Midday

Today, it's another edition of  Midday on Mental Health .  In the first few weeks of the pandemic, we talked about the concept of "psychological first aid" with  Dr. George Everly , who literally wrote the book about ways people can cope with the psychological effects of traumatic events: think 9/11, or hurricanes.  Can those same techniques be employed in dealing with a prolon...

Last week marked the end of an era in Maryland politics.  On Friday,  Mike Miller  -- who had recently retired from the Maryland General Assembly after serving there for nearly 50 years -- passed away at the age of 78 following a long battle with cancer.  Miller, a Democrat, was elected to the House of Delegates in 1970, to the Senate in 1974, and in 1986, he ran unopposed to b...

January 18, 2021 is  Martin Luther King, Jr. Day , a federal holiday established by the US Congress in 1983 to honor the life and work of the slain civil rights leader and, in the words of this year's  presidential proclamation , to "encourage all Americans to recommit themselves to Dr. King’s dream by engaging in acts of service to others, to their community, and to our Natio...

(This program originally aired August 4, 2020) When the novelist, journalist, playwright and activist  James Baldwin  died in 1987, his place in the panoply of great American writers was assured.   He is remembered as one of the most eloquent observers of the Black experience, and an insightful and compelling critic of racial inequality.  He was prolific and provocative, a...

It’s another edition of  Midday at the Movies, our monthly conversation about films and filmmaking.  And Tom is joined once again on Zoom by our good friend Ann Hornaday  – she’s a film critic for  The Washington Post   and the author of the wonderful movie-goers’ guide,  Talking Pictures: How To Watch Movies. Also with us on Zoom is our friend...

Wednesday is the first day of the 2021 session of the  Maryland General Assembly .  Given the restrictions occasioned by the pandemic, this 90-day session -- the 442nd in Maryland's legislative history -- will be unlike any other. Today, Part Two of our preview of the session, with  Senate President Bill Ferguson , a Democrat who has represented District 46 (Baltimore City), since 2...

The  2021 Session of the MD General Assembly  begins tomorrow.  Today, a preview of the session with the  Speaker of the House, Adrienne Jones ,  who represents the 10th District, in Baltimore County.  Tom recorded his conversation with Speaker Jones (via Zoom audio) on Monday, January 11, 2021, about a half hour before Gov. Larry Hogan  held a press conference i...

A short, concise  four-page article of impeachment   of President Donald Trump , co-sponsored by more than 200 Democratic congressmen, may come to the floor of the House of Representatives as soon as tomorrow.  Yesterday, Speaker of the House  Nancy Pelosi  gave Vice President  Mike Pence  24 hours to convene the cabinet and pursue removing Mr. Trump under the 25...

Welcome to another edition of  Midday with Tish the Commish,  our recurring series of live conversations with  Dr. Letitia Dzirasa , the Commissioner of the  Baltimore City Health Department  and the city's chief public health advocate. In today's program,  Dr. Dzirasa  provides an update on the pace and local availability of the COVID-19 vaccination program, and...

Now, a conversation about what makes us,  us .  Or more specifically, what makes me,  me  and you,  you?   With all that we share in common -- heads and shoulder, knees and toes, for example  -- what are the reasons that we are all unique individuals?  Dr. David Linden  is a neuroscientist and professor at  Johns Hopkins University  who starte...

Our  Newsmaker  guest today is Maryland's junior senator,  Chris Van Hollen , who joins Tom Hall to discuss the extraordinary, historic and tragic events of the past week, and the way forward for members of Congress, for President-elect Joe Biden and for the country.   Yesterday, incoming  Majority Leader Chuck Schumer  and  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi...

Midday  theater critic  J.Wynn Rousuck  joins us again today with her reviews of two new films produced and now streaming on Netflix, that spotlight the extraordinary work of the late, two-time Pulitizer Prize-winning playwright  August Wilson.  Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is one of 10 plays August Wilson wrote chronicling the African-American experience in each decade...

Today, another edition of the  Midday Healthwatch,  our monthly conversation with  Dr. Leana Wen .   She is an emergency physician and former Baltimore City Health Commissioner who teaches at the  George Washington University School of Public Health . She’s also a columnist for  The Washington Post  and a medical analyst for  CNN.   Dr....

Yesterday at this hour, the self-proclaimed “law and order” President, Donald Trump incited an insurrection in a 90-minute diatribe delivered just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol, and within minutes of his concluding his remarks, at Trump’s suggestion, his supporters marched to the Capital, stormed the building, and disrupted the constitutionally mandated duty of Congress to c...

Yesterday, the weather in Georgia was sunny and mild.  The tenor of the four campaigners who were locked in battles for Georgia's two Senate seats was  anything  but sunny and mild.  The campaigns set records for spending and turnout for special elections. As we speak, the dust is beginning to settle in Georgia. The Rev. Raphael Warnock , a former pastor of Douglas Memorial Com...

In Washington today, supporters of President Trump gathered to hear speakers, including the President himself, assert the fantasy that Trump won the Presidential election.  Later, large crowds of pro-Trump demonstrators, most unmasked, massed on the steps of the US Capitol and began breaching its public entrance, threatening the security of the building and the lawmakers within. The National...

Maryland Humanities  is a nonprofit organization founded nearly 50 years ago that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities. Among its most popular programs are  Maryland History Day  and  One Maryland One Book . Maryland Humanities  recently elected a new leadership team.  Last February,  Phoebe Stein  left the organization after servin...

Over the past eleven months, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of more than 353 thousand Americans and upended the economic livelihood of millions more.  The number of Americans who struggle each week to put food on their tables has climbed to nearly one in 8 – an estimated 26 million people, according to the Census Bureau.  Even before the pandemic, more than a quarter of...

As of Saturday, a dozen Republican Senators had promised to join about 140 Republican members of the House in voting  against  certifying that Joe Biden has been elected President.  That vote is scheduled for Wednesday. Yesterday, the  Atlanta Journal Constitution  and the  Washington Post  released  a tape and transcript  of a call between President Tr...

(Originally broadcast November 12, 2020)  On this archive edition of Midday, Tom talks with Evan Osnos, a staff writer for The New Yorker, about his latest book, Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now. Tom spoke with Mr. Osnos about a week and a half after the election, on the day that several media sources had added Arizona to the win column for President-elect Joe Biden.  L...

(Originally broadcast on November 17, 2020) In 1961, President John F. Kennedy implored Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”  Twenty years later, Ronald Reagan won election by asking Americans, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”  Not if the country was better off; if you were better off....

(Originally aired October 15, 2020)   Today, Tom’s guest for the hour is the award-winning novelist, literary scholar, and artist,  Charles Johnson .  Dr. Johnson is bestknown as the author of  Middle Passage ,  the epic novel about the 1830s slave trade for which he won the  National Book Award  for Fiction in 1990. At the time, he was only the second...

(This program was originally broadcast Sept. 17, 2020.)  Tom's guest today is Robert B. Reich . He’s a busy and distinguished guy. He served in three administrations, including as Labor Secretary during Bill Clinton’s presidency. He’s a  professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley , a columnist for Newsweek and The Guardian, an award-winning fil...

This program originally aired on Tuesday May 14, 2019.  Frederick Douglass is one of the most gifted and admired figures in American history.  He was enslaved for the first 20 years of his life.  By the time of his death in 1895, he had become the world’s most photographed man, a counselor to President Abraham Lincoln, an unparalleled public intellectual, and a super-star spea...

Hello and Happy Holidays!  Welcome to the Midday Christmas Eve Special, with host Tom Hall. Today, we’ll spend the hour listening to some music and some poetry of the season, plus, a story by Baltimore writer Raphael Alvarez. We've put together a playlist of our selections,  and you can find them below (when you've clicked into this article) in the order you'll hear them in the pro...