Michael Atchison, author of True Sons: A Century of Missouri Tigers Basketball, talked about his book and the people he met while researching it.

Dr. Robert Baum, Associate Professor of Religion at MU, joined us to discuss Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Turkey and the protests that surrounded his visit.

Bill Watkins, Columbia's City Manager, talked about road projects in the works and the city's visioning projects.

Whether you call it "civil war" or "sectarian violence", Iraq is a mess.  Author and intelligence analyst Laura Mansfield passed along the latest information she's gathered from jihadist websites and her analysis of what will happen if the U.S. military withdraws.  Sadly, it looks like a lot of people will die regardless of what the Bush administration decides to do.

State Rep. Judy Baker (D-25th) joined us to talk about her proposal to make driver's ed mandatory in Missouri high schools--and to make it illegal for teen drivers to talk on their cell phones.

Dianne Drainer, Executive Director of the Mizzou Flagship Council and Jeffrey Williams, Ph.D, Director of Access and Urban Outreach at MU, joined us to talk about the BIG (Big Idea Gathering) Meetings this week in Columbia.

BIG Meeting #1
Tuesday, Nov. 28 -- 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Kimball Ballroom, Lela Raney Wood Hall
Stephens College -- 6 North College Ave.

BIG Meeting #2
Thursday, Nov. 30 -- 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Performing Arts Auditorium
Rockbridge High School -- 4303 S. Providence

If you need transportation to the meetings, call (573) 874-7214 or send an email to imaginecolumbia@GoColumbiaMo.com.

We had the opportunity today to speak with an authentic American hero:  Lance Cpl. John McClellan, just back in Columbia after suffering a head wound from an Iraqi sniper in Haditha in late September.  Doctors told McClellan that 99% of the victims of similar wounds never walk again, and most don't even survive.

Corporal McClellan not only survived, he intends to return to duty as soon as he completes physical therapy.

Derek Gilbert reads "The Great Thanksgiving Hoax" by Richard J. Maybury.

The hidden lesson of that first Thanksgiving:  Socialism doesn't work.

Wayne Kopping, director of the new movie Obsession: Radical Islam's War With the West, was our guest this afternoon.

Look up the website and view the 12-minute sample of the film.  It's unsettling, but it's better to be informed and upset than blissfully ignorant.

The weekly Mansfield Report:  Author and intelligence analyst Laura
 Mansfield gave us the latest information from jihadist websites and news forums:  Sectarian violence in Iraq is ratcheting up and it's spreading in Lebanon, where things are beginning to look like the days of the civil war in the 1980s.  Laura says it may be time for a "reorg", a change of tactics to get Arab nations like Saudi Arabia fully involved in shaping the new Iraq.

A live broadcast from the Thanks 4 Giving Food Drive with Peggy Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of the Central Missouri Food Bank.  Peggy told us about the food bank's mission and why it's in need of donations this holiday season.

Robert Smale, assistant professor of history at MU and an expert in Latin American politics, talked about the ongoing political unrest in Mexico and the return to power of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua.

Kyle Elfrink, host of the Big Show on ESPN Radio 1580 KTGR, analyzed the weekend's games for Mizzou football and basketball.

Greg Miller, video game columnist and blogger for the Columbia Daily Tribune, filled us in on the big weekend:  The Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii hit stores within 48 hours of each other.

Jason Rosenbaum, political reporter for the Columbia Daily Tribune and the author of the paper's Politics Blog, talked about the changing political landscape in the wake of the midterm elections.

Bev Harris of BlackBoxVoting.org talked about some of the security problems built into most of the voting machine systems used in the United States.

Tonya Benton of the Columbia Jaycees stopped in to tell us the Jaycees' service projects and the Columbia holiday parade coming up Sunday the 19th.

Monica Bailey of the Voluntary Action Center talked about the programs they make available to people in need of help in mid-Missouri.

The VAC's office is at 800 N. Providence in Columbia; it's open for walk-ins between 9:00am and Noon, and from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.  Call the office at (573) 449-6959.

Author and intelligence analyst Laura Mansfield passed on the latest information from the jihadist websites--including an unconfirmed report that a close friend of Al Qaeda's #2, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, is now in custody.

Today we talked with Melinda Wrye-Washington, the women�s volleyball coach at Columbia College. The Cougars are ranked 5th in the most recent NAIA Volleyball National Rating and have a good shot at another national championship. The nationals begin November 29 and will be hosted here in Columbia.

We were joined by Keith Johnson of New England Anomalies Research, a paranormal investigator based in Rhode Island.  He talked about what’s involved in a paranormal investigation, shared some of his more harrowing moments, and we listened to a couple of EVPs which you’ll find at the NEAR website.

Greg Miller, video game columnist for the Columbia Daily Tribune talked about a LAN party, plugging his blog, and how the Nintendo Wii might ruin his life.

CNN’s Lou Dobbs talked about his new book War on the Middle Class.  Dobbs believes that the American political system has been hijacked by multinational corporations that have bought and paid for both of the major parties, and the big losers are the 95% of us who don't belong to the upper crust.

Dr. Terry Smith, professor of political science at Columbia College, joined us to offer his analysis of the results of Tuesday’s election.  The Democrats were able to capitalize on widespread dissatisfaction--not with Iraq, but with scandals.  It wasn’t the war, but Abramoff and Foley that did in the Republicans.

Our guest was Mary Zanoni, Ph.D., executive director of Farm For Life.  We discussed the National Animal Identification System, an initiative being pushed by the USDA.  Mary feels that this is an unwarranted intrusion into the business of farmers, and if it becomes mandatory, which seems to be the plan, will put small producers at a competitive disadvantage to the corporate ag producers.

Good calls for Mary, including a couple of farmers who raise cattle and don’t see the harm in NAIS.  This is definitely a topic we’ll talk about again real soon.

For more information, see the USDA’s NAIS website and www.NoNAIS.org.

It's the final week of the campaign for the midterm elections, and Dr. Terry Smith, political science professor and dean of academic affairs at Columbia College, joined us to analyze things five days out.

Republican Steve Hobbs of Mexico, representative in the 21st District, talked about his campaign against Democratic challenger
Skip Elkin and the challenges facing the General Assembly in the upcoming session.

Lydia Lewis is the Progressive Party's candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri.  She's not shy about her positions:  Get out of Iraq now, impeach President Bush, repeal the PATRIOT Act, and fund all political races with public funds.

We spoke with Robin Mull about the Houston E. Mull Memorial Cattle Drive coming up this weekend at the Mull farm near Malta Bend.  That's in Saline County, about sixty from Columbia.

Frank Gilmour, Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. Senate from Missouri, joined us to outline his positions on the issues.

Connor O'Seanery, author of You Won't Get Fooled Again: More Than 101 Brilliant Ways to Bust Any Bald-Faced Liar (Even If the Liar is Lying Beside You!)

With the election one week away, it seemed the perfect time to learn what Mr. O'Seanery knows.

Noah Medling, Columbia's municipal liaison for National Novel Writing Month, told us about the kickoff party tonight at Mizzou's Brady Commons.