Midday

So what's the "quoi" in "Je ne sais quoi"? It's Bastille Day, and we confer with the young French sommelier, Olivier Magny, about modern Parisian life. Magny is a shrewd and delightfully jaundiced observer of life in the French capital. To bridge the cultural gap between Parisians and the Americans his countrymen regard as stupid and crass, he’s written a hilarious new guide called Stuff Parisians Like: Discovering the Quoi in Je Ne Sais Quoi.

American troops killed their own commanders so often during the Vietnam War that the crime earned its own term: fragging. Enlisted men would turn on superiors they despised and try to kill or maim them with fragmentation grenades. Our guest, Army veteran George Lepre, has researched the causes behind this dark phenomenon, now believed to be a rare occurence because of the all-volunteer military. After several years in the U.S. Army, George Lepre is currently pursuing a graduate degree at the New School for Social Research.

June's unemployment rate of 9.2 percent makes it two years and four months that U.S. joblessness has been over 8 percent. "And there are no signs of the streak ending anytime soon," writes Baltimore Sun financial columnist Jay Hancock. "In fact the unemployment trends -- it was as low as 8.8 percent in March -- are heading the wrong way." Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a gain of only 18,000 jobs in June, down from the meager May gain of 25,000.

2011 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Bernard Hermann, the acclaimed American composer noted for his work in motion pictures, particularly those of Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo). Hermann also composed the music for Citizen Kane, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Cape Fear, and Taxi Driver.

As the deadline to raise the federal debt ceiling looms, President Obama is pressing for a debt-reduction plan that would force Democrats to accept major changes to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for Republican support for new tax revenue. An assessment of what that means for American baby boomers and their children.

Twelve kids, a robot named Scorch and what it takes to win the "Super Bowl of science fairs.” Judy Dutton, author of Science Fair Season, tells us about students who are doing everything from creating bionic prosthetics to conducting groundbreaking stem cell research to training drug-sniffing cockroaches to building nuclear reactors. Their mission?

Would Baltimore's poorest school children catch up to their suburban peers if they went to school with them? Studies indicate that children from poor families get better grades if they live and attend public schools in more affluent areas. It happened in Montgomery County. An Abell Foundation report looks at Montgomery's pioneering requirement that developers set aside a portion of the homes they build for rent or sale at below-market prices.

In this hour of Midday on the Law, Baltimore attorneys Jim Astrachan and Julie Rubin, along with two experts in jury selection and trial strategy, talk about the voir dire process and their approach to juries during trial.

With:

The violence that marred the Inner Harbor July 4th celebrations this past weekend also raises new questions about the safety of Baltimore. Assessing the fallout from the fatal stabbing of a man and the shooting of a young boy in what is thought to be a safe downtown area. Our guests: Jean Marbella from the Baltimore Sun, Councilman Bill Cole, whose district includes the Inner Harbor and Councilman Carl Stokes of nearby District 12.