Midday

It's time for another visit from Midday's theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins Tom on Skype today with her movie hat on: she spotlights the new film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, In the Heights.

The film musical retains most of the Broadway version's high-spirited songs and signature lyrics, and like the original, it captures the energies and pressures of everyday life in the largely Latino neighborhood of Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan. Directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) from a screenplay by the Broadway book writer Quiara Alegría Hudes, the film version moves playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda from his Broadway lead to a secondary role. Actor Anthony Ramos ("A Star is Born, and Broadway's "Hamilton") takes that lead as bodega owner Usnavi, who works hard, saves every penny and dreams (and sings) of a better life. Ramos is joined by a large, talented cast, including Melissa Barrera (TV's "Vida"), Corey Hawkins (“Straight Outta Compton,” “BlacKkKlansman”) and Jimmy Smits (TV's "NYPD Blue" and the “Star Wars” films).

In the Heights is showing at many Baltimore area theaters and is streaming on the HBO Max subscription service.

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Next on Midday: “Majoring in Marijuana.” The medical and recreational cannabis industry is a multi-billion-dollar business. The University of MD School of Pharmacy is the first institution in the country to offer a Master’s Degree in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics, to train people to work in this burgeoning field.

Joining Tom is Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FCP, FAAPS, dean and professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Also with us is one of the newly minted graduates of the MS program, Catrena Almonte, who is already actively pursuing her career in the burgeoning field of medical cannabis therapy.

Both guests join us on Zoom.

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

Hardly a day goes by without reports of groups of four or more people becoming victims of gun violence somewhere in the United States. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 80 mass shootings in the United States since the first of this year that have left 90 people dead and 371 people injured.

The latest occurred in Baltimore yesterday. Just after 2:00 Wednesday afternoon, six people were shot near the corner of Smallwood Street and West Lexington In the Penrose neighborhood in West Baltimore. One victim died. Others are in serious to critical condition. In a press conference later that afternoon, Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said that the initial investigation indicates that two or three people walked up Smallwood Street and opened fire on the six individuals, and then fled in a car.

Mayor Brandon Scott’s comments about this shooting echoed comments he has made about many others. He called it an "unacceptable" act of cowardice. He pointed to his efforts, announced last month, to re-establish the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council as part of what he asserts is a comprehensive strategy to fight violent crime.

To date, in the first half of this year, 152 people have been counted as victims of homicide. More than twice that number have been shot in what are labeled “non-fatal” shootings.

Joining Tom now is TJ Smith, who served for several years as the spokesperson for the Baltimore City Police Department. Last year, he ran in the Democratic Primary for Baltimore City Mayor. He now runs a consulting firm called TJ Smith Media. He offers his unique perspective on what the continuing violence means for the city, for the victims, and for the perpetrators.

T.J. Smith join us on Zoom…

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Every six months or so here on Midday, we invite WYPR's President and General Manager, LaFontaine Oliver to join us to talk about how our station is doing, and the state of public media in general. He has experience in both commercial and public radio and a perspective that is both local and national. LaFontaine took the reins of WYPR in the summer of 2019. He’s been a member of the board of directors of NPR since 2016. He was elected the Chair of the NPR Board seven months ago.

Last month, LaFontaine announced that, subject to approval by the FCC, WYPR will acquire WTMD Radio, another public radio station that is currently run by a non-profit organization affiliated with Towson University.

LaFontaine is with us for the hour to discuss what the pending acquisition of WTMD will mean for both stations' audiences and for the public media landscape. And he addresses listener questions and comments.

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

A little more than half of Marylanders have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. Nationally, we may not reach President Biden’s goal of vaccinating 70% of all Americans by the fourth of July. Mass vax sites are out. Mobile units are in. Convincing the adult holdouts to get a vaccine, and vaccinating children are now the focus of public health officials.

It's The Midday Healthwatch, our monthly check-in with Dr. Leana Wen. She's an emergency physician, a visiting professor in public health at George Washington University, a columnist for the Washington Post and a medical analyst at CNN, a former Health Commissioner of Baltimore, and author of the forthcoming memoir, Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health.

Dr. Wen joins Tom today to discuss the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and the issues that continue to swirl around our national response to it.

Can the recently revived theory that COVID 19 began in a Chinese lab be explored without inflaming anti-Asian racism here and around the world?

How should parents frame the choice about vaccinating their children, and what’s behind the vaccine hesitancy of some medical professionals?

And, with mass vaccination sites on the way out and mobile units ramping up, will officials be able to address the persistent levels of racial disparity among those who are protected against coronavirus?

Dr. Leana Wen joins us today on Skype, and she addresses your questions and comments about COVID-19 and public health.

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

We open this segment with the music of jazz pianist Bill Charlap, recorded live at Keystone Korner, one of the great jazz clubs in the country, which is right here in Baltimore’s Harbor East neighborhood. The proprietor of Keystone Korner is Todd Barkan. He was the 2018 recipient of the distinguished NEA Jazz Master award, and for decades, he’s been revered as one of the great jazz impresarios in the country. Todd has a saying: “If you take care of the music, the music will take care of you.” Taking care of the music, and taking care of his club has been tough during the pandemic.

But Keystone is back with live performances, and Todd Barkan is back here on Midday…

We close out with the music of the Kenny Barron Trio, who are performing live at Keystone Korner this weekend. More info here.

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

Tom's first guest today is Jim Hunter. He was the voice of the Baltimore Orioles for 24 years. The team has been in a rebuilding mode for some time now, and that rebuild included a complete revamp of its broadcast team last January, when Jim and six of his colleagues in the Os broadcast booth were swapped out for a new team.

Jim is now contributing his talents to Maryland Public Television, and he remains a scholar of the game he has been broadcasting for nearly 40 years.

Jim Hunter joins us on our digital line from his home in Harford County.

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 today with her review of Palestinian/Irish playwright Hannah Khalil's Scenes From 73* Years. The play is a complex tapestry of stories about daily life in Palestine since the state of Israel was established in 1948.

The streaming production, utilizing a large cast from the Chicago-based Medina Theater Collective, was produced in partnership with the Baltimore Theatre Project. It was co-directed by Najla Said and Rohina Malik, and features MTC cast members Bassam Abdelfattah, Amira Danan, Arash Fakhrabadi, Noor Hamdi, ​Chris Khoshaba, Ruba Mansouri, Annalise Raziq and Najat Arkadan Washington.

Scenes From 73 Years will be streaming online from the Baltimore Theatre Project through June 20th. For more information on the play and how to see it, click here.

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

If you’re headed down the ocean this weekend, as the saying goes, it’s almost a sure bet that depending on what time you leave to head east over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Kent Island, you will spend part of the time during your trip snarled in traffic. And if you live on the Eastern or Western Shore, your commute or your drive doing errands will be slowed down too. The traffic that tangles shore roadways is not just a matter of inconvenience. For firefighters, police officers and medical personnel it can sometimes be, literally, a matter of life and death.

The first span of the Bay Bridge was built in 1952. 20 years later, a second span was built from Annapolis to Kent Island to relieve congestion. Nearly 50 years later, is it time for a third span? If so, where? Up north in Harford County? Should it connect Aberdeen and Cecilton? Or in the South in St. Mary’s County, connecting Lexington Park and Princess Anne? Or, at any number of points in between?

A new study by the Maryland Transportation Authority that considered these options has created controversy.The report was five years in the making and it cost $5 million dollars. It outlines options that include building another span next to the first two, putting a bridge somewhere else, or building nothing at all.

Today on Midday, a conversation about the bridges' impact on traffic on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay.

Tom's first guest is Queen Anne’s County Commissioner Jim Moran. He joins us by phone.

Later in the program, Tom speaks with Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman. He joins us on Zoom.

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

For decades, the term “Critical Race Theory” was known only to law professors and historians, but lately, it’s been all over the news. CRT was first introduced more than 40 years ago by legal scholars Derrick Bell, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Richard Delgado. The theory holds, basically, that racism is not simply a matter of inter-personal animus. Rather, it’s also a social construct, embedded systemically in institutions, and advanced in public policies.

Last fall, the Trump Administration banned diversity training in government agencies and in the military. And when some school systems began incorporating resources like the New York Times 1619 Project in their history curriculums, Republican lawmakers in statehouses and in Congress began drafting and passing legislation to ban the teaching of CRT in schools.

Today on Midday, a conversation about Critical Race Theory and an examination of why it’s become the latest flashpoint in the culture wars.

Tom's first guest is Congressman Andy Harris, who represents Maryland’s first district. He is one of the 36 House Republicans who are sponsors of a House Resolution that would disallow Critical Race Theory from being taught in K-12 classrooms.

Later in the program, Tom is joined by Dr. Rashawn Ray, the coordinator of the Critical Race Initiative in the Department of Sociology at the University of MD, and a Rubinstein fellow at The Brookings Institution. We're also joined by Charles Fain Lehman, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, and a critic of CRT's inclusion into US public school curriculums.

All our guests today joined us on Zoom.

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