I hope you will derive some listening pleasure and diversion from this conversation with Bob Hurst, one of the editors of a new edition of "The Autobiography of Mark Twain."  

Even in the midst of this COVID-19 Crisis, we still can seek Happiness.   Ginny Sassaman has studied and written about happiness for many years.  Her latest book is titled "Preaching Happiness:  Creating a Just and Joyful World."  

As we hunker down during this COVID-19 Crisis, many of us are turning more and more to books.  From 2010 comes this interview with Sean Manning, editor of a marvelous book titled "Bound to Last: 30 Writers on Their Most Cherished Book."  In this fascinating and moving volume, 30 different writers each talk about the book that means the most to them.   It is one of my all-time favorite interviews about books themselves and their place in our lives.  

Amy Shira Teitel, who has written extensively on topics related to space and space travel, discusses her new book "Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight."    The book chronicles the careers of two extraordinary female pilots,  Jackie Cochran (1906-1980) and Jerrie Cobb (1931-2019) and, in particular, how they became adversaries when it came to the fight in the early 1960's to persuade NASA to include women in its astronaut program.  

For a fun distraction, today's podcast shares an archival interview (we're not sure of its original broadcast) with a Carthage professor named Jon Bruning- talking about the animated series "The Simpsons."   What prompted the interview was when Professor Bruning taught a short course about The Simpsons for Carthage's Alumni College some years ago. 

Earlier this week, we aired a new interview with Neal Bascomb about his latest book,  "Faster."  Today's podcast is a 2004 interview with Bascomb about his book "The Perfect Mile: 3 Athletes, 1 Goal, and 4 Minutes to Achieve It."   The book was published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the world's first 4-minute mile, which was run by Englishman Roger Bannister.  

Today's Morning Show features newly-recorded interviews with 1) Bryan Albrecht, president of Gateway Technical College ... 2) John Swallow, president of Carthage College, ... and 3) Debbie Ford, Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, talking about how their respective schools have had to respond to the COVID-19 Crisis. 

From 2005-  We replay a conversation with best-selling author John M. Barry about his book "The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History."   Barry's book is widely-regarded as the definitive account of the horrific influenza pandemic of 1918.  

Best-selling author Neal Bascomb discusses his latest book,  "Faster:  How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best."    The book explores the enormous interest surrounding car racing in Europe in the 1930's - Hitler's interest in having Germany become the dominant force in car racing - and how his wishes were thwarted in a dramatic race in 1938.  The story, now largely forgotten, bears some resemblance to the better-known story of track star Jesse Owens and his triumph at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.  

This is a discussion of the Racine Unified School District Referendum that will be on the ballot on April 7th.  Brian O'Connell and Mike Frontier are from the School Board, and Shannon Gordon is the Chief of Operations for the school district.