Milt Rosenberg

Oh, Chicago. Where did we go wrong? With our shocking fiscal crisis, looming and potentially crippling property tax hikes, rampant crime, out flight of businesses and youth, crumbling infrastructure, education system mired in corruption and under performance, rising cost-of-living…the list of ills goes on and on. What can Chicago teach the rest of the nation?…

Richard Lindberg is one of the foremost authorities on Chicago history. He’s written multiple, fine books on some of the lost history of this city. In his latest book, Gangland Chicago, Richard talks gangsters. From the organized crime outfits to vice to booze and gambling and all that these endeavors entail, this is the book…

After the thoroughly depressing and emotionally exhausting events from Paris last week and lengthy discussions of them this week, we turned to one of our refuges–movies. Here we talk about some of the greatest directors. We’re joined in studio by our mainstay of film talks, John Kupetz of Medill and the College of Lake County,…

On this show we again investigate the events of another devastating attack on the French capitol. We’re joined in studio by W. Rand Smith of Lake Forest College, a political scientist who studies French politics and Daniel S. Kamin, adjunct professor of International Relations at DePaul. Via phone we check in with Fred Kagan of…

Like the rest of the civilized world, we were horrified by the weekend’s events in Paris. Immediately we moved to bring you the most sober and informed analysis possible. In this episode, we’re joined by to fine academics who study terror and its machinations–John Allen Williams of Loyola and Barry Kellman of DePaul–in studio. Via…

What began as a show on the political world at large and the insanity on the campuses (campi?) of American colleges quickly turned into a discussion of the events in Paris, again, following the attacks on a concert venue and other locations Friday evening last. Charles Lipson of the University of Chicago and Richard Baehr,…

“Quotation, n: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another.” So said Ambrose Bierce, at least we hope. In this entry, we discuss some of our favorite quotes. This show could’ve been the length of a week, but we confine it here to one episode along with Gary Saul Morson of Northwestern and David…

Yet another debate was held in Milwaukee and we are on the scene to tell you who won and who lost. Several under-performing candidates have left the big table, and Ben Carson and Donald Trump are at the top of the leaderboard as of this writing. To discuss, we have in studio Dick Ciccone and…

Jim Baggott is an influential science writer. A scientist himself by training, he has turned toward a career in the commercial world as a successful author who popularizes complex scientific theories by making them, well, understandable. His latest, Origins: The Scientific Story of Creation, is a concise history of how we got here, how life…

Dark Matter. How does it differ from Dark Energy? What role has it played in mass extinctions throughout history? To answers those and many, many more questions of cosmological and biological import is Dr. Lisa Randall, one of our nation’s most esteemed physicists and professor at Harvard. Her latest book, Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs:…

When most of us think of the supernatural in the Catholic religion, we think of the Shroud of Turin, or sightings of Mary, or exorcisms. These are just the big ones in a limitless line of claims which the Church must investigate. John Thavis has years of experience working in the Vatican as he was…

When most people hear the name of the town ‘Salem’ they immediately think, “Witches!” To be sure, that is the legacy of Salem in the minds of the masses. But beyond the wrongful execution of some young women for practicing witchcraft and sorcery, most people know nothing. Stacy Schiff is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and…

Here we continue with our series on American music. Today we examine Gospel music. Joining in studio are Bob Marovich, founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Gospel Music and the author of the recently published A City Called Heaven: Chicago and the Birth of Gospel Music. Our second in-studio guest is the esteemed Dr.…

With too many quotes to possibly pick one that would sum up his greatness, we won’t try. Instead we present this delightful talk on Mark Twain, his work, his legacy, his wit and his wisdom with two local professors who have studied Twain in depth. Larry Howe teaches Twain in his English courses at Roosevelt…

There’s much going on in the world at the moment, and instead of bringing you a themed show, we thought we’d look to those whose writings on it we admire. And, of course, a little music. First up to join is Bret Stephens, the Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign-affairs columnist at the Wall Street Journal. His latest…

If Chicago’s the Second City, New York is the first to be sure. So where does that leave Washington, D.C.? Without it, what would we be? But we’re not so concerned with prestige on this particular program as we are with what events, characters, considerations and compromises gave birth to these two superpowers of influence…

By most accounts, the third GOP debate was a circus which strangely pitted the Republican candidates banding together to fend off their foes–not the Democrats, but rather their moderators from CNBC. To shed light on the proceedings–if there was any of political value–we turn to a fine panel. In studio, Richard Baehr and Ed Lasky…

English. Our mother tongue. Recently we tackled the Great American Novel, so naturally it merited occasion to look toward Britain. In this episode we discuss the periods from medieval British Literature to the Victorians. Our panel here is a delightful trio from academia, namely Micael Clarke of Loyola, Lesley Koredecki from DePaul, and Regina Schwartz…

Sometimes there are too many moving parts to a program and we need to digress and decompress. Philosophy is a vast field, with limitless options for study and discussion. One person with whom we’ve been meaning to sit down with is Dr. Sanford Goldberg, the Chairperson of Philosophy at Northwestern. So at first opportunity, we…

As you know we are always keen to keep abreast of all of the latest political news. One member of our Political A-Team is Joseph Morris, former U.S. Assistant Attorney General and all-around polymath. We brought him to the show to discuss the upcoming election and the candidates on both sides, the troubles in the…