Midday

Anne Lamott is a best-selling author whose large body of work resonates with millions of readers. She writes both fiction and non-fiction and she has just published her twentieth book, ' Somehow: Thoughts on Love.'  She joined Midday  in early April to discuss the book, her motivations for writing and her experiences with love. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-...

Dr. Christopher Leighton, the founding executive director of the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies (ICJS) talks about his memoir, which traces the formation of the ICJS and its efforts to foster religious understanding. It’s called A Sacred Argument: Dispatches from the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Encounter . Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410...

Tom speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marilynne Robinson about her latest book, Reading Genesis, where she illuminates how Genesis is a paradigm for the rest of the Bible and “a meditation on the problem of evil.” Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

From tax preparation to SNAP benefits, health care to housing, a myriad of government services have been privatized in the name of cost savings and efficiency. But the cost to taxpayers and to recipients is high, and the impact on corporate influence in government is undeniable. Anne Kim writes about the money made on America's poor, in her new book Poverty for Profit: How Corporations Get Rich of...

Maryland Democrats were on the mainstage at this week's Democratic National Convention with speeches from Governor Wes Moore, Congressman Jamie Raskin and Prince George’s County Executive and Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks. Josh Kurtz , founding editor of Maryland Matters joins Midday to reflect on Maryland's impact in Chicago. Then, Baltimore City recently settled for $152 million with Cardin...

If you are looking to make the most of the last weeks of warm temperatures, you might wanna out to the valleys and ridges of western Maryland. Midday is joined by two Marylanders with extensive knowledge of the outdoors. Nature photographer and author Mark Hendricks spent many seasons traversing the ancient Appalachian Mountains crossing Maryland’s western handle. He joins Midday to discuss the be...

The demise of the Bethlehem Steel Plant at Sparrows Point was devastating for the economy of Eastern Baltimore County. Ten years ago, investors bought the 32-hundred acre steel plant property and since then have transformed it into a global logistics center called Tradepoint Atlantic. Thousands of people work there, and there are plans to build a deep water container terminal, which Tradepoint est...

  When Johnny Olszewski ran for Baltimore County Executive he talked about growing up in the shadow of the steel mill, Bethlehem Steel. This steel mill is long gone and today we are discussing Eastern Baltimore County’s ongoing economic recovery, which has been at least partly due to the Tradepoint Atlantic development on the old Bethlehem Steel site. County Executive Olszewski joined Midday from...

Today is the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Democratic delegates officially nominated Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for vice president this week. Cory Vaillancourt joins Midday from Chicago to discuss the latest news in national politics. He is the politics editor for the Smoky Mountain News , headquartered in Waynesville, North...

The death of an employee of Baltimore City's Department of Public Works worker led to an outcry from labor advocates. Now, city councilmembers are reacting, too. The City Council is scheduled to meet August 22 to examine the working conditions at the department. On August 2, Ronald Silver, 36, died of heat sickness after working his trash collection route when Baltimore City was under a Code Red h...

The Baltimore Orioles are set to finish a series in New York City against the hometown Mets today. Afterward, the O’s come back home to start an important four game series tomorrow against the Houston Astros. The O's play the Astros without a star pitcher following yet another injury. Kyle Goon is a sports columnist for The Baltimore Banner , and he joins Midday to give up an update on the Orioles...

This year, the Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) is on track to hit a record  $1 billion in issuance of construction and general bonds. In fact, over $700 million in public and private transactions involving state bonds are expected to close within the next month. J. Thomas Sadowski, the Executive Director of MEDCO, joins Midday to discuss how he plans to oversee this $1 billion in...

The redevelopment of Harborplace downtown continues to be at the center of debate and speculation. The masterplan for this site's redevelopment will go before the city's planning commission this Thursday. Harborplace was sold to the private Baltimore developer MCB Real Estate in 2023. MCB unveiled new designs for the site which require a change in usage to allow two additional residential towers....

Human have long looked into the night sky and searched for signs, for meaning, in the lights twinkling above us. And through the years, humankind developed tools to become better stargazers; from Galileo’s astronomical telescope to the Hubble Space Telescope launched into near-Earth Orbit nearly a quarter century ago. And a couple years ago, the James Webb Space Telescope followed . Webb has high...

Baltimore’s sewage system is one of its oldest assets, and its decay has plagued the parts of the city for years. Sewage backups caused by extreme weather or broken pipes leave residents with a costly clean up that can imperil their health. Aman Azhar is a reporter for Inside Climate News . He joins us to discuss the city's sewage infrastructure, its plan to help residents and a call from advocate...

The neighborhoods surrounding the Inner Harbor are some of the fastest growing parts of Baltimore. Now the population of the harbor is growing with the addition of turtles, mallards, a pair of river otters and a school of Atlantic silverside fish — all members of the Chesapeake Bay’s native ecosystem. The animals and sea life are drawn to the harbor by a new 10,000-square-foot “floating wetlands,”...

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Midday  to share a review of a pair of local theatre productions. Soft Power continues at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., through September 15, while Beautiful: The Carole King Musical continues at Olney Theatre Center through August 25. (DJ Corey Photography) Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

In March of 2021, a year into the COVID pandemic, Baltimore City received a chunk of $65.1 billion dollars in American Rescue Plan (ARPA) grants. Baltimore’s take was $641 million dollars, which Mayor Brandon Scott disbursed to city agencies, quasi-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations who are charged with improving housing, infrastructure, violence prevention and a host of other...

While temperatures in the Baltimore metropolitan area have been a little lower this week, farmers across the state have been contending with a drought that has extended over the last three years. We begin today with Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks , to discuss Maryland farmers and food systems that bring fruits, vegetables and other crops to your table. Email us at midday@wypr.org,...

The Baltimore metro region lost nearly 23,000 jobs in the first quarter of this year, but 54 new businesses began in Baltimore city during the second quarter, and the city attracted more than $56 million dollars in venture capital investment. My guest today is Colin Tarbert . He is the President and CEO of the Baltimore Development Corporation, the agency that oversees economic development for the...

The state's largest union of educators, the Maryland State Education Association, sees new leadership heading into the 2024-2025 school year. Paul Lemle and Nikki Woodward bring decades of experience as educators and paraprofessionals to their new role. Reinvigorating the pipeline of teachers is one of the issues top of mind for the new leaders of MSEA, which represents nearly 75,000 teachers and...

Rising seniors from several local high schools join Midday to discuss the issues they think are important as they prepare to cross into adulthood. The panel of students discusses bullying, mental illness, academic support, school safety and where these young people see themselves in our chaotic world. Shawn Ware is a 17-year-old at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women. She lives in the...

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Midday  to share another weekly review of a theatrical production in the greater Baltimore region. This week, reviews of two musicals at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Nine is based on the groundbreaking 1963 movie, “8 1/2,” by Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, while Back to the Future: The Musical is adapted from the 1...

Tia Hamilton is the owner of Urban Reads, and the publisher of State vs. Us Magazine, a publication for incarcerated people around the country. Tomorrow she is centering students at a youth summit at the Urban Reads Bookstore on Greenmount Avenue in Baltimore’s Waverly neighborhood. Tia speaks with Tom about the youth summit and the importance of bridging current leadership with future leadership....

ProPublica reporter Alec MacGillis recently wrote about Paul Dans, the former director of Project 2025 which was created to help build the next Republican administration. Dans has Baltimore roots as the son of a Johns Hopkins professor. According to MacGillis, by the time Dans stepped down from his role with Project 2025, much of the work was in place to develop a large database of Trump loyal app...