The Mike Nowak Show Podcasts

Ruth Kerzee, executive director of the Midwest Pesticide Action Center (MPAC) talks about Chicago Grows Green Week, an event to educate the public about pesticides, their use and misuse. John Quail, Director of Watershed Planning for Friends of the Chicago River, previews Chicago River Day and lists the various successful campaigns to improve the quality of Chicago's major waterway.

Pam & Lan Richart, co-directors of Eco-Justice Collaborative, and Andrew Rehn, water resources engineer with Prairie Rivers Network. talk about why the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River in east central Illinois was added to the list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers® of 2018. Holly and Joey Baird, The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener, have gardening advice for what has been a cold spring in the Midwest.  

Pass the Pistil blogger Emily Murphy discusses her new book, Grow What You Love. 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack and 43rd Ward Alderman Michele Smith explain how their plan for a North Branch Park & Nature Preserve will set aside 24 contiguous acres of riverfront land in the middle of new Chicago urban development. Jen Walling from the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC) reports on HB5293, which threatens to undermine the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board.

Cheryl Julcher from Yellow Brick Properties, Inc. explains what it means to be a sustainable realtor. Cam Davis talks about how he gardnered more than 54,000 write-in votes for a seat on the MWRD in the Illinois primary and what battles lie ahead in the November general election. Doug Taron, PhD, from the Peggy Notebaert Nature Musem, celebrates 30 years of the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network and speculates what the unusually cool spring means for butterfly populations.

Peterson Garden Project founder and executive director LaManda Joy promotes their annual Organic Edible Plant Sale and many other initiatives. Sarah Surroz  and Patrick Williams of Openlands discuss the merger of Conserve Lake County into Openlands. Lisa Hilgenberg, horticulturist for the Regenstein Fruit and Vegetable Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden, offers tips on spring veggie planting. Plant breeder Brent Horvath of Intrinsic Perennial Gardens, makes a surprise visit.

Shilin Hora explains why she creates Seed Museums, one-of-a-kind nature-art objects. 2018 Beginning Farmer of the Year award Yoram Shanan of Sandbox Organics talks about the wave of young, diversified farmers in the U.S. Jodie Wiederkehr, who is campaign director for Chicago Alliance for Animals (CAA), believes horse-drawn carriages in urban areas are inhumane and would like to see them banned.

Paul Lopacinski, Senior Manager of Creative Production for Macy’s, talks about the opening day of theirl Flower Show, “Once Upon a Springtime." Peggy McGrath and David Holmquist from Go Green Oak Park explain their quest to undo an Illinois pesticide preemption law. Michele Hoffman returns to the Science Desk--this time with her son Ryan--to preview her trip to Alaska to shoot more footage for her film Microcosm. Jessica Chipkin and Christy Slaby from Crate Free Illinois report on their apparent success in getting the Trader Joe's markets to move away from pork producers that use gestitation crates.  

Mike and Peggy broadcast live from the 2018 Chicago Flower & Garden show on Navy Pier. Guests are President and Show Director Tony Abruscato; The Rose Kings: Chris VanCleave and Brian Puckett; Sandy Syburg, co-founder of Purple Cow Organics; Dale Vnuk of siness, Wyld Creek Inc. Water Gardens; William Moss the Garden Boss; and Janie Grillo, sometimes known as Butterfly Jane.

Horticulturist and queen of all media Melinda Myers returns to the show to preview her talk at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. President and CEO Jerry Adelmann of Openlands talks about the threats to national programs and institutions that have preserved our natural areas and worked to clean our air and water. David R. Montgomery, author of Growing a Revolution: Bringing our soil back to life, discusses the promise of regenerative organic agriculture.

Beth Vercolio-Osmund talks about the challenges of running for office in the rural Illinois 16th Congressional District as a Democrat. She and her husband Jody have been on past shows to talk about their work running Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm in Ottawa, Illinois. Now she takes that experience, plus her work as co-director of a food pantry, teacher, union member and activist and works to make it past the March 20 Illinois primary.

When Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Commissioner Timothy Bradford died suddenly last December, it happened on the eve of the deadline for filing for the March 20 election primary. That means that to get on the fall ballot to serve on the billion-dollar-a-year tax-supported agency that serves more than 10 million people, one candidate will have to garner as many as 10,000 write-in votes, something that has never been done before. Candidate Cam Davis, who is former CEO and president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, talks about that challenge with Mike and Peggy.

Mike and Peggy broadcast from the Greater Chicago Home + Remodeling Show sponsored by Life Storage. at the Schaumburg Convention Center. Guests are show organizer Jessica Boweak; Jim Slama, the man behind Family Farmed and the Good Food EXPO; write-in candidate for commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Cam Davis; landscape architect Ken Gallt from Foliage Design Systems of Chicago; innovator Tom Szaky of the recycling and re-imagining company TerraCycle; and Beth Vercolio-Osmund, candidate for Illinois 16th Congressional District.

Jim Neinhuis, Ph.D., talks about his presentations at the 2018 Great Lakes Bioneers McHenry County Speaker Series, which will focus on the evolution of vegetables and his work in Central America helping women entrepreneurs grow grafted tomatoes. Lisa Eldred Steinkopf, aka The Houseplant Guru, promotes her book, Houseplants: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Growing, and Caring for Indoor Plants. Ana Garcia Doyle from The 7th Annual One Earth Film Festival, previews the event. Mike and Peggy interview filmmakers Chanda Chevannes and Linda Booker.

The outspoken Christy Webber is a unique Chicago success story. The owner of Christy Webber Landscapes and Christy Webber Farm and Garden spends the entire two hours in the studio with Mike and Peggy. In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss upcoming Chicago Flower and Garden Show, dealing with Chicago city landscaping ordinances, and even the effect of immigration policy on the landscaping industry. Adam Federman of The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute returns to the show to follow up on his reporting about the disturbing direction away from conservation and towards resource exploitation being taken by the Department of the Interior.

Agricultural economist Dr. John Ikerd, former North Carolina contract poultry producer Craig Watts, and activist farmer Karen Hudson of Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water (ICCAW) discuss the rise of "agroecology," and the continuing fight against concentrated animal feeding operations in America. Dr. Michael J. Schuck and Dr. Nancy C. Tuchman from Loyola University Chicago talk about their online environmental textbook Healing Earth, which is being viewed in high schools and colleges around the world and which earned them an audience with Pope Francis.