Midday

Today on Midday Healthwatch with Dr. Leana Wen, we discuss the latest on the plan for COVID vaccines this fall, the upside of artificial intelligence in health care, and how to be ready for a visit the emergency room.

Dr. Wen is one of America’s most trusted and knowledgeable public health experts, and we are grateful that she has been a regular guest on our show for many years. In 2019, she was included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people. She‘s an emergency physician; she teaches at the George Washington University School of Public Health. She writes a column for the Washington Post. She’s a medical analyst for CNN, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health.

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

We begin with the latest in the investigation into the shooting at the Brooklyn Homes over the July 4 weekend that left two people dead and 28 others, mostly teenagers, injured.

A 17-year-old is being held without bond in connection to the shooting, after video of him allegedly pulling a gun out of a backpack surfaced on social media. The teenager’s lawyers says the gun was a toy.

The Baltimore Sun reports that in the charging documents against the teen, police speculate that at least three people fired weapons. Gun casings found at the scene suggest as many as 12 different guns were used in the attack at a party which was attended by hundreds of people in the Brooklyn community.

Joining Tom is Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway. He represents the 4th District and he chairs the Public Safety and Government Operations Committee, which will hold a hearing later today to assess how various city agencies responded to the event that is likely the worst mass shooting in the history of our city.

The Committee will hold an oversight hearing tonight at 5:00 in the City Council Chambers on the fourth floor of Baltimore City Hall.

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

Last month, in a landmark case Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College the Supreme Court effectively abolished affirmative action in college admissions. Race based consideration in admissions have been illegal in California for decades. Eight other states have also banned race consideration at public universities, but now, it is the law of the entire land. School officials are scrambling to figure out how to assemble diverse classes, as many students of color are faced with new challenges in competing with more affluent, better connected white students.

Tom's guests today have varying opinions on the Supreme Court decision and the path forward for higher education diversity.

First, he talks with Richard Kahlenberg, a nonresident scholar at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and the author of 18 books, including The Remedy: Class, Race and Affirmative Action.

Then he hears from Mark Joseph Stern, a Senior Writer at Slate. Stern is a frequent contributor to Slate's Amicus podcast which focuses on the law and the Supreme Court.

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Something magic has indeed been happening at Camden Yards this season, and in major league parks throughout North America, wherever the Baltimore Orioles are playing. After several long, arduous years of “re-building” the Os have performed like their teams of yesteryear that longtime fans remember with such wistful affection.

The O's are in second place, just two games behind the AL East leader, the Tampa Bay Rays. They won five games in a row heading into the All Star break. Excitement about the team hasn’t been this high in a long, long time.

Joining Tom to talk about the Orioles and their prospects for the second half of the season are Jon Meoli, the Orioles columnist for our news partner, the Baltimore Banner.

And Jerry Coleman, co-host of the Adam Jones podcast, from the Baltimore Banner.

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

Police investigating the largest mass shooting in Baltimore’s history say there is evidence that as many as 12 different guns were fired in a large crowd that had gathered at the Brooklyn homes early Sunday morning, July 2. One arrest has been made. The 17 year old suspect is being held without bail, but he has not been charged with shooting anybody.

20 year-old Kylis Fagbemi and Aaliyah Gonzalez, an 18 year-old who had just graduated from high school, were killed. 28 others were injured.

Joining Tom with an update on the investigation into the city’s largest mass shooting and how the Brooklyn community is coping with its aftermath is WYPR reporter Emily Hofstaedter and Mark Reutter, a reporter with the Baltimore Brew.

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A controversy is growing over equipment that BGE wants to install around homes throughout Baltimore City that will regulate natural gas pressure. The equipment, which the company has already installed at homes in several Baltimore neighborhoods, is, according to BGE, necessary for safety. In a lawsuit filed against the company, hundreds of area residents disagree. A temporary restraining order halting further installation of this equipment issued in Baltimore City Circuit court has been extended for two more months.

We’ve invited two city residents from different neighborhoods who oppose the installation of this equipment. We also invited BGE to send a representative to speak to the residents’ concerns. The company responded through a spokesperson that they cannot comment on pending litigation.

Dr. Paula Fernandes is the founder and CEO of Global Scientific Solutions for Health, which works on public health issues around the world. She lives in Mt. Vernon.

Claudia Towles is a business owner and realtor in Fells Point. She is also a candidate for the Baltimore City Council in District 1.

Clara Longo de Freitas is a reporter for our news partner, the Baltimore Banner.

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

Jane Delury is a local author who garnered prizes for her first novel and many short stories. Her new novel, Hedge, is a pick for summer reading by Oprah Daily and People magazine. Delury is scheduled to speak at Greedy Reads in Remington tomorrow night, in conversation with author Mary Kay Zuravleff. The event starts at 7:00.

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

Today is Midday at the Movies, our monthly focus on new films and film-industry trends, with our regular movie aficionados, Jed Dietz, founding director of the Maryland Film Festival, and Ann Hornaday, film critic for the Washington Post. This month they discuss Tom Cruise and the summer blockbuster season, the death of actor Alan Arkin and popular films on streaming services. Also, we discuss Wes Anderson's latest film, "Asteroid City," and a new movie from director and writer Celine Song, "Past Lives."

(Image courtesy A24)

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

It's time again for a visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom each week with her reviews of Maryland-DC's regional stage. Today she spotlights "1776" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. where the directors took a very different approach to diverse and multicultural casting.

"1776" continues at the Kennedy Center until July 16. 

(Photo credit: Joan Marcus)

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

Wesley Lowery, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former correspondent for the Washington Post, Boston Globe and CBS news, has written a thoughtful, imaginative and sobering book about the rise of white nationalist violence. While violence against people of color has long been a staple of the American story, Lowery examines the pernicious increase in racial violence since the years of the Obama presidency.

The new book is American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress.

He explores about a half dozen incidents of racial violence all over the country in which people of color were brutally and fatally attacked, illuminating and honoring the suffering of the victims and those close to them, and chronicling why the perpetrators carried out these heinous acts.

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