Midday

Tom speaks with Congressman Elijah Cummings, who represents the 7th District here in MD, about his annual job fair, and the fight against opioid addiction in Maryland and around the nation. The Congressman recently penned an Op-ed with Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, which called on Congress to pass a comprehensive legislation on this issue. Rep. Cummings is the ranking member of the House...

It’s Midday Culture Connection with Dr. Sheri Parks of the University of Maryland. Today, a conversation about the Neo Soul movement. Neo Soul has evolved into something much more than a music genre. Today, the term Neo Soul suggests a lifestyle that's premised on spirituality, self-care, and diet, and that favors beauty-care products made with natural ingredients. Email us at midday@wypr.org, twe...

On our latest installment of Midday with the Afro, a rally was held in Baltimore support of Stephon Clark, the young man who died at the hands of police in Sacramento, CA. The bills concerning black ownership of medical marijuana licenses are coming down to the wire. Also, Nathaniel Oakes, the Senator from the 41st district is out of office, but he is on the ballot in the June Primary. And there h...

Today, another installment in our series of Conversations with the Candidates. Joining Tom in Studio A is former Maryland House Delegate and public school teacher John Olszewski, Jr. Known as “Johnny O,” he represented the County’s 6th district for two terms in the Maryland General Assembly, and spent nine years teaching in several Baltimore County public schools. In June of 2017, he took leave fr...

Today, Tom's guest is Krish Vignarajah, a Democratic candidate for Governor -- as we continue our series of Conversations with the Candidates who will be on the June 26th primary ballot here in MD. She is one of nine Democrats on the ballot in June. The winner will go up against Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in the general election in November. Several candidates have chosen women as their Lt. Gover...

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins us with her weekly review of one of the region's many thespian offerings. Today, it's Aubergine, the new play by Julia Cho that's on stage at Baltimore's Everyman Theatre. Aubergine is a story about the complexity of family relationships and the emotional power of food. The play centers on a Korean family that's struggling to bridge generational and cultural di...

Today, a preview of a powerful new film about the last three years in the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the civil rights leader who was assassinated 50 years ago next week, on April 4, 1968.The renowned historian Taylor Branch is an executive producer of the HBO documentary, King in the Wilderness, a compendium of reflections by King’s closest friends, interwoven with archival foot...

Today on the show, a conversation with Dr. Mary Frances Berry. She is a scholar, an author and activist whose new book chronicles the history of American protest and resistance movements, from the Roosevelt administration through the Obama years. From the Vietnam War to the end of apartheid in South Africa, to her long tenure on the U.S. Civil Rights Commission that spanned several administrations...

A special Midday broadcast today, live from Hodson Auditorium on the campus of Hood College, in historic Frederick, Maryland. Our topic today: Frederick at the Crossroads. Founded in 1748, Frederick has seen its share of American history. It was founded at the crossroads of a major north-south Native American trail and the east-west route from the Chesapeake Bay across the Appalachian Mountains to...

This weekend, the epidemic of gun related violence, particularly mass shooting in schools, has once again focused our nation on the issue of gun control. Some 200,000 people converged on Washington DC for the “March for Our Lives.” 800-plus sibling marches took place in cities around the world, including here in Baltimore. Students of all ages and races took to the podium Saturday with impassioned...

Today, we continue our series of Conversations with the Candidates who will be on the June 26 primary ballot here in Maryland. Early voting begins June 14th. Tom’s guest for the hour, live in Studio A, is Ben Jealous, a Democratic candidate for Governor. Last May, when he stood in front of his cousin’s flower shop in Baltimore’s Ashburton neighborhood and jumped into the race, he was only the seco...

It's Thursday, and that means Midday's intrepid theater reviewer, J. Wynn Rousuck, is here with another of her weekly reviews of the region's thespian offerings. This week, Judy braved the elements to attend the opening of the new touring production of School of Rock, the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical that's now raising the rafters at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theater. Based on the hit 2003 film, the mu...

Paula Poundstone is one of America’s most celebrated comedians. For four decades, she’s blazed a unique trail in the world of standup, from improv clubs in Boston in the late 1970s to award-winning HBO comedy specials, and her 1992 gig as the first woman to emcee the White House Correspondents Dinner. She’s been a regular on late-night TV, and her standout performances at the Comic Relief concerts...

Negin Farsad is a New York-based writer, director and social justice comedian. She’s the host of the podcast, Fake the Nation, a comedy round-table about politics on the Earwolf network, and the author of the book, How to Make White People Laugh, which has been nominated for a Thurber Prize for Humor. She co-directed and starred in the movie The Muslims Are Coming! -- which also stars Jon Stewart...

It’s coming up on 100 years since the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote, was ratified by the requisite two-thirds of US state legislatures. The suffragist movement had begun 72 years earlier. In the summer of 1920, in Nashville, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment, just in time for the 1920 elections, in which 10 million women helped to s...

Today, another in our series of Conversations with the Candidates, in advance of the June 26th primary elections. My guest today is 2nd District Baltimore County Councilwoman Vicki Almond. Ms. Almond is one of four Democrats and two Republicans seeking their party’s nomination to run in the general election for Baltimore County Executive. Vicki Almond grew up in Catonsville and attended Catonsvill...

Today, it’s another in our series of Conversations with the Candidates, in-depth interviews with contenders in key races leading up to the June 26th Maryland primary election. Today, Tom's guest is Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. The Baltimore County native hopes to build on his two terms as the state’s chief insurance regulator and four terms as a Republican state delegate to win h...

Ginger Hildebrand, Sue Richards and Carolyn Surrick are three highly respected musicians who play what many call “early” music. They all play in various solo capacities, and when they play together as Trio Galilei , they play Irish and Scottish dance music, and music that goes way back to Medieval times. Trio Galilei will be performing selected works of music at Christ Church in Easton on Sunday M...

On this edition of the Midday News Wrap: we speak with Dayvon Love, Director of Public Policy at LBS, about the comprehensive crime bill which was recently passed the State Senate, in spite of strong opposition from Baltimore delegates. The bill would introduce higher mandatory minimums for gun crime and stringent sentencing for repeat offenders. Baltimore Sun Washington DC Bureau Chief, John Frit...

Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins senior producer Rob Sivak with her review of a new production of Animal Farm, a stage adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian 1945 novella, now running at Baltimore's Center Stage. This adaptation of the novella was written in 1982 by Ian Woolridge and is being co-produced in its new run at Center Stage with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. It re-imagine...

Time for another edition of Smart Nutrition. Here’s a question that has puzzled philosophers and poets for ages: Should a veggie burger go out of its way to taste like a beef burger, or should it embrace its veggie-ness? A new meat-free burger has taken imitation to a whole new level of flattery. It’s called the Impossible Burger. It’s new. It’s only available in restaurants -- and not many restau...

We begin today with a quick word about yesterday’s special election in the 18th Congressional District in Pennsylvania. Tom is joined on the line by An-Li Herring, politics and law reporter for WESA, Pittsburgh's NPR News Station. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tom's guests today are three innovators who are working at the frontiers of high technology -- a technology that could be moving us closer to the historic milestone futurists call the “Singularity,” when human cognition merges with machines. Whether it’s intelligent robotic systems for the battlefield, or biomechanical limbs that really touch and feel, or those Internet-based oracles -- think Siri...

We continue our series of Conversations with Candidates, which include those who currently hold public office. Congressman John Sarbanes joins us for the hour today. He has represented the third congressional district since 2007. The Congressman was successful in his efforts to reinstate EPA funding for the Bay Journal, but Congressional Democrats have been frustrated by inaction on DACA. Represen...

Internationally acclaimed classical guitarist, Lily Afshar performs some of her works live in Studio A. Lily will be performing a program of music at UMBC's Linehan Hall on Saturday at 8pm in association with the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.