Wgtd's The Morning Show With Greg Berg

One of our favorite interviews from 2025 was a conversation with B. J. Hollars about his book "Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary that Launched a President and Changed the Course of History."

One of our favorite Morning Shows from 2025 aired for a sad reason- the unexpected death of renowned sportswriter John Feinstein in March at the age of 69. A familiar voice to public radio listeners, he had been a guest on this program on at least five occasions. This program features excerpts from several of those interviews.

One of our favorite Morning Show interviews from 2025 was this conversation with Buddy Levy, author of "Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History's Greatest Arctic Rescue."

This is one of our favorite Morning Show interviews from 2025. Michael Stoehrmann, a Carthage alum and former voice student of Gregory Berg - now a public school teacher - talks about the experience of being a contestant on the syndicated television game show "Wheel of Fortune." (His episode aired last New Year's.)

One of our favorite interviews from 2025 was with Gabe Henry, author of "Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell." The book examines the many ways in which English is an exceptionally difficult language to spell and why- and also chronicles some of the serious attempts over the years to simplify how the language is spelled.

One of our favorite Morning Show interviews from 2025 was this conversation with Wisconsin author Michael Perry - recorded just ahead of his sold-out appearance at the Racine Theater Guild in mid- February. Perry had been a frequent Morning Show guest over the years, talking about such books as "Truck: A Love Story" and "Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting."

In honor of WGTD's 50th anniversary, we are replaying some especially noteworthy Morning Show interviews from the past. (From 2018) Melba Patillo Beals, who was one of the so-called Little Rock Nine .... a group of black students who were the first to racially integrate Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1956.

In honor of WGTD's 50th anniversary, we are replaying some especially noteworthy Morning Show interviews from the past. This interview is with former NPR foreign correspondent Julie McCarthy.

In honor of WGTD's 50th anniversary, we are replaying special Morning Show interviews from the past. This interview from approximately 25 years ago is with best-selling novelist Jane Hamilton ("The Book of Ruth," "A Map of the World") who has ties to southeastern Wisconsin and has lived in this area for much of her adult life.

From 2007- We speak with Dr. Seuss expert Charles D. Cohen about the 50th anniversary edition of the book "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

From 2017- Martha Brockenbrough, author of "Love, Santa" - a book designed to help families navigate that tricky time when a child becomes old enough to begin doubting the existence of Santa Claus.

We speak with local actor Tony Lazalde, who keeps very busy this time of year portraying Santa Claus. We talk about the history of the legend of Santa Claus, how Tony's background as a trained actor comes in handy, and the sorts of things that he says and does NOT say as Santa.

Amy Wagner shares the story of the fire that completely destroyed her home and everything in it- the kindness that was shown to her and her husband by neighbors and friends- and their decision to 'pay it forward' by creating the Wagner Family Fire Fund to aid other families who have suffered a similar sort of disaster.

From 2000- Sergei Khrushchev, the son of Nikita Khrushchev. The occasion of this interview was a visit to Carthage College, where he gave a talk titled "After the Cold War." Sergei Khrushchev died in 2020.

In the wake of the tragic deaths of Rob Reiner and Micele Reiner, we are replaying a memorable interview with Rob's father, Carl Reiner, one of the great legends from the early days of television. This interview was recorded more than a decade ago.

From the archives- a 2007 conversation with choral legend Weston Noble talking about Handel's Messiah. This interview took place just before the third annual Sing Along Messiah at First United Methodist Church in Kenosha. Also participating in the conversation was Carthage graduate Trevor Parker, who was the tenor soloist for that particular performance. (Recently, the 20th anniversary Messiah Sing Along took place at First United Methodist Church.)

In honor of The New Yorker magazine's 100th anniversary this year, we replay this 2008 conversation with Robert Mankoff, who served the venerable for many years as its Cartoon Editor. The occasion of this interview was the publication of The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Book. In this contest, each issue features a cartoon with no caption attached. Readers are invited to contribute their own potential captions. The staff of magazine chooses three finalists- and readers are invited to select the winning entry. The contest began in 1999 as a one-shot deal, but it was so enormously popular that it quickly became a continuing series.

Kailyn Palomares is back- and her guest this month is Marcia Wensing, a plant pest and disease specialist for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. She inspects Christmas tree farms and plant nurseries of all kinds, looking for pests, diseases, and invasive species.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of The New Yorker magazine, we replay two 2015 conversations with important contributors to the magazine's legacy. First , you'll hear from long-time copy editor Mary Norris, talking about her book "Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen." After that, we talk with cartoonist Matthew Diffee, whose work has appeared quite often in the magazine. His book is titled "Hand Drawn Jokes for Smart, Attractive People."

Here is the second of two interviews I recorded earlier this year with renowned composer Ricky Ian Gordon about his memoir "Seeing Through: A Chronicle of Sex, Drugs and Opera." The memoir was recently rereleased in paperback. We have already reshared the first interview, which focused mostly on personal matters in Gordon's life. This second interview takes up matters more directly related to his wide-ranging and exciting career.