Midday

Today on Midday, host Tom Hall is delighted to welcome the Ndlovu Youth Choir to the Performance Space at our sister station WTMD, in Towson, Maryland. This talented singing group from South Africa — the troupe with us today is comprised of seven young men and six young women — has become one of the world's most popular and inspirational musical ensembles since it was formed in 2009. The creative...

Tom's guests on this encore edition of Midday are two authors who have new books — and a special bond. Ann Patchett is the best-selling author of nine novels, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a recipient of the National Humanities Medal. Her new book, published this past August, is called Tom Lake . Her protagonist is an actress who ultimately lands in a different line of work. It’s a tender,...

Tom's guest is local author Patrick Smithwick. He has written a poignant and heart-wrenching book about his son Andrew, a veteran, and his descent into mental illness. The book is called War’s Over, Come Home: A Father’s Search for His Son, Two-Tour Marine Veteran of the Iraq War . Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

It’s the Midday Newswrap. We’re going to take a look behind the headlines of some of the big local stories of the past week. Yesterday, a federal grand jury found former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby guilty on two counts of perjury. WYPR’s  Wambui Kamau  was in the courtroom in Greenbelt when the verdict was handed down. Bryan Sears , who covers government for the indispensable news web...

Midday Theater Critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Midday every week to review our region's current theater productions. This week, she reviews   "Chess" which runs at the Vagabond Players Theatre until Nov. 19, 2023. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

John Eisenberg , an award-winning former sportswriter and columnist at the Baltimore  Sun  is the author of ten books. His latest book, "Rocket Men: The Black Quarterbacks Who Revolutionized Pro Football," is a compelling chronicle of the long, slow turn around in attitudes among NFL owners and coaches, who for nearly one hundred years refused to consider Black players as team leaders. Email us at...

Today on Midday, it’s the Midday Healthwatch with  Dr. Leana Wen . This week Tom talks with Dr. Wen about Paxlovid and any precautions people should take as we move toward the Thanksgiving holiday. They also discuss the pros and cons of using Ozempic for weight loss. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today is Election Day in Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and several other states which means our country is exactly one year away from the 2024 presidential election. Two acclaimed political commentators join me with perspective on tonight's election results and what’s ahead for the next year. E.J. Dionne  is a syndicated columnist for the  Washington Post  and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Instituti...

The Baltimore Peace Movement, formerly Baltimore Ceasefire, holds Peace Promise events on four weekends every year that include sacred space rituals, and life-affirming activities that celebrate peace and give voice to the deep-seeded desire to end violence in our city. After each of these weekends, we invite organizers of the Baltimore Peace Movement to share reflections on the events of the prev...

Dr. James Zogby  joins us to discuss how the Biden administrations actions during the Israel-Hamas war might cost the President crucial Arab American votes in 2024. A recent poll from the New York Times and Siena College  found Trump leading Biden in six crucial battleground states. Zogby is a co-founder of the Arab American Institute, which advocates on behalf of the 3.7 million Arab Americans ac...

The Rafah Gate between Gaza and Egypt opened last week, allowing some Americans and nationals from other countries to escape the hell that is the Gaza Strip. Yesterday, White House principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said that more than 300 Americans have been able to leave Gaza so far. This as the death toll in Gaza continues to climb . Over 10,000 people have died in Gaza since...

Theater critic  J. Wynn Rousuck  joins Tom to share another weekly review of a local theatrical production. This week, she spotlights  "The Chinese Lady" at the Everyman Theatre. The show runs through November 19, 2023. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Last Monday, Gov. Wes Moore, Senate President Bill Ferguson, and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott joined the developer David Bramble to announce preliminary designs for a reboot of Harbor Place. Melody Simmons  covers development for the  Baltimore Business Journal . She joins Midday to discuss the plans for Harborplace. Then,  Pamela Wood of  The Baltimore Banner  joins Midday to share her reporting...

Today is  Midday at the Movies,  our monthly focus on new films and film-industry trends, with our regular movie aficionados,  Jed Dietz,  founding director of the  Maryland Film Festival ,  and  Ann Hornaday , film critic for the  Washington  Post. We will discuss Martin Scorsese's latest film,  Killers of the Flower Moon . We also discuss Lady Bird Diaries , a stunning documentary intimately cap...

For this month's edition of Midday with the Mayor , Tom speaks with Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott about juvenile offenders, Safe Streets funding and plans for redeveloping Harborplace.  Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman joins the show. When Mr. Pittman was elected in 2018, he was a newcomer to elective office. He is in his second term, and he will not be eligible to run for a third term in 2026 due to term limits in the County charter. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Howard County Executive  Calvin Ball  joins us today. He is in his second and final term. In his state of the County address last week, County Executive Ball talked about affordable housing, flood mitigation, workforce development, and other initiatives Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today on  Midday,  a conversation with two prominent public officials about the Child Interrogation Law. In 2022, the Maryland General Assembly passed a law intended to protect children from coercive tactics and pressure from police and prosecutors during questioning about crimes.  The Child Interrogation Protection Act was vetoed by then Governor Larry Hogan. The legislature overrode that veto, a...

Our guest  Jill Lepore  is a writer with an amazing gift for drawing connections between the historical and the contemporary. She connects dots like no other observer, and in this terrific and wide-ranging compendium, she weaves a beautiful tapestry of the personal and public, the quirky and the quotidian. She’s a professor of history at Harvard and next summer, she will take on a concurrent appoi...

Today in the Midday Newswrap, Tom speaks with  WYPR Reporter Wambui Kamau  about the Baltimore County Council and an initiative to address mass incarceration in Maryland. Afterwards, Tom talks with  New York Times Congressional Reporter Luke Broadwater  about the election of the new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tom speaks with  Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr.  about current concerns in the county including youth safety, transportation funds and plans for enhancing accountability. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews "Funny Girl" at the Hippodrome Theatre. The show is a sweet comedy about a young girl who dreams of life on the Broadway stage. “Funny Girl” continues at the Hippodrome through Sunday, October 29. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Cannabis is big business, and more than $420 million dollars of medical and recreational use cannabis was sold in Maryland in the first eight months of the year. When the General Assembly made recreational cannabis legal, it established a new Office of Social Equity, to assure that members of traditionally marginalized communities have access to the resources they need to establish businesses in t...

Governor Wes Moore has committed to reviving the  Red Line,  the east-west transit project that would connect Woodlawn in the west to Bayview in the east. During the last Red Line development process, the business community did not play a large role in the planning. With the relaunch of this transit project, business leaders pledge to be more proactively engaged and supportive of the Red Line. Tom...

Today on  Midday,  multiple   perspectives on the conflict in the Middle East. Tom starts with Maryland  Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger,  then we hear from  Sam Sokol, a Tel-Aviv based reporter for Haaretz . Later in the show, he speaks with  Dr. Mitchell Bard,  who is the Executive Director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise and is also the father of a 26-year-old Israeli A...