Now that the impeachment trial is over and we have a new governor, we thought it would be a good time to sit down and sort out the pieces. What kind of shape is Illinois government in? What is on the agenda of our new governor? We welcomed Governor Pat Quinn to our studio for the full 2 hours for a definitive, wide-ranging interview to discuss these things and more. (2/26/2009) 


Hollywood these days is inarguably one of the most liberal places in America. But is there a blacklist, real or figurative, that makes it difficult to be an “out of the closet” conservative in Hollywood? Our guest on this program, Roger L. Simon, says so and has written a book detailing his experiences as an "out" conservative in the entertainment industry. In Blacklisting Myself Simon, an Oscar nominated screenwriter, discusses this new blacklist, along with other topics like Al Gore’s advocacy and documentary, Simon's encounters with Hollywood luminaries such as Richard Pryor and Woody Allen, and how what an actor says about politics in public may not always be what he believes in private. (2/23/2009) 


Our guests on this program are some of the most famous and powerful men on the planet- Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Well, they actually weren't here but their voices were be as we welcomed an old friend and a great mimic, namely Bill Mellberg. Mellberg joined us this night for the full 2 hours as he regaled us with his spot-on impressions of the former presidents and then unveiled his newest impersonation- Barack Obama! (2/20/2009) 


Was there a media bias during the 2008 Presidential election? Many Americans do, and our author on this program is one of them. As a matter of fact, according to the non-partisan Pew Research Center, 70% of Americans believe that the mainstream media organizations and journalists wanted Barack Obama to win the election. Bernard Goldberg joined us to discuss his book A Slobbering Love Affair, which discusses the media bias he and many other Americans believe they saw during the election. Goldberg contends that not only was there bias but that it went much further, going as far as cheerleading and spinning information to help the campaign of Barack Obama. (2/19/2009) 


What will foreign policy and defense strategy look like now that George W. Bush is out of the White House? Will things change drastically? We look at these questions and more as we talk on this program with Thomas P.M. Barnett, author of Great Powers: America and the World After Bush. Barnett contends that our foreign policy objectives these past 8 years have failed, and that with new leadership, we may be able to accomplish much more. Barnett discusses the changing world landscape and what it will look like in the future, and how the U.S. can be more prepared to deal with the world. (2/16/2009) 


A momentous day in the history of the world is February 12, 1809---the birth date of two men who would go on to change the world. One man was born in a one-room cabin in Kentucky, the other on a country estate in England. Our reference, of course, is to Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin. In his book Angels and Ages, Adam Gopnick traces the lives of these two men and finds parallels in how they each overcame setbacks and how their ideas and actions changed the world forever. (2/11/2009) 


Since 9/11, terrorism or the threat of terrorism has been part of our daily lives and vocabulary. In New York City the NYPD counterterrorism division is a group of police officers whose sole job it is to see that there is never another 9/11 again. Our guest on this program, Christopher Dickey, takes us into the world of counterterrorism and intelligence in his book Securing the City: Inside America’s Best Counterterror Force. Dickey looks closely at the lives of these officers and whose commander asserts that, “there’s a terrorist plot taking shape in New York City every day of the week since 9/11.” (2/10/2009) 


Are you dismayed by the oversexualization of our society and, more importantly, our children? Our guest on this program was Wendy Shalit, author of Girls Gone Mild: Young Women Reclaim Self-Respect and Find it’s Not Bad to be Good. In her book she pores over studies, conducts interviews, and recounts anecdotes about childhood sexuality that might horrify even the most liberal among us. Shalit also gives us a look at girls and young women who aren’t giving in to the oversexed culture surrounding them and, thereby, gives hope to the traditional family-values advocates among us. (2/9/2009) 


We recently had Charles Murray on our program, whose contention has been that some people are just more intelligent than others and there isn’t much that can be done about it. Our guest on this program disagrees and says that schools do make people smarter and that IQ’s can be improved over time. Richard Nisbett, a leading social psychologist, has just written Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Culture Count contradicting Murray’s pessimistic claims about intelligence and IQ levels. He also offers suggestions on how to improve your own intelligence and that of your children. (2/4/2009)