Midday

Tom's guest for the hour today is Craig Swagler, the new president and general manager of the Your Public Radio Corporation, the parent company of WYPR and our sibling station, WTMD.

Swagler was appointed by Your Public Radio's board of directors after a national search. He brings to the job more than 20 years of experience as a producer and senior executive at CBS News Radio and Audio in New York.

He succeeds Lafontaine Oliver, who left our organization last January to become the president of New York Public Radio. Tom Livingston has served as our interim general manager since then.

What suggestions do you have for Craig Swagler regarding programming at WYPR and WTMD? How can we best advance our mission and serve our community? What do you see as the role our stations play in the local media landscape?

We take your calls, emails and tweets during the hour.

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

Tom's guests today 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, which will be released tomorrow, 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…

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

Another edition of Smart Nutrition with the Nutrition Diva, Monica Reinagel. Monica is a licensed nutritionist, author and speaker. She is also the host of the the podcasts “Nutrition Diva” and “Change Academy," which focuses on the art and science of behavior change.

Today's discussion is focused on obesity, and the medications that are now being employed to treat it. Also Joining Tom is Ted Kyle, a pharmacist, healthcare innovator and the founder of ConscienHealth, an organization that advocates for people living with obesity, and which works for evidence-based approaches to health and obesity. His widely-read daily commentary on ConscienHealth.org reaches a diverse audience of thought leaders in this field.

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

A Baltimore jury deliberated for 13 hours over the course of four days this week and found a teenager guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Timothy Reynolds, a 48 year old engineer from Hampden, who threatened a group of squeegee workers in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor last summer.

WYPR’s Wambui Kamau covered the trial and joins Tom to discuss the latest.

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

Israel has been rocked by protests and strikes after Monday’s vote in the Knesset that diminished the authority of the Supreme Court. Many people fear that this will lead to a true constitutional crisis, and the end of checks and balances in Israeli governance.

President Joe Biden has criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right government. What will these actions mean for the diplomatic and economic relationship between the United States and Israel, and what will it mean for American Jews, many of whom are appalled by what they consider the government’s brazen power grab?

Howard Libit, the Executive Director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, joins Tom to talk about the news out of Israel.

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

The Baltimore Orioles have excited fans and lit up Major League baseball with a roster chock-full of terrific young talent.

Adam Jones was one of the young talents in the big leagues 20 years ago when he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners. He was a fan favorite during his ten years with the Orioles, even during seasons when the team struggled.

Adam Jones joins Tom today along with his co-pilot on The Adam Jones Podcast, Jerry Coleman. The podcast is produced by WYPR's media partner The Baltimore Banner.

The two will tape their podcast in front of a live audience tonight at the Baltimore Soundstage. 

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 us each week with her reviews of the mid-Atlantic regional stage.“The Code Switch,” a Sisters Freehold Production, continues at the Theatre Project through July 30. So, what does the term “code switching” means to this production?

Playwright Shakill Jamal uses a range of techniques that depart from conventional plot and characters.

(Photo by Bayou Elom)

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

Alysia Lee is a musician and activist who was appointed President of the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund in 2022.

The establishment of the fund was championed by Mayor Jack Young eight years ago. In 2016, Baltimore voters passed a referendum calling for three cents of every $100 of assessed property value in the City to be spent on programs for young people. In 2017, a task force was formed to develop the guiding principals of the fund. In 2018, an initial tranche of about $9.6 million dollars was awarded in 84 grants to groups in the city to provide youth programs. In 2023, $18 million dollars in grants have been awarded to 44 recipient organizations.

Lee joins Tom on Midday to talk about the impact and future of the fund.

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

More than six and a half million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s Disease, a debilitating and incurable illness. It robs people of their memory and their thinking skills, and ultimately leads to the inability to perform basic tasks.

Using the Accelerated Approval Pathway, the Food and Drug Administration approved a drug called lecanemab, sold as Leqembi, which has slowed the progression of the disease in some patients in clinical trials.

Joining Tom to talk about it is Dr. Leah Croll, an assistant professor of neurology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

A couple of weeks after the news of this new drug appeared, the Alzheimer’s Association announced the results of a new study about who gets Alzheimer’s, and where those populations live. It turns out that Baltimore and Prince George’s County are places with a high incidence of the disease.

Joining Tom to discuss this is Dr. Kumar B. Rajan a Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago. He’s also Section Chief of Community and Nutritional Epidemiology. He is the lead author of the study.

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

Two members of the Baltimore City Council join Tom to discuss issues affecting our city.

Councilmember Eric Costello represents the 11th District in central west Baltimore, while Councilmember Phylicia Porter represents District 10 in south Baltimore.

What did the Council learn in its hearing on the city’s response to the mass shooting at the Brooklyn Homes, and what further information do they hope to learn when they hold another hearing in mid-September? Will the Council approve the nomination of Richard Worley to be the new chief of the Baltimore Police Department? And will the organizers of Artscape be able to satisfy the logistical concerns of some major players in time to pull-off a large festival in just a few weeks?

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