Midday

Now, Tom turns to an author, advocate and activist who is working for justice and reconciliation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Catholics. Francis DeBernardo has been the executive director of New Ways Ministry for 26 years. He’s also the author of a book about a gay Franciscan priest renowned for having died trying to save victims of the terrorist attack in New York on 9/11. It...

Today, conversations about advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community . A little later in the show, Tom speaks with Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry, a national organization that advocates for LGBTQ Catholics. But we begin with Londyn Smith de Richelieu , the first trans member of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s cabinet, and the director of the Mayor’s new Office for...

Welcome to another edition of Midday at the Movies,  our monthly look at films and filmmaking, with two of our favorite movie mavens: Ann Hornaday , a film critic with the Washington Post , and author of the bestselling filmgoers' guide, Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies ;  and Jed Dietz , the founder and former director of the Maryland Film Festival and Parkway Theatre . Today they'll join To...

It's Midday on the Arts.   Now, more music, or in this case a musical about music, in a way. Our theater critic, J. Wynn Rousuck , who visits each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage, joins Tom today to share her impressions of an unusual new production of Meredith Willson's 1957 classic, The Music Man , now on stage at the Olney Theater Center. What sets this production apart is th...

Now, Tom welcomes back to the show one of the best jazz musicians in the business. Todd Marcus is a virtuoso bass clarinetist, composer and arranger. His latest album was released last Friday. It’s called In the Valley, and it features music he composed for his nine-piece big band, inspired by Todd’s visits to Egypt, to perform and to visit family. Todd Marcus joins us on Zoom from his home in San...

Today, it’s Midday on the Arts.  A little later, we’ll have a review from our theater critic, J. Wynn Rousuck , and Tom will speak with the acclaimed jazz clarinetist, Todd Marcus . He released a new album with his band last week. It’s called In the Valley, and we’ll get a preview with Todd today on Midday. But we begin with Jari Villanueva . He’s the musical director of the Hotel Paradise Orchest...

The January 6th committee will continue its series of public hearings next week.  Has the committee made the case for a criminal indictment of former President Donald Trump, based on his possible liability for the insurrection at the Capital last year, and the attempt to subvert the 2020 election? Joining Tom now is Robert Weisberg.   He’s a professor of criminal law at the Stanford Law School and...

A little more than a week after President Biden signed a gun safety bill that was touted as the most significant piece of gun legislation to clear Congress in 30 years, yet another young man opened fire on a crowd, this time, at a fourth of July parade in an affluent suburb of Chicago. The shooter, reportedly disguised as a woman, fled to his mother’s home, took her car, and took off. Police appre...

It has by no means been smooth sailing for Maryland election officials trying to keep the 2022 primaries on track. Contentious fights about redistricting forced primary election day to be delayed from June 28th to the 19th of July , in the middle of vacation season, at a time when Marylanders are not at all used to casting a ballot. Add to the mix the confusion over what the final district maps lo...

We turn now to the 2022 Dream Big Contest , a competition inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s ”I Have a Dream Speech.” Students from Baltimore City and Baltimore County grades 5-12 were asked to submit poems, essays and videos describing their dreams for themselves and for their communities. Now in its fifth year, the contest is co-sponsored by Lyric Baltimore’s Education Foundation. Tom is j...

Good afternoon and happy holiday. Welcome to this Fourth of July edition of Midday. Today, on this day when we celebrate the idea and the ideals of America: conversations about social justice and civil rights. A little later in this broadcast, we’ll hear from some young people who were finalists in the Big Dream Contest held earlier this year at the Lyric Theater. But we begin with Maya Davis and...

Maryland voters head to the polls next week. Mail-in voting has already begun. Early voting starts Thursday. Election day is two weeks from Tuesday. Today, it’s a special installment in our series of Conversations with the Candidates 2022 .  Two of the three leading candidates in the Democratic primary for Governor join Tom for the hour to discuss the issues on the minds of Marylanders. In early J...

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's here with her take on Chesapeake Shakespeare Company 's updated production of Much Ado About Nothing , the ever-popular Bard comedy that's now on stage at the open-air PFI Historical Park . Directed by Seamus Miller , the 16-member cast includ...

Last Friday, in a 6-3 decision, the US Supreme Court overturned fifty years of federally guaranteed abortion rights. The controversial ruling has been denounced by President Biden and abortion rights activists. But opponents of abortion, including many religious groups, celebrated the decision as a victory in their decades-long campaign to end legalized abortion in America. Joining Tom now is Arch...

We begin today with our Newsmaker guest, Dr. Sonja Santelises , the CEO of the Baltimore City Public Schools . Earlier this month, the Office of Inspector General for Education did an audit of city high schools after complaints that grades had been changed inappropriately. Over a period of four years, between 2016-2019, the audit found more than 12,000 grades had been changed, and it said its inve...

Today, another installment in Midday 's election-year series, Conversations with the Candidates: 2022 . We had hoped to have our guests join Tom in Studio A, but we learned this morning that isn’t possible. So, the three candidates in the Democratic primary for Baltimore State’s Attorney join us today on Zoom. The incumbent, Marilyn Mosby , is seeking the nomination to run for a third term… Ivan B...

Joining Tom now is the author, screenwriter, and columnist D Watkins . He is a New York Times best-selling author of four books, and an editor at large and columnist at Salon, and the winner of several awards . He was also one of the writers on the HBO mini-series, We Own This City, based on a book by the Baltimore Banner’s Justin Fenton and produced by David Simon, the creator of The Wire, among...

Midday begins today with a look at the first part of a new Goucher Poll , conducted in collaboration with The Baltimore Banner and WYPR, that takes the pulse of the Maryland electorate, with just 10 days to go before early voting begins in the 2022 statewide primary elections. The Goucher College Poll was conducted by telephone from June 15 to 19, 2022. It surveyed 502 registered Democrats and 507...

Today on Midday , we continue WYPR's Special Coverage of the historic Supreme Court ruling overturning 50 years of constitutional protections for abortion rights. Writing for the High Court majority that overturned Roe v Wade in a 6-3 decision announced Friday, Justice Samuel Alito said that the decision “returns the authority to regulate abortion to the people” meaning states can decide whether o...

Today, during the first half of the noon Midday hour, we continue WYPR's Special Live Coverage of the historic ruling ending abortion rights handed down Friday morning in a 6-3 decision by the conservative majority of the US Supreme Court. Ahead of President Joe Biden 's scheduled remarks on the ruling at 12:33pm, Midday host Tom Hall speaks with Prof. Margaret Johnson , co-director of the Center...

Time now for another visit with Midday's award-winning theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck , who joins Tom every week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today, she spotlights Once on This Island , a coming-of-age musical that opened on Broadway in 1990, with a book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty . The show's 2017 return to Broadway won the Tony Award for Best Musica...

We turn now to the theater, and to the new production of Shakespeare's ever-popular comedy, Much Ado About Nothing , being staged by Baltimore's Chesapeake Shakespeare Company-In-the-Ruins at the PFI Historic Park in Ellicott City, and directed by Seamus Miller. Joining Tom to talk about the play are two members of the cast: Chesapeake Shakespeare Company member Anna DiGiovanni , who plays "Beatri...

We begin today with another edition of Midday with the Mayor, our monthly series of live conversations with Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, in which he addresses Tom's questions about important issues facing the city. Among the topics we discuss today are the city's ongoing strategies for fighting crime, City Council battles over the budget, municipal staff shortages, the latest allocations of...

Now, another installment in our series of Conversations with the Candidates: 2022 . Joining Tom is Sam Cogen . He is a candidate in the Democratic primary for Sheriff of Baltimore City . Unlike the Baltimore Police Commissioner, who is appointed by the Mayor and approved by the City Council, the Sheriff is elected. Sam Cogen has had a 25-year career in the Sheriff’s office. He holds a degree from...

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol continued its series of televised public hearings on Tuesday. The hearing concluded with emotional testimony from elected officials in Arizona and Georgia and from election workers who were subjected to harassment by Donald Trump and his supporters as the president plotted to overturn his loss in the 2020 electio...