Midday

Maryland’s economy is facing unprecedented challenges. The state faces a budget deficit of over $3 billion, compounded by significant cuts and widespread layoffs from the federal government. Meanwhile, two of the country’s major credit reporting organizations differ on Maryland’s economic health. Moody’s downgraded the state’s bond rating. And as we head into hurricane and storm season, is the sta...

A years-long effort to improve accountability and transparency with the BPD began in 2017, when a consent decree with the Baltimore Police Department and the Department of Justice mandated the BPD significant improvements in transparency and procedure. 8 years later, a federal judge recently released Baltimore police from two sections of the consent decree, a sign changes were introduced. But some...

Bill Henry is the comptroller for Baltimore city. Last month, the Comptroller broke precedent and took the unusual step of abstaining when the Board of Estimates voted to send the budget to the City Council for its consideration. Midday asks him about that move, and ongoing discussions about PILOT, payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, agreements with some of Baltimore's most powerful educational and medical...

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore joins Midday to discuss changes at the Department of Juvenile Services. Vincent Schiraldi is out as DJS Secretary. Schiraldi says he has resigned because of negative media attention impacting the mission of his agency. Betsy Fox Tolentino, Managing Director of Young Adult Justice Initiatives at Roca, takes his place. Will new leadership mean a new way of doing things for th...

The tech industry is tumultuous, with tens of thousands of tech workers laid off in the last few years. But, tech companies are still advertising for workers, and they are placing those ads in a most unlikely place: print newspapers. ProPublica investigative reporter Alec MacGillis investigated this fascinating story recently. MacGillis is based here in Baltimore. He is the author of two books, Th...

Now, ever since the Baltimore Opera Company went out of business in 2009, local opera impresarios have worked hard to continue presenting productions that scratch the itch for local opera lovers, but it’s been a challenge. Two companies, Maryland Opera and Opera Baltimore, are currently carrying the torch, and they’ve picked up a significant partner in the effort to make opera once again, a part o...

The Chesapeake Bay's aquatic life are the fabric that make up the ecologic web of large estuary. Those animals, like fish, oyster and crab, are chief drivers of the region's economy, and are harvested to feed people in Maryland and beyond. For oysters and blue crab, population fluctuation has caused alarm among environmentalists and harvesters alike. This year, the bay's blue crab population decli...

Today is Midday at the Movies, our monthly focus on new films and film-industry trends with movie aficionados Jed Dietz, founding director of the Maryland Film Festival, and Ann Hornaday, film critic at the Washington Post. This week they discuss Mission Impossible, Lilo and Stitch, The Phoenician Scheme and a documentary about comedic actor Paul Reubens titled Pee Wee As Himself.

Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom in the studio to review one of our region's current theater productions. This week, a look at Gospel with Audacity at Arena Players. The new production, on stage through June 8, weaves together faith, melody and comedy.

WTMD’s First Thursday Festival returns tomorrow. The homegrown concert takes place every summer at the Canton Waterfront Park and features artists from Maryland. June's performing artists are Baltimore's own Rex Pax, the groovy Brooklyn-based outfit Brandi & the Alexanders and headliner Craig Finn. Tyler LaPorte, afternoon host and WTMD Interim Program Director, joins Midday to discuss the upcomin...

Since reopening in August 2022, The Peale describes itself as Baltimore's "Community Museum." Midday talks to new executive director John Suau about where he wants to take The Peale next.

Midday on Sports talks Orioles baseball and Ravens football. Plus, as the NBA Finals are set to kick-off, the WNBA held a game at CFG Bank Arena absent Caitlin Clark, but not absent plenty of enthusiasm. What do you think is at the heart of what the O's need to do to turn things around this year? How do you feel about the decision by the Ravens to punt Justin Tucker before a league report looking...

June is Pride month in Baltimore. For the 50th year, the Baltimore LGBTQ+ community will celebrate in a variety of events across the city, including the Pride Parade on June 14. Christian Lane, director of music at the Emmanuel Choir, will conduct the choir and a chamber orchestra in a performance of Considering Matthew Shepard on Friday night at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Mt. Vernon.

Dr. Leana Wen joins Tom for Midday Healthwatch, where they discuss issues affecting the health and well-being of Charm City residents. Today, we discuss vaccine boosters. U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped the recommendations for COVID boosters for healthy children and pregnant women. Plus, HHS has changed the way vaccines are tested. Meanwhile, the CDC reported that the year-t...

WYPR Baltimore County reporter John Lee hosts Midday and speaks with Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan. Madigan held the position since the office's inception in 2020, and received praise for her active role in investigating waste, fraud and abuse in county government. But at the end of five-year term in January, Madigan learned she would have to reapply to continue a second term. I...

When jazz singer Ethel Ennis married Baltimore Sun reporter Earl Arnett in Colorado in 1967, they became one of the region's most prominent interracial couples. Ennis passed away in 2019 and as a tribute to their life and marriage, Arnett is releasing his autobiography, "A Jazz Romance: Ethel Ennis, Baltimore and Me." In words and photos, the memoir tells the story of their great life and love in...

In Baltimore City, 3rd District Councilman Ryan Dorsey is advocating for a package of bills that seek to increase housing density and affordable homes. He joins Midday to explain how these bills will help potential homebuyers and bring more residents to Baltimore City.

Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins the show to share her review of "John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only" at Baltimore Center Stage. Matthew Weiner, who has credits from "Mad Men" and "The Sopranos," makes his playwriting debut in this show which tells a unique story set in Maryland. The play is a story from the past that has an eerie relevance to modern days.

What's on your summer reading lists? Whether you’re looking for a fluffy beach read, a hard-hitting political thriller or an in-depth historical study, our next guests have you covered. Julia Fleischaker is the owner of Greedy Reads, bookstores with locations in Remington and Fells Point, and Emma Snyder is the owner of The Ivy Bookshop in North Baltimore, and Bird in Hand in Charles Village. The...

Widespread agreement on the lack of affordability of medicine led Maryland and several other states to try something new: an independent board with the authority to study and recommend solutions for specific prescription drugs determined to be causing a burden to Marylanders. The Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board was the nation’s first such body. The idea was for it to serve as a watc...

A new exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art showcases human connections to nature amongst environmental change and social upheaval. Ekow Eshun is the curator of a new exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art, Black Earth Rising: Colonialism and Climate Change in Contemporary Art. It features the work of renowned artists who are responding to the challenges of the environment. The paintings, scul...

In this time of deepening political bifurcation, it is difficult to find consensus among friends, family or neighbors. Heather Mizeur has thought a lot about why that is, and what can be done about it. Mizeur was a member of the state House of Delegates for 8 years, and ran unsuccessful races for governor and for the House of Representatives. She joins Midday to talk about her efforts to bridge po...

Author Cat Bohannon joins Midday to discuss the female body and its 200 million year history. Her award-winning 2023 book, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution, was recently released in paperback. Scientific research long focused on the male body. In Eve, Bohannon shifts readers' attention to the female body, its evolution and why it matters today. The book seeks to...

Marco Merrick is the Founder and Director of The Community Concert Choir of Baltimore. The choir was formed in 2010 to help preserve Black sacred music. Merrick joins Midday to discuss their upcoming performing this weekend at Grace United Methodist Church. On June 8, the choir will make its debut at New York’s iconic Carnegie Hall.

At the beginning of this year, The Walters Art Museum welcomed Kate Burgin as its new Director. She had previously served in many roles at the museum, including Deputy Director. Burgin succeeds Dr. Julia Alexander, who had left the museum after 11 years to run a foundation in New York. Earlier this month, Alexander passed away suddenly at the age of 57. Burgin, still in the early months of her ten...