Midday

As Midday on the Arts continues, Tom's next guest is R. Eric Thomas , a playwright, author, screenwriter, and humorist who is a Baltimore native. He has not one, but two plays that will be given their world premieres here in his hometown. They are both comedies. The Folks at Home opened at Baltimore Center Stage last night. Crying on Television opens at the Everyman Theater on May 31st. Eric Thoma...

Today, it’s Midday on the Arts .  A little later this hour, we’ll check in with a playwright from Baltimore, R. Eric Thomas, who will premiere two new plays at two different theaters here in Baltimore this spring. Both Baltimore Center Stage and the Everyman Theater will be featuring his newest work. But first, Tom welcomes to the show an extraordinary, Grammy Award-nominated musi...

It's time for a visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck , who joins Tom each week with her reviews of the regional stage. This week, Judy spotlights the new touring company production of Dear Evan Hansen , the multiple Tony- and Grammy Award- winning Broadway musical that Judy first reviewed when it premiered at Washington's Arena Stage in July, 2015. Dear Evan Hansen features a book by T...

It's Midday at the Movies , our monthly look at films and filmmaking, and Tom is joined again by two of our favorite movie buffs: Ann Hornaday , the film critic for The Washington Post   and author of the best-selling movie-goers guide, Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies ;  and Jed Dietz, the founder and former director of the Maryland Film Festival and the historic Parkway Theatre ....

Yesterday, the Maryland Court of Appeals postponed the date for primary elections that had been scheduled for June 28th. They will now be held on July 19th . The deadline for candidates to file to be on the ballot has also been pushed back from March 22nd to April 15th. The delays are related to the fact that various courts are hearing challenges to the re-districting maps for Congressional distri...

We turn now for a look at fiscal concerns at the local level with today's Midday Newsmaker guest, Bill Henry , who is the Comptroller of Baltimore City . Mr. Henry, Mayor Brandon Scott and City Council President Nick Mosby hold the three city-wide elected offices in Baltimore. In addition to his supervision of city-wide auditing, his oversight of several key departments and his role on the city's...

US inflation is at a 40-year high. Rising gas prices are one of the indicators of which many Americans are all too acutely aware. There has been an outpouring of support in the United States and around the world for Ukraine. The heroic response to Russia’s invasion by Ukraine's armed forces and civilians, and the determination and resolve of the country’s President, have been inspiring...

Now, we turn our attention to a singer-songwriter you likely know as an actor. Kiefer Sutherland will be playing music from his new album - his third - called Bloor Street, Tuesday night at the Ram’s Head in Annapolis, Maryland, performing with special musical guests Marc Copely and Rocco Deluca . Check out the video of the title cut from that new album, here ... Tom reached Kiefer Sutherlan...

Today, it’s Midday on the Arts .   A little later in the show, Tom speaks with the actor Kiefer Sutherland . In addition to his work on television and in film, he’s an accomplished singer-songwriter. He’s playing some tunes from his latest album tomorrow night in Annapolis, and he’ll join us to talk about it today on Midday.   But we begin with the powerful a...

And now, it’s another installment in our series of Conversations with the Candidates: 2022 .  Tom's guest is Doug Gansler , a Democrat who is running in the primary for Governor. Mr. Gansler served as Assistant US Attorney and as the Montgomery County State’s Attorney before being elected as the Maryland Attorney General in 2006. He served two terms in that office, and ran unsucce...

On Thursday afternoon, a few minutes after 5:00pm, the US Attorney’s Office in Baltimore released a superseding indictment against Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby . The indictment expands on the charges handed down in January, concerning Ms. Mosby’s purchase of two properties in Florida. Joining Tom now with legal analysis of these new charges is David Jaros , assoc...

Tom's guest for the hour today is Elizabeth Williamson , a reporter for the New York Times who has written a book that traces the lineage from conspiracy theories that surrounded the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012 through every other major trauma that has occurred since, up to and including the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The book is disturbing and important....

Next on Midday , we shift our focus from the international arena to state politics. Tom's guest is Dayvon Love , the director of public policy at Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle , a social justice advocacy organization that works to improve the conditions of Black people in the Baltimore metropolitan area. With just over four weeks left in the 2022 Maryland General Assembly , Dayvon Love joins us...

Just as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has galvanized bi-partisan support for Ukraine in the US Senate, the devastating destruction Russia has unleashed on the independent democratic people of Ukraine has prompted similar bi-partisan efforts in the House of Representatives to provide strategic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Joining Tom now is Rep. Kweisi Mfume , who represents Maryland&r...

The UN estimates there are 2 million refugees who have fled their homes in Ukraine. Many have crossed into neighboring countries on Ukraine’s western border. Yesterday, President Biden announced a ban on Russian oil and gas entering the US. The average price of a gallon of gas in MD stands today at $4.23. A steady stream of international companies has stopped doing business in Russia. Yester...

In an essay in the Washington Post yesterday, Dmytro Kuleba , the Foreign Minister of Ukraine writes, “For decades, world leaders bowed their heads at war memorials across Europe and solemnly proclaimed: “Never again.” The time has come to prove those were not empty words.” Tom's next guest is retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman . As a member of the National Security Council...

Today, another in our series of Conversations with the Candidates: 2022 .  Tom's guest is Ashwani Jain . He is a candidate in the June 28 Democratic primary for Maryland Governor. This is Mr. Jain's second attempt at elective office. He lost a race for the Montgomery County Council in 2018. He worked in a variety of roles in the Obama Administration, including in then-Vice President Joe Biden...

In the middle of January, the US was reporting more than 900,000 new cases of COVID 19 every day. The daily case count now averages less than 50,000. Here in Maryland, two months ago the testing positivity rate was nearly 27%. Now, it stands at less than 2%. Maryland and the District of Columbia have the nation’s lowest daily case rate. The vaccination rate is creeping up very, very slowly....

This is theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck with a special online review of Single Carrot Theatre ’s production of "Is Edward Snowden Single?" The show is being performed at the former Windup Space . "Is Edward Snowden Single?" is the only play I’ve ever seen where the actors tell the theatergoers they can use their cellphones at any time during the performance. That’s the first indic...

Today, we continue our 2022 series of Conversations with the Candidates . Between now and the primary in June, we’ll be talking to candidates vying for their party’s nominations for some of MD’s most high-profile offices. Tom's guest today is Rushern Baker, III , a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Maryland Governor. Mr. Baker entered politics in 1994, serving in the Ma...

Now, we turn to Adam Harris , a staff writer for The Atlantic.  He’s the author of The State Must Provide:  Why America's Colleges Have Always Been Unequal--and How to Set Them Right, and he’s been writing in The Atlantic about the spate of bomb threats directed at HBCUs around the country, including here in Baltimore. On the first of February, the first day of Black History...

Russian troops have gained control of the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine . A 40-mile convoy of troops that has been observed for days appears to be stalled on its way to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Russia has kept up a steady stream of indiscriminate bombing, killing thousands of civilians, according to Ukrainian government officials, utilizing weapons that are banned by the Geneva Conventio...

We’ve been talking about this year’s Maryland General Assembly Session in Annapolis. Tom turns now to Ovetta Wiggins , who covers the State House and Maryland politics for The Washington Post.   Ovetta Wiggins joins us on Zoom from Annapolis. Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Next, we turn our attention to Maryland state government. Two Republican leaders in the Maryland General Assembly join Tom to talk about their legislative agenda and how things are going, at the halfway mark in this year’s Session in Annapolis. Sen. Bryan Simonaire is the Senate Minority Leader. He represents District 31, Anne Arundel County. Del. Haven Shoemaker is the Minority Whip in the...

"Tonight, we meet as Democrats, Republicans, independents, but most importantly, as Americans with a duty to one another, to America, to the American people, to the Constitution. And an unwavering resolve that freedom will always triumph over tyranny..."  — President Joe Biden, State of the Union Address, 3.01.2022 President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address Tuesd...