Climate Year Review: 2019

Meteorologists Rick DiMaio and John Lee examine social and legal issues of last year’s weather and climate events. Curtis Leopaldo, from Leopardo Energy division, has a plan for funding green municipal infrastructure upgrades. Ryan Anderson says Midwest Grows Green is about to unveil a tookit for municipalities who want to switch to natural lawn care.

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Green Infrastructure Means Green Jobs

Daniella Pereira from Openlands talks TreeKeepers, green infrastructure and jobs. Robert Nevel previews the MLK Food Justice & Sustainability Weekend at KAM Isaiah Israel. Elysabeth Alfano talks about the premiere of her new show on WCGO Radio, Sundays at 3pm.

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Cannabis Gold Rush or Bust?

One year after hemp production was allowed in Illinois, Mike and Peggy talk to Liz Rupel from the Illinois Stewardship Alliance and hemp advocate Rachel Berry about the state of the industry. Ty Benefiel from Hero Power explains how you can purchase clean energy for a reasonable rate in Illinois.

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Turn Here Sweet Corn Returns

Mike and Peggy welcome Scott Jones and Megan Wells back to the show. They are the director and actor, respectively, for the play, Turn Here Sweet Corn, which will run through January in Chicago. Atina Diffley, who wrote the book on which the play is based, is part of the conversation, too.

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It’s a Wonderful Slice 2019!

Since 1988, Mike has presented a truncated version of the Hollywood holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life” in one form or another. “It’s a Wonderful Slice” is back, with help from Peggy Malecki, the WCGO shows Gabby Road and Playtime with Bill Turck & Kerrie Kendall, and staff members Ellie Sanchez and Andrew Moerschel. You’ll never again view the movie the same way.

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Growing Plants in the Dark

It’s a Wonderful Slice 2019! Mike, Peggy and an all-star WCGO Radio cast perform the 10 (or 12 or 14) minute version of the Hollywood Holiday Classic. Lisa Eldred Steinkopf talks about her new book, Grow in the Dark: How to Choose and Care for Low-Light Houseplants. Mike reprises his own holiday classic, A Gardening Xmas Carol.

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Passive Houses Get Aggressive

Chicago area architects Nathan Kipnis and Tom Bassett-Dilley return to the show to discuss the importance of passive houses and concepts like embodied carbon, global decarbonization, and net zero energy use.

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Mike’s 2nd Annual Holiday Hort Sing-Along

It’s been that kind of year. I’ve been breaking all sorts of personal rules. I don’t know what came over me when I put actual information into this column (see Jul/August). I think I was suffering from a summer fever. And here I go again. I never repeat column ideas, but I’m reprising my holiday sing-along. Maybe it was the letter from the woman who said she read my songs and couldn’t stop crying. Or perhaps it was the letter from my editor who said, “If you don’t have a column to us by tomorrow, we’re putting a monkey at a keyboard and seeing what he produces.”

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How Two Gardeners Beat Chicago City Hall

Pete and Noreen Czosnyka, who live on Chicago’s northwest side, just accomplished something special–they beat the City of Chicago in a court case involving native plants in their yard. Pete and his lawyer Jeff Smith join us in studio. Then, Adam Minter, author of Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale, talks to us about an unexpected but thriving economy of secondhand stuff.

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