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November 1998 Shows
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2
INDIA
Until its independence in 1947, India had, for centuries, been a pawn
in colonial powers' game of chess. In 1500 BC, the Aryans invaded the
sub-continent and installed the Brahmanic caste system; Tamerlane seized
Delhi in the 14th century; and by the 18th century, Portugal, France,
Holland and Britain had all gained footholds. Despite, or perhaps because,
of these outside influences, India has always maintained an independent
identity with diverse and rich cultural and religious traditions. Victor
Rangel-Ribeiro, author of Tivolem (Milkweed Editions), sets his modern
tale of cultural differences in a small fishing town in Portuguese-settled
Goa. He joins tonight's panel of historians to discuss the lore, myths
and history of the Republic of India.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3
ELECTION '98
Milt shares hosting duties tonight with the WGN newsroom as our reporters
head out to track the exit polls, the victory celebrations and concession
speeches of the '98 gubernatorial, Senate and congressional races. And
it wouldn't be election night without WGN political analyst Paul Green
in studio, so he'll be there, too, to provide his distinctive blend of
commentary, critique and wit.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
ENTERPRISE.COM
Tonight's program may just be the special elixir for those curiosity-seekers
and non-Luddites who want to hear something new about computers, the World
Wide Web and the Information Age. Jeff Papows, President and CEO of Lotus
Development Corporation, elucidates his vision for the technology revolution
in Enterprise.com: Market Leadership in the Information Age (Perseus Books)
(Here's a hint: Information technology is here to stay, so you'd better
get used to it.) and discusses it with tonight's panel, including Ellis
Booker, Editor-at-large of Internet Week.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5
MUHAMMED ALI
He floated like a butterfly, he stung like a bee.
In the late 1970's, Muhammed Ali, nee Cassius Clay, was "one of the
most written about human beings who ever lived." And now, as this
great champion suffers from the debilitating effects of Parkinson's Disease,
a new generation of sportswriters, filmmakers and authors celebrate his
life and accomplishments. David Remnick follows suit with his nuanced
and glowingly-reviewed history, King of the World: The Creation of Muhammed
Ali (Random House), which begins circa 1962 and focuses on the milieu
from which he emerged. Remnick on Ali, tonight. (Remnick himself is on
his way to becoming a legend in the journalistic world; he has already
won the Pulitzer Prize for his book Lenin's Tomb, and recently took over
Tina Brown's perch as editor of the New Yorker.)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
DIVAS OF THE OPERA
Just as the 3 Tenors retired their blockbuster world tour, Wall Street
Journal music critic Manuela Hoelterhoff stirs things up with Cinderella
and Company: Backstage at the Opera with Cecilia Bartoli (Random House),
a gossipy, in-depth look at the unusual world in which the Roman mezzo-soprano
circulates and the personalities and egos who inhabit it. Hoelteroff and
a special guest or two from Chicago's very own Lyric Opera chat tonight
about the drama that unfolds before and after the lights flicker and the
velvet curtain rises. And, of course, we will hear, by recording, performances
by many of the great singers of our time.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9
JOHN KASICH
Aspiring politicians have already started up their engines for the Year
2000 presidential road race. How? In this day and age, one of the easiest
ways to rev up is to write a book with a message. To wit: Patrick Buchanan
issued his manifesto last March, on "America's Great Betrayal";
in his most recent tome, Senator Bill Bradley used the game of basketball
as a metaphor for the way politics should be played; and now, eight term
Republican from Ohio, Congressman John Kasich offers Courage is Contagious:
Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the Face of America
(Doubleday). Tune in tonight to hear about Kasich's call to action, and
how the man who would be president envisions politics into the next century.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10
SAMUEL JOHNSON AND COMPANY
His name may not be as common as those of his literary peers, Jonathan
Swift and Alexander Pope, but in Samuel Johnson: The Life of an Author
(Harvard University Press), Northwestern University Professor Lawrence
Lipking reveals the raisons d'etre of the poet, essayist, lexicographer
and social critic, and his status as a literary hero. This evening's panel,
including Lipking, will discuss (and read from) the great English writers
of the 18th Century: their mastery of the language, their incisive wit,
their social critiques and why their work still resonates in the modern
world.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11
BESIDE STILL WATERS
Despite the recent backlash against her, Oprah Winfrey's commitment to
"Change Your Life" spiritual television programming exemplifies
the thesis of Greg Easterbrook's new book, Beside Still Waters: Searching
for Meaning in an Age of Doubt (William Morrow): Rational people who operate
in a technologically sophisticated, cynical world still seek out spiritual
truths. But they don't need to look to Eastern philosophy to find them,
says the author: The Bible offers plenty of inspiration. His intense study
of the Good Book reveals its fallacies, errors, contradictions and repugnant
ideas but, most significantly; its, he asserts, inspiration and spiritual
vision. Tonight, Easterbrook shares these revelations with us.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12
WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS
The Rolando Cruz and Ford Heights Four cases are but a few examples of
wrongful convictions. Who is to blame? Detectives, judges, lawyers and
even forensic scientists can easily and recklessly tip the scales of justice.
Tonight, a panel of lawyers, journalists and activists in town for Northwestern
University School of Law's "National Conference on Wrongful Convictions
and the Death Penalty" tell those sordid tales of justice undone
and miscarried. The panel is scheduled to include Barry Scheck, Professor
of Law at Cardozo Law School, Director of the Innocence Project, and lawyer
for Louise Woodward and O. J. Simpson.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13
POLITICAL CARTOONS
The Clinton/Lewinsky story has boosted the ratings of cable, television
and radio talk shows. Also, it has given plenty of fodder for political
cartoonists. They capture public sentiment with a stroke of the brush
and shape the public debate as much as any news reporter, editorial board
member or columnist. Tonight's panel of cartoonists, including the 1998
Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Competition Award (and Pulitzer Prize winner)
Jack Higgins of the Chicago Sun-Times, share some of their greatest masterpieces
from past and present, and explain exactly how they make Bill, Hillary,
Monica, Linda Ken et. al look so darned life-like.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16
FREUD ON THE COUCH
The ghost of Sigmund Freud haunts modern society. His theories have shaped
the way we talk about love, the libido, the unconscious, familial relationships,
and dreams. And now, his legacy is under attack by critics who have discounted
the bulk of his psychoanalytical scholarship. One such scholar, Martin
Wain, presents Freud's Answer: The Social Origins of Our Psychoanalytic
Century (Ivan R. Dee); he contends that Freud's underlying aim was to
preserve liberal democracy by persuading his followers to live lives of
moderation and conformity. Stay tuned tonight for a vigorous and provocative
discussion with Wain, on one of the most influential men of the century.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17
NASA
One of the most spine-tingling moments in the past thirty years occurred
when Apollo XI landed on the moon. But times have changed, and even superstars
John Glenn and Walter Cronkite may not be able to reignite public interest
in space exploration. Bryan Burrough's new book, Dragonfly: NASA and the
Crisis Aboard Mir (HarperCollins) documents the most harrowing six months
of space exploration as technical and personnel problems endangered life
aboard the International Space Station. His riveting story serves as a
cautionary tale as NASA positions itself for the next century: Will it
heroically conquer new and unchartered territories or remain a bloated,
disorganized government agency without a vision? The answers to these
questions, and many more, tonight!
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18
OLD-TIME RADIO
Listeners to Extension 720 may choose to disagree, but the Golden Age
of Radio is officially over. Whatever happened to The Lone Ranger, Jack
Benny, Amos `n Andy, The Shadow, Our Miss Brooks, Bob and Ray and The
Quiz Kids? Some of those programs migrated, in one form or another, to
television, but most disappeared to the great soundsystem in the sky.
So if you're nostalgic for the good old radio days, tune in (no pun intended!)
for tonight's program, with Gerald Nachman, author of Raised on Radio:
In Quest of Lost Heroes from Radio's Heyday (Pantheon). He'll bring with
him plenty of audio clips and plenty of stories of the personalities and
performers who once ruled the airwaves.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19
LIFE: THE MOVIE
In Life: The Movie, a handsome football star is accused of murdering his
beautiful ex-wife; the media exposure that ensues is unprecedented. In
Life: The Movie, a charismatic president gets caught in flagrante delicto
with a young woman; the media exposure that ensues is unprecedented. In
Life: The Movie, everyday people take home movies of embarrassing or horrific
moments and broadcast them on national television. In Life: The Movie
(Knopf) New York Times writer Neal Gabler draws from events of the past
two hundred years to conclude not only that truth is stranger than fiction
but that is has made entertainment one of the most powerful forces of
the 20th Century. He will enlighten and entertain us on this topic tonight.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20
BELOW THE EQUATOR
The rape and pillaging of the tropical rainforests in South America is
an irreversible byproduct of a global economy's booming technology and
industry, widespread pollution and population explosion. From prehistory
to the present, human evolution has altered and threatened this unique
ecosystem and lifesource. During her fieldwork below the equator, archaeologist,
Field Museum curator and University of Illinois-Chicago Professor Anna
Roosevelt has pondered such questions about the symbiotic relationship
between man and his environment and the viability of ecological maintenance
and preservation. She'll be with us tonight, with a panel of anthropologists,
for a timely and informative discussion on human life and nature.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23
SENATOR PAUL SIMON
His tortoise-shell glasses and trademark bowtie may have made Paul Simon
one of the most recognizable members of the Senate, but it was his early
crusades against local and state corruption, his unwavering stance on
the Democratic issues for which he was elected and his sense of moral
rectitude that made this one-time presidential candidate a successful
politician. He's now taken up residence as a Professor at Southern Illinois
University where he completed his memoir, P.S.: The Autobiography of Paul
Simon (Bonus Books). The good professor joins us tonight to discuss his
life and career, the media, campaign financing, the Clinton controversy
and so much more.
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 24-25
We've left these nights open to program late-breaking news stories, fascinating
authors or anything else that comes down the pike.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26
THANKSGIVING TAPES
`Tis Thanksgiving so as you recover from your bountiful meal, tune in
for some previously unaired, prerecorded interviews. Possibilities include
A. Scott Berg and his book Lindbergh (Putnam) and Juan Williams on Thurgood
Marshall.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27
We may run tapes or we may go live with a panel of guests who will inevitably
engage in a scintillating conversation.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30
ANGRY PARENTS, FAILING SCHOOLS
Everyone knows that there's something wrong with our nation's schools.
Test scores are down, some students can't read, write or do math, and
as author Elaine McEwan concludes in her book, Angry Parents, Failing
Schools: What's Wrong with our Public Schools and What Parents Can Do
About It (Harold Shaw Publishers), "whole language" and "fuzzy
math" curricula are to blame. This retired teacher and school administrator
joins tonight's panel of educational reformers to explain what can be
done to ensure that public schools give children a good education.
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