Midday

Tom's Newsmaker guest today is Baltimore City Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. Last weekend, as the nation celebrated independence from the scourge of 18th century tyranny, the scourge of 21st century violence was felt from coast to coast. The Gun Violence Archive reported that at least 189 people were killed in the US during the 4th of July holiday. In the city of Chicago alone, 104 people w...

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn. Rousuck, who joins us today with her review of William Shakespeare's Adventures of Pericles , in a new production by the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company , performing live-on-stage "In the Ruins" at the PFI Historical Park in Ellicott City. Directed by Matthew R. Wilson , with scenic design by Dan O'Brien and costumes by Kristina Lambdi...

It’s Midday on the Environment. Today, a conversation about the Chesapeake Bay . The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States, extending 200 miles from its northern headwaters in the Susquehanna River to its outlet in the Atlantic Ocean. It’s fed by more than 150 major rivers and streams and it encompasses parts of six states and the District of Columbia. The number o...

  "This year, the Fourth of July is a day of special celebration, for we are emerging from the darkness of a year of pandemic and isolation, a year of pain, fear and heartbreaking loss. Just think back to where this nation was a year ago, think back to where YOU were a year ago, and think about how far we've come.” — President Joe Biden , speaking at the White House on Sunday, Jul...

Today, it’s Midday on Politics , and a look back at last year’s chaotic and unpredictable Presidential election cycle. In a new, comprehensive analysis of the 2020 race for the Democratic nomination, journalist Edward-Isaac Dovere reports that after losses in early primaries in the beginning of 2020, a despondent Joe Biden thought that his dream of becoming president was once again sli...

(This conversations was originally broadcast on July 3, 2020) Welcome back to this archive edition of Midday . Tom's next guest is Madison Smartt Bell . He’s the author of a dozen novels, and he’s perhaps best known for his award-winning trilogy of books on the Haitian Revolution and its iconic leader, the 18th century general, Toussaint Louverture. Bell has also written several non-fi...

(This conversation was originally broadcast on April 28, 2020) Welcome to this archive edition of Midday . On our program today, Tom Hall's conversations with two acclaimed authors. Coming up a little later (and posted separately), he speaks with Madison Smartt Bell about his biography of the late American author, Robert Stone. But we begin with a conversation Tom had in March of 2020 with Louise...

It's time for another visit from Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck , who joins Tom today with her review of The Garden , a new drama written by and starring Tony-Award nominated playwright/actor Charlayne Woodard . Directed by Patricia McGregor and also starring Caroline Stefanie Clay, the play world-premieres tonight (July 2) as a streaming production from Baltimore Center Stage , and will be...

It’s another edition of Midday at the Movies , our monthly look at films and filmmaking. With COVID restrictions being lifted as the summer movie season gets underway, we take stock of the re-opening cinema scene and spotlight some of the new summer films that may entice reluctant movie lovers back to theaters for that "silver screen" experience. Zooming in from hither and yon today are our...

It’s Midday with the Mayor. Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott joins Tom for the hour. Baltimore will receive $640 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan , which President Biden signed into law in March. The City will open an Office of Recovery soon to oversee implementation of the programs that the federal aid will fund. We’ll ask the Mayor what his priorities are for how the...

It’s Midday on Personal Finance. Tom's guest today is the award-winning personal finance syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, Michelle Singletary . Her latest book is a hands-on, step by step guide to navigating out of financial problems when our money plans are upended by unexpected problems like a pandemic, for example. Global medical crises aren’t the only reason people fin...

It’s What Ya Got Cookin'? , our occasional spotlight on traditional cooking and food preparation . Today on Midday, three great local chefs join Tom to talk about their cooking journeys, and offer ideas on how to make our 4th of July holiday gathering festive and fun. We begin with a young chef from Baltimore who is making her mark on national television. Turn on the TV any night of the week...

Today, it’s Teacher Appreciation Day on Midday . We’d love to hear from you if you’d like to give a shout-out to a teacher who is a favorite of yours or students in your household… What will the long-term impact of the COVID crisis be on City students? What can teachers, students and staff expect when they return to full-time in-person learning in the fall? Tom's first gue...

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom this week with reviews of two new streaming productions by local theater companies. The first, from Bethesda-based Round House Theatre , is playwright Young Jean Lee 's "We're Gonna Die." Directed by Paige Hernandez , is part one-woman stage play and part live-band rock concert that ponders the slings and arrows...

In the 1800s, they called it “Mobtown.” In the 1970s, a PR campaign dubbed it “Charm City.” By the 90s, locals in certain parts of the city referred to it as “Bodymore, Murderland.” Whatever you call it, for those of us who call Baltimore home, or for those who are visiting for the first time, a new book surveys the places and people who have made our town what...

For months, the world’s leading science journals have been filled with the news of research trials on new drug treatments for disorders such as post-traumatic stress syndrome, clinical depression, and drug and alcohol addiction. What makes these treatments so remarkable is that they employ two powerful psychedelics, or hallucinogenic, compounds that provide patients with significant - and la...

Today on Midday , it’s Midday on Foreign Affairs. Tom's next guest is Krish O’Mara Vignarajah , the president and CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service . She formerly served in the Obama Administration as a senior adviser at the State Department and as a policy director for Michelle Obama. Ms. Vignarajah describes the uncertain prospects for Afghans who have been serving...

Today on Midday, it’s Midday on Foreign Affairs. We begin with a perspective on what was achieved during last week’s summit in Geneva between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Tom's guest is Melvin Goodman . He served for 42 years in government service, including positions at the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and the National War College. To...

Tom's Newsmaker guest today is Dr. Sonja Santelises , the CEO of the Baltimore City Public Schools. Summer school is underway in the city four days a week, and the need for many students to address learning loss that arose during this past, tumultuous academic year is great. By the end of last month, 65% of secondary students and half of elementary students were failing at least one class. When sc...

It’s Midday on Ethics , another in our regular series of conversations with Jeffrey Kahn, PhD, MPH , the director and professor of Bioethics and Public Policy at The Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. The news about COVID-19 in Maryland continues to improve. For the second day in a row, no one has died from the disease in our state, and health officials are reporting fewer than 50...

On June 19th, 1865, Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 in Galveston, Texas, declaring that all slaves were free, two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox, Virginia, ending the Civil War. Tom's guest today is the author and historian, Annette Gordon-Reed . She has written a beautiful peroration on the meaning of t...

It's time for another visit from Midday's theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck , who joins Tom on Skype today with her movie hat on: she spotlights the new film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda 's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, In the Heights . The film musical retains most of the Broadway version's high-spirited songs and signature lyrics, and like the original, it captures the energies and press...

Next on Midday: “Majoring in Marijuana.” The medical and recreational cannabis industry is a multi-billion-dollar business. The University of MD School of Pharmacy is the first institution in the country to offer a Master’s Degree in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics, to train people to work in this burgeoning field. Joining Tom is Natalie D. Eddington , PhD, FCP, FAAPS,...

Hardly a day goes by without reports of groups of four or more people becoming victims of gun violence somewhere in the United States. According to the Gun Violence Archive , there have been 80 mass shootings in the United States since the first of this year that have left 90 people dead and 371 people injured. The latest occurred in Baltimore yesterday. Just after 2:00 Wednesday afternoon, six pe...

Every six months or so here on Midday , we invite WYPR's President and General Manager, LaFontaine Oliver to join us to talk about how our station is doing, and the state of public media in general. He has experience in both commercial and public radio and a perspective that is both local and national. LaFontaine took the reins of WYPR in the summer of 2019. He’s been a member of the board o...