Midday

It's time for another of theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck's weekly reviews of the Maryland stage. Today, she spotlights Mr. Wolf , a new production by Single Carrot Theatre being staged at the Rectory of St. John's Church at 3009 Greenmount Ave. in Waverly. Co-directed for Single Carrot by ensemble members Genevieve deMahy and Lauren Erica Jackson, the play by Rajiv Joseph explores the complex issue...

It’s the October edition of Midday at the Movies, our monthly look at films and filmmaking. Tom begins the show by noting that the Maryland Film Festival has named interim executive director Sandra L. Gibson as its new permanent director. Then, MdFF founder and retired director Jed Dietz joins Tom to discuss the crop of new fall films showing this weekend on local screens, including Joker, Judy, A...

Will the political polarity that has accompanied the Trump Presidency continue, or will some Republicans join the independents who are slowly beginning to peel away from the President amidst revelations about self-dealing with foreign leaders. GuestsAdam Sewer is a Staff Writer at The Atlantic. Liz Harrington is the National Spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. Josh Gerstein is a Se...

From a comedian who lost his shot at SNL to the New York Times, which was criticized for publishing hints as to the identity of a Whistleblower, social media has jacked-up the vitriol, and access to an unprecedented level of Schadenfreude. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tom’s guest today is the acclaimed writer Ann Patchett. She is the winner of the Pen Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize for fiction, and her work has been translated into more than 30 languages. Patchett is the author of eight novels, the latest of which, The Dutch House, was just published last week. It is a gem. As with some of her other immensely popular books -- novels such as Commonwealth, S...

Today, Live in Studio A, we welcome French guitar virtuoso Thomas Viloteau. A child prodigy who has lived, studied and performed all over the world, he’s won a guitar case full of prestigious international guitar competitions. In 2019, he joined the guitar faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Today, he performs two pieces for us: Le Passage des Alpes by Napoleon Coste, and...

On Sunday, September 29, the Baltimore Museum of Art will open a huge new exhibition of works by contemporary African American artists. It’s called “Generations: A History of Black Abstract Art.” It includes nearly 80 works, many of which are part of the single most important and extensive collection of Black artists in the world. That collection belongs to Pamela J. Joyner and Alfred J. Giuffrida...

The eastern European nation (and former Soviet republic) of Ukraine has been thrust into the news this week with the revelations about the phone call this past summer between President Trump and Ukraine's newly elected president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. What do we know about this young new leader of Ukraine or, for that matter, any of the other figures who are mentioned in the Whistleblower complaint...

It’s been quite a week in the nation’s capital, even by standards of the chaotic Trump Administration. On Tuesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that Congress would begin an impeachment inquiry. On Wednesday, the White House released what they described as an “unclassified memorandum” that summarizes a call between President Trump and President Zelensky of Ukraine on July 25, 2019. The memorandum...

Midday theater J. Wynn Rousuck joins us now with another of her weekly reviews of the Maryland stage. Today, she spotlights Miss You Like Hell, the timely, 2016 musical about immigration now in production at Baltimore Center Stage. With book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes and music and lyrics by composer Erin McKeown, Miss You Like Hell takes us on the cross-c...

We begin the program today with a conservative Republican congressman's reaction to the dramatic political developments of the past 24 hours. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) announced on Tuesday (24 Sept.) that congressional oversight hearings spread over six Democrat-led House committees would now constitute a formal inquiry into the impeachment of President Donald Trump. And a couple o...

Now, a conversation about techniques for recovering from trauma. The Greek word for ----injury,---- trauma refers to the lingering psychological wounds that adversely impact a person's mental and physical health long after their traumatic experience, whether it's warfare, natural disaster, sexual assaults, gun violence, life-threatening illness or a thousand other wrenching life crises. This summe...

Next week, Maryland Public Television turns 50. Tom welcomed Rhea Feikin to Studio A to reminisce about MPT's storied history. Feikin has been an on-air presence at MPT for more than 40 years. To mark the anniversary, MPT is airing a documentary called Made Possible By Viewers Like You: 50 Years of Maryland Public Television on Saturday, October 5th at 8:00 pm. Also, check out the traveling exhibi...

Today on Midday, a conversation about a labor dispute that affects the future of local journalism; in particular, the Baltimore Sun. Let’s keep in mind just how important the Sun is to our community. In terms of this radio show, it’s the first place we check every morning to keep up to date with what’s going on in and around Baltimore, and throughout the state of Maryland. Midday, like many other...

Today, a conversation about what Baltimore’s Inner Harbor used to be, and what it could be. Since it was built in 1980, Harborplace has been one of our city’s signature tourist attractions, a centerpiece of Baltimore's downtown redevelopment. Now, after years of neglect and declining profits, the ----festival marketplace---- has been placed in receivership. It’s losing money, it’s losing stores, a...

Tom speaks with Valeria Howard Cunningham, the CEO and President of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, about the importance of African American western heritage and the rodeo tradition. The Bill Pickett Invitational—the only touring African American rodeo in the United States—will be at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro on Saturday September 21st. For more information about the tour includi...

Today on the Midday News Wrap, Israel's Knesset remains deadlocked after Tuesday’s election. A Whistle Blower in the Intelligence Community raises concerns, but the Justice Department tells Congress it can’t know what those concern are. And, is a drone attack on a Saudi oil facility last Saturday the latest in a series of Iranian responses to the US campaign of sanctions and maximum pressure? Davi...

Tuesday was Constitution Day, the anniversary of the signing of America’s founding document in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. For the last several years, the MD Institute College of Art here in Baltimore has held a Constitution Day Symposium to discuss various issues of the day related to the Constitution. This year’s panel will include Courtland Cox, a civil rights activist who was with the...

Today on Midday: a topic that has run hot and cold in the news for more than 30 years. Squeegee Kids. Tom's guest is Tisha Edwards, the executive director of Baltimore Mayor Jack Young’s new Office of Children and Family Success. Tisha Edwards’ office released a “Squeegee Alternative Plan” intended to eradicate the practice of “squeegeeing.” Tisha Edwards served as Chief of Staff under Mayor Cathe...

The acclaimed poet Stanley Plumly passed away in April of this year, succumbing to cancer at the age of 79. Mr. Plumly was a distinguished professor of English at the University of Maryland. He was the author of 11 volumes of poetry, many of which were also published in the New Yorker, The Paris Review, The Atlantic Monthly, and in 40 anthologies. He was a finalist for the National Book Award, he...

Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom in the studio today with another of her weekly reviews of the Maryland stage. Today, she spotlights playwright Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me, a timely and provocative reflection on the personal impact of America's foundational document. Ms. Schreck, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, Tony Award nominee and three-time Obie Award winner, ha...

Last Saturday's drone attack at one of the world's largest oil refineries in Saudi Arabia destroyed about 5% of the global oil supply. The Trump Administration and a lot of independent reporting has indicated that Iran is behind the attack, although Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have claimed responsibility. Senator Ben Cardin (D., MD) a member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, joins...

Today, a conversation with Diamont\u233\u Brown, the president of the Baltimore Teachers Union. She was first elected last spring in a close and contentious race to lead the 7,000-member union of teachers and school para-professionals. Her victory, which was officially certified in July after an investigation by the American Federation of Teachers, ended the long tenure of Marietta English, who wa...

Today, it's another episode of Midday on Higher Education, our occasional series with the presidents of colleges and universities in our region and across Maryland. Tom’s guest for the hour is the president of Towson University, Dr. Kim Schatzel. Towson University has seen a record increase in the number of minority students and first-generation college students in recent years. This month, for th...

Tom's guest is the South African born broadcaster and author Judith Krummeck. In the 1990s, she came to America after leaving the system of Apartheid in South Africa. Krummeck has written a book about that experience that also tells the story of her great-great grandmother, who herself was in immigrant from England, who came to South Africa with her missionary husband in the early nineteenth centu...