Midday

It's another Midday newswrap. British Prime Minister Theresa May proposed a new plan for the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union, a process commonly known as Brexit. Several cabinet members, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, quit in response to what they see as a failure of her leadership. NPR international correspondent Frank Langfitt joins Tom live from London. Later, Balti...

Tom is joined by Paul Muldoon. He is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, as well as an editor, critic, playwright and translator, who has taught at Princeton University since 1987. He is the author of 12 major collections of poetry and was the poetry editor of The New Yorker for a decade. He also writes lyrics and spoken word pieces for the band Rogue Oliphant, which is a loose affiliation of well-know...

Whether it’s curbing climate-wrecking carbon emissions, cleaning up toxic industrial wastes or reducing the pollution of our lakes and streams, being good stewards of the environment is an expensive proposition. Tom is joined by Michael Curley, a lawyer, environmental finance expert and a Visiting Scholar at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington DC. He’s served as senior financial advisor...

BmoreArt publisher and editor Cara Ober joins Tom to discuss the forthcoming release of the print journal's sixth issue. Founded in 2007, BmoreArt is a collaborative art publication that reflects art and culture in and around Baltimore. The new issue explores the theme of ----Home---- through a series of home-based artist profiles, and essays and features offering unique perspectives on the power...

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom with her weekly review of a theatrical production in the region. What's on her agenda today? Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! National Theatre in Washington, DC, has staged the pre-Broadway world premiere of Beetlejuice, a new musical adaptation of filmmaker Tim Burton's 1988 cult classic. The new musical -- with music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect and...

On today's show, we're discussing the role of race and class in college admissions. In a federal court case in Boston, Harvard University has been sued by a group of Asian-American students who were denied admission to the elite institution. They allege that Harvard discriminates against Asian applicants and holds them to higher standards. The group, called Students for Fair Admissions, is led by...

Word nerds: You’re in luck. With whom is Tom speaking today? Emmy Favilla, the senior commerce editor and former global copy chief at BuzzFeed. As such, she created the BuzzFeed Style Guide which she later developed into a book called A World Without ----Whom----: The Essential Guide to Language in the BuzzFeed Age. It is hilarious. It is instructive. It pays homage to the serial comma as the “cil...

On this Veteran’s Day, Midday is exploring how World War I radically altered not only political boundaries, but also our concepts of war and peace. The bloody conflict that ended 100 years ago yesterday was originally called ----The Great War.---- At the time, it was considered ----The War to End All Wars.---- Many world leaders gathered in Paris over the weekend to commemorate the centennial of A...

Today, Tom is joined in Studio A by Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham. They are the founders of Viva House, a Catholic Worker House. They’ve been helping some of Baltimore‘s most needy people for more than 50 years, and they have been part of a faith-driven peace movement whose roots trace back to the horrors of World War One. Today's conversation was the second part of a three-segment show we live-...

The United Way of Central Maryland recently released a report on poverty in the state. They took a close look at what’s called the “ALICE” population — an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — a group that many people call ----the working poor.” The report found more than one-third of Marylanders can’t afford basic necessities. Franklyn Baker, the President and CEO of the Unite...

Today on the Midday News Wrap, we discuss, the resignaationof AG Jeff Sessions, the future of Special Councel Muellers' Russia probe, and the latest on election recount efforts underway in multiple states. Tom is joined by, Lisa Desjardins, a correspondent from the PBS Newshour. And, David Smith, the Washington DC Bureau Chief for The Guardian is on the line from NPR DC. Email us at midday@wypr.or...

On today's show, Tom Hall takes a moment to pay tribute to his daughter, on a special occasion:----And now, I have a favor to ask: I beg your indulgence to read a poem for my daughter, whose 30th birthday is today. Her name is Miranda Rose Hall. She’s a playwright. She is named after her maternal and paternal great-grandmothers. Miranda’s great grandfather was the poet, Ogden Nash. Every year on h...

Marion Winik is an author, literary critic, and humorist. She's a former commentator on All Things Considered and currently a co-host on The Weekly Reader on WYPR. Winik has written 10 books which includes her latest publication The Baltimore Book of the Dead. You can join Marion Winik and author Laura Lippman this Saturday Nov. 10th at the Church of the Redeemer located on N Charles St where they...

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins us again with her weekly review of one of the region's theatrical offerings. Today, she spotlights the new production of King of the Yees at Baltimore's Center Stage. In Lauren Yee's semi-autobiographical dramedy, the award-winning playwright explores ethnic identities and family relationships. When her father, Larry -- a man of great stature in their Chinese A...

Today, analysis of the 2018 mid-term election. With voter turnout up, what message are voters sending to leaders in Annapolis and Washington? Joining us are Andy Green, Editorial Page Editor of The Baltimore Sun, and Jayne Miller, who leads the investigative reporting team at WBAL TV. Watch the livestream of today's show here. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-6...

Tom's guest for the hour is James Patterson, the phenomenally prolific American author who has written more than 200 books for adults, young adults and children. One of his latest thrillers is a best-seller published last summer that he co-wrote with former President Bill Clinton titled The President Is Missing. James Patterson is a passionate literary activist who promotes reading by people of al...

On today's Midday Culture Connection, Dr. Sheri Parks joins us for a conversation about anti-immigration politics in America. We start by discussing a caravan of migrants that left Honduras through Guatamela and Mexico toward the US border on Oct. 12. The group of Central American migrants has quickly become the target of attacks from President Donald Trump and has stoked anti-immigrant sentiment...

Over the weekend, Baltimore Ceasefire held its fourth Ceasefire Weekend of 2018. Each quarter, the group calls for 72 hours without murder and plans events to celebrate life in Baltimore. Letrice Gant, one of the co-founders of Baltimore Ceasefire 365, joins Tom in Studio A to discuss this weekend's ceasefire events. The next ceasefire weekend will take place Feb. 1 - 3, 2019. Email us at midday@w...

Today on Midday, a conversation about the conservative and liberal wings of the Republican and Democratic parties. Are Democrats moving away from centrists in their party? Are Republicans fully embracing Donald Trump, despite their alleged misgivings about his bigotry, his brutishness, or his lack of policy knowledge? Joining us on the line from New York is Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor and pu...

Tom is joined now by Jeremy Lyons and Aishah Alfadhalah. Lyons is a guitarist and composer, and a member of Pique Collective, the Baltimore-based contemporary music ensemble, whose fellow members join Jeremy in Studio A for a brief performance of one of his original compositions. Alfadhalah, a native of Kuwait, is one of the founders of the Mera Kitchen Collective, an organization here in Baltimor...

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins us each week with a review of one of the region's many thespian offerings. This week, she spotlights Sweat, a Pulitzer-Prize winning drama about working class life in rural America playing at Baltimore's Everyman Theatre. Published in 2015, Sweat earned acclaim for its powerful portrayal of poverty in the United States. Playwright Lynn Nottage interviewed resid...

It's Midday at the Movies! To help us spotlight some of the latest crop of Oscar contenders, author and Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday and founding director of the Maryland Film Festival Jed Dietz join Tom in the studio. Among the new films they discuss are:First Man, a retelling of the mission to land the first man on the moon from acclaimed director Damien Chazelle, opened in October t...

Today, Tom spotlights recent developments in the University of Maryland football controversy. Since the heatstroke-related death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair in June, many have accused head coach D.J. Durkin of fostering an abusive and toxic environment in the University's football program. On Tuesday, after two independent reviews of the incident that led to McNair’s death and the culture o...

Today, another installment in our series of Conversations with the Candidates. Tom’s guest in Studio A is Sen. Ben Cardin. Sen. Cardin has been a fixture in Maryland politics since 1967, when he was first elected to the House of Delegates. He was Speaker of the House for eight years -- the youngest person in state history to hold that position. He was elected to Congress in 1987, and twenty years...

On today's Fall-Winter edition of ----Back to the Garden,---- Midday's two favorite stewards of the soil join Tom in the studio with tips on harvesting and enjoying your autumn fruit and vegetable harvests, and preparing your garden beds for the winter -- and the spring planting ahead. Carrie Engel is the Greenhouse Manager and a plant specialist at Valley View Farms in Cockeysville...And Denzel M...