of the short story,
a genre that has captivated many of the world’s best writers.
Much more than simply a short novel, a short story’s emotional
impact—when properly written—can outlast even the
greatest novels, as will be evident in some of the excerpts to
be read tonight. Our guests tonight are two practitioners of this
delicate art: MARK SLOUKA, professor of English at the University
of Chicago, and RICHARD STERN, also professor of English at the
University of Chicago and author of the recently published short
story collection 
Almonds
to Zhoof.
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 10TH
A CHEF’S LIFE
Samuel Pepys once observed that it is “strange to see how
a good diner and feasting reconciles everybody.” Indeed,
a well-cooked meal prepared by a top-notch chef can soothe not
only the stomach but also the mind. But behind closed doors, a
chef’s life is rarely soothing and reconciling—in
fact it is full of stresses and even the occasional culinary disaster.
Tonight we will discuss cooking successes and failures with chefs
ANTHONY BOURDAIN and PAUL KAHAN. Bourdain is the highly regarded
chef and author of 
Kitchen
Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly;
Kahan is the chef and owner of Blackbird here in Chicago. Both
are contributors to the new book 
Don't
Try This at Home: Culinary Catastrophes From the World's Greatest
Cooks and Chefs.
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 11TH
VENICE, PAST AND PRESENT/AMERICANS IN PARIS
Venice is a city that has inspired wild enthusiasm and unbridled
disdain. Longfellow called it the “White swan of cities,
slumbering in thy nest,” while Ulysses S. Grant declared
that it would be “tolerable, if only it were drained.”
But perhaps the true essence of Venice was capture by Thomas Mann,
who called it “half fairy tale and half tourist trap.”
During our first hour, we will be exploring all sides of this
city of canals and mysteries with JOHN BERENDT, the acclaimed
author of 
Midnight
in the Garden of Good and Evil, who explores the hidden
Venice in his latest book 
The
City of Falling Angels. The
second hour will feature Milt's interview from May 2004, during
which we travel to Paris with ADAM GOPNIK, staff writer at the
New Yorker and editor of 
Americans
in Paris: A Literary Anthology.
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 12TH
YOM KIPPUR TAPES
As Milt took the evening off in observance of Yom Kippur,
we played two recorded editions of Extension 720. During the first
hour, author RICHARD CONNIFF discussed his new book 
The
Ape in the Corner Office: Understanding the Office Beast in All
of Us. The second hour featured a tape from the vault
as we replayed Milt's interview with A.J. JACOBS, author of 
The
Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person
in the World.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 13TH
THE HYPOMANIC EDGE
What is the driving force of America? Is it our belief in democracy
and freedom? Is it our entrepreneurial spirit? Or is it the fact
that we’re all a little bit crazy? In his new book, JOHN
D. GARTNER (professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University)
argues that one of the reasons for our country’s great achievements
is the prevalence of the psychological condition of hypomania,
which elevates our energy, creativity and ability to take risks.
Our program tonight will be devoted to this hypothesis, as outlined
in his new book 
The
Hypomanic Edge: The Link Between (a little) Craziness and (a lot
of) Success in America.
FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 14TH
EXPLORING THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The astronomer Copernicus once wrote: “Let no one expect
anything certain from astronomy, which cannot furnish it, lest
he accept as the truth ideas conceived for another purpose, and
depart from this study a greater fool than when he entered it.”
Though astronomy may not be able to provide certainty about the
nature of the universe, astronomers have been continuously unlocking
the secrets of our solar system, including the very recent discovery
of a planet even farther from the sun than Pluto. Tonight’s
program will be devoted to our solar system and the history of
its exploration with MARK HAMMERGREN, astronomer at the Adler
Planetarium, and DAVA SOBEL, a former science writer for the New
York Times and author of 
Longitude,
Galileo's
Daughter, and the new book 
The
Planets.
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 17TH
A VISIT FROM THE CSO
This season, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra bids farewell to music
director Daniel Barenboim with an ambitious and exciting roster
of concerts that include works by Mahler, Bruckner, Mozart, Shostakovich
and more. Tonight we preview the upcoming season and listen to
some highlights with DEBORAH CARD, president of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra Association. Joining her will be three of the orchestra's
top musicians: GROVER SCHILTZ, oboe and English horn, JOHN HAGSTROM,
trumpet, and JAMES SMELSER, french horn.
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 18TH
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING
Ernest Hemingway once said that “There are only
three real sports: bull-fighting, motor racing and mountain climbing.
All the rest are merely games.” Tonight we will exploring
the grueling sport and delicate art of mountain climbing—an
activity that taxes both body and mind with a panel of expert
climbers: BEN KWETON, Midwest section chair of the American Alpine
Club, JACK GORBY, a veteran climber and former president of the
Chicago Mountaineering Club, and ARLENE BLUM, the first woman
to attempt to climb Mt. Everest and the author of the new book
Breaking
Trail: A Climbing Life.
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 19TH
AN EVENING OF POETRY
Robert Penn Warren once defined a poem as “a little myth
of man's capacity of making life meaningful. And in the end, the
poem is not a thing we see—it is, rather, a light by which
we may see—and what we see is life.” Tonight, we will
be discussing—and listening to—some of the greatest
poems ever written with a two poets: CHRISTINA PUGH, professor
of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and JOSEPH
PARISI, former editor of Poetry magazine and the man
behind the new book 
100
Essential Modern Poems.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 20TH
A FLU PANDEMIC?
The avian flu is moving across Asia and Europe, and
many officials are predicting that it could cause a flu pandemic
perhaps even more deadly than the one that affected the United
States in 1918. Tonight, we will be talking about the development
and spread of flu viruses and how you can protect yourself and
your family from becoming ill. Our guests will be DR. JAMES COOK,
chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Illinois Chicago's
College of Medicine, and DR. JOHN FLAHERTY, clinical practice
director of the Infectious Division at Northwestern University's
Feinberg School of Medicine.
FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 21ST
AMERICA IN THE “AGE OF ANXIETY”
Notorious anti-communist crusader Joseph McCarthy once referred
to McCarthyism as “Americanism with its sleeves rolled.”
But critics of the former senator would describe his campaign
to expose Communists within the American government as a time
when fear and anxiety overpowered the very need to rationally
guard against the threat of the Cold War. Tonight, we explore
the history of McCarthyism and how its lessons can be applied
to today with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist HAYNES JOHNSON,
author of the new book 
The
Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism, and JOE MORRIS,
a prominent lawyer here in Chicago and chairman of the United
Republican Fund of Illinois.
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 24TH
CHURCHILL AND AMERICA
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an
iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Winston
Churchill spoke these famous words at Westminster College in Fulton,
Missouri in 1946—words that many mark as the beginning of
the Cold War and serve as a warning to the American people of
the growing Communist threat. But long before this speech, Churchill
was a man deeply connected with the United States. Born to an
American mother and British father, Churchill was always closely
allied to America, serving as the loudest voice for British cooperation
with the U.S. in both World War I and II. Tonight, we will be
exploring this fascinating relationship with SIR MARTIN GILBERT,
Churchill’s official biographer and author of the new book
Churchill
and America.
TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 25TH
INSIDE WALL STREET
It was once said of the stock market that “every time you
think you’ve got the key…some SOB changes the lock.”
Attempting to decipher the mysteries of Wall Street has become
a way of life for many Americans, and playing the markets has
turned men like Warren Buffett into heroes and Michael Milliken
into rogues. How did Wall Street become the center of the financial
world? And what really goes on behind the scenes? Tonight we will
be answering these questions and more with financial journalist
ERIC J. WEINER, author of the new book 
What
Goes up: The Uncensored History of Modern Wall Street as Told
by the Bankers, Brokers, CEOs, and Scoundrels Who Made It.
He will be joined by ROBERT KORAJCZYK, professor of finance
at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 26TH
THE ILLICT WORLD
When people think of the black market or illicit goods, items
such as stolen property, drugs or smuggled weapons come immediately
to mind. However, today’s economy is full of illegalities,
from laundered money financing businesses to illegal immigrants
manufacturing goods. And the more prevalent illegal merchandise
becomes in the world, the more powerful the people behind the
operations become. Tonight, we will be talking about this dark
underbelly of the global economy with MOISES NAIM, editor of Foreign
Policy magazine who describes this problem—and prescribes
its solution—in his new book 
Illicit:
How Smugglers, Traffickers and Copycats Are Hijacking the Global
Economy.
THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 27TH
QUARTERLY BOOK
REVIEW
G.K. Chesteron once wrote that "there is a great deal of
difference between an eager man who wants to read a book and a
tired man who wants a book to read." Our panel of book reviewers
are all eager to read and recommend the best of some recently
published books. Tune in tonight to hear ALAN GITELSON, PENELOPE
MESIC and SUSAN HARRIS give their opinions on the best and worst
books that Extension 720 has received over the past few months.
FRIDAY,
OCTOBER 28TH
WINNING THE "CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS"
In 1996, esteemed political scientist Sam Huntington
published his groundbreaking book 
The
Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order,
in which he conjectured that the next phase of history would consist
of a struggle between Western Christendom and the growing Islamic
world. World events since its publication, including the September
11 attacks, have caused Huntington's book to be viewed by some
as an almost disturbingly accurate depiction of the world in which
we live now. Tonight, we will be discussing the ongoing clash
of civilizations with TONY BLANKLEY, editorial page editor at
the Washington Times and author of the new book 
The
West's Last Chance: Will We Win the Clash of Civilizations?
MONDAY,
OCTOBER 31ST
ALIEN ABDUCTIONS
Though scientists and science-fiction enthusiasts alike still
search for signs of alien life, it is a generally accepted fact
that no extra-terrestrial life has ever been discovered on this
planet or anywhere in space. Yet, year after year, hundreds of
people come forth with tales of alien abduction that range from
frankly ridiculous to almost believable. And usually they have
vivid memories and strong emotions of the event. Why do such people
believe that they have been taken by creatures from far, far away?
We will be exploring this phenomenon tonight with psychologist
SUSAN CLANCY, author of the fascinating new book 
Abducted:
How People Come to Believe They Were Kidnapped by Aliens,
and (by phone for part of the program) PAUL KURTZ of the Committee
for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.
Archive
of previous show topics:
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