Midday

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court released a flurry of opinions, including rulings changing the landscape of higher education, LGBTQ rights, and loan relief to tens of millions of American students. In the weeks before, the court issued rulings on immigration, native American rights, voting rights, environmental protection, and other issues.

Today, an overview of the court’s decisions. Some were expected, while others surprised the public and court observers alike.

Kim Wehle, law professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law, joins Tom. She is the author of three excellent books. Her latest is , How to Think Like a Lawyer--And Why: A Common-Sense Guide to Everyday Dilemmas.

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Tom's guest is Naima Coster, the author of the New York Times best seller, What’s Mine and Yours, which has been chosen by Maryland Humanities as 2022's One Maryland One Book. This program allows Marylanders all over the state to read the same book and have the opportunity to talk about it with other readers, and with the author.

Naima Coster’s novel explores the dynamics of family and community, and the divisions that course through the lives of sisters and their circle, in a story that pivots from North Carolina to California, France, and elsewhere.

Naima Coster was in Maryland in October, engaging readers across the state about What’s Mine and Yours. 

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

Today on Midday, conversations with two novelists who have written books about racial inequality, liberation and integration. They are very different stories, but they are both insightful, provocative, and compelling.

We begin with Dr. Wendy Shaia, who serves on the faculty of the University of MD School of Social Work, and as the Executive Director of the Social Work Community Outreach Service. For years, she’s done anti-racism work, and she’s written numerous scholarly articles.

Her first novel is set in Baltimore in 2024. It imagines a secret organization of Black men and women who train and organize for armed resistance to white supremacy. It is part dystopian fiction, and part ripped from the headlines. Part Wakanda and part Consent Decree. Part Black Panther Movement and part Unite the Right.

It's called The Black Cell, and it’s been chosen as a finalist in the 2022 American Fiction Awar

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Americans love to eat, without doubt, but we also have a terrible penchant for throwing away a lot of food. About 4% of all Green House Gas emissions comes from the food we toss into landfills, some $400 billion dollar’s worth every year.

Tom's guests are Margaret and Irene Li. A few years ago, these Chinese-American sisters wrote an award winning cookbook called Double Awesome Chinese Food.  The sisters grew up in Boston, and with their brother Andy, they started a successful restaurant group and dumpling business. Mei Mei Dumplings are available at farmer’s markets throughout New England, and later this year, they’ll be available to order online nationwide.

Their new cookbook draws on their experience in the restaurant and food industry to move the needle away from wasting so much food. It’s called Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable ZERO WASTE APPROACH to HOME COOKING.The authors joined Tom in studio when they were visiting Baltimore for a book event at the Ivy Bookshop. 

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

Governor Wes Moore took office five months and 12 days ago. He has brought a sense of urgency to the job while championing a number of initiatives involving transportation, crime reduction, eliminating poverty and climate change.

The governor joins Tom for the full hour to discuss his term thus far. But this time, the questions come directly from WYPR listeners across the region.

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.

Today, we look at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company’s production of “Macbeth,” which continues at the Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park in Ellicott City through July 2

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On Saturday, July 1, a very special event is set to honor two very special people at the Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts and Entertainment District in West Baltimore.

The great saxophonist Carl Grubbs and the arts advocate and educator Barbara Grubbs, will be honored for their important work with their organization, Contemporary Arts. The event is being organized by the acclaimed bass clarinetist Todd Marcus, a former student of Carl Grubbs, who has himself risen to the highest ranks of musicians on the jazz scene.

Carl and Barbara Grubbs and Todd Marcus all joined Tom in Studio A.

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

Tom's guest is the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, Vincent Schiraldi.

Schiraldi came to Maryland after four decades in New York, at the New York City Dept of Corrections, and as a researcher at Columbia University. Known as a juvenile justice reformer, he oversees the agency that operates juvenile detention centers, and runs programs for at risk youth.

Schiraldi joins Midday to discuss his plans for the agency and their goals for the Safe Summer initiative.

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

In the introduction to her fascinating new book, Washington Post sports columnist Sally Jenkins writes, “I've never known a winner, not one, who wasn't irritated by the lame idea that they were God-kissed with fortunate gifts.”

The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Work and Life. is a rumination on why athletic icons have risen to the top of their respective sports, and what lessons can be learned that can benefit the rest of us in our respective personal and professional pursuits.

Jenkins comes to see hard work and strategic thinking, rather than latent talent, as the crucial quality to an athlete's success.

During her long career as a sports columnist and feature writer at the Washington Post, Jenkins was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and was a winner of the Red Smith Award for Outstanding Contributions to Sports Journalism.

She has covered 10 Olympic games, and countless games in other sports in between. As she covered these events, Jenkins has had a front row seat to observe some of the world’s most elite athletes and coaches.

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

In 2015, Former Gov. Larry Hogan made the controversial decision to cancel the Red Line. The state had already spent $300 million developing the east-west transit project.

Calling it a “boondoggle,” Hogan returned $900 million to the federal government and spent the state portion of Red Line funds on roads in rural jurisdictions. Hogan was one of a group of governors to cancel federally funded mass transit projects.

But now there is a new governor in office. Gov. Wes Moore called Hogan’s decision “almost disqualifiable,” and earlier this month, Moore acted on a campaign promise to revive the Red Line with a high profile announcement and an injection of urgency.

So, what will a reimagined Red Line look like?

Midday's guests for today's transportation discussion are Brian O’Malley, the President and CEO of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance, Audrey McFarlane, the Dean Julius Isaacson Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law and Pamela Wood, who covers state politics for our news partner, the Baltimore Banner.

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