Brent Willett's first installment of his book review segment he calls "The Sound & the Jury," a tip of the hat to American author William Faulkner. He reviews Tom Zoellner's book "URANIUM and The Heartless Stone."

PLANET ERSTWILE Host JAMES MOORE talks with Elliot Hoffman, co-founder and CEO of Natural Capitalism, Inc, a business in partnership with Dr. L. Hunter Lovins devoted to working with small and mid-size companies to improve their profits by fully embracing sustainable business practices. He has begun a Sustainability Circle with 8 businesses in Fairfield.

Curt Hanson is a Democratic member of the Iowa House of Representatives, representing the 90th District. He was elected in a special election on September 1, 2009 to replace John Whitaker.

The Popovich Comedy Pet Theater appears as one of the top 20 contestants on the second season of the NBC reality talent show America’s Got Talent. It is a father-daughter act originally from Las Vegas, Nevada, done together by Gregory and Anastasia Popovich, along with their team of trained animals. They did a trained cat act in the L.A. auditions, and performed a skit titled “The Homeless Clown” during the semifinal rounds.

PLANET ERSTWILD host James Moore speaks with Idris Goodwin, poet, playwrite, author, educator, and rapper, who will be performing his poetry and more as part of his These Are the Breaks book tour at Revelations at 2pm on Saturday, February 12th. Presently hailing from iowa City, this is one talented cultural creative.

Tune in for a very special PLANET ERSTWILD. Host James Moore speaks with renowned author, speaker, and educational reformer John Taylor Gatto. If you enjoy having your assumptions challenged, you'll want to hear this.

Gatto spent 30 years teaching in public schools in New York. He was 3 times awarded the NYC Teacher of the Year before quitting with a Wall Street Journal article writing he was tired of hurting children. He contends that, by design, institutional teaching is not really teaching and actually harms children, breeding boredom, fostering obedience, and valuing conformity, competition and testing over promoting original, critical thinking and self-teaching. [Click on John's pic to read his Harper's article "Against School."]

singer/songwriter David Seagull talks about his upcoming concert this Saturday at Cafe P.

Cohosts Stuart Tanner & James Moore speak with Professor Richard Wolff who presents an alternative look at American economics. The Harvard/Stanford/Yale educated Wolff is Economics Emeritus, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. His thesis that deep economic structures--the relationship of wages to profits, of workers to boards of directors, and of debts to income--are the root cause of our economic meltdown means the Great Recession may be far more than simply a "financial" crisis. This is riveting stuff.

Curt Hanson talks about the new Iowa Congressional session and State House activities.

Christine Goodale talks about reopening her new restaurant, The Crepe Escape, at Everybody's Cafe for lunch fare Tuesday through Saturday.

Iowa Renewability Energy Association managing director Steve Fugate speaks with Planet Erstwild host James Moore about all things renewable and energy efficient.

James Moore speaks with poet/activist/academic Azril Bacal about his new collection of poems called "Itinerant Refractions" and his life as a social change agent.

James Moore speaks with Constitutional scholar and entrepreneur Clyde Cleveland, author of Common Sense Revisited, about the New Republic and other issues of freedom, like the difference between "surrogate" and "indigenous" power.

Fancis Thicke, Radianse Dairy farmer, speaks with James Moore about the Food Safety bill that just passed in Congress.

Jonathan Freeman speaks with Planet Erstwild host James Moore about the historic passage by the 111th Congress of the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Freeman was at the ceremony and offers his reflections on the event and its meaning. The former Fairfield resident will be deploying to Afghanistan in several weeks for his third overseas tour of duty. He worked on the Obama election team and with the U.S. Agency of International Development.

Brother Joel Zimmerman talks with James Moore about a special rememberance celebration in honor of his son.