Milt Rosenberg

With the news of yet more shootings at American schools, we thought it time to move beyond the debate on guns. What is wrong in American culture that has led us to this disturbing phenomenon? The patient is clearly sick. What are the causes that have manifested themselves in this, seemingly, uniquely American symptom of violence?

To explore such a higher aim we turn to culture critic Michael A. Walsh, who traveled this road a bit in his book The Devils Pleasure Palace. Also joining are Mark Hemingway of the Weekly Standard, and Dr. Jeffrey A. Lieberman, who has studied mental illness in-depth as well as publishing a recent and influential critique of psychiatry. All have salient and sometimes poignant thoughts on the situation.

When Civil War generals are discussed, most often they are Grant and Lee. But of course both sides had able and noteworthy commanders. One of the most revered on the Confederate side is Stonewall Jackson. S.C. Gwynne has written a very readable history of Jackson, and joins us here in part one to talk about the very peculiar and fascinating man. His importance to Lee is best illustrated in an anecdote. Upon hearing that Jackson had lost a limb in battle, Lee wrote to him: You are better off than I am , for while you have lost your left, I have lost my right arm.

Karen Abbott, also a historian (and one who wrote an eyebrow-raising account of the Everleigh Club in Chicago), joins us in part two to talk about another group of strong women with her book, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. As you may have gleaned from the title, Abbott chronicles the wartime lives of four very remarkable women, all of whom played important and fascinating roles on both sides of the conflict.

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Words, language, communication. Its one of our favorite topics. Language can be beautiful, frightening, coarse, forceful, and arresting and, when under the employ of a master, it is like wine upon the lips, according to Virginia Woolf.

In the photograph that accompanies this entry is a rendering of the Tower of Babel. As the story goes, at some point in antiquity there was just one language, spoken and understood by all of mankind. Some academics say part of this story at least is true: there really was one language that gave birth to the rest of the tongues we have now. But from where did that language come? Its a study that has fascinated linguists for years.

Here we bring you two linguists, both from the University of Chicagos Department of Linguistics. Yaroslav Gorbachov is Assistant Professor of Slavic Linguistics and Salikoko Mufwene is a Distinguished Service Professor in Linguistics.

In this episode you will hear a number of languages including Basque, Finnish, Olde English, Romanian and--perhaps the father of all languages--Sanskrit.

Russia has moved militarily into Syria, ostensibly to fight ISIS, though those in the know say its true aim is to bolster the Assad regime. Whatever the case may be, the red line was crossed by president Assad a long time ago and ISIS has done nothing if not grown in strength over the past several years.

So we have a bit of a standoff between Putins Russia and Obamas America. Whatever the motives may be, some things remain certain: the Syrian people still suffer, ISIS still grows in power, influence, and ability to cause mayhem, and the Middle East is a shambles.

Where it goes from here is anyones guess, so we may as well make those guesses educated. To do just that, we assemble yet another panel of brilliant minds and informed brains. On this occasion we invited into the studio Brian Endless of Loyola University, David Farris of Roosevelt University, and Khalil Marrar of Governors State University. Their counterparts on the phone are the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia Robert W. Jordan (who recently published a fine memoir) and Frederick W. Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute, an extremely well-connected and influential mind who is an expert of Russian and Soviet history as well as military capacity and tactics.

Chicago is rife with fascinating libraries and collections. Many of those are located on campus on any number of the fine institutions of higher learning in the area. We invited three professionals in the field to discuss what they do, how they acquire their wares, and to talk about their collections. Included here are Kevin Leonard of Northwestern, Jamie Nelson of DePaul, and Kathy Young at Loyola.

We never tire of Chicago crime stories. Professor John Hagedorn is one of the foremost authorities on gangs, gang culture, the drug trade and organized crime in the city of Chicago and beyond. He has just had published his latest work, The In$ane Chicago Way, a fascinating story of an attempt by Latin gangs to create a mafia--to organize and grow--based upon Al Capones organizational structure made famous in Chicago in the 20s. This is another fine work by a master of criminology and sociology.

This program has never made secret its support of the State of Israel. Once again, Israel finds itself in a precarious national security setting as the debate rages on the recent Iran nuclear deal and the migration catastrophe that is engulfing huge swathes of the Middle East.

To discuss the current state of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, we brought in three experts; namely Roey Gilad, Israels Consul General to the Midwest, Spertus Director of Doctoral Programs, professor Joshua Shanes, and Alan Solow, a high-profile attorney, philanthropist and tireless advocate of many Jewish causes and organizations.

Whatever subject we address, we always aim to bring some of the most informed minds available. This program was no different, and we think youll find it a valuable entry into the discussion of the Middle East in general and Israel and American Jewry in particular.

Jay Nordlinger is that most valued sort of journalist: a true intellectual. Not only does he cover politics as the Senior Editor of National Review, hes also a fine music critic.

Nordlinger has a curiosity that lends itself well to writing books. He recently asked himself what might have become of the children of some of historys most devilish dictators. That question has produced great fruit in the form of his latest, Children of Monsters. Some of the offspring of these mass murderers turned their back on the family business, while others happily towed the line and became maniacal outliers in their own right.

This book is nothing short of brilliant. Its a fascinating study into what makes the dictator tick, and how that ethos is manifested in their progeny.

Richard Nisbett is one of the most influential social psychologists in the world. One of his many talents is his ability to explain the inner workings of the mind in plain language, and to explain why we do some of the things we do, why one group acts the way that it does, and how we can utilize these super computers that rest atop our shoulders to the best of our ability.

His latest book, Mindware: Tools for Smart Thinking, is yet another fine entry into the field of psychology and, as Milt himself is also a social psychologist, this meeting of two experts in their field was a revelation in scholarly discussion.

Winston Churchill said of capitalism, The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

Our esteemed guest, Dr. Philip Kotler--the great economist from Northwestern--says that capitalism is still the best system, but that it has to have a heart. In his latest book, Confronting Capitalism, he highlights 14 shortcomings of our system while providing solutions to get us back on track.

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