Midday

Today it's another edition of Living Questions, our monthly series on religion in the public sphere, produced in collaboration with the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies. We focus today on the persistent problem of anti-Semitism. Acts of bigotry and intolerance toward the Jewish community in the US are on the rise, with a particular spike after the Unite the Right rally in Charlo...

In jurisdictions throughout Maryland, in New Jersey and in Virginia, and elsewhere yesterday, Democrats picked up wins in Mayor’s offices, Governor’s Mansions and State Houses. At the top of the Virginia ticket, Democratic Lt. Governor Ralph Northam walloped former RNC Chair Ed Gillespie by nine points, in a race that many around the country saw as a referendum on the Presidency of Donald Trump. I...

Dr. Sheri Parks joins Tom for Midday Culture Connections to the sexual assault allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men in and outside Hollywood. Dr. Parks is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland College Park, and the author of Fierce Angels: Living with a Legacy from the Sacred Dark Feminine to the Strong Black Woma...

Last week, CSX Transportation shocked the Hogan administration and local officials by withdrawing its support for an expansion of the Howard Street Tunnel. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

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

We begin with a look at the Baltimore Police Department's trial board hearing that's considering, in the first of three administrative proceedings, whether disciplinary action should be taken against Officer Cesar Goodson, Jr., one of six officers indicted in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray in 2015. He drove the van that transported Mr. Gray. Goodson was acquitted of the charges, including on...

For this portion of The Midday Newswrap Tom looks to Africa to focus on major stories and developments from the continent. Contentious presidential elections in Liberia and Kenya have dominated headlines, as results in both contests have been halted due to allegations of fraud. As Liberia attempts its first nonviolent transition to power in over seven decades, its Supreme Court has been the linchp...

We're going to take a look now at how creative artists are addressing a very serious and longstanding problem. Domestic violence affects nearly one in four women. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The National Institute of Justice, 22% of women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during their adulthood. The Full Circle Dance Company has drawn on the...

The Republicans have proposed a sweeping overhaul to the tax code. Some of the changes involve deductions that have been baked into the cake of the code for generations, and the impact on the deficit is huge. The President called for the death penalty for the man accused of killing 8 and wounding 12 in New York. An excerpt from former interim DNC chair Donna Brazile's book is complicating matters...

It's Thursday, and that means theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom with her weekly review of one of the region's many thespian offerings. Today, she talks about Everyman Theatre's new production of Intimate Apparel, a play that premiered in 2003 at Baltimore's Center Stage. It's a contemporary work written in classic style by Lynn Nottage, the first female playwright to win two Pulitzers. Insp...

Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation now includes two indictments and a guilty plea. Writing yesterday in Vanity Fair Magazine, Gabriel Sherman reports that Steve Bannon is now openly worried about Donald Trump being impeached or removed under the 25th amendment, and that Bannon fears a revolt by some members of the cabinet, and the Republican establishment. All of this is, of course, music to th...

Last week, at a packed Baltimore City Council hearing, housing advocates and others lent their support to a Resolution put forth by Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke, which calls on the city to revive the Dollar House program of the 1970s and early 80s: Back then, the city sold more than 180 abandoned houses for $1 apiece, and, helped the buyers with financing and renovation help. Clarke...

Jeffrey Kluger joins Tom in Studio A to talk about his latest book, Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon, in which he makes the case that Apollo 8's historic orbital flyby of the Moon -- the first human venture beyond close-Earth orbit--was as important, if not more important, than the later mission, Apollo 11, that actually landed men on the lunar surface. Kluger has bee...

On the next Midday: It’s Midday with the Mayor. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh joins me for the hour. We’ll talk about her plan to address the rising homicide rate, the status of the Consent Decree between the city and justice department, and revitalizing some of the city’s major thoroughfares. Plus, what will ultimately happen with the confederate monuments she ordered taken down, and what her pl...

And now a Monday edition of Midday at the Movies, our monthly look at what’s new and notable in Hollywood and throughout the film industry. Tom's joined in Studio A by our movie maven regulars: Ann Hornaday is the film critic for the Washington Post, and Jed Dietz is the founding director of the Maryland Film Festival. Today, they consider the sexual assault and rape allegations that have been lev...

On Monday, the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and a longtime business associate, Richard Gates have been indicted by a federal grand jury on 12 criminal counts that include conspiracy and money laundering. Manafort and Gates surrendered themselves to FBI officials Monday. The indictment contends that Manafort earned more than $18...

We're delighted to welcome to Midday's Studio A the internationally acclaimed classical musician, Manuel Barrueco. A few years ago, Fanfare Magazine called the Cuban-born artist the world’s greatest living classical guitarist, and it’s hard to dispute that encomium. Three decades' worth of recordings and performances around the globe are the gold standard for legions of aspiring guitar players; fo...

Today, a Midday Newsmaker interview with Dr. Sonja Santelises, the president and CEO of the Baltimore City Public Schools. School has been back in session for two months; for many more months than that, the Kirwan Commission has debated ways to re-vamp the funding formula for schools statewide. Their findings were to have been released by the end of the year. Now, it appears that we won’t hear the...

Tom examines what’s ahead for American health care with two astute observers of health care policy and politics: Julie Rovner is Washington correspondent for Kaiser Health News, an independent, non profit news organization; she joins us from KHN studios in Washington, DC.; and Joseph Antos is a health policy scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative research center. He joins us...

It's time for our visit from Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of thespian offerings from the region's many stages. This week, Judy reviews Yellowman, the award-winning 2002 work by playwright Dael Orlandersmith, now running at Arena Players. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Maryland Historical Society Exhibition Explores Maryland's Social Landscape, the exhibit is called Structure and Perspective: David Brewster Explores Maryland’s Social Landscape. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Last week, a white former University of Maryland student was charged with a hate crime in connection to the stabbing death of a black Bowie State student Lt. Richard Collins III. Across the country there have been many reports of swastikas and nooses found on college campuses. The scholar Lawrence Ross, and student activist Ashley Vasquez join Tom Hall for a look at racism in higher education. Ema...

Tom’s guest today was Alice McDermott, the New York Times best-selling author of eight terrific novels. Three of them, After This, At Weddings and Wakes and That Night, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. Another novel, Charming Billy, won the National Book Award in 1998. Her eighth novel, The Ninth Hour, published just last month, is a profound and moving contemplation on the big issues: love,...

Baltimore is home to approximately 50,000 small businesses, more than half of which are minority owned. What do those businesses need to sustain themselves and to grow? What do entrepreneurs who dream of establishing their own companies need to get started? A new report prepared by Johns Hopkins University's 21st Century Cities Initiative looks at financing small business in Baltimore. Today, a co...

Now, a little music to take us into the weekend. Low Lily is a vocal and string trio from Vermont whose modern acoustic sound also taps the roots of folk and fiddle music. They join Tom live in Studio A. Low Lily is: Liz Simmons on guitar. Flynn Cohen on guitar and mandolin. And Lissa Schneckenburger on fiddle. They’ll be playing at Germano’s Piattini in Little Italy here in Baltimore on Friday ni...