Midday

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's recent unilateral power grab has sparked violent protests throughout the country reminiscent of those during the Arab Spring more than a year ago. Our panel of Middle East experts analyze the latest events in Egypt during the first hour of Midday.

Lawrence Blum, acclaimed philosopher and professor at the University of Massachusetts, taught a course on race and racism over four years at an ethnically and economically diverse high school in Cambridge, Mass. He's written a book about his surprising and sometimes humorous conversations with uninhibited teenagers -- the new face of America. Blum, who speaks at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore Tuesday evening, is the author of "High Schools, Race and America's Future: What Students Can Tell Us About Morality, Diversity and Community."

Dan discusses Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" with Midday film critic Linda DeLibero, associate director of film and media studies at the Johns Hopkins University; Midday culture commentator Sheri Parks, associate dean of Arts and Humanities at the University of Maryland and author of Fierce Angels: The Strong Black Woman in American Life and Culture; Richard Striner, professor of history at Washington College and author of Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle to End Slavery, and Daniel Mark Epstein, poet and author o

Baltimore native Michael Austin spent nearly 27 years in prison for an armed robbery and murder he did not commit. While in Maryland's old House of Correction, Austin turned to music as a way of coping with life in "The Cut" while he sought legal help from outside. He wrote songs and refined his singing voice. Austin, pardoned in 2001, talks about the redeeming value of music, and we'll hear songs from his new CD, "I Just Want To Love You." Original air date 09/06/12

For everyone who doesn’t know a “bond” from an “option” from a “future,” Paddy Hirsch, of American Public Media’s Marketplace, provides a straightforward and entertaining primer on how markets really work. Hirsch is author of “Man Vs. Markets: Economics Explained Plain and Simple.” He is a senior producer at Marketplace and the creator of the acclaimed and popular Marketplace Whiteboard. Original air date 10/02/12

A special hour on our relationship with the mighty whale and how Americans young and old respond to Melville’s great American novel. A conversation with George Cotkin, author of "Dive Deeper: Journeys with Moby Dick," an entertaining guide to Ishmael’s odyssey; Meg Guroff, a Hopkins grad who created a web site with an annotated Moby Dick to help readers; and Hollis Robbins, poet and professor of humanities at Hopkins and the Peabody Institute who has taught the novel in a Peabody seminar. Original air date: August 21

Dr. Marty Makary, surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, says if medical error were a disease, it would be the sixth-leading cause of death in the U.S. Dangerous doctors, unnecessary procedures, surgical slips and other medical mistakes injure or kill hundreds of thousands of Americans every year.

Evan Pritchard, director of the Center for Algonquin Culture in New York and a professor of Native American History at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, on the stories and culture of Maryland natives whose influence helped shape the state we live in today. Pritchard sings native songs, explains "the way of the heron" philosophy, and tells the story of Maryland's 17th Century "Thanksgiving moment."

We take a look at reality television’s depiction of rural America with Sheri Parks, Midday culture commentator and associate dean and professor of American studies at the University of Maryland College Park. Original air date: November 1

A conversation with Jeanne Marie Laskas, intrepid journalist and author of "Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make the Country Work." Original air date: October 4