Presented by
Bill Kurtis
Documentary host, producer, conservationist, cattle rancher
and author, “The Prairie Table Cookbook”

Podcast recorded by WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

For the last 60 years Americans have been dining divinely on succulent, juicy, well-marbled grain-fed beef. But not only has the grain-fed diet been unhealthy for the cattle, it’s had a bad impact on the herd known as the human race, according to Bill Kurtis. Join us as Mr. Kurtis discusses why he chose to raise grass-fed cattle on his 10,000-acre Kansas ranch and what the health benefits are. He will also touch on the history of how we moved from grass-fed cattle to grain-fed and how we might be headed back to these natural roots. Mr. Kurtis will also be signing copies of his new book, “The Prairie Table Cookbook,” with all profits going to fund the Culinary Historians of Chicago.

Bill Kurtis Biography: Long before he began promoting the merits of grass-fed beef, Bill Kurtis was reporting news as one of Chicago’s most respected broadcast journalists. After beginning his television career in his native Kansas, where he also earned a law degree, Mr. Kurtis was hired by CBS in Chicago, first as a reporter and later as anchor of The Channel Two News. He moved on to the network level where he anchored the CBS Morning News from New York, returning to Chicago in 1985, where he continued as local anchor and at the same time began a career as a documentarian, creating the Peabody Award-winning series, The New Explorers. He is also the recipient of numerous Emmy Awards. In 1990, he founded Kurtis Productions and began producing programs for the A&E Television Network including the long-running, Investigative Reports, Investigating History, American Justice, and Cold Case Files. On a lighter note, Mr. Kurtis also provides satirical narration for the feature film comedy “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” starring Will Ferrell.

Program hosted at Roosevelt University.