Midday

At precisely 4:17 pm Eastern time tomorrow (July 20), it will have been 50 years since a spidery-looking American spacecraft named Eagle touched down on the surface of the Moon.  Two hours earlier, Apollo 11 mission commander Neil Armstrong and Lieutenant “Buzz” Aldrin had left Colonel Michael Collins alone in the orbiting Command Module, beginning their powered descent to the Moon and to their indelible place in history.

Armstrong and Aldrin set the Eagle down on a lunar plain called the Sea of Tranquillity in the nick of time.  They had less than 30 seconds of fuel left by the time they touched down. 

Six hours later,  Neil Armstrong emerged from the lunar module  and slowly climbed down its metal ladder. With billions of people on earth watching live on TV or listening on the radio, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the lunar surface, uttering those famous words: “That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Today on Midday, we discuss the legacy of Apollo 11’s triumphant mission to the moon with two distinguished chroniclers of America's space history...

Baltimore-based pianist and jazz innovator Lafayette Gilchrist joins Tom in the Midday studio to muse on the makings of his second solo CD, Dark Matter, out today (July 19) on the Lafayette Gilchrist Music label.  The eleven tracks on the new disc were all recorded live in front of an "intimate" crowd at the University of Baltimore's Wright Theater in 2016 by acclaimed hip-hop producer Wendel Patrick (the composer and co-producer with Aaron Henken of WYPR's award-winning Out of the Blocks podcast series, and a man also known in music circles as classical and jazz pianist Kevin Gift). Over the course of the session, Lafayette Gilchrist's compositions range from deeply personal meditations to socially conscious declarations.

This conversation was Live-streamed on WYPR's Facebook page, and you can see the video here.

We open the segment with the title track, Dark Matter, listen to a bit of Blues for Our Marches to End, and close the show with Black Flight, Gilchrist's ode to the famed African American  WWII fighter pilots known as the Tuskeegee Airmen.

Gilchrist celebrates the release of Dark Matter with a hometown CD release concert on Thursday, August 22 at Keystone Korner, the new jazz venue at 1350 Lancaster St., Baltimore. The event features the acclaimed Baltimore artist in a duo performance with legendary saxophonist David Murray. For more information call 410-946-6726 or click here.

“Send her back” has replaced “Lock her up” as President Donald Trump champions fear and divisiveness at a campaign rally in North Carolina last night. Political Scientist Dr. Carole Anderson joins Tom with analysis.

Dr. Carol Anderson is the Chair of African American Studies at Emory University in Atlanta. Her most recent book is called One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy.

It's another edition of Midday on Sports. We're talking the O's woes, the latest edition of Madden and what the scores mean to NFL athletes, as well as an update on the athletic program at University of Maryland one year after the death of offensive linemen Jordan McNair. 

Milton Kent, the host of Sports at Large here on WYPR and a member of the journalism faculty at Morgan State University, joins Tom here in Studio A. 

Jeff Barker joins us on the line.  He covers national politics and the business of sports for the Baltimore Sun.

It's Thursday, and theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins us for another of her weekly reviews of the regional stage.  Today,  she spotlights the six plays being presented in rotating repertory at this year's Contemporary American Theater Festival, a showcase for important new work held annually since 1991 on the campus of Shepherd University in historic Shepherdstown, West Virginia. 

The six plays at this year's Festival are: 

My Lord What a Night by Deborah Brevoort, an account of the real-life friendship struck up on a fateful evening in 1937 between two legendary icons: singer Marian Anderson and Princeton astrophysicist Albert Einstein;  Support Group for Men, a play by Ellen Fairey about the changing definitions of male identity; A Welcome Guest by Michael Weller, another world premiere commissioned for this year's Contemporary American Theater Festival -- and directed by Festival founder Ed Herendeen -- that explores intolerance, insanity and how much we have in common with our enemies; Wrecked, playwright Greg Kalleres's tale of the isolating power of guilt; Chester Bailey, a play by Joseph Dougherty about the resilience of the human mind; and Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son, a semi-autobiographical narrative that challenges stereotypes of manhood, race and fatherhood, written by Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez. Mr. Suarez also performs solo in the play's title role.

The 29th annual Contemporary American Theater Festival continues at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, through Sunday, July 28th.  For information about the Festival schedule and tickets, click here.

It’s Midday on Ethics with Dr. Jeffrey Kahn of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.

Today, a show about privacy and those consumer genetic testing kits. Many people choose to do genetic testing and agree to post their results so that their DNA can be compared to others. When they do that, they may discover people who are related to them that they otherwise wouldn’t know about.

But what about the privacy of people who were sperm donors or egg donors, who were assured that their identities would never be revealed? Genetic testing means that the anonymity that these donors were promised is no longer possible. So how does that play out?

What happens to our cognitive ability as we get older? Is age a legitimate issue in considering a person’s qualifications to be the U.S. president? And what political calculations might voters make about the argument for maturity and experience versus a desire for a generational shift in leadership? Tom is joined today by two guests with valuable perspectives on these questions.

Lisa Lerer is a reporter at The New York Times who covers campaigns, elections and political power.  She covered the 2016 presidential race for the Associated Press. Lisa Lerer joins us from NPR studios in Washington, DC.

Dr. Jason Brandt is a neuropsychologist and Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.  Dr. Brandt’s research focuses on cognition and neurological health in the elderly.  Dr. Brandt joins us in Studio A.

Today, it’s Midday on Politics.  In a racist Twitter rant yesterday, President Trump suggested that elected members of Congress go back to the countries they originally came from, saying they can’t leave fast enough.  It’s assumed he was directing his vitriol at four progressive Democratic women from Minnesota, Massachusetts, Michigan and New York.

The crowded field of Democratic presidential hopefuls is beginning to divide into two tiers, with five candidates polling closely together at the top.   The next edition of the Democratic debates is scheduled for the end of this month in Detroit. 

Guests: 

Kate Payne, reporter and Caucus Land co-host for Iowa Public Radio;

Dr. Shayla Nunnally, Associate Professor of political science at the Africana Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut; 

Julie Bykowicz, Wall Street Journal national political reporter, focusing on money and influence in Washington; and

Zach Montellaro, Campaign Pro reporter at POLITICO.

Today on the Midday News Wrap, WYPR Morning Edition news anchor Nathan Sterner sits in for Tom Hall as we examine some of the week's top news developments.   First, a look at the continuing migrant crisis along the U.S. southern border, and the impending nationwide ICE raids on migrants with deportation orders.  Nathan talks with Seattle-based immigration attorney Minda Thorward -- whose private firm provides legal services to migrant families in the Northwest -- about the roots of the current immigration disaster. 

Then, Nathan is joined by AP White House correspondent Darlene Superville, who describes the Trump Administration’s controversial citizen-count efforts, its aggressive immigration strategies, and how it’s dealing with resigning Labor Secretary Alex Acosta's legal ties with the wealthy financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

And later, Nathan talks with Michael Fletcher, a writer with ESPN’s Undefeated, about the US Women’s Soccer Team’s high-profile quest for pay equity, on the heels of their remarkable 4th World Cup victory.

It's the July edition of Midday at the Movies,  our monthly look at notable new films and trends in filmmaking. Today, we’re talking about the new crop of summer movies, and some of the exciting new animation technologies in films like Toy Story 4 and the Disney remake of Lion King (set for release on July 19).

Two of our favorite movie mavens -- Maryland Film Festival founding director Jed Dietz (on the line from Marfa, Texas) and Ann Hornaday, the film critic for the Washington Post and author of Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies -- join Midday senior producer and guest host Rob Sivak to discuss some of their favorite summer flicks, and we’ll ask YOU to tell us which films are brightening up your summer…

It's Thursday, and time for our weekly visit with theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Midday senior producer and guest host Rob Sivak today with her review of Roald Dahl's Matilda: the Musical, now on stage in an extended run at Olney Theatre Center, in Olney, Maryland.

An adaptation of one of the late British author's most popular children's stories, Matilda: The Musical  was written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin.  The production at Olney Theatre Center is directed by Peter Flynn,  with choreography by Byron Easley and music direction by Christopher Youstra.  The cast of more than 30 adult and child actors features Emiko Dunn in the title role, Felicia Curry as Miss Honey, and Tom Story as Miss Trunchbull.

Roald Dahl's Matilda: The Musical continues at the Olney Theatre Center through Sunday, July 28.

When you think of TV, film -- and Baltimore -- what comes to mind? Maybe Diner, Hairspray, Homicide, The Wire? What about House of Cards, which was set in Washington DC --  but we all knew it was filmed here.  According to the Baltimore Film Office, more than 90 TV shows and movies have been filmed in Baltimore.

Today on Midday, we're asking: What's next?  Guest host and Midday Producer Kathleen Cahill is joined by three filmmakers who have been recognized and funded by the Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund at Johns Hopkins University -- a local film incubator that hooks filmmakers up with funding but also with training and with mentors -- from Hollywood, from Sundance.

It's another edition of Midday Culture Connections with Dr. Sheri Parks, and guest host Rob Sivak.

Today we’re asking the question: what is courage?  From sacred texts to screenplays to the daily news, our culture is filled with references to courage as an element of character that makes a person worthy of respect.  We see courage in the physical bravery of soldiers and first responders. But courage is also the moral strength to do what’s right, when doing so can be hard, or dangerous.

Today, we’ll look for examples of courage in the Central American migrants now suffering at the southern US border…in political leaders who’ve put principle above party…and in victims who’ve found the strength to forgive great wrongs.

And we’ll ask: what does courage mean to you?

From 1969 to 1972, NASA landed 6 human missions on the moon – and then just as fast as things had gotten started… they stopped.  We haven’t been back there since.  But it looks like that’s about to change. We’re going to look at who’s likely to get us there again, and beyond. Guest host Aaron Henkin speaks with Oliver Morton.  He’s a senior editor at The Economist, and author of ‘The Moon: A History for the Future.’  Mr. Morton joins us from the studios of the BBC in London.

Christian Davenport is a reporter covering the defense and space industries for the Washington Post and the author of a 2018 book titled: The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos. He joins us from a studio at The Post.

(Originally aired on May 21, 2019)

Today, in this archive edition of Midday, Tom's guest is John Urschel, whose resumé includes great skill and high achievement in two areas that are not often, in fact, hardly ever, associated: football and mathematics.  He is a former offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens who retired from the NFL at the age of 26 to pursue a career in math. 

The book is called Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football.  He co-wrote it with his wife, Louisa Thomas.  They spoke about the book at the Ivy Bookshop in Baltimore back on May 21st, 2019.  

This conversation was streamed live on WYPR's Facebook page.  You can watch the video here. 

  (Originally aired on May 21, 2019)

In this archive edition of Midday, Tom speaks with  James Cabezas, the former chief investigator for the Office of the State Prosecutor here in Maryland and, before that, a Baltimore City cop. His new memoir is called Eyes of Justice: A Career Crime Fighter Battles Corruption… and Blindness.

It's a compelling, true-life account of a street cop who overcame his progressive blindness to become Maryland’s top political corruption investigator, and who was a player in the downfall of two Baltimore City mayors, Sheila Dixon and Catherine Pugh.  

Joining Tom and James in the studio is Joan Jacobson, the co-author of the book. She was a reporter for The Baltimore Sun and The Evening Sun for 28 years. 

They held a public discussion of the book  on May 21st at the Maryland State Library for the Blind in Baltimore, on Park Avenue, directly behind the Enoch Pratt Central Library. 

James Cabezas and Joan Jacobson will be speaking again about Eyes of Justice on Monday, July 15th, from 6-7pm in the Meeting Room at the Hamilton Branch Library, located at 5910 Harford Road, Baltimore 21214. For more information about the event, click here.

  (Originally aired on May 15, 2019)

In this archive edition of Midday, Tom's guest for the hour is William Davies, a political economist and author who argues in his new book, Nervous States: Democracy and the Decline of Reason, that a decline of trust in scientific expertise has led individuals and governments to rely less on facts and increasingly on feelings -- especially feelings of  fear and anxiety.  The result, the author says,  is that we've entered an age of “nervous states,” both in our individual bodies and our body politic. 

Davies is a Reader in Political Economy at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he also co-directs the Political Economy Research Centre, which explores significant cultural and political perspectives on economic life.  He is the author of many books, and is a contributor to numerous publications, including The Atlantic and The New York Times.  

It’s another edition of What Ya Got Cookin'? -- our occasional series featuring some of Baltimore’s best chefs and foodies, who take time away from their steamy kitchens to share with Midday listeners all manner of cooking tips. With July 4th looming, we’re zeroing in on that most American category of summer holiday cooking: the backyard barbeque.  What should you grill?  And how, exactly should you grill it?  Whether you’re a seasoned backyard cook or a newbie to the summer outdoor cooking scene, we’ve got your back. 

Our guests are John Shields a chef, an author and the proprietor, along with John Gilligan, of Gertrude’s Restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art; and Damian Mosley, chef and proprietor of Blacksauce Kitchen, a catering and mobile food business specializing in biscuits and barbeque.  We livestreamed this conversation on the WYPR Facebook page.  To watch the video, click here. 

As we prepare to celebrate America's July 4th Independence Day holiday tomorrow, it's fitting that theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins us today with her review of a little musical that's rolled into Baltimore that tells the story of one of the nation's most celebrated Founding Fathers.

The touring production of Hamilton -- the multiple Tony Award-winning musical that was created and launched on Broadway in 2015 by Lin-Manuel Miranda -- opened June 25th at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre.  Miranda's hit show, a sung-and-rapped-through musical bio that earned the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, was inspired by Ron Chernow's best-selling 2004 biography, Alexander Hamilton. 

On April 4, 2018, the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, seven Catholic peace activists cut fences and entered the King’s Bay Naval Base in Southeast Georgia, to protest the United States nuclear weapons arsenal.  King’s Bay is presumed to be home to several Trident Nuclear Submarines.  They called their protest a “Plowshares Action,” inspired by the book of Isaiah, from the famous passage, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares.”   

The King’s Bay 7, as they have come to be known, were arrested, and held at the Glynn County Detention Center in Brunswick GA.

Four of the defendants accepted terms of release that allowed them to return to their homes while they awaited trial.  Three of the activists, Elizabeth McAlister, who lived for decades here in Baltimore; a Jesuit priest from New York, Fr. Steve Kelly; and an activist from New Haven, CT, Mark Colville, chose to remain in jail.

Fifteen months later, they are still there.  Pre-trial hearings were held last November.  Another hearing is scheduled before US Judge Lisa Godbey- Wood on August 7th.  If the Judge decides to deny the defense motion to dismiss, the case will go to trial.

Today, two conversations about the state of American conservatism. First, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and author George Will discusses his latest book, The Conservative Sensibility. In it he argues for a return to the constitutional perspective of James Madison: limited government which simply exists to secure certain unalienable rights.

Then, Tom speaks with Thomas Frank, the author of the best-seller, What’s the Matter with Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. Frank wonders how it is that progressives have done such a poor job combatting Donald Trump’s brutish brand of populism, which he calls just the “latest chapter in an ugly story.” 

Tom's guest for the hour is LaFontaine Oliver, who today becomes WYPR's new President and General Manager.  Mr. Oliver succeeds Tony Brandon, who shepherded the station since the Your Public Radio Corporation purchased the broadcast license from Johns Hopkins University in 2002.  

Mr. Oliver, a veteran broadcaster who also serves as a director on the Board of National Public Radio, comes to his new post after six years as the general manager of NPR affiliate WMFE in Orlando, Florida.  Previously, he was general manager at Morgan State University public radio WEAA-FM here in Baltimore, from 2007 to 2013.

WYPR is one of 265 NPR member stations, nationwide, all of which are independent and locally owned.  About 90 of those stations, including WYPR, are not affiliated with a college or university, but are run by community-based boards of directors.

Tom's guest is Maria Hiaasen. Her husband, Rob Hiaasen, was one of five staffers killed in a mass shooting at the Capital Gazette one year ago today. 

Rob was a beloved reporter, columnist and editor who was recently recognized with an award for mentoring scores of young journalists. Maria has overseen the posthumous publication of Rob's novel, Float Plan, as well as a collection of his columns called Love Punch.  

Gerald Fischman, Wendi Winters, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Rob Hiaasen were among 54 journalists around the world who lost their lives in 2018 while reporting.  

Part One of today's edition of Midday on the Arts begins with a unique 2012 performance of the popular spiritual "Wade in the Water," featuring vocalist Mashica Winslow.

It's not the kind of arrangement, or the kind of symphony orchestra, that you’re likely to hear in most churches or concert halls.  Winslow was performing with the Soulful Symphony, an eclectic, 75-member orchestra founded nearly 20 years ago here in Baltimore by Tom's first guest today, Darin Atwater. 

Soulful Symphony is one of the few classical ensembles in the country whose artistic personnel is largely African-American and Hispanic.  On Saturday night, they are performing their first concert in their new home:  the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia.   For more information on Soulful Symphony's June 29 concert and their 2019 summer performance schedule, click here.

This program was livestreamed on WYPR's Facebook page; the video (which runs from 0:00 to 17:30 on the feed) can be viewed here.

In the second segment of today's edition of Midday on the Arts, Tom welcomes to Studio A the legendary blues musician and storyteller, Guy Davis.  Davis is also an author, a playwright, a teacher, and an actor in films, television and on Broadway, and he's the son of Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, the late, great actors and civil rights activists.  Guy has returned to this year's Common Ground on the Hill three-week workshop and concert series, which got underway this week in Westminster, Maryland.

Tom is also joined by Common Ground on the Hill's founder and executive director, Walt Michael, who is also a renowned blue grass musician and a master of the hammered dulcimer.   

This program was livestreamed on WYPR's Facebook page; the video (which runs from 17:30 to 40:00 on the feed) can be viewed here.

In the closing segment of today's edition of Midday on the Arts, theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom in the studio for another of her weekly reviews of Maryland's regional stage.  Today, she talks about the new production of  Steel Magnolias at Baltimore's Spotlighters Theatre.

Robert Harling's play, which premiered in 1987 at the WPA Theater, New York City's Off-Off Broadway mainstay, is a comedy-drama that explores the bond among a group of Southern women in northwest Louisiana.  Set entirely in a hair salon, the play is based on Harling's experiences surrounding his sister's death.

Directed at Spotlighters by Fuzz Roark (with Assistant Director Paul Saar), Steel Magnolias' all-female cast includes Suzanne Young as Truvy Jones, Valerie Lash as Louisa (Ouiser) Boudreaux, Karen Starliper as Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie, and Melanie Bishop as Mary Lynn Eatenton.

Steel Magnolias continues at Spotlighters Theatre until Sunday, July 14. For more info, click here.

Tom's guest today is writer and advocate Irshad Manji.

In her new book, Don't Label Me: An Incredible Conversation for Divided Times,  Manji examines the rhetoric we use when discussing “the other,” and how changing that rhetoric can lead to more understanding.  She writes that “Diversity itself does not divide; it's what we do with diversity that splits societies apart.” 

Quoting sources from Bruce Lee to Ta-Nehisi Coates, and drawing on her own experiences as a gay Muslim woman, she calls for a new formulation for cultural and political discourse.  

Irshad Manji the founder of the Moral Courage Project at the University of Southern California.  

Moral Courage TV: Should the Confederate flag still fly in Mississippi? 

On a Midday show back on August 15, 2018, we spoke with three teachers from the Baltimore City Public Schools about their career choices, their experiences in the classroom, and their plans, hopes and aspirations for the coming school year.  

Enrollment in city schools continues to trend down, but graduation rates are up, and hopes are high as the  recommendations of the Kirwan Commission on state education reform begin to get implemented. 

On this edition of Midday on Education, the same teachers are back to talk about how things went this year in their classrooms, and to share their take on what’s ahead for the system, and their students.

Today, it's another edition of Midday in the Neighborhood, an occasional series in which we've set out to spotlight the remarkable tapestry of communities that make up  the city of Baltimore.

Tom is joined in Studio A by representatives of three Baltimore neighborhoods: 

Greenmount West, located just north and east of Penn Station; 

Ridgely’s Delight, which is that historic little wedge downtown between Camden Yards, the University of Maryland Medical Center and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; and

Canton, the large waterfront community just east of Fells Point.

Lauren Kelly-Washington is president of the Greenmount West Community Association. Ben Marks is the president of the Ridgely's Delight Association. Michael Woollen is a member of the Canton Community Association and the founder of Canton Canopy, a neighborhood tree planting program.

We livestreamed this conversation on the WYPR Facebook page.  If you missed it, click here to watch.

It's time again for Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who  joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today her spotlight is on Disaster!,  the 2012 musical comedy created by Seth Rudetsky and Drew Geraci, and co-written by Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick. 

The musical made it to Broadway for a brief run in 2016, and it's now getting a new staging at Cockpit in Court Summer Theater, on the campus of the Community College of Baltimore County, in Essex.