Added 4.18.19. Decorated Marine, Vietnam War rifle platoon leader, novelist, Yale grad and Rhodes Scholar Karl Marlantes discusses with Milt his non-fiction exploration, “What It’s Like To Go To War.” He begins by noting that “the overwhelming feeling of war is a combination of sadness at the deaths of friends and foes,” and of “exhilaration” about both survival the killing of one’s mortal enemies. It is, he says, quite a lot for a young man to experience, and then have to describe upon return home. Marlantes previously authored an acclaimed Vietnam novel, Matterhorn.

Added 3.25.19. Milt and New Testament scholars Barbara E. Reid and Klyne Snodgrass explore – as Milt puts it – “the real man Jesus, as he is knowable” with a focus on the “actual facts of the earthly career of Jesus” and its connection to the Christian faith. The starting point is an encomium to Jesus from none other than Napoleon, for founding an empire based on love rather than force. At the time of the broadcast, each guest was a a professor of New Testament Studies; Reid at the Catholic Theological Union, and Snodgrass at North Park College.

Added 1.15.19. As feminism’s gradual ascent became evident, feminist icon Gloria Steinem said, “Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry.” That’s still a lot to chew on. Joining Milt to discuss the changing roles and realities for men and women in the United States of the 21st Century are author and Manhattan Institute scholar Kay Hymowitz, and public relations executive Marj Halperin, a board member of the Chicago Foundation For Women and television political commentator. Serving as one locus of their conversation is Hymowitz’s then-recent book, “Manning Up: How The Rise of Women Has Turned Men Into Boys.”

Added 1.8.19. Italian immigrants with anarchist leanings are arrested with no warrant; tried based on no real evidence; and convicted and executed for a 1920 Massachusetts payroll heist that resulted in two deaths. How did authorities, the press, and the public see their way clear to this seemingly stunning miscarriage of justice? Milt explores the troubling tenor of the times with attorney and historian Theodore W. Grippo, author of, “With Malice Aforethought: The Execution of Nicolo Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.”

Added 10.2.18. Beware of any story that starts out like this: “A friend of my cousin’s wife’s brother’s co-worker saw this happen and could not believe it.” You probably shouldn’t believe it, either. But how tall tales become more or less accepted truth reveals much about us – and our fears, foibles and prejudices, which are all now depth-charged by light-speed digital communications. In this vintage-1986 episode Milt delves back into urban legends with their then-leading chronicler, Jan Harold Brunvand. He had just authored his third related volume, “The Mexican Pet: More New Urban Legends And Some Old Favorites.” The first two were “The Vanishing Hitchhiker” and “The Choking Doberman.” Brunvald was a professor of English at the University of Utah.