(from 2014) Professor Devin Brown talks about his book "Tolkien: How an obscure Oxford professor wrote The Hobbit and became the most beloved author of the 20th century."

From 2004- Amotz Asa-El discusses his book "The Diaspora and the Lost Tribes of Israel."

From 2016- Opera composer Jake Heggie. (Heggie's most -often performed opera, "Dead Man Walking," received its long-awaited Metropolitan Opera premiere this past fall. It was a triumph.

This is a conversation with Norgie Metzinger, the director of the Lakeside Players' production of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" which opened last weekend and runs for the next two weekends.

Georgia Hall and Pat Badger talk about Saturday night's Candlelight Christmas Concert at First Presbyterian Church in downtown Racine - a concert featuring Caritas, Mark Paffrath and the Choral Arts Society (among others.) We also briefly look back over the 30-year history of the Music & More series.

In one of three previews of holiday-themed offerings here in southeastern Wisconsin, we rebroadcast a conversation from earlier in the year with George Baumgardt, founder and artistic director of the Spirit of Racine Music Makers. They are presenting a free holiday concert on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 that will features the Kiwanis Youth Orchestra as special guests. The concert takes place at The Covenant at Murray Mansion.

We preview Saturday afternoon's concert by the Kenosha Symphony. We talk with Maestro Bob Hasty, the artistic director of the KSO- Board President Pete Rodriguez (who also plays french horn in the orchestra)- and Dr. Maggie Burk, whose Lincoln Chamber Singers from Carthage College are part of the program. Part 2- from the archives- how to teach children manners.

We talks about the Racine Theater Guild's production of Disney's "The Little Mermaid" with Doug Instenes, director of the production, and Kaylee Annable, who portrays the comic role of Scuttle. The production opened last December. Many of the principals are back for this second iteration of the production, which will be performed for the next two weekends.

Dr. Art Cyr, from the faculty at Carthage College, offers his thoughts on Henry Kissinger (who just passed away at the age of 100), JFK (who was assassinated sixty years ago this year), and Abraham Lincoln (who established Thanksgiving as a national holiday.) He also talks about the current state of affairs with the economy in China.

As something of a followup to last week's interview with David Brooks (author of "How to know a person") we are sharing an interview from 18 months ago with Ryan Jenkins and Steven Van Cohen, co-authors of "Connectable: How leaders can move teams from Isolated to All=In." The book explores some of the same concerns raised in Brooks' book but with an emphasis on the workplace.