Podcasts Archives

August 5, 2017 – Plastic Behavior

August 4, 2017August 10, 2017 Mike Nowak Bring Your Bag Chicago, changing behavior, environment, film plastic, gardening, Jordan Parker, recycling, taxes, The Mike Nowak Show

Jordan Park of Bring Your Bag Chicago returns to the show to talk about the success of the 7 cent fee on single-use plastic bags in Chicago.

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July 30, 2017 – Snipping and Spraying

July 30, 2017August 10, 2017 Mike Nowak adulticides, Clarke, Dan Kosta, environment, gardening, Japanese beetles, larvicides, Midwest Pesticide Action Center, mosquito abatement, Prairie State Bonsai Society, The Mike Nowak Show

Dan Kosta answers gardening questions and promotes the Prairie State Bonsai Society annual event. Ruth Kerzee from the Midwest Pesticide Action Center and Laura McGowan from Clarke talk about the complexities of controlling mosquitoes in the Chicago area.

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July 29, 2017 – Fun with Foliage

July 28, 2017August 10, 2017 Mike Nowak Christina Salwitz, environment, Fine Foliage, garden design, gardening, Gardening with Foliage, invasive exotics, Karen Chapman, native plants, The Mike Nowak Show, USDA Hardiness Zones

Karen Chapman and Christina Salwitz, authors of Gardening with Foliage First, explain to Mike and Peggy how to design a beautiful garden while almost making blooms an afterthought. As always, meteorologist Rick DiMaio reports on climate and weather.

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July 23, 2017 – Soil Sisters, Ocean’s Daughter

July 22, 2017July 25, 2017 Mike Nowak Chicago North Branch Corridor, Deepwater Horizon, Elaine Coorens, environment, gardening, In Her Boots, Linda Kivirist, Michele Hoffman, Microcosm, plankton, Soil Sisters, The Mike Nowak Show, women farmers

Farmers Lisa Kivirist and Alison Parker preview coming Soil Sisters and In Her Boots events. Scientist, educator and filmmaker Michele Hoffman previews her trip to Florida to research plankton and the affects of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Elaine Coorens explains a coming deal for new land use in the North Branch Industrial Corridor in Chicago.

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July 22, 2017 – The Chef and the Meteorologist

July 21, 2017July 25, 2017 Mike Nowak Angelic Organics Learning Center, Chef Paul Virant, climate change, environment, gardening, geothermal energy, glaciers, Iceland, local food, Loyola University Chicago, Rick DiMaio, The Mike Nowak Show

Renowned Chef Paul Virant previews the 10th Annual Peak Harvest Farm Dinner presented by Angelic Organics Learning Center this Thursday, featuring Mike Nowak as auctioneer for the evening. Rick DiMaio returns from and educational trip to Iceland to study climate change.

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July 16, 2017 – Floating Gardens, Trash Talking Professors

July 16, 2017July 18, 2017 Mike Nowak British Columbia, Carl Zimring, Chicago River, environment, floating gardens, gardening, habitat, Illinois Recycling Association, Kris Kaar, The Mike Nowak Show, Urban Rivers, wildfires

Members of Urban Rivers present their idea for bring floating nature to the Chicago River; Carl Zimring and Kris Kaar explain the IRA event “A Couple of Professors Talkin’ Trash;” and Mike and Peggy get an update on the British Columbia wildfires from Dave Scott of Spaced Out Radio.

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July 15, 2017 – 49 Years and Counting

July 14, 2017July 18, 2017 Mike Nowak Chiicago Excellence in Gardening Awards, environment, flooded gardens, gardening, Laury Lewis, Master Gardeners, native plants, Sheffield Music Festival and Garden Walk, The Mike Nowak Show

Former Chicago Gardener of the Year and co-director of the 49th Annual Sheffield Music Festival & Garden Walk Laury Lewis stops by the studio to promote “The Summer’s Best Festival” and talk a little gardening.

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July 9, 2017 – Of Seeds, Monarchs and Kayaks

July 8, 2017July 18, 2017 Mike Nowak Allan Lawrance, environment, gardening, Lee Buttala, monarch butterly, Openlands, Paddle Illinois Water Trails, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Seed Savers Exchange, species diversity, The Mike Nowak Show

New executive director of Seed Savers Exchange Lee Buttala talks about the challenges of being the guardians of 25,000 varieties of seeds. Allen Lawrance from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum has monarch update for the 2017 season. Laura Barghusen from Openlands announces the launch of Paddle Illinois Water Trails for canoes and kayaks.

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July 8, 2017 – The Return of the Natives

July 7, 2017July 18, 2017 Mike Nowak caterpillars, Douglas Tallamy, environment, gardening, horticultural industry, insects, native plants, oak trees, The Mike Nowak Show, trees and shrubs

Mike and Peggy talk to Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz about their new book, Midwestern Native Shrubs and Trees and the importance of putting native plants in your landscape.

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July 2, 2017 – Carpin’ About Climate

July 1, 2017July 7, 2017 Mike Nowak Asian carp, climate change, environment, gardening, Great Lakes, invasive species, Joel Brammeier, Michele Hoffman, Microcosm, Rick DiMaio, science, The Mike Nowak Show

Mike and Peggy talk with Alliance for the Great Lakes president and CEO Joel Brammeier about whether it is already too late to keep Asian carp out of Lake Michigan, and discuss All Hands on Deck, an effort to examine all facets of protecting the Great Lakes. Then Meteorologist Rick DiMaio and educator and filmmaker Michele Hoffman discuss climate change on the eve of Rick’s trip to Iceland with students from Loyola University.