Midday

US inflation is at a 40-year high. Rising gas prices are one of the indicators of which many Americans are all too acutely aware. There has been an outpouring of support in the United States and around the world for Ukraine. The heroic response to Russia’s invasion by Ukraine's armed forces and civilians, and the determination and resolve of the country’s President, have been inspiring.But Russia’s political isolation, and the unprecedented economic sanctions the West has levied against Russia have roiled energy markets, and it remains to be seen how long Americans, Europeans and others will be willing to tolerate high prices and further disruption in the supply chain that the war is causing.

Joining Tom now is Rachel Siegel, who covers the Federal Reserve and the economy for the Washington Post.

Rachel Siegel joins us on Zoom from Washington, DC.

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

Now, we turn our attention to a singer-songwriter you likely know as an actor. Kiefer Sutherland will be playing music from his new album - his third - called Bloor Street, Tuesday night at the Ram’s Head in Annapolis, Maryland, performing with special musical guests Marc Copely and Rocco Deluca.

Check out the video of the title cut from that new album, here...

Tom reached Kiefer Sutherland by phone on the road a couple of weeks ago to talk about his music, how he's balancing his studio and acting careers, and his experiences playing songs on the road.

(Since this conversation is pre-recorded, we can't take any calls today)

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 in the show, Tom speaks with the actor Kiefer Sutherland. In addition to his work on television and in film, he’s an accomplished singer-songwriter. He’s playing some tunes from his latest album tomorrow night in Annapolis, and he’ll join us to talk about it today on Midday.

But we begin with the powerful and acclaimed African American writer, Kiese Laymon. He’s published a novel, Long Division, a collection of essays called How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America and a best-selling memoir, Heavy, which chronicles his childhood in Mississippi, his struggles growing up, and his complicated relationship with his brilliant and demanding mother.

Laymon is a professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Mississippi. He’ll be offering a workshop for writers Tuesday night (3/15) as one of the featured artists at this year’s CityLit Festival. (Follow the link to register for his Master Class event.)

Kiese Laymon joins us on Zoom from Virginia.

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The 19th Annual CityLit Festival continues on March 29 with a program called How We Break Free: The Birth of Promise at the Motor House and on April 1, a program called Killing Rage: A Festival of Poets at Busboys and Poets in Baltimore. Follow the links for more info.

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

And now, it’s another installment in our series of Conversations with the Candidates: 2022. Tom's guest is Doug Gansler, a Democrat who is running in the primary for Governor.

Mr. Gansler served as Assistant US Attorney and as the Montgomery County State’s Attorney before being elected as the Maryland Attorney General in 2006. He served two terms in that office, and ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Governor in 2014. He lost that race to Anthony Brown, who in turn lost in the general election to Larry Hogan.

Doug Gansler is 59 years old. He grew up in Chevy Chase. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University where he was a star lacrosse player. He holds a law degree from the University of VA. He is married and the father of two grown children.

Mr. Gansler has chosen former Hyattsville Mayor Candace Bacchus Hollingsworth as his running mate. Mayor Hollingsworth is the youngest and the first African American Mayor in the history of Hyattsville.

Doug Gansler joins us on Zoom from Chevy Chase, Maryland.

You are welcome to join us as well. You can call us at 410.662.8780, email us at [email protected], or Tweet us: @MiddayWYPR.

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

On Thursday afternoon, a few minutes after 5:00pm, the US Attorney’s Office in Baltimore released a superseding indictment against Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. The indictment expands on the charges handed down in January, concerning Ms. Mosby’s purchase of two properties in Florida.

Joining Tom now with legal analysis of these new charges is David Jaros, associate professor of law and Faculty Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Reform at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Professor David Jaros joins us on Zoom from Baltimore.

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

Tom's guest for the hour today is Elizabeth Williamson, a reporter for the New York Times who has written a book that traces the lineage from conspiracy theories that surrounded the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012 through every other major trauma that has occurred since, up to and including the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The book is disturbing and important. It chronicles the inhuman and insidious work of people like Alex Jones, the founder of Info Wars, and those who perpetuate his fabricated explanations of tragic events. It lays bare the horrific reality that our country has millions of gullible people, many of whom are willing to viciously demean and defame families whose loved ones are victims of violence. They comprise a loyal audience who have funded Jones and his ilk for decades, and as Williamson masterfully demonstrates, they are part of an “enduring feature of American life” since our country’s earliest days.

The book is called Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth.

Elizabeth Williamson joins us on our digital line from Washington, DC.

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

Next on Midday, we shift our focus from the international arena to state politics. Tom's guest is Dayvon Love, the director of public policy at Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, a social justice advocacy organization that works to improve the conditions of Black people in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

With just over four weeks left in the 2022 Maryland General Assembly, Dayvon Love joins us on Zoom to discuss LBS' priorities for the balance of the legislative session.

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

Just as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has galvanized bi-partisan support for Ukraine in the US Senate, the devastating destruction Russia has unleashed on the independent democratic people of Ukraine has prompted similar bi-partisan efforts in the House of Representatives to provide strategic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Joining Tom now is Rep. Kweisi Mfume, who represents Maryland’s 7th Congressional district. Rep. Mfume is also a member of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, and he joins us on Zoom from the US Capitol.

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

The UN estimates there are 2 million refugees who have fled their homes in Ukraine. Many have crossed into neighboring countries on Ukraine’s western border.

Yesterday, President Biden announced a ban on Russian oil and gas entering the US. The average price of a gallon of gas in MD stands today at $4.23. A steady stream of international companies has stopped doing business in Russia. Yesterday, McDonald’s, Starbucks and Coca Cola became the latest American corporations to suspend operations.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near the northern border of Ukraine, has been disconnected from the power grid. The plant is under Russian military control. Workers worry they may not be able to cool spent fuel that is stored there.

More than 200,000 people are without heat, electricity and water in the southern city of Mariupol, where fighting continues. Russian troops continue their very slow progress toward Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

Tom's first guest today is Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland's Democratic junior senator and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator Van Hollen joins us on Zoom.

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

In an essay in the Washington Post yesterday, Dmytro Kuleba, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine writes, “For decades, world leaders bowed their heads at war memorials across Europe and solemnly proclaimed: “Never again.” The time has come to prove those were not empty words.”

Tom's next guest is retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman. As a member of the National Security Council in the Trump Administration, Col. Vindman disclosed that President Trump tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating Joe Biden. That disclosure led to Trump’s first impeachment.

Col. Vindman is the author of a memoir called Here, Right Matters: An American Story. And in an article in the journal, Foreign Affairs posted on Sunday, Vindman calls for a Lend-Lease-type plan for the Ukrainian military.

Alexander Vindman joins Tom on Zoom from his home in Woodbridge, Virginia, to talk about how that might work…

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