Milt Rosenberg

What a week its been in the political world. Hillary Clinton was back on the Hill again testifying about Benghazi. U.S. troops engaged in the Middle East. Assad visited Putin in Moscow. Putins troops continued their assault on ISIS. A wave of terror and retaliation once again grips Israel. Joe Biden dropped out of the race for the American presidency. And there was much more.

To help us make sense of all of this we turned to Art Cyr of Carthage College, Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post, Daniel Halper of the Weekly Standard, and Michael Barone of the Washington Examiner. What a week it was, and what happened will surely lead to more reasons for ongoing discussion.

Dr. Philip Jenkins has written extensively on the Lost Gospels. In this newest book, The Many Faces of Christ, he takes on the notion that these books on the life and divinity of Jesus were never really accepted by the church. To the contrary, they were openly and regularly discussed by early church fathers and elders all the way through the middle ages. The story of how we came to the books of the Bible is well documented. Now Jenkins rights the historical inaccuracies long accepted on these gospels, and how the misconceptions came to be and, more important, what those books contain, is utterly fascinating.

8 Men Out. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Even the most casual baseball fan will know a bit about the 1919 Chicago White Sox--or Black Sox*. But what is the true story behind the scandal? As we all know, Hollywood often takes liberties with the facts when producing a feature length film. And how did that World Series give birth to the game as we know it today? Charles Fountain has delved deep into the history and offers this fascinating account of the gambling ring that destroyed the players who participated--and maybe some who didnt--and sheds light on that heroic figure, Joe Jackson.

*listen for the real reason the Sox were called The Black Sox. Its not what you think...

Often when studying history we focus on the major figures. This is no less true in American history, where we may discuss founding fathers, maybe Lincoln, or the great generals of our wars. But one man who was very much a major figure who has been overlooked with the passage of time is Henry Clay. Clay spent time in both the House and the Senate and ran for the presidency on multiple occasions. But his true talent was as a compromiser when he served as Speaker of the House.

Harlow Giles Unger has written many fine books on stalwarts of American history, and has just published this work on Clay.

Well, not all of it. But today we discuss traditional jazz. Joining Milt in studio is a very talented and traveled jazz guitarist and scholar, namely Michael Allemana. He brought with him a collection of recordings and a vast knowledge of the genre. We go from the beginning up until the mid 40s or so. Its remarkable how fresh these numbers are in 2015. Youll enjoy for the many interesting anecdotes and stories about the players and legends of the early jazz era.

Somehow the French became the butt of jokes for decades in this country. But the truth is, there would hardly be an America as we know it if it werent for French thought and, considering the Marquis de Lafayette, a healthy portion of French might.

So as the France many of us loves prepares to be transformed forever with yet another influx of immigrants (and further outmigration of Jews--a tragedy for another day), we thought we should look back at the great philosophers and minds that helped shape our ideas of freedom, individuality, equality, and fraternity, not to mention film, music, love and lovers, and food!

Joining in studio are philosophy professor Rick Lee of DePaul and political science professor Marina Henke of Northwestern.

If you dont think youre a Francophile, start with the coming phrase. Perhaps you truly do appreciate the French outlook on life and just dont know it yet:

 Mangez bien, rire souvent, aiment beaucoup!

(you can translate that...here)

And then there were five. Will there be a sixth soon? At any rate, the first Democratic debate is in the books and we are here to bring you the finest analysis of what transpired. Who has taken the lead? Who fell on their face? What issues will take the fore as we move forward?

To discuss, we bring to you three politically minded men from different backgrounds: Richard Baehr, chief political correspondent at American Thinker, Benjamin Epstein is an Associate Professor of Political Science at DePaul University, and Chris Robling is a political strategist and principal of his own consulting firm.

Dr. Sherry Turkle is a renowned professor who has written extensively on how technology affects the way that humans communicate. You have no doubt experienced how communication has changed as you look around and see people not looking at each other, but rather at their phones. So just how has technology changed human interaction? Is it destroying it? Enhancing it? Or is it just making it different?

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in the Digital Age is Turkles latest in a thirty year career of studying how the digital age is changing the way we talk, work, live and love.

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Most people know the name Rod Blagojevich. But his brother Robert--Fundraiser A from the title of his new book--was also square in the crosshairs of the U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. He has plenty to say about his ordeal, his brother, corruption, and the justice system.

Also joining is a longtime friend of the program Dick Simpson. A former Alderman, hes now a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and much published. His latest, Corrupt Illinois, is pertinent to this discussion and a good study of the seamy underbelly of Chicago and Illinois politics.

Christians and Yazidis and other minority groups are being butchered in the Middle East. This is not up for debate. It is a fact. Who are the Assyrians? Why are they being targeted? Who are the Yazidis? Why are their women and children being tortured, forced to marry ISIS fighters, and driven from their homelands?

We bring to you guests who have been there and done it. Juliana Taimoorazy was forced from her native Iran and found asylum in Europe before coming to America and founding the Iraqi Christian Relief Council. Yousip Canon was a mathematics teacher in Iraq who ran afoul of the Hussein regime and imprisoned for participating in an Assyrian political party. Robert Nicholson heads the Philos Project in New York who are working to aid Assyrians and others. And Murad Ismael is Operations Manager for Yazda, a Yazidi relief agency.

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