Midday

Tom's next guest is Nancy Luse . She’s an Assistant Editor for Frederick Magazine and a former reporter for the Frederick News-Post. She is the co-curator of an exhibition of classic black-and-white news photographs shot during the 1970s to 90s by photojournalists at the News-Post, where Nancy worked "back in the day" as a features editor. The exhibition is called Unshuttered: Celebrating Frederic...

On this Indigenous People’s Day holiday, it’s another installment in our series of Conversations with the Candidates: 2022. Today, Tom's guest is Del. Neil Parrott . He is a Republican candidate for the 6th US congressional district , which includes Frederick, Hagerstown, Cumberland and the area stretching to the western border of the state. He is running against incumbent Congressman David Trone...

Anne Wiggins Brown — whom we hear at the opening of this segment singing "Summertime" from the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess — is one of the many great artists to come out of Baltimore’s rich musical community. Porgy and Bess composer George Gershwin chose the then-23 year-old Brown to sing the title role of Bess in his opera, a role that helped launch her storied career. This weekend, Opera Baltimore...

Today, we begin the hour with another installment of Midday at the Movies , our monthly look at films and filmmaking. We're pleased to have with us again movie mavens Ann Hornaday , film critic for the Washington Post , who joins us on Zoom, and Jed Dietz , the founder and former director of the Maryland Film Festival and Parkway Theater. He's with us in Studio A. Today, they spotlight several new...

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck , who joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today, she tells us about the new production of Pulitzer Prize- and Obie Award-winning playwright Katori Hall' s 2007 drama, Hoodoo Love , on stage now through October 9th at Baltimore's Spotlighters Theatre . Directed at Spotlighters by Rain Pryor , the pl...

Tom's next guest is Alice Volpitta , a water quality and monitoring scientist who has served since 2019 as Harbor Water Keeper for Blue Water Baltimore , the local not-for-profit clean water watchdog group. She has an update on the status of the State’s oversight of Baltimore City's troubled wastewater treatment plants. Alice Volpitta joins us on Zoom. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @Midda...

We begin the hour today with Midday with the Mayor, and another of Tom's monthly conversations with Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott about key issues facing the city and residents of Charm City. Among the topics on the agenda today: the city's new police districts; some progress in reducing gun violence; continuing concerns about the city's wastewater treatment facilities; and the mayor's latest...

Today it's Midday on the Law . The U.S. Supreme Court kicked off its new term on Monday, a term that many expect will include some blockbuster rulings on par with the overturning of Roe v Wade , the controversial decision from last term. This year, cases on voting rights, the environment, gay rights, freedom of speech and other issues may result in the court swinging US law farther to the right. J...

Come January, the State of Maryland will have three new elected officials in three key statewide offices: Governor, Attorney General and Comptroller . Governor Larry Hogan is term-limited and cannot run again. Attorney General Brian Frosh is retiring, and the incumbent Comptroller, Democrat Peter Franchot , did not seek re-election to a fifth term, opting to run for Governor instead. Today, it’s a...

And now, another edition of the Midday Healthwatch, Tom's monthly conversation with public health advocate  Dr. Leana Wen. She's an emergency physician and visiting professor at George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health . She’s also a former Health Commissioner of the city of Baltimore, and a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution , as well as a commentator for CN...

Joining Tom now is Naima Coster, the author of the New York Times best seller, What’s Mine and Yours , which has been chosen by Maryland Humanities as this year’s One Maryland One Book . That’s a program in which Marylanders all over the state read the same book, and have the opportunity to talk about it with other readers, and with the author. Naima Coster ’s novel explores the dynamics of family...

Today on Midday, conversations with two novelists who have written books about racial inequality, liberation and integration. They are very different stories, but they are both insightful, provocative, and compelling. Naima Coster is the author of What’s Mine and Yours.  We’ll talk with Naima a little later in the program. We begin with Dr. Wendy Shaia , who serves on the faculty of the University...

Now, another in Midday 's series of Conversations with the Candidates, 2022 , produced as a service to Maryland voters in the runup to the November 8 general election.  Midday host Tom Hall speaks with The Working Class Party of Maryland' s nominees for Maryland Governor, David Harding, and for Maryland lieutenant governor, Cathy White. David Harding has lived and worked in Baltimore for many deca...

Joining Tom now is LaFontaine Oliver, the president of the Your Public Radio Corporation and the General Manager of WYPR .  He has also just completed a term as chairman of NPR's Board of Directors. LaFontaine Oliver joins Tom in Studio A to talk about some of the issues facing Your Public Radio as WYPR wraps up its Fall Membership Campaign. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or c...

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck , who joins Tom each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today, she tells us about Baltimore Center Stage 's new production of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Our Town , often described as the finest American play ever written. The classic 1938 theater piece, which tells the story of the people i...

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol last year delayed the hearing it had originally scheduled for yesterday due to hurricane Ian, which began slamming parts of Florida yesterday. Severe damage and flooding are making Ian one of the worst storms in US history. No new date for the committee hearing has yet been announced. Today on the Midday Newswr...

On Midday today, Tom's guest for the hour is an award-winning news anchor who has been a fixture on local television for decades. Stan Stovall will be retiring soon as an anchor at WBAL Television . In 1971, as an anchor at a station in Phoenix, Arisona, Stan was the youngest anchor in the United States. He was 18 years old. His career as a newsman — behind the desk and in the field — has taken hi...

Today on Midday , we’re going to follow-up on a Midday exclusive story we brought you last week about Question K , a voter referendum issue that will appear on ballots in Baltimore city in the November election. Question K asks voters to decide whether or not city officials should be limited to two terms in office, beginning in 2024. Sounds simple enough, right? You hold an office for two terms, a...

It’s Midday on Education .  Students in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, as well as throughout the state, have been back at the books for about a month now. As is our custom, we like to check in with school leaders at the beginning of the school year to see how the academic year is going so far. Tom's first guest is Dr. Sonja Santelises . She was appointed CEO of the Baltimore City Public Scho...

We open with a selection from Albeniz's Granada ... as performed by Tom's next guest, Emmanuel Barrueco . He is an internationally acclaimed performing artist and teacher. He lives here in Baltimore, and he serves on the faculty of the Peabody Institute . He has toured the world and recorded many albums. He and his wife are the founders of the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society , which is sponsori...

We begin today with the Mexican American poet, novelist and essayist, Erika L. Sánchez . Her book, I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter is being made into a film. It was a New York Times best selling young adult novel, and a finalist for the National Book Award. Ms. Sánchez is the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Chair, and Writer-in-Residence in the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies at D...

Next, an exclusive update to a conversation Tom had on Wednesday's Midday show with former Baltimore mayors Sheilah Dixon and Kurt Schmoke , about an important November ballot initiative. Mayor Schmoke, a seasoned attorney who now serves as president of the University of Baltimore, pointed out something very interesting about Question K , the ballot referendum that if approved this November, would...

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck , who joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today, she spotlights Baltimore's Vagabond Players production of Stop Kiss, a 1998 drama by playwright Diana Son . This complex tale of love, endurance and compassion is directed at Vagabond Players by Belle Burr , and is recommended for mature audiences be...

It’s Midday on the Law.  On Monday, Adnan Syed was released from prison and allowed to go home, with a GPS monitor, after 23 years behind bars. His conviction for murdering Hae-Min Lee in 1999 was vacated. He was not exonerated of the crime, although that may happen. Mr. Syed’s case was chronicled in the podcast, Serial, and in an HBO documentary series . Mr. Syed remains, at this moment, charged...

The ballot for Baltimore City residents in the November election will include several referendums, the last of which, Question K , reads: “for the purpose of establishing a two-term limit for Baltimore City elected officials, including the Mayor, Comptroller, City Council President, and City Council members. None of these elected officials shall hold office for more than eight (8) years during any...