Mike Nowak Show Podcasts

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.

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.

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.

Show regular Skeet from Bartlett Tree Experts returns to talk dormant season tree care. And he promises to bring more critters into the studio. (Yay?) Chris McCarthy from EarthPaint explains how you CAN recycle paint and do it for good causes at the same time. BTW, he'll sell you some great quality paints, too.

Jeanne Nolan from The Organic Gardener visits the WCGO Studios to talk about their new service that helps people grow microgreens indoors. Hannah, Justin, and maybe even Fred from Gabby Road join Mike and Peggy to talk about their new show.

Wieteke Holthuijzen might be a Northern Illinois University student, but she spends a lot of time studying the albatross on Midway Atoll and why they are threatened by house mice. Lisa Albrecht returns to the show to talk about the state of solar energy in Illinois.

Dr. Robert Coulson from Texas A&M University explains how they are studying "hot spots" where migrating monarch butterflies have high mortality rates along Texas roads. Dr. Elaine Evans, Assistant Extension Professor with the University of Minnesota Extension, says "leave the leaves" on your lawn and garden this season to help overwintering insects. Pat Stone explains how Greenprints Magazine reveals the joy, the humor, the headaches, and the heart of gardening. Commissioner Kim du Buclet promotes the MWRD "Road Show."

Kelsay Shaw from Possibility Place Nursery returns to the show to talk about the benefits of untidy gardens. Jodie Wiederkehr also returns to report on a proposed ordinance to ban carriage horses in Chicago that has now been stalled for two years in City Council.

Dr. Allan Armitage returns to the show to talk about his concept of "solution gardening," his books, upcoming classes and more. Sarah Batka from Illinois Extension and volunteer Ivy Tzur talk about how "pumpkin smashes" are keeping organic matter out of landfills. McHenry County College Sustainability Director Kim Hankins previews next week's Green Living Expo.

Scott Jamieson from Bartlett Tree Experts joins Mike and Peggy to talk about fall tree care and how to get your trees ready for winter. U.S. Army Reservist Sgt. Jessica Klinge explains why she is trying to establish an Illinois chapter of Green Veterans. Mike and Peggy preview this Thursday's Midwest Grows Green 4-year anniversary with Benjamin Krumstok of Composting Partners and the Illinois Food Scrap Coalition.

Gardening expert and show regular Melinda Myers returns to talk about the arrival of fall and perhaps a little bit about the horticultural industry. It's also the day after the 2019 Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards ceremony and Mike and Peggy welcome two of the winning gardeners to the WCGO studios.

Christine Nye, who recently retired as horticulture manager at the Shedd Aquarium, stops by to talk about the gardens she created there. She is joined by Pam Karlson, Annamaria Leon and Ken Williams to promote the upcoming ILCA IMPACT Conference. Pete Czosnyka explains how he faces a $675 fine for growing native plants in his front yard.

Guy McPherson, professor emeritus at the University of Arizona, returns to the show to talk about his blog Nature Bats Last. He believes we are in the end days as a species, and has paid the price for being so outspoken. Laura Calvert from Advocates for Urban Agriculture and Martha Boyd of Chicagoland Chicken Enthusiasts report on their opposition to a proposed ordinance that would ban roosters and impose fees and fines on people raising livestock in the city.

Entomologists Doug Taron and Allen Lawrance from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum stop by the studio to discuss monarch butterflies, dragonflies, spiders and more. Orin and Manjula Martin talk about the organic approach of their book Fruit Trees for Every Garden.

Tom Shepherd and Jerry Brown from the Lake Calumet Vision Committee return to the show to discuss more harebrained schemes for the area (like casinos--yeesh!) and what really needs to be done. Amy Cox of Pro Time Lawn Seed talks about wonderful solutions for your yard that you never even dreamed of.

Evan Shorr from Bartlett Tree Experts answers questions about fall tree care. Pastor Scott Onque’ of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago previews the Faith in Place Green Team Summit. Rich and Susan Eyre from Rich's Foxwillow Pines in Woodstock, IL, report on the closing of their conifer nursery after 31 years.

LaManda Joy and Joan Murray from City Grange talk about fall vegetables and containers. Tony Abruscato of the Get Growing Foundation is bringing Plant Truck to underserved neighborhoods. Jessica Chipkin of Crate Free Illinois and Josh Richards of The Humane League are working to make meat purveyors more responsible for the products they serve.

Ryan Anderson from Midwest Grows Green returns to the program to talk about a more responsible way of having a lawn. He is joined by Brandon Losey of Ringer's Landscaping. Rebecca Boehm from the Union of Concerned Scientists explains why researchers and their work at the USDA are under threat from the current administration.

Like it or not, jumping worms are moving into Illinois and the Midwest. Illinois Extension Forestry and Research Specialist Chris Evans has more on the latest headline-grabbing invasive species. Tom Nowak talks responsible--which means sustainable--investing. Julie Nowak (yes, related to Tom but not to Mike), reports the work of Citizens' Climate Lobby and their push to get a climate change bill through Congress.

Mike and Peggy welcome back Dan Gibbs, The Backyard Farmer, and Holly and Joey Baird, The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener, to talk about mid-summer problems in the vegetable garden. Alan Shannon and Jen Nelson from Seven Generations Ahead explain how the Oak Park Micro Brew Review achieves its goal of zero waste.