Imagine that everything you knew about living life was lost. You couldnt do your job. You couldnt even walk. You couldnt recognize people by name, even your children. For Dr. Clark Elliot, a professor of Artificial Intelligence at DePaul University, this nightmare was his reality. To top it off, he was told he had a mild brain injury and that hed have to live with his new normal. He rediscovered how to live his life with a evolutionary treatment of utilizing neurodevelopmental techniques with the help of an optometrist and a cognitive restructuring specialist. What they explored in the concept of brain plasticity. Listen to this fascinating talk with Dr. Elliot, Dr. Donalee Markus and Dr. Deborah Zelinsky. For those of you suffering from mTBI (mild traumatic brain injury), you will want to check Dr. Elliots website, which is constantly updated with new, groundbreaking research for anyone who has suffered a concussion and had it dramatically affect your life. His book is The Ghost in My Brain.

Sometimes we have to decompress a bit and step back from the interviews. When thats the case, we go to music class with Dr. Rosenberg. Such was the occasion on this program, another installment of Milts music.

Kenneth C. Davis is a marvelous historian and the author of the wildly popular Dont Know Much book series. Hes turned his well-trained eye to the military and, specifically, though it should come at no surprise based on the title, American war history. As he always does, he uncovers many facts we may not have previously known and weaves a thread of commonality across six important battles. What emerges is an interesting portrait of our nation at war, and maybe something about ourselves as well. You will certainly want to read this, his latest work.

One of our great guests over the years is the Tribunes Architecture Critic Blair Kamin. With several exciting renovation projects underway and the new 606 Trail once again proving the visionary leadership of Chicago in regard to green space, we thought it was time to take stock of this citys rich architectural history and standing. We also enlisted the expertise of architect and professor Mark Pearson and Karen Kice, Neville Bryan Assistant Curator, Department of Architecture and Design at the Art Institute of Chicago.

We love dispelling myths on this show. One longstanding myth is that we only use a small percentage of our brain. Whats the truth? We enlisted David Uttal, the Director of Cognitive Psychology, and Paul Reber, the Director of Brain, Behavior and Cognition, both at Northwestern University, to tell us. Youll have to listen to find that answer and many, many others.

On the panel today: Charles Lipson, Joseph Morris, and Dick Ciccone. Also joining is the American Enterprise Institutes Fred Kagan, the architect of the Troop Surge in Iraq. Is it time to concentrate forces to destroy ISIS? Or will we wait and let them retake the whole of Iraq and Syria? This is the most informative and insightful discussion on American politics and foreign affairs that you will find in all of media this week.

We make clear in no uncertain terms that we are lovers of art and lovers of words. There is no greater form of art and words than poetry. But what makes poems great? What makes some more successful than others? What makes one poem stir the heartstrings of one man or woman and, in another, to resonate not at all? We brought in two of our favorite poets and scholars--Elise Paschen and Christina Pugh--to discuss all of these matters and inviting them to read some of their own poems and some of their favorites. As always, we took your calls and emails.

If youre a fan of this program you probably know that the title of the new book by Chris Wright is a quote about Alexander the Great. If youre not into history, you may remember it as one of the many quotable scenes from Die Hard and the great actor Alan Rickman. At any rate, No More Worlds to Conquer is a brilliantly conceived work that asks the question, What next? The subjects of the book are those who achieved remarkable feats at early ages. These feats are those that would appear at the top of a Wikipedia entry. Included are moonwalkers, an Olympic gymnast, a World Cup Winner, and Chuck Yeager, among others.

If you dont know the truly heartbreaking story of the MS St. Louis, you are in for a shock. Fleeing Germany in the ramp up to hostilities in World War II, a group of Jews was first turned away from asylum in Cuba, then the United States and then Canada. All returned to Europe. The end of the story is as tragic as you might expect for Jews returned to Eastern Europe in 1939. The great radio man and author Martin Goldsmith has retraced the steps of his grandfather and uncle who, ultimately, died in Hitlers concentration camps in his remarkable book, Alexs Wake.

Washington and Jefferson hated each other. What? Washington and Jefferson hated each other? How can that be? That was our reaction when we read what Tom Fleming had discovered and made the central theme of his great new book The Great Divide. It seems anathema to everything weve come to believe of our founding fathers and heroes of the revolution that they were not all best of friends. But then, as now, there were men in charge of a nation and, as we all know, there are egos--often large ones--all vying for influence. Listen in on this fascinating talk and sharp contrast to the normal retelling of Washington and Jefferson