Midday

The Baltimore Banner, a news partner with Baltimore Public Media, is the largest newsroom in Maryland.

Veterans Day, the 11th day of the 11th month each year, is set aside to honor Americans past and present who served in our country’s armed forces.

This year, the government shutdown prompted the cancellation of several Veterans Day events, but that was far from the only consequence of the shutdown for veterans.

Many veteran families rely on federally-funded food assistance programs and other programs. Many veterans’ families include non-military federal workers, who have been furloughed under the shutdown.

To tell us more about the current situation for veterans, and what resources are available to them, Heather Geraldes joins Midday. She is the Executive Director for the Maryland Veterans Trust Fund at the Maryland Department of Veterans & Military Families.

Midday also speaks to Bob LaBrutta, a 38-year career veteran of the US Air Force who retired at the rank of Major General. He’s now the Vice President of Survivorship at USAA, a nationwide financial institution which serves military families exclusively.

Plus, helping incarcerated veterans hoping to transition to the outside world. Kellen Kranich, Veterans Liaison at the Maryland Correctional Institution–Jessup, joins the program to talk about helping those who served get back on their feet.

Four times a year, the Baltimore Peace Movement, a community-led, not-for-profit organization, observes what it calls Peace Promise Weekends, where those who've lost loved ones to violence in the city are comforted, and those who've passed are remembered.

The Peace Promise is about bringing the city together to celebrate the connections that make our neighborhoods safer.

Darnyle Wharton is a co organizer of the Baltimore Peace Movement. He joins us on Zoom…

The Baltimore Peace Promise Weekends take place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on the 1st weekend of the month in February, August, and November, and on Mother's Day weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) in May.

The redrawing of voting districts usually happens at the end of each decade after the U.S. census supplies lawmakers with the latest demographic data.

But in an unprecedented move, more than a dozen states are either considering redistricting or have already enacted new congressional district maps, five years early.

California, Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have enacted maps, though legal challenges remain. Seven other states, including Maryland, are debating the issue.

On Midday, an examination of what’s at stake. Could the current U.S. House congressional delegation for Maryland, with 7 Democrats and 1 Republican, change?

Host Tom Hall interviewed Gov. Wes Moore last week. He recently announced that he has appointed a commission to evaluate the fairness of the current congressional map.

Democratic Del. David Moon, an early proponent of redistricting in the state’s legislature, and Del. Kathy Szeliga, whose lawsuit in 2020 led to the current map, share their perspectives on Midday.

Midday is also joined by Bryan Sears, covers the governor, the General Assembly and state politics for the news site Maryland Matters.

You can submit your comment about Maryland’s congressional maps by emailing [email protected]. The first meeting of the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission is set to be held online Tuesday, November 11 at 4pm.

Midday's theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews the new production of Yasmina Reza's 'Art' at the Everyman Theatre.

Full Circle Dance Company was founded in 2000 and approaches each year with a different theme for its choreography.

We talk with the directors of the 2025 Maryland Film Festival about the latest edition of Baltimore's esteemed showcase for new films & filmmakers, and we check out what's new on local screens & TVs.

Eva Cassidy, a singer from Washington, DC, died of melanoma in 1996 at the age of 33. Though she never achieved widespread recognition or commercial success during her lifetime, her posthumous fame and influence have continued to grow.

Singer Alexis Tantau, along with singer/musician Letitia VanSant and her band Rusty Sal, are among the featured artists for the opening set tomorrow night at the Annapolis Jazz and Roots Festival, where they’ll present a tribute to Eva Cassidy.

Today, Alexis and Letitia join Tom in Studio A, with Rusty Sal band member Alex Lacquement on the upright bass, for a preview of that tribute, in a Midday Mini Concert…

Tom's next guests are the three cast members in the new Everyman Theatre production of Art, which Midday's theater critic, J. Wynn Rousuck, reviewed here last Friday.

Bruce Randolph Nelson plays Serge, a dermatologist who becomes an obsessive art collector; Kyle Prue plays Marc, Serge's intellectual friend, and Tony K. Nam plays Yvan, a mutual friend.

In the Tony Award-winning play, the three men find their relationships strained when Serge buys an extremely expensive, monochromatic white painting. His two friends' openly dismissive attitude toward the pricey canvas sparks heated arguments over the subjective quality of art and taste, and gradually raises doubts about their loyalty to each other.

In real life, the three actors are friends, and they are also members of Everyman Theatre's Resident Company, a distinction that reflects not only their superb acting talents but also their commitment to Everyman's mission to bring transformative artistic experiences, season after season, to Baltimore audiences.

Bruce Randolph Nelson and Kyle Prue join Tom now in Studio A. Tony K. Nam joins us on Zoom.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott joins Midday to discuss the latest issues important to city residents.

Scott signed a series of consequential, and controversial, housing bills earlier this week. What does he say to critics who claim the bills will drive out longtime residents?

And, as the longest government shutdown in American history continues, how is the city supporting furloughed federal workers and contractors?

Plus, a final report on Baltimore's guaranteed income pilot program, Scott's reactions to the election of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and plans for expanded facilities for local Immigration and Customs Enforcement.