Midday

What should we expect from the second term of the Obama presidency? Political analysts Herb Smith (McDaniel College), Max Hilaire (Morgan State University) and Republican blogger Richard Cross III discuss fiscal challenges, immigration and foreign policy and gun regulation and other issues facing President Obama during the next four years.

President Barack Obama will be sworn in for his second term on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. How many presidents have given second inaugural addresses? On our last show before the historic event, we take the Inauguration Quiz with presidential history buff and Baltimore attorney Frank Gorman, and we talk about second-term presidency with Kenneth Davis, author of, "Don’t Know Much About the American Presidents."

The Baltimore Ravens face off this weekend against the New England Patriots for a chance to play in this year's Super Bowl. We preview the game with WYPR sports commentator Milton Kent. Plus, a review of other top stories of the region with the reporters who covered them and some of the newsmakers behind them.

Over the decades, millions of tons of polluted sediment have settled into the lake behind Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River, posing a massive engineering and environmental dilemma. But what to do about it? We examine that issue, along with the top environmental matters before the Maryland General Assembly, with Bay Journal reporter and Midday contributor Rona Kobell. Plus: winter wonders of the Chesapeake.

Karen Avrich tells about the life of activist and feminist Emma Goldman and her lover, Alexander Berkman, the anarchist Sasha said to have carried out the first terrorist act in the U.S. when he tried to assassinate industrialist Henry Clay Frick in 1892. Avrich finished Sasha and Emma, the book her late father, scholar Paul Avrich, started. She joins us in advance of her evening appearance at Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse in Baltimore to talk about the American anarchist-communist movement and two of its most prominent figures.

In November, hundreds of fast-food workers in New York City from dozens of restaurants, including Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Burger King and Taco Bell, walked off of their jobs to demand $15 an hour, the right to unionize and to improve working conditions. Could the fast-food workers effort gain a foothold in Baltimore and other U.S cities? A look at the national low-wage workers movement with Harold Miller, lead organizer for New York’s Communities for Change, and Linda Archer, a cashier at a Times Square McDonald’s who walked off her job last November.

We examine President Obama’s strategy of linking a deficit deal to another attempt at crafting a “grand bargain.” Is the president conceding too much to congressional Republicans by accepting the premise that Social Security and Medicare contribute to the deficit and that such entitlements need to be cut to improve the national economy?

Nearly two years ago, Chrissy Polis, now 24, became the unwitting symbol of the struggle for transgender rights and protections. Two teenagers assaulted Polis as she attempted to enter the restroom of a fast-food restaurant in Baltimore County. A cell-phone video of the beating went viral. In one of the few interviews she's agreed to give, Chrissy Polis shares the story of her life, the attack, and what’s happened since. We’ll also look at the latest local and national efforts aimed at helping protect transgendered people from discrimination.

Just in time for a blustery, cold weekend we devote the entire hour to one-pot meals -- delicious and flavor-filled creations, from stews to gumbos to casseroles. Chefs Henry Hong and John Shields teach us the joys and simplicity of a slow-cooker (in the morning, you toss a bunch of ingredients that simmer all day; at night, you enjoy a delectable, satisfying meal.) And what playoff game would be complete without some chili? Recipes, tips and fun with two entertaining chefs who will keep you warm and limit your pot-washing.

Another in our series of discussions about the Newtown massacre, the focus this time on the massive number of firearms in the United States -- and how we reconcile the Second Amendment right to bear arms with the right to be safe from gun violence. A conversation with former New York Times correspondent and editor Craig E. Whitney, author of "Living With Guns: A Liberal's Case for the Second Amendment."