Books

This hour, we take a look at U.S. military leadership from WWII and Gen. George C. Marshall to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus. Leading us through this discussion is Thomas Ricks, a veteran journalist and former Washington Post Pentagon correspondent, who argues that today’s military leadership is far inferior to what it was in the past. Ricks is the author of the controversial new book “The Generals: American Military Command from WWII to Today.” (Original Air Date: February 18th)

Tomorrow Governor O'Malley will sign into law new restrictions on guns in Maryland. We talk to the woman leading a referendum drive against the bill and to a researcher who studies gun laws across the country.

Tom Hall talks to the winner of Washington College's Sophie Kerr prize, the largest undergraduate literary award in America.

Preakness is here Saturday. What will you be serving at your Preakness Party? Sascha Wolhandler has some ideas.

The Maryland Morning Culture Calendar: treats for aesthetes!

May 15, 2013

Last night at the Enoch Pratt Central Library in Baltimore, Washington College announced the winner of the Sophie Kerr prize. At $61,000, it's the largest undergraduate literary award in the country.

The remarkable life of Baltimore-raised entertainer Cab Calloway, with his daughter Camay Calloway Murphy, founder of the Cab Calloway Jazz Institute and Museum at Coppin State University; her son, Christopher Calloway Brooks, director of the Cab Calloway Orchestra; and Alyn Shipton, author of, Hi-De-Ho: The Life of Cab Calloway.  Guest host Korva Coleman

May 21, 2013

Books about learning from failure have been trendy the last couple years; Tavis Smiley published Fail Up, for example. And, there’s a new book for managers, The Wisdom of Failure.

Web Extra: Our conversation with Mario Livio about his book "Is God A Mathematician?"

May 13, 2013

Jeanine Cummins reads an excerpt from The Crooked Branch.mp3

During the Civil War, more than 200,000 black men enlisted in the Union Army or Navy. African American Faces of the Civil War explores the war through the images of men of color. The book’s author, Ronald S. Coddington, is our guest. He writes “Faces of War,” a column for the Civil War News and contributes to The New York Times online. Watch for images from the book on the Dan Rodricks Facebook page in the days leading up to the show.

Journalist and documentary filmmaker Raquel Cepeda, born in Harlem to Dominican parents, talks about her journey of self-discovery, and coming to terms with her ethnic identity and ancestry. Cepeda is author of Bird of Paradise: How I Became Latina.

May 7, 2013

About a dozen miles north of Frederick, before you get to Thurmont, you’ll see some plain stone and log homes. They look old. They are old. They're part of what’s left of the village that used to surround an active iron furnace, the Catoctin Furnace.  

Web Extra: On the search for the ancestors of a forgotten cemetary

Web Extra: On preserving Catoctin village

May 7, 2013

Web Extra: Catholicism in the Catonsville 9

Web Extra: Shawn Peters talks about Mary Moylan

Web Extra: Where the surviving members are now