Midday

Kamau High, managing editor of the Afro American Newspaper in Baltimore. He joins Tom to talk about the top stories his newsroom is covering. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today on Midday, a discussion on gender roles and financial literacy. What does financial literacy mean in this day and age, and what should it mean, in particular for women? Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Just in time for the holiday, a new movie called The Man Who Invented Christmas is opening in movie theaters across the country. The film tells the story of 19th-century British novelist Charles Dickens and how he came to write his immortal classic. It's a story that will be of special interest in the Eastern Shore community of Chestertown, Maryland, which this weekend is launching a festival that...

Former National Security advisor Michael Flynn may have been flipped. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may soon have “former” added to his title. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin was formerly opposed to the Republican tax overhaul, but his support for the measure now makes its chances of passing much more likely. The Host of the Today Show is fired by NBC, and the purveyor of Powdermilk Biscuits is d...

Our guest today is Heather Mizeur, the former Democratic primary gubernatorial candidate who has a new project called Soul Force Politics. The project lives online at MizMaryland.org, includes a weekly podcast, policy blogs, and will eventually host women-empowerment workshops. In her podcast conversations with guests like Melissa Etheridge, Gov. Larry Hogan, or film maker and actor Sonja Sohn, sh...

It's Thursday, and that means it's time for our visit with theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her review of one of the region's many thespian offerings. This week, she tells us about the new touring production of The Lion King, the Tony-Award-winning musical on stage at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre until December 10th. A stage adaptation of Disney's Academy Award-winning...

Our guests this afternoon are two of the newest members of the Baltimore City Council. They join us on Midday to reflect on their service and the urgent affairs of the city, as they complete their first year in office. A few months ago, Tom spoke with freshman council members Shannon Snead, Leon Pinkett and Ryan Dorsey. Today, we welcome Dr. John T. Bullock, who represents the 9th Councilmanic Dis...

Today, another edition of Midday on Ethics. We’ve talked several times over the past year about gene editing, and the ethical questions that go along with potentially editing the genes of plants and animals, including humans. Today, we revisit these questions with Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, the Director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Why? Because there is some news, perhaps a new way o...

On this edition of Midday on Sports - the NFL limps from one PR disaster to another as they continue to battle declining ratings; the Baltimore Ravens, having lost five of their last seven games, try to keep play-off dreams alive; and 'Bama feels the 'Burn after Saturday's loss. Tom is joined by LaTasha Miles of Women Talk Football Too and the SHE-SPN Network, and Mark Hyman c0-author of the book,...

It’s the What Ya' Got Cookin'? Thanksgiving edition, a beloved tradition here on Midday, going all the way back to 2016. Midday’s resident foodies John Shields and Sascha Wolhandler join Tom with suggestions, tips and words of comfort for folks cooking the big meal. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

It's another edition of the Midday Healthwatch, our monthly conversation with Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen. She’ll bring us up to date on the city’s continuing battle with the twin epidemics of violence and drug abuse. We’ll also talk about health insurance. Record numbers of Marylanders are signing up under the Affordable Care Act. How the city’s B’more for Healthy Babies init...

Every Thursday, our indefatigable theater critic, J. Wynn Rousuck, joins us with her review of a current production playing on one of the Baltimore-Washington region's many stages. This week, Judy reviews Mean Girls - the Musical, writer-comedian Tina Fey's lively new staging of her hit 2004 movie, now getting its world premiere on the boards at The National Theatre in Washington, D.C., before hea...

The manhunt is still underway for an unidentified suspect who fatally shot Baltimore City Detective Sean Suiter last week. Police and state officials are now offering a $215,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the assailant....Judge Catherine Blake issued a decision in the decade long lawsuit between Maryland’s Historically Black Colleges and the state. The lawsuit concerns diversi...

The nation observes Thanksgiving on Thursday, and for most of us, it will be a day of traditional feasting, and enjoying the warmth of family and friends. But for thousands of people, the challenges of housing insecurity will make Thanksgiving just another day in which they must wrestle with a persistent problem that's hard for most people even to imagine. By the city’s official count, there are n...

On this edition of the Midday News Wrap, we speak to NPR Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson, Baltimore Sun Opinion Editor Andy Green and longtime columnist Barry Rascovar about several news stories including, Sen. Al Franken’s apology for sexual harassing a reporter 12 years ago, the tax code revision passed by the House yesterday, and the status of the Senate plan, now that it’s tied to repeali...

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews ----Shakespeare In Love---- At Center Stage Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

With the holidays approaching -- and visions of sugarplums and all those fattening feasts dancing in our heads – strategies for keeping the pounds off. On the Midday Workout: Three trainers have tips for staying on track despite all those tasty temptations Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Protests erupted at the University of Florida last month when white supremacist leader Richard Spencer spoke on campus. Hundreds protested. Should Spencer’s right to speak under the first amendment have been limited? Where do we draw the line when it comes to free speech on campus? UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh, Will Creeley of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and Sigal Ben-Por...

On this edition of Midday we focus on a particular group of immigrants, who are affected by immigration policy in ways unlike any other group. Black African Immigrants are the fasting growing immigrant population in the United States. According to PEW research, there was a 137% surge in the Black African Immigrant population between 2000 and 2013. 10% of all Blacks living in the United States are...

Now, a conversation about the challenges posed by caregiving. Forty-two million Americans -- one in four adults -- is currently shouldering the enormous responsibility of caring for an aging relative. Here in Maryland, more than 770,000 people have assumed the role of caregiver for their parents, grandparents, or family friends, either at home or elsewhere. What toll is this taking on the caregive...

Now, a look at how Marylanders are trying to make sure they have health insurance. Open Enrollment through the Maryland Health Connection began on the first of November. In previous years the enrollment period has lasted 3 months. This year, the enrollment period is only half that long. It ends next month, on December 15th. With about a month to go, we thought it would be a good idea to check-in o...

Tom's guest today is celebrating a homecoming, of sorts. Since receiving his artist diploma in conducting from The Peabody Institute eight years ago, conductor Joseph Young has appeared with orchestras throughout the US and around the world. Now, he’s back in Baltimore, and back at Peabody, but he’s not a student this time. He’s the newly appointed Director of Ensembles at the world renowned conse...

President Donald Trump is in the final stretch of his marathon, 12-day swing through Asia, that has taken him to Japan, South Korea and China. He arrived in Vietnam Friday, and over the weekend he travels to the Philippines for a regional security summit, before heading back to Washington Tuesday. The often-bombastic US president toned down his rhetoric against North Korea during his diplomatic to...

In this edition of the Midday News Wrap, we focus on the status of the Republican plan to overhaul the tax code. The GOP-controlled House and Senate have hammered together separate plans that propose a $1.5 trillion tax cut, but, with a different set of rates, different deductions and on a different time table. Democrats, and not just a few Republicans, reject both plans as tax windfalls for the r...

Theater critric J.Wynn Rousuck joins us in Studio A every Thursday with a review of one of the region's thespian offerings, and this week, she tells us about a new production of Origin of the Species now on stage at Strand Theater Company in Baltimore. The play by Bryony Lavory, which is directed at Strand by Erin Riley, uses a two-woman cast to tell the story of Molly (played by Janet Constable P...