Midday

It’s Midday on Politics. 

Tom's first guest today is Heather Mizeur. She is a former delegate from Montgomery County in the Maryland General Assembly. For the past several years, she and her wife have lived on a farm near Chestertown. In 2014, she ran for governor, losing to Anthony Brown in the Democratic primary. And this year, she ran for the US Congress in the first district, against the incumbent Republican Rep. Andy Harris. Harris prevailed in that race, as he has on 6 previous occasions.

Harris won by a large margin, drawing 56.7% of the vote to Mizeur’s 40.8%, according to the MD State Board of Elections' unofficial results as of Friday (11/11).  That margin is about the same as the one Democrat Jesse Colvin lost by in 2018, the last midterm challenge to Harris. But Heather Mizeur mounted a vigorous and broad-based campaign in the heavily Republican district. She raised more money than Rep. Harris, and she actively engaged his supporters.

We've invited Mizeur to join us today to reflect on the campaign, and the lessons that she learned, and the lessons that we all can learn. Heather Mizeur joins us on Zoom from Chestertown.

Later in the hour, Tom speaks with Pamela Wood, who covers politics and government for WYPR's partner news organization, the Baltimore Banner, about the transition between MD Gov. Larry Hogan's administration and the incoming administration of Governor-elect Wes Moore.

Pamela Wood joins us on Zoom.

Then, we take a look at the latest developments in the epic battle to retain or acquire a majority in the US Congress. Tom's final guest today is Theo Meyer, a national political reporter with the Washington Post, and co-author of the Early 202 newsletter.

Theo Meyer joins us on our digital line from Washington, DC.

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

It's time again for our visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage.

Today, she spotlights the new production of Jordan E Cooper's Ain't No Mo,' now running at Baltimore Center Stage.

The no-holds-barred satirical comedy — a collection of often outlandish sketches about being Black in America — is directed at Center Stage by Lili-Anne Brown. The play is produced in association with the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC. A separate production began previews on Broadway on November 9.

Ain't No Mo' continues at Baltimore Center Stage through November 20. Follow the links for more information.

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

Today on Midday, it’s another installment in our occasional series, Midday on Ethics. 

A computational biologist from Johns Hopkins named Steven Salzberg published a commentary last week on the Hub, a Johns Hopkins University news website, in which he warned of the dangers of creating “superbugs” in labs for purposes of research.

Dr. Salzberg has long been a critic of so called “gain of function” research. What is that, and why do others share Dr. Salzberg’s concerns?

That’s where we’ll begin today on this edition of Midday on Ethics.  Tom's guest is our good friend Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, the director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics.

Dr. Jeff Kahn joins us today in Studio A. 

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

All four of the victors in statewide races here in Maryland made history last night. Governor-elect Wes Moore became only the third African American to be elected Governor in the United States, and the first Black man to lead our state. His running mate, Lt. Governor elect Aruna Miller, is the first immigrant to be elected statewide. Anthony Brown will be Maryland’s first African American Attorney General, and Brooke Lierman will become the state’s first woman to be installed as Comptroller in January.

None of their victories were unexpected. Election-denying candidates backed by former President Donald Trump in MD fared poorly, as did Trump-backed candidates in Pennsylvania, but other races here and across the country are still too close to call.

Today on Midday, recapping and reflecting on the midterms with two keen political observers: Jayne Miller, a veteran reporter who retired this past summer after more than 40 years as an investigative journalist with WBAL-TV. She is with us here in Studio A.

And Josh Kurtz, the founding editor of Maryland Matters, a leading online journal covering news across the state. He joins us on Zoom.

What’s your take on the elections? What issues were most important to you?

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

It’s Election Day in America. If you are not registered to vote, you can register when you go to your polling place. Go to the Maryland Board of Elections website to confirm where your polling place is, and bring some form of ID that proves you live in the district you’re voting in.

If you are using a mail-in ballot, you have until 8:00 tonight to drop your ballot in one of the drop boxes in your jurisdiction. If you are going to mail your ballot, it must be postmarked by 8:00 tonight.

Nationally, more than 42 million people have already cast ballots. As of this morning, just under 400,000 people had submitted mail-in ballots here in MD. Another 382,000 voted early, in person. It will be more than a week before we have the final tallies in MD races. It could take even longer in other states.

We hope you will join us tonight for Election Night in Maryland. Tom will be here in Studio A, beginning when the polls close at 8:00. NPR will cover the national races that will determine control of Congress and several Governor’s seats. He'll have election results from across Maryland, as they become available. Again, our special live coverage begins at 8:00.

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Today here on Midday, we’re going to turn our attention to one of the features of city life here in Baltimore that make our city a great and unique place: our city’s markets.

Our system of markets is the oldest in the country, dating from the 1780s. Lexington Market gets a lot of attention as the city’s largest market, but the other city markets scattered throughout the city are also vibrant food emporiums and community hubs.

Tom's guest for the hour today is Paul Ruppert. He is the president and CEO of the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, the non-profit company runs the city’s six historic markets. They include: Broadway Market, Cross Street Market, Hollins Market, Northeast Market, Avenue Market and the separately incorporated Lexington Market, which is currently re-opening after a four-year, $45 million renovation project.

Paul Ruppert joins Tom in Studio A.

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

Baltimore Ceasefire 365 is a community-based organization that for the past five years has been working to end violence in Baltimore. On four weekends each year, they hold events to promote non-violence, and to help those who are in danger or in mourning. And on the Mondays following each Ceasefire Weekend, we have been checking in with Ceasefire 365’s co-organizers.

This past weekend (November 4-6) was another such Ceasefire Weekend, and today, we're delighted to welcome once again, Letrice Gant, who is also Deputy Director of the Baltimore Community Mediation Center. That’s a non-profit organization that since 1995 has been providing free conflict resolution services to communities across the city.

Letrice Gant joins us on Zoom…

Letrice bears witness to our weekly reading of the names of those who lost their lives to violence in Baltimore last week...and she talks about some of the changes the Ceasefire movement is now undergoing to bring a more positive and uplifting message to the communities it serves...

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

The last day of voting in this contentious election season is tomorrow. Among the issues Maryland voters will decide is the future of recreational marijuana. What will the impact on youth be, if the referendum passes and cannabis is legalized?

And, as winter approaches, a possible surge in COVID cases isn’t the only cause for concern. Pediatric wards in hospitals around the country are packed with children suffering from RSV, and the flu is back in force as well. What’s the best way to prepare for the challenges that attend colder weather?

Dr. Wen is one of America’s most trusted and knowledgeable public health experts. She is a former health commissioner of Baltimore and an emergency physician.  She teaches at the George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health.  She writes a column for the Washington Post.  She’s a medical analyst for CNN, a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health.

Dr. Leana Wen joins us on Zoom…

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

The Baltimore Classical Guitar Society is presenting two acclaimed guitarists in concert tomorrow night. One of them is Tom's next guest, Grisha Goryachev. He’s a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, and he is considered a master of not just the classical guitar, but of the fiery and passionate style of Flamenco as well. Grisha Goryachev joins us here in Studio A, and we're happy to say he has brought his guitar…

Grisha Goryachev shares the stage tomorrow night with the fine young guitarist Andrea Gonzalez. Their show begins at 8:00 at the Linehan Concert Hall at UMBC. It’s part of the series produced by the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society.  Follow the link for details.

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

Today, we begin the hour with another installment of Midday at the Movies, our monthly convo about films and filmmaking. We're pleased to have with us again movie mavens Ann Hornaday, film critic for the Washington Post, who joins us in Studio A, and Jed Dietz, the founder and former director (ret.) of the Maryland Film Festival and Parkway Theater. Jed is with us on Zoom.

Today, we spotlight several new films, including Till, the powerful drama about the events surrounding the 1955 lynching of a 14 year-old Black youth in Mississippi that shocked the nation and ignited the American civil rights movement; and Armageddon Time, a scathing critique of American society.Both films are showing in local theaters only.

Other films mentioned in the conversation today are Todd Field's Tar, a drama starring Cate Blanchett as a fictional female orchestra conductor undergoing an emotional crisis; director Nina Menkes' new documentary about sexism in film, Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power. which Ann Hornaday discusses in her recent piece in the Post; and Alaska Daily, a new ABC series streaming on Hulu about a journalist (Hillary Swank) who seeks a fresh start working for a newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska, that's investigating the disappearance of young Native American women, The series was created by Tom McCarthy, the Oscar-winning creator of “Spotlight.”

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

It's time for another visit from Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us every week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage.

Today, she tells us about Everyman Theatre's new production of James Goldman's 1966 play, The Lion in Winter, a classic but still-resonant tale of power, political ambition and treachery, told through the travails of the 12th-centuury English king, Henry II, and his wife, Eleanor of Aquitane.

The historical drama, which was adapted into an Oscar-winning 1968 film starring Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn, touches on themes that recur in today's rancorous pre-election American politics.

The play is directed at The Everyman by the theater's founder and artistic director, Vincent Lancisi. His seven-member cast is led by Jefferson Russell as Henry II, and Deborah Hazlett as Eleanor. In supporting roles as the three royal sons are Zack Powell as Geoffrey, Ben Ribler as John and Grant Emerson Harvey as Richard, with Ryan Dalasung playing the young French king, Philip II, and Hannah Kelly playing Alais, Philip's sister (and Henry II's mistress).

The Lion in Winter continues at Baltimore's Everyman Theatre through November 13.

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