Midday

A Thanksgiving Day nap may be part of your turkey day tradition, but for many people sleep is a challenge. In 2020, the CDC reported that at least 15% of Americans had trouble falling asleep.

Today on Midday, we tackle the problem of insomnia. We welcome back Dr. Jade Wu. She is a board-certified behavioral sleep medicine specialist at the Duke University School of Medicine, and the author of a terrific book in which she suggests ways to solve a problem that nearly 25 million Americans face, night after night.

The book is called Hello Sleep: The Science and Art of Overcoming Insomnia Without Medications.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tom speaks with novelist Alice McDermott about her latest novel, "Absolution." The story is set in Vietnam in the earliest days of the war and explores the lives of the American military wives. The book places at its center a young woman, newly married, living in an unfamiliar place, submerged in an unfamiliar milieu of military personnel, consultants and contractors.

It is an intimate portrait of a person finding her way, and a telling chronicle of characters that are usually cast as ancillary and secondary.

Alice McDermott is set to speak about her book at 6:00pm at the Bird in Hand Bookstore in Charles Village in Baltimore.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom Hall each week with her reviews of the Maryland-DC-Virginia regional stage.

Today, Judy tells us about the current revival of the Tony Award-winning 1966 Broadway musical, Sweet Charity, brought to The Motor House stage by the new Bmore Broadway Live drama troupe.

With book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, Sweet Charity  follows the romantic misadventures of Charity Hope Valentine, a “taxi dancer” — or dance partner for hire — at the Fandango ballroom. The musical earned nine Tony nominations in its 1966 Broadway season, and won for Best Choreography. It's filled with humor, romance and pathos, and driven by energetic dance numbers.

The revival of Sweet Charity by Bmore Broadway Live — the new theatrical offshoot of the local arts group, Dance & Bmore — is directed and choreographed by the new troupe's founder, C. Jay Philip. It continues at The Motor House at 120 W. North Avenue in Baltimore through Sunday, November 19. For ticket info, click here.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

A few weeks ago, the Baltimore Orioles and the Maryland Stadium Authority announced a “Memorandum of Understanding” that would extend the team’s lease at Camden Yards and provide state money for redevelopment of the area around the stadium. And, last week, plans to reimagine another Baltimore landmark, Harborplace, were announced by local developer David Bramble of MCB Real Estate.

Tom's next guest is an urban planner on the faculty of Morgan State University. Dr. Daniel Campo is the Chair of the Department of Graduate Built Environment Studies and the Director of Morgan’s Graduate Program in City and Regional Planning at the School of Architecture and Planning.

He’s also the author of the upcoming book, Postindustrial DIY: Recovering American Rustbelt Icons…

Dr. Campo joins us on Zoom…

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

It’s the Midday Newswrap. 

Since last spring, when a viral TikTok video showed thieves how to steal Kia and Hyundai cars in less than a minute, the rate of auto thefts in Baltimore has exponentially outpaced neighboring jurisdictions, and cities like Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

This week, the Baltimore Banner, the not-for-profit online news platform, has published a series of articles that examine the reasons and the ramifications of this disturbing trend, which many other cities are coping with too.

Joining Tom now are three Banner journalists who've been working on this investigative project:

Ryan Little. He’s an editor at the Banner and a lead editor on the series;

Dylan Segelbaum. He covers the courts for the Banner…

They both join us on Zoom.

And Brenda Wintrode. She's the Banner's Maryland government reporter, covering state agencies and politics. She joins Tom in Studio A.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today on our show, it’s Midday on Pets!

Dr. Lisa Gerity joins us once again with answers to all your concerns about our beloved critters. If you have questions about caring for your cat or dog or any other pet, give us a call at 410.662.8780, or email us at [email protected].

Dr. Gerity serves as medical director and part-time veterinarian at the Greater Annapolis Veterinary Hospital.

She joins us on Zoom from Ellicott City….

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Joining Tom now is the wonderful, award-winning poet Grace Cavalieri. She was appointed Maryland's poet laureate in 2018, a post she will leave later this month. And, for more than 40 years, she’s been the host of The Poet and the Poem, first on public radio, now a podcast from the Library of Congress.

She has a new collection of poems, some new, and some previously published. It’s called The Long Game. 

Grace Cavalieri joins us on Zoom from her home in Annapolis…

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today, another installment of Midday on Higher Education, our continuing series of conversations with the leaders of Maryland's colleges and universities. 

Tom's guest is Dr. Julia Jasken. She came to McDaniel College in Maryland's Carroll County as an English teacher in 2003. In 2021, she was selected as the college’s 10th President, becoming the second woman in MacDaniel's 156-year history to serve in that role.

McDaniel is home to about 1,800 undergraduates and 1,400 graduate students. This week, McDaniel announced an initiative to help high school students from Carroll County navigate the college application process, and receive scholarships to attend McDaniel, which has served as an anchor in the county since 1867.

Dr. Julia Jasken joins us on Zoom from her office on the McDaniel College campus in Westminster, Maryland.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Today on Midday, host Tom Hall is delighted to welcome the Ndlovu Youth Choir to the Performance Space at our sister station WTMD, in Towson, Maryland.

This talented singing group from South Africa — the troupe with us today is comprised of seven young men and six young women — has become one of the world's most popular and inspirational musical ensembles since it was formed in 2009.

The creative outgrowth of an after-school program for orphaned and vulnerable children in Limpopo, South Africa, Ndlovu is now a youth portal to a career in music. Membership in the choir also instills values of togetherness, a work ethic and a sense of social responsibility, and promotes self-discipline, self-confidence, and leadership.

The Ndlovu Youth Choir’s extraordinary appearances four years ago on the popular TV show America's Got Talent made them the first choir in the history of that show to reach the finals. Their soulful sets won them millions of new fans around the world. On the strength of those AGT performances, they signed a recording contract with SYCO and Sony Music, and their first album debuted at number one on iTunes...

Since then, the choir has completed two European tours, sold out every public concert and performed on numerous local and international television and radio shows.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the choir's musical public service messages for the UN's World Health Organization offered hope and inspiration. They also joined many of the world’s top musical performers on a digital stage during Global Citizens' "One World: Together at Home" virtual concert. 

Along with its founder and musical director Ralf Schmitt, the group is currently in the middle of a month-long Eastern US concert tour, and during today's stop in Baltimore, they'll also be singing up a storm at 7:30 tonight at the Keystone Korner Jazz Club at 1350 Lancaster Street. You can check out the link for ticketing info.

But we're happy to have the Ndlovu Youth Choir to sing for us right now, and for the next hour...

Check out WYPR's Instagram page for great video clips of this performance!

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Tom's guests on this encore edition of Midday are two authors who have new books — and a special bond.

Ann Patchett is the best-selling author of nine novels, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a recipient of the National Humanities Medal. Her new book, published this past August, is called Tom Lake.

Her protagonist is an actress who ultimately lands in a different line of work. It’s a tender, warm, and wise, meditation on love and family and memory and the stories that shape us.

Lindsay Lynch is a first-time novelist whose debut offering is masterfully shaped. It’s a gripping narrative set largely in the pre-war years of Hollywood. It follows the long career trajectory of its protagonist, an actress who, like Ann’s central character, also finds a second act, which includes encounters with a sweeping panoply of movie stars and wannabees. It’s called Do Tell. 

Ann and Lindsay are colleagues at Parnassus Books, the independent bookstore Ann owns in Nashville, Tennessee. Ann’s book is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year. For some time now, any book by Ann Patchett will automatically be highly anticipated. Lindsay’s book is one of any number of debuts hoping for a little attention, a little buzz, a little shelf space.

Two excellent books by two gifted authors who are at two very different places in their writing lives.

We begin with Ann Patchett. Lindsay Lynch joins the conversation later in the program. Both connect with us on Zoom from Nashville…

Because today's program is pre-recorded, we won't be taking any calls or emails.

Email us at [email protected], tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.