DAN RODRICKS

Occupy Baltimore has been evicted. A look at what's next for the movement. And, the Maryland General Assembly returns to Annapolis on January 11. With same-sex marriage proponents pushing to get a marriage equality bill passed this year (and with Governor O'Malley's announcement that he would sponsor such a bill), same-sex marriage could end up alongside the Dream Act for voter referendum on the 2012 ballot. Could this help or hurt either cause?

The leading biotech company to use embryonic stem cell treatment withdrew its funding for research last month.  Critics worry this move could set back stem cell research for years.  Also, new scientific discoveries:  another Earth-like planet, the largest black holes ever found, and the possibility that Mars had once sustained life.  We're joined by Midday's Science contributor, John Monahan, science educator and author of They Called Me Mad: Genius, Madness, and the Scientists Who Pushed the Outer Limits of Knowledge

Are the nation's mandatory minimum sentences for federal crimes excessively severe and applied too broadly and inconsistently? This hour, we get a chance to hear from a federal appeals court judge on the subject: Judge Andre Davis, of the U.S. Fourth Circuit.

Our conversation about alternative medicine continues this hour with a look at herbal supplements.  What makes up these plant-based medicines, how are they regulated and which ones are safe?

More and more, people are turning to alternative medicine (such as acupuncture, aromatherapy, reiki, and natural supplements) in place of traditional medicine. The medical community has even begun to embrace some forms of alternative medicine. But are these therapies legit?  This hour, a look at its effectiveness and growing popularity.

Michael Hingson, who has been blind since birth, escaped from the seventy-eighth floor of the World Trade Center’s north tower on September 11, 2001, thanks to his guide dog Roselle. He joins Dan this hour to share his remarkable story. Hingson, along with Susy Flory, is the author of Thunder Dog: The True Story of A Blind Man, His Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero.

With the help of the Tea Party, Herman Cain continues to gain ground in the GOP presidential polls. What if the former pizza executive emerged as the Republican challenger to President Obama in the 2012 presidential election? Cain has suggested that members of the African-American community "have been brainwashed into not being open-minded, not even considering a conservative point of view.” This hour: Herman Cain, the GOP and race in U.S. politics.

P.M. Forni, author of The Thinking Life, gives us his take on the digital revolution's effect on our ability to slow down...and ponder.