Milt Rosenberg

We make no secret of our respect, admiration and, yes, love of Israel. And though turmoil in the region is nothing new, we thought that we should continue to examine the percolating situation in the Middle East after weve been able to analyze the Iranian nuclear deal.

Two of our favorite people with whom to discuss the topic are Richard Baehr, the Chief Political Correspondent for American Thinker (simply one of the best), and Caroline Glick, Deputy Managing Editor for the Jerusalem Post, and former assistant Foreign Policy Advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

By now we now that the continents were one body of land that was broken apart to give us our present landforms. But there is much, much more to plate tectonics, seismology, hyrdology and their affiliated disciplines. We wanted to know what the future held for Earth. What will it look like in 1000 years? In 10,000? A million? So we enlisted the minds of two top geologists: Dr. David Rowley and Dr. Matthew Rossi. What an illuminating discussion!

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Dr. James McPherson has dedicated his entire career to the study of the Civil War. As he so eloquently shows us in his new book, the Civil War is still as relevant--if not more relevant--to our current times than to those that were directly affected by it.

The race for the White House in 2016 is fully underway. The GOP side is entertaining, to say the least. The Democrat side has not, so far, been as colorful, though questions still remain as to who will succeed President Obama in running for the presidency.

We thought it the right time to sit down with a brilliant young political scientist, Thomas Ogorzalek of Northwestern. Joining us on the phone were Genevieve Wood of the Heritage Foundation and Gabby Morrongielo of the Washington Examiner.

A quick moment of note is that we checked in with Natasha Korecki of the Sun Times as Rod Blagojevich had a win in the courtroom, if only a technicality. He still remains in prison.

Old Time Radio...our favorite. Its what got us into the business. Milt has his shows and personalities that will forever remain his favorite: Vic and Sade, Jean Shepherd, Bob and Ray.

Chuck Schaden is a legend in his own right. His long-running (still running!) show, Speaking of Radio is a treasure. Old time radio stars are interviewed, discussing their careers and the excitement of those early days of the still most popular medium.

Chuck came to see us at our studio, which just so happens to be the same building--but different call letters--where he got his start.

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Shakespeare is as relevant as ever. Like Elvis, his genius isnt always apparent, especially when hes foisted upon the youth. But as patience and a thirst for learning set in, the magnificence of his characters and an appreciation of the scale of these productions finally hits you. Theres a reason hes so popular and legendary. This work stands the test of time! And the blood, the intrigue, the sex, the betrayal, the comedy...its really quite intense.

We enlisted three great Shakespeare scholars to try to undertake the task of summing of Shakespeares brilliance in two hours. Its an impossible task, but a fun one, which Regina Buccola, Peter Kanelos and Michael Shapiro pulled off brilliantly.

Former Israeli Ambassador the the U.S., Michael Oren, has written a truly brilliant memoir of his time in that post at exactly the right time. While the streets of Tehran teem with those calling for Death to America and Death to the Jews, Orens insiders account of the pressures faced by the Middle Easts lone democracy serves as a counterbalance to those that are championing the Iranian nuclear deal.

Joining in on this conversation with Milt and Oren is our friend Dr. Charles Lipson of the University of Chicago.

An interesting anecdote from this interview: Oren conducted it entirely while on the floor of the Knesset, as theyd been called to vote beginning after midnight in Jerusalem.

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Stephen Harding is a wonderful military historian and editor-in-chief of Military History. He wrote the great book The Last Battle, the amazing story in which German and American soldiers actually fought together. That one will be coming to a movie screen near you. Last to Die is the story of Anthony Marchione—the last American killed in combat in World War II. His death nearly led to a resumption of hostilities.

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Robert E. Lee is back in the news, and not for the best of reasons. Hes certainly not a target for Union snipers, but rather a target for political correctness, for those that want to erase history. And a car named after him wont be outrunning any tv sheriffs again.

For years, this brilliant American mind--tactician, patriot, warrior, and Virginian--has occupied a place of honor among revered historical figures for the grace and dignity with which he represented a defeated nation. There is no denying that the Confederate army he headed was on the wrong end of history and fought to continue the wicked institution of slavery, what Lee himself called a moral and political evil. There is also no doubt that Lee himself--a slave owner--was an embodiment of that evil: a man who owned other men. Can we separate those paradoxes within our historical figures--the great men and those faults they harbored? Maybe thats another show altogether, one for the philosophers.

But Lee is certainly still worthy of our study, and Jonathan Horn has just written a brilliant biography of Lee, The Man Who Would Not Be Washington: Robert E. Lees Civil War and His Decision that Changed American History. Horn is no stranger to great men. He was a speechwriter and special assistant to President George W. Bush. We hope hell write about that experience in the future.

Sometimes we have to leave behind the world of politics, history and science and remember that entertainment holds an important place as part of the well-rounded life. A brief and welcome departure from news of presidential races and nuclear armament deals came to us in a study of theater and, specifically, American Musical Theater.

We welcome Dr. Mark Lococo, Director of Theatre at Loyola University. What followed was a fun conversation filled with some of our favorite numbers from the vast canon of musical theater.