October 2002
Shows
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TUESDAY
OCTOBER 1ST
INSIDE
THE CRIMINAL COURT
As a judge on New York's highest criminal trial court, LESLIE
CROCKER SNYDER has presided over some of America's most complex
and violent cases, ranging from "narcotics to sex crimes to headline-making
murder and mob trials." Known for her tough sentencing, Snyder
has faced death threats from New York City mobsters and heard
stories far more shocking than anything you might have seen on
the Sopranos. Her new book is 
25
to Life: The Truth,the Whole Truth,and Nothing but the Truth,
and she joins us tonight for a frank look at life on the Manhattan
Supreme Court.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 2ND
THE
HISTORY OF SCIENCE AND THE CREATION OF THE METRIC SYSTEM
The consequences of the French Revolution extended far beyond
the realm of politics, economy, and religion; the very nature
of science and its pursuit altered in earth-shattering ways. One
of the results, unbeknownst to most, was the birth of the metric
system. Two French scientists, sent on a mission to measure the
world, devised it and forever changed the face of Europe. KEN
ALDER of Northwestern University headlines our panel tonight as
we look at the history of science in the early modern world. His
new book is 
The
Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error
That Transformed the World. We will look still more broadly
at the changing technology and knowledge that emerged in the centuries
following the Renaissance. Joining Alder on the program will be
University of Chicago Statistics Professor STEPHEN STIGLER.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 3RD
A
CRISIS IN EDUCATION?
G.K. Chesterton once observed, "Education is simply the soul of
a society as it passes from one generation to another." If such
is the case, American society has some explaining to do. What
on earth is going on in our public schools? Our students consistently
rank lower than the rest of the world in most general testing,
yet little has been achieved in attempts to alleviate that problem.
Tonight's two guests think they have the answers. HUGH PRICE is
President of the Urban League and author of 
Achievement
Matters: Getting Your Child the Best Education Possible and
ARNE DUNCAN is CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. Both join us
for a broad look at the state of American education.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 4TH
SECURING
THE HOMELAND
BILL GERTZ of the Washington Times is one of the leading defense
journalists in the United States. MICHELLE MALKIN is a nationally
syndicated columnist and leading investigative reporter. Each
has produced a recent book of great relevance to the issues surrounding
9/11 and what needs to be done to 
protect
the homeland. Gertz details our intelligence failures in 
Breakdown:
How America's Intelligence Failures Led to September 11, while
Malkin looks at our sometimes porous borders in 
Invasion:
How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign
Menaces to Our Shores. Both join us from Washington to discuss
the state of our homeland security.
MONDAY OCTOBER 7TH
CORRUPTION IN CITY AND STATE
Corruption in Chicago? Nah!….though Richard J. Daley did once
say, "If our Lord couldn't have perfection, how are you going
to have it in city government." If you listen to TERRY NORTON,
the executive director of the Better Government Association, and
TERRY BRUNNER, a former director of the BGA, we may indeed have
a few "issues" in our city (and state) government. They'll explain
more fully tonight, and offer their prescriptions for curing our
corruptive tendencies.
NOTE: EXTENSION 720 WILL BEGIN ONE HOUR EARLY TONIGHT, AT 8:00PM.
TUNE IN FOR A SPECIAL THREE HOUR PROGRAM, FROM 8:00-11:00PM, WITH
A SURPRISE FEATURE DURING THE FIRST HOUR.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 8TH
THE
RIDDLE OF HUMAN NATURE
In his new book, 
The
Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature, our guest
STEPHEN PINKER, a research psychologist at MIT, challenges the
notion that our experiences are all that shape us. Instead, he
argues that the mind has inherent faculties which, in his view,
are largely responsible for the structure and content of our lives.
Dogmas such as the "Blank Slate", the "Noble Savage", and the
"Ghost in the Machine" have only led to confusion and a host of
corrupted ideas. He'll unpack his argument in much further detail
beginning at 9:00pm.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 9TH
A NIGHT OF POETRY
"What is poetry?" John Ruskin once mused to himself. "The suggestion,
by the imagination, of noble grounds for the noble emotions."
Tonight, we look at the great poets and their works. The editors
of Poetry Magazine, JAY PARISI AND STEPHEN YOUNG, join us, along
with Tennyson, Whitman, Dickinson, Yeats, and others, beginning
at 9:00pm.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 10TH
Northwestern football has been moved up to Thursday night, and
will preempt Extension 720 this evening.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 11TH
THE
RETURN OF JAMES STEWART
In his classic look at the insider trading barons of the 1980s,
Den of Thieves, JAMES STEWART unveiled the gluttonous activities
of a few white-collar criminals and the havoc they created. His
latest work focuses on a much more honorable story, namely that
of a true hero of the 9/11 tragedy. The book is 
The
Heart of a Soldier: A Story of Love, Heroism, and September 11th,
and Stewart will join us for the full two hours, beginning at
9:00pm.
MONDAY OCTOBER 14TH
THE
STATE OF TELEVISION
A London news magazine once noted, "Radio and television...have
succeeded in lifting the manufacture of banality out of the sphere
of handicraft and placed it in that of a major industry." While
we at Extension720 disagree with the lumping of radio into "banality",
what of television? Tonight after a ballgame, our panel discusses
the current and future state of TV. TOM SHALES is the ace television
columnist for The Washington Post, and author of 
"Live
from New York": An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live as
Told by Its Stars,Writers and Guests, and he joins us tonight
for a full discussion of contemporary television.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 15TH
THE
LEGACY OF ABRAHAM
The animosities of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam have come
to a horrific crux in recent years, particularly in, and originating
from, the "Holy Land". Paradoxically, however, all of these religions
may be traced back to a single primary figure--namely, Abraham.
BRUCE FEILER's new book 
Abraham:
A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths examines this sad fact
that may yet provide hope. Feiler has traveled to the Holy Land
and retraced the footsteps of the Old Testament, and joins us
with a member of each of these three faiths, beginning at 9:00pm.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 16TH
SUPREME
COURT REVIEW
Since the 2000 election, the United States Supreme Court has kept
a decidedly low profile. But the court's work continues with a
full docket this fall, including some important cases that will
have a substantial impact on homeland security and the war on
terrorism. We'll sort out just what's been going on in the Court
with JAMES SWANSON, editor of the 
Cato
Supreme Court Review, former Assistant Attorney General of
the United States JOE MORRIS, and more.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 17TH
ON
THE TRAIL OF CAPTAIN COOK
In the 1770s, Captain James Cook led three expeditions to an unknown
part of the world, seeking the imagined Great Southern Continent,
the Pacific archipelagos, and the Northeast Passage. His explorations
changed the Pacific and foreshadowed British political and economic
imperialism. TONY HORWITZ, a Pulitzer Prize winner, is author
of 
Blue
Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before,
and our guest tonight.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 18TH
THE
CAREER GAME
Down on your luck? Recently laid off? Or simply unhappy with your
job? Our guest tonight is CAROL KLEIMAN, the careers writer for
The Chicago Tribune, and she has the prescription to cure your
working blues. Her latest book is 
Winning
the Job Game: The New Rules for Finding and Keeping the Job You
Want, and she'll reveal her secret tips, beginning at 9:00pm.
MONDAY OCTOBER 21ST
THE
ORIGIN OF WORDS
Samuel Johnson once said, "Every other author may aspire to praise;
the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach." Despite this
sentiment, Extension 720 offers high praise to our guests, among
them a distinguished dictionary compiler. Our evening is marked
by the publication of two new books that, 
while
not dictionaries, nevertheless reflect the issues faced by lexicographers
as new words and slang gather momentum. ERIN McKEAN, Senior Editor
for U.S. dictionaries at Oxford University Press, has produced
Weird
and Wonderful Words, while ALLAN METCALF, a noted English
Professor and linguist from MacMurray College, has written 
Predicting
New Words: The Secrets of Their Success. Both join us tonight
for a dissection of word origins, and how they gradually become
a part of our collective vocabulary.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 22ND
THE RETURN OF BRUCE WALSTAD
Former police detective and scourge of con artists BRUCE WALSTAD
has been a favorite guest on Extension 720 over the years. He
returns tonight! Walstad specializes in the breaking down of con
games and hoaxes that have cheated unsuspecting Americans out
of millions of dollars every year. One need look no further than
one's email box to realize that the con market continues to expand--how
many unsolicited "can't miss" offers have you received, requiring
only a small fee to "get the ball rolling"? Walstad will analyze
the current con market and what you can do to protect yourself
and your more trusting friends and loved ones.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 23RD
THE BOOKS OF THE QUARTER
Another edition of our quarterly book review program is upon us.
Milt has challenged our panelists PENELOPE MESIC, DAN TUCKER,
and SUSAN HARRIS with a wide array of recent works in history,
biography, science, religious studies, and the arts, plus several
works of fiction. John Ruskin wrote: "All books are divisible
into two classes, the books of the hour, and the books of all
time." We'll see if any of tonight's choices reach into the latter
category or if our show becomes, to paraphrase Logan Pearsall
Smith, "the gilded tomb of mediocre talent."
THURSDAY OCTOBER 24TH
LIFE
OF THE WAR REPORTER
Nearly as old as the grim profession of soldiering is that of
the war correspondent. Even dating back to the armies of Alexander
the Great and Julius Caesar, correspondents were present, a necessary
if controlled method of providing news of great conquests to the
people. Modern times have changed the methodology but not the
role, and war reporting (rightly or wrongly) has become an enormous
part of how common citizens, in both democracies and dictatorships,
perceive a war effort. IAN STEWART spent much of the 1990s in
Africa covering wars in Somalia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, and
has authored 
Ambushed:
A War Reporter's Life on the Line. He'll be joined by veteran
correspondents of the wars of Latin America and the Middle East,
for a broad look at a most peculiar profession.
FRIDAY OCTOBER 25TH
THE EVOLUTIONARY DEBATE, CNTD.
Two of the world's leading historians of science join us tonight
to discuss the ongoing debate over evolutionary theory--a theory
almost universally accepted by the scientific community in principle,
but one whose details continue to be fiercely debated. Contrary
to much popular belief, traditional Darwinism is by no means the
only basis for evolutionary theory. BOB RICHARDS of the University
of Chicago and MICHAEL RUSE of Florida State University visit
to discuss the history of Darwinism and the philosophy of biology.
MONDAY OCTOBER 28TH
ISSUES
IN BIOETHICS
When LEON KASS last joined us in July 2001, he had yet to be named
head of the President's Special Commission on Bioethics, nor had
the events of 9/11 taken place. He joins us again tonight, now
in an important government position, but one that has largely
been dwarfed by political events. Nevertheless, the issues of
stem cell research, human cloning, and a host of other topics
in bioethics continue to multiply. Tonight, we will examine all
of these with Kass, and hear his appraisal from the perspective
of the high office he now holds. Dr. Kass's latest book is 
Life,
Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 29TH
AN EVENING WITH THE PRESIDENTS
We are honored to be joined tonight by George W. Bush, George
H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard
Nixon, plus Richard J. Daley and Paul Harvey. And who knows who
else might show up. BILL MELLBERG is one of America's great impersonators.
He and KENT WEHMAN, an accomplished pianist who lends music to
Mellberg's act, visit Extension 720 tonight for impressions and
laughs.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30TH
THE
SECRETS OF THE CENTENARIANS
Do you think you'll live to be 100? Tune in tonight for some
helpful advice from those lucky enough to have reached that magic
number. NEENAH ELLIS has collected the wisdom and stories of those
Americans who really remember the good 'ole days of Teddy Roosevelt,
and who lived throughout the highs and lows of the American Century.
The new book is 
If
I Live to Be 100: Lessons from the Centenarians, and Ellis
joins us tonight for the full two hours.
NOTE: THE HOLOCAUST: A REINTERPRETATION, WITH DEBÓRAH DWORK
AND ROBERT JAN VAN PELT, MOVED TO FRIDAY NOVEMBER 15.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 31ST
BLACK JUDAISM
Though unknown to many of our listeners, Chicago is one of the
centers of Black Judaism in the United States, a movement that
originated in the years following the Civil War and continues
to thrive with a small, but increasingly powerful base. JAMES
LANDING of UIC has produced a vast history titled 
Black
Judaism and will be among our guests tonight. CAPERS FUNNYE,
Chicago's leading black Rabbi, will be another. Join us for a
look at this unique and little-known section of American religion
and of African-American social history.
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