Midday

Host Jason Michael Perry

moderates a special live panel for the

World Trade Center Institute's

AGILE Global Innovation Series, digging into what quantum actually is, why it matters,

and how Maryland became a powerhouse in the global quantum race.

The session opens with remarks from

Jeremy Rosendale,

VP of Membership & Business Development at the World Trade Center Institute,

and Kim Mentzell,

Director of the Office of Strategic Industries at the Maryland Department of Commerce,

where she leads statewide strategy across cybersecurity, aerospace, AI, and quantum.

Jason is joined by three leaders shaping the region’s quantum ecosystem:

John Sawyer of the University of Maryland,

who helped build the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance;

Jessica Ponds,

CFO of Strangeworks and a voice in quantum commercialization; and

Rick Muller,

VP of Quantum Computing at IonQ and former national lab leader.

They break down the fundamentals — qubits, superposition, entanglement — and get into

real-world business use cases, talent and ecosystem development, global competition,

and the looming concept of “Q Day,” when today’s encryption may no longer be secure.

The result is a rare, clear-eyed look at a field that’s equal parts exciting, confusing,

and massively important for the future of industry.

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Special thanks to the team at the World Trade Center Institute.

Thanks to the team at WYPR,

producer Sam Bermas-Dawes, and Myrna Martinez,

Head of Operations and Marketing at PerryLabs.

Baltimore City Public Schools is seeking a new CEO to succeed Sonja Santelises when her tenure ends after the 2025-2026 school year.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County's Institute of Politics released a new poll earlier this month measuring, among other things, the approval rating of Gov. Wes Moore and President Donald Trump.

Marylanders were also asked about their perceptions of the Democratic and Republicans parties, and their perception of artificial intelligence.

Dr. Mileah Kromer is the Director of the Institute of Politics and Rev. Kevin Slayton is the pastor of Northwood Appold United Methodist Church, a civil rights activist, and the author of  Politically Speaking: Why Politics are Local to the Black Church. They join Midday to discuss the polling.

Sen. Bill Ferguson, the President of the Maryland Senate, has been under pressure from Gov. Wes Moore and prominent Democrats around the country to get on board with efforts to counter redistricting efforts by Republican legislators in Texas, North Carolina, Missouri and other states that favor Republican candidates for the House.

Ferguson opposes redrawing congressional lines, like California did earlier this month. He joins Midday to make his case for why.

In Maryland, congressional redistricting would likely mean drawing lines that give a Democrat a better chance of defeating the 1st District's Rep. Andy Harris, the state's sole Republican congressman.

Arts Every Day director Julia DiBussolo and City Schools' Diya Hafiz-Slayton discuss ongoing efforts to strengthen fine arts curricula in Baltimore City's public schools.

Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews the new North American touring production of 'The Phantom of the Opera,' Broadway's longest-running musical, at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre.

Sportswriter Jane Leavy's new book is a fact-filled fastball pitch for new rules in baseball to bring more fairness — and fun — back to 'America's pastime.'

Jazz singer Gabrielle Cavassa, who has toured and recorded with legendary saxophonist Joshua Redman, previews her gig tonight at Keystone Korner.

'Holding Liat' producer Lance Kramer discusses the powerful new documentary about the family of an Israeli-American woman kidnapped by Hamas fighters on October 7. 2023

When fires broke out in 18th century Baltimore, historian Clarence H. Forrest wrote, “Then everybody became a fireman, and with the primitive appliances at hand attempted to extinguish the flames.”

Clarence, writing at the end of the 19th century, notes times had changed with the adoption of dedicated firemen companies. “Now,” he wrote, “the few fight the flames and the many are spectators.”

Baltimore has changed greatly since those times, but the same idea remains: the few fight the flames.

In recent years, the Baltimore City Fire Department has faced several high profile fires as well as fires sprouting from the city’s many vacant properties. Fire Chief James Wallace, a 33-year veteran of the service who became Chief in July 2023, joins Midday to discuss fighting fires, how new technologies is shaping how his department responds to calls, and staffing shortages.