Midday

The U.S. has a shortage of primary-care physicians and few new med-school graduates plan careers in general internal medicine, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The shortage deprives 60 million Americans of adequate care, according to the National Association of Community Health Centers. A third study, in the Annals of Family Medicine, estimates that 52,000 new primary-care doctors will be needed by 2025 just to keep up with population growth and the expansion of Obamacare. A look at the PCP shortage with Dr.

In his latest book, 10 years in the making, acclaimed author Andrew Solomon profiles families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple severe disabilities, children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender.  Solomon is the author of “Far From The Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity,” a look at the lives of parents whose children are very different from themselves.

In the wake of the Newtown massacre, which left 27 people dead, Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson talks guns and public safety.

We bring you the stories of 12 social entrepreneurs working to help Baltimore's neediest communities in different and compelling ways. Empowering youth through digital media, getting fresh produce to low-income families, making bikes available to people who do not own cars -- the 2012 fellows of the Open Society Institute of Baltimore describe their projects and how they hope to make the city a better place.

In the aftermath of the deadliest elementary-school shooting in the nation's history, what saddened and outraged Americans can do to keep more gun massacres from occurring. Guests: Colin Goddard, a survivor of the Virgina Tech massacre and now with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence; and Brad Sachs, Columbia-based family psychologist and author of books on adolescents and young adults.

Nancy Baggett, Maryland-based culinary commentator and cookbook author, joins John Shields and Henry Hong for a radio bake-off of favorite holiday cookies. Baggett is the author, most recently, of Simply Sensational Cookies and recently solved a "Lost Recipes" mystery for NPR's All Things Considered. John Shields is owner of Gertrude's and Henry Hong the manager of Waterfront Kitchen. They join us monthly for Midday Eats.

Perspectives on news and trends, interviews with newsmakers and authors, quick takes on some of the week's most interesting regional stories with the Maryland journalists who covered them.

Our review of legal affairs in the news with Baltimore attorneys (and husband and wife) Jim Astrachan and Julie Rubin of Astrachan Gunst Thomas Rubin. Both Jim and Julie are instructors at the University of Maryland School of Law, and Jim teaches at the University of Baltimore School of Law as well.

Twenty years ago this month, the presidents of the U.S., Canada and Mexico met in Texas to sign the North American Free Trade Agreement -- NAFTA, marking a new era in commerce for the three nations. But what hath NAFTA wrought? More investment, and more jobs for all three countries -- or stalled trade, fewer jobs and lower wages? Our guest has written a book about reinvigorating NAFTA with greater collaboration among the nations. Robert Pastor is professor of international relations at American University and director of the Center for North American Studies.

Ted Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) was a storyteller in the grandest sense, spinning yarns and telling fantastical tales that captured the imaginations of generations of children. He was also a cartoonist whose work carried his stories to new heights. His surrealist cartoons were themselves works of art. Dr. Seuss expert Robert Chase Jr., publisher of Dr. Seuss: The Cat Behind the Hat, joins us for an hour on the life and art of this storytelling giant.