Midday

(This program was originally aired live on October 10, 2017)In this archive edition of Midday, WYPR and the Baltimore Museum of Industry team up for a special program -- presented as part of BMI's Issues in Industry series -- examining Baltimore's calamitous de-industrialization, the challenge of rebuilding the city's workforce, and the future of work in Baltimore's increasingly dynamic industrial...

(This program originally aired live on October 17, 2017)Elizabeth Strout is Tom's guest in this archive edition of Midday. Strout is the author of six novels and many short stories; her most recent book is a series of linked tales called Anything is Possible. Linking stories together was a structural device that Ms. Strout also employed in what is perhaps her most well-known work, Olive Kitteridge...

On this Friday before Christmas 2017, a spritely and indefatigable 95-year-old raconteur joins Tom in Studio A. His name is Gilbert Sandler, and as WYPR listeners well know, Gil has been telling his Baltimore Stories on this station for the past 15 years. On this particular Friday afternoon, as he prepares to retire the series next Friday, the story he tells is the story behind this popular and en...

To finish up our week on this Friday before Christmas, we turn to a choir that has recently been formed at Paul’s Place, a service organization in the Washington Village/Pigtown neighborhood of Baltimore. Paul’s Place has provided services for the people in that neighborhood for more than 30 years, including hot lunches, clothes, health care, and programs for children. Several members of the Voice...

Protests erupted at the University of Florida earlier this year when white supremacist leader Richard Spencer spoke on campus. Should Spencer’s right to speak under the first amendment have been limited? I’m Tom Hall. On the next Midday, a rebroadcast of my conversation about Free Speech on campus. UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh joins me along with Sigal Ben-Porath of the Univ of Penn and free s...

The acclaimed Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes novels, inspires feminists and pitches beauty products. She’s been sampled by Beyonce, and her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, is this year’s MD Humanities One MD, One Book selection. I’m TH. On the next Midday, an archive edition of my conversation with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call...

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews The Revolutionists at the Everyman Theatre. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tube Talk: Old TV shows and movies are finding new life on the small screen, but do remakes like Netflix’s She’s Gotta Have It and reboots like NBC’s Will and Grace work? Our Tube Talkers, Bridget Armstrong and Jamyla Krempel join to talk about the television hits and misses of the year. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tom's NewsMaker guest today is the State’s Attorney for the City of Baltimore, Marilyn Mosby. In the 2014 primary, she defeated her former boss, Greg Bernstein, by ten points, a decisive victory, before running unopposed in the general election. She was swept into office by tapping into widespread dissatisfaction with increasing crime. Mosby promised to reduce it. Two years into her term, her Offi...

The revival of the cocktail is still going strong and while wine is a safe and classic option, the addition of a signature cocktail or punch bowl to your holiday gathering will add a layer of color and creativity to upcoming soiree. Tim Chin, known as the Boy with the Blue Beard, is a food photographer, craft bartender, and food and wine personality joins us in Studio A and shares some cocktail an...

Christmas is less than week away, and while the halls may be decked, the pressure is on to adorn the centerpiece of every holiday celebration, the table. As we skid full steam ahead into Christmas and New Years, many of us will have to confront the tricky task of choosing the right wines for holiday celebrations. Hosts and guests alike will be perusing the aisles of wine stores trying to decide be...

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D) joins host Tom Hall for the hour. Maryland’s senior senator is a member of the Senate Finance Committee. He is also the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senate Republicans are confident that their tax bill will be approved this week. With so much attention on the tax bill, it’s easy to overlook other major stories, such as: Without a Continuing R...

Today on Midday: Helicon, the renowned traditional music trio is here. Tomorrow they continue a great Baltimore holiday tradition with their 32nd annual Winter Solstice Concerts at Goucher College’s Kraushaar Auditorium. Helicon will be joined tomorrow by Charm City Junction and other performers, including the North American Step Dance champion Jonathan Srour. Today, we’re keeping up a tradition o...

It's Thursday, and time for our weekly visit from theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us today with a review of Lookingglass Alice, the new spin on the Lewis Carroll classic that's now on the boards at Baltimore's Center Stage. In this modern re-telling (which is suitable for audiences of all ages), Alice is a young African-American girl (played by Markita Prescott), who falls through the Lo...

Today on Living Questions , our series that explores the role of religion in the public sphere, we meet three young African-American women with a decidedly spiritual agenda: bringing their conversations about faith, friendship and racial identity in a podcast called “For Collard Girls.” (Think collard greens and pastoral collars.)Connecting with religious women of color, with touchstones of hip-ho...

When he started his quixotic campaign for the Senate, Doug Jones wasn’t given a chance. Yesterday, Alabama voters gave him a seat in the United States Senate. I’m TH. On the next Midday: Alabama voters have spoken. Sen. Chris Van Hollen reacts. Then, we’ll examine what they said with Georgetown University Law Professor Paul Butler. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at...

Soul Singer Navasha Daya and arts organizer Fanon Hill join with a preview of a Jimi Hendrix tribute happening this weekend at the Creative Alliance. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

The MD General Assembly will convene for the 2018 Session in a little less than a month, on January 10th. By the time that sine die rolls around in April, lawmakers will have considered hundreds of bills, and will have jockeyed for position on any number of important bills that will compete for the attention of their fellow legislators, leadership and their constituents. The Legislative Black Cauc...

Tis the season to be jolly, but for people coping with depression, the holidays can be a trying time of year. Annette March Grier is the co-founder of Roberta’s House, a grief support center. She joins me along with Dr. Jonathan Shepherd of the Black Mental Health Alliance and Dr. Mark Komrad of the Sheppard Pratt Health System. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410...

Actor Jonathan Levin and Baltimore born playwright Josh Luxenberg join Tom to talk about their new production, A Hunger Artist, which opens at Baltimore Theatre Project next week after acclaimed runs Off-Broadway in New York and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Their adaptation of the Franz Kafka short story uses physical theater, Victorian miniatures, puppetry, and a set of simple props to suppo...

On this edition of the Midday News Wrap : A Government shutdown averted for two whole weeks; the Mueller investigation turns to President Trump’s borrowing history; Donald Trump Jr. invokes attorney client privilege in testimony to Congress; and Roy Moore is far from being kicked out of the special election to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Also, former South Carolina pol...

It's time for our weekly conversation with theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom today with a review of Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, a post-apocalyptic fantasy in three acts by playwright Anne Washburn, being produced by Cohesion Theatre Company at ----The Fallout Shelter---- at Baltimore's United Evangelical ChurchThe play asks a series of questions: What happens to pop culture after...

From Hollywood to New York, a constant barrage of sexual harassment allegations against icons and wannabes alike in the news and entertainment industry continues unabated. Two fixtures on New York public radio are among the latest to be accused of misconduct. On Wednesday, Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz, were placed on leave by New York Public Radio while the company investigates the claims...

Today on Midday, we examine violence in Baltimore City. Luke Broadwater from the Baltimore Sun talks about some of the initiatives that Mayor Pugh and Gov. Larry Hogan have introduced in just the last couple of days. Later in the program, Tom speaks with Akai Alston, who is working in Sandtown Winchester in a program called U Turns, which helps young people living in one of Baltimore’s poorest nei...

Megan Markle, the fianc\u233\u of Prince Harry, and the daughter of a black mother and a white father, identifies as biracial. Barack Obama, the son of a white mother and black father, describes himself as black. I’m Tom Hall. On Midday Culture Connections with Dr. Sheri Parks: Royalty, race and identity. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.