Midday

Midday on the Arts continues now with Tom's next guest, Tyde-Courtney Edwards. She is the founder and director of Ballet After Dark, an innovative dance company that uses movement to help people heal from sexual assault and other traumatic violence..

Tyde-Courtney Edwards joins Tom here in Studio A…

Ballet After Dark will hold a Take Back the Night Cocktail Fundraiser next month to raise funds to support victims of sexual abuse and violence. It’s happening at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center on April 27th. For more information and to register for the event, click here.

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

Today, it’s Midday on the Arts.  A little later, we’ll meet a dancer/choreographer who uses movement to help people heal from trauma caused by violence, and our theater critic, J Wynn Rousuck, will share her review of To Kill a Mockingbird at the Hippodrome Theater. (These segments are posted separately)

But we begin with Nicholas Feemster (on the left, in the photo). He's a rapper. And he’s also a Staff Sargent in the US Army. And he’s now one of two full time rappers with the US Army Field Band. Last year, he and fellow rapper and Staff Sargent Lamar Riddick (pictured, right) completed basic training and they wrote a track they called "Basic."

Staff Sargent Nicolas Feemster joins Tom on Zoom from Ft. Meade in Anne Arundel County.

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

Today on Midday, Tom's guest is the award-winning novelist, Julie Otsuka.

She has published three critically acclaimed novels. Her first, When the Emperor Was Divine was published in 2002, and over the past 20 years, it has been chosen by more than 60 colleges and universities as a “campus reads” book, in which everyone at those institutions reads and discusses it.

In 2022, that same book was banned by the Muskego-Norway school district in Wisconsin.

Julie Otsuka’s second novel is about Japanese “picture brides,” who came to America in the early 20th century to wed men they had never met in person. It’s called The Buddha in the Attic, and it won the 2012 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and it was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Her latest novel, published last year, is called The Swimmers.  The story concerns a group of people who swim at a community pool regularly, and what happens when that pool develops a crack that no one can seem to explain. It’s also about dementia, and the complicated relationship between a mother and her daughter. And it’s about multitudes more.

The American Library Association awarded it the 2023 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.

Julie Otsuka is an artist who writes with power, elegance, and compassion, and The Swimmers is further testament to her extraordinary talents.

Ms. Otsuka joins Tom on Zoom from her home in New York City.

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Julie Otsuka will deliver the keynote address,"An American Story: War, Memory and Erasure,” at Loyola University Maryland’s 2023 Humanities Symposium.

The address takes place this Thursday, March 16 at 6:30 p.m., in McGuire Hall (at the Andrew White Student Center) 4501 North Charles St., Baltimore, Md. 21210.

The event is is free and open to the general public as well as to the region’s academic communities. To register for the event, click here.

The address will be followed by a book signing with Ms. Otsuka, with books available for purchase.

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

Tom's Midday Newsmaker guest today is Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, Jr.

Last November, he was elected to a second term.

Pittman has a history of working for progressive causes, but on some issues, he is more aligned with pragmatic centrists.

A first-time office holder when he won election to his first term in 2018, he was tapped by another elective first-timer, Gov. Wes Moore, to serve as the Master of Ceremonies at Moore’s historic inauguration in Annapolis.

Steuart Pittman joins us on Zoom from Annapolis to discuss his second-term agenda for Anne Arundel County, and his legislative priorities for the final weeks of the Maryland General Assembly.

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

We begin Midday today with an update on Baltimore City politics....

Last week, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s nomination of Faith Leach to be the next Baltimore City Administrator was rejected by a City Council Committee in a contentious meeting at City Hall. Yesterday, the committee reversed itself and moved Ms. Leach’s nomination forward.

Emily Sullivan, who covers Baltimore city government for WYPR's news partner organization, The Baltimore Banner, joins Tom in Studio A with details.  

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

Today on Midday, we’re talking about criminal justice and the best ways to reduce the violence that remains a huge challenge in our city, and in cities across the country.

Joining Tom now are two guests with keen insights on the city's crime problem:

Heather Warnken is the Executive Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the University of Baltimore School of Law…

Ray Kelly is with us as well. He’s a longtime activist in Baltimore, and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Citizen’s Policing Project…

They join Tom in Studio A.

What do you think about the effort to extend the sentences for illegal gun possession from three to five years? Will that achieve the goal of reducing the number of guns on our streets? 

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

Midday begins today with Tom's Newsmaker guest, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates. He’s a Democrat, and he’s been in office for a couple of months after winning a three-way primary and facing no Republican opponent in the general election last November.

He has been a vocal advocate for a bill under consideration in the General Assembly that would lengthen sentences for those over the age of 21 who are convicted of carrying a gun without a permit. That position has put him at odds with guns rights advocates on the right, and criminal justice reform advocates on the left.He’s also been working on attracting qualified attorneys to the State’s Attorney’s office, and he has appointed several new division heads.

State's Attorney Ivan Bates joins Tom in Studio A…

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

Today it's Midday on Pets!

We begin with a Public Service Announcement. Do not send your pets through the X-ray machine at the airport! Last weekend, a cat was mistakenly sent through the X-ray unit along with carry-on luggage in Norfolk, Virginia. And last month, a four-foot-long alligator was found in a lake at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY. When it comes to exotic pets: Buyer beware. These animals and reptiles require a very different level of care if you want them hangin’ in your house.

Pets are a big deal in these United States. Two out of three US households own at least one pet, according to some recent surveys. Americans last year spent 124 billion dollars on their furry friends. It's estimated that per capita, the average U.S. pet owner is spending $1,480 a year on their dog and $902 on their cat.

Those are significant investments, and it goes without saying that most pet owners are deeply invested in the care of their animals.

And today on Midday, we're going to talk about pet care with Tom's guest for the hour, veterinarian Dr. Lisa Gerity. She's the medical director and a managing vet at the Greater Annapolis Veterinary Hospital in Annapolis, Maryland. When she’s not caring for the animals in the hospital, her hands are full at home with a big family that, besides her husband, includes four cats and three dogs in addition to three human girls...

Today, she offers tips on what to do about the canine influenza that's going around, plus special advice on traveling with your pets, and lots more...plus we'll take your questions about pet care.

While Dr. Gerity can't make specific diagnoses on the air, she does provide general guidance on treatment for a variety of your pets' health conditions.

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 each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage.

Today, she tells us about the direct-from-Broadway production of Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Tony-Award-winning fairy-tale musical, now on stage at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, DC.

The 1987 musical, featuring music and lyrics by the late Mr. Sondheim and book by Mr. Lapine, weaves several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and other cherished fables into a moving tale of love and courage.

It's directed at the Kennedy Center by Lear deBessonet, with a cast that includes Katy Geraghty as Little Red Ridinghood, Gavin Creel as the Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince, Cole Thompson as Jack, Diane Phelan as Cinderella, Stephanie J. Block as the Baker’s Wife and Montego Glover as the Witch.

Into the Woods continues its limited run at the Kennedy Center through March 19. Click the theater links for more details and ticketing information.

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

It's another edition of Midday's Smart Nutrition, our occasional series of conversations about diet and health with our good friend, the Nutrition Diva, Monica Reinagel.

Today, Tom asks Monica about new medical studies concerning two things that are a big part of many people's diets: alcohol and a popular lo-cal sweetener called erythritol.

Monica Reinagel is a licensed nutritionist and the author of six books, including Nutrition Diva’s Secrets for a Healthy Diet.  She’s the creator of the weekly Nutrition Diva podcast, which has been one of iTunes' most highly ranked health and fitness podcasts since it debuted in 2008. She also co-hosts a podcast with fitness coach Brock Armstrong called Change Academy.

Monica Reinagel joins us on Zoom…

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