Midday

(This program was originally broadcast live on July 28, 2020)

Tom's guest is Adam Gopnik, a staff writer for The New Yorker Magazine for the past 34 years. The author of numerous books, including eclectic essay collections and children's novels, Gopnik's latest is an homage to liberalism.

The book explores liberalism's roots with the French Renaissance philosopher, Michel de Montaigne, and the so-called Age of Enlightenment, and traces its history through the present day. Gopnik observes that liberalism was preceded by humanism and the affection for and elevation of a sense of community, forged around shared choices. He calls it a fact-first philosophy with a feelings-first history. It favors reform over revolution. It is premised in love and empathy, and what he calls “a belief that the sympathy that binds human society together can disconnect us from our clannish & suspicious past.”

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Last night, in a 70-minute speech to nearly 2000 loyalists seated tightly on the South Lawn of the White House, Donald Trump accepted the nomination of the Republican Party to seek re-election as President. It is a party he has changed dramatically, and some fear, irrevocably.


Joining Tom with analysis of Mr. Trump’s speech and a recap of the four-day Republican National Convention is conservative political analyst Bill Kristol. From 1985 to 1993, Mr. Kristol served in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and went on to found the influential conservative journal, The Weekly Standard. He is currently an editor-at-large at The Bulwark, an independent journal of political analysis, and the host of Conversations with Bill Kristol, his online series of interviews with leading figures in American public life.

Bill Kristol joins us on Zoom from his home in northern Virginia.

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

Tom's next guest today is the founder and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, Robert P. Jones. In 2016, Dr. Jones published a critically acclaimed book called The End of White Christian America. He’s followed that up with a timely and thoughtful peroration on racism in American Christianity. From splits in American Protestantism over slavery, to the unshakable support of Evangelicals for Donald Trump, Jones traces how racial intolerance has been a constant in American Christianity for generations. The book is called White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity.

On Wednesday, September 2 at 4pm, Robert Jones will be speaking about the book in an on-line event sponsored by the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies. For more information on the event, click here.

Dr. Robert Jones joins us now, on Zoom…

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On Night Three of the 2020 Republican National Convention, Vice President Mike Pence used Fort McHenry here in Baltimore as the back drop for his re-nomination acceptance speech, in which he seemed to suggest that the country is being overrun with anarchy and violence. President Trump attended the address, and greeted the invited crowd afterwards. The President is slated to speak tonight, from the White House.

Rep. Andy Harris (MD-1) joins Tom with analysis.

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Today on Midday, an update on Coronavirus mitigation efforts including, what to know about getting your flu shot, and how a change to CDC testing guidelines could impact the fight against the virus.

Dr. Lisa Maragakis is the Executive Director of the Hopkins Biocontainment Unit and the senior director of Infection Prevention at the Johns Hopkins Health System.

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The lives of a group of African American girls from Baltimore are the focus a new documentary set to premier next week at the 2020 Black Femme Supremacy Film Festival.

The film is called ‘Anatomy of Wings’ and it profiles 10 Dunbar Middle School students as they participate in a mentorship program called ‘Finding Your Wings.'

Over the course of the film, we watch the teens grow into womanhood, meeting the challenges of their teenage years against a backdrop of poverty, violence and systemic inequity.

Filmmakers Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander and Nikiea Redmond join talk with Tom about their experiences making the film and the bonds that were created.

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The intersection of race, politics and media is a sticky and complicated place to be, and that’s precisely where Tiffany Cross plants herself in her terrific new book, 'Say it Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives and Saving Our Democracy'.

Tiffany Cross has been a ubiquitous presence on cable news for many years as a political analyst. She joins Tom for a conversation about race, politics and the media.

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

Earlier this month, Baltimore City Public Schools presented their plan for remote learning. The plan lays out the district's virtual learning model, and offers a look at future hybrid learning models that blend online and in-person instruction.

Dr. Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, talks about how the district will try to keep kids on track with their education, while keeping them, their teachers and their families safe.

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

As political pundits continue to size up last week's virtual Democratic National Convention, with its formal nominations of former Vice President Joe Biden for President and California Senator Kamala Harris for his vice-presidential running mate, the Republican National Convention kicked off today in Charlotte, North Carolina, with a virtual delegate roll call that underscored the strong support President Trump enjoys within the Republican Party. WYPR will carry NPR's live coverage of the first of four nights of the Republican National Convention, beginning tonight at 9pm.

Tom's guest today is a seasoned veteran of both campaigning and governing. Jennifer Palmieri served two Presidents over a period of 12 years in the White House, and she’s been part of five presidential campaigns, including Hillary Clinton’s run in 2016, in which she was the Communications Director.

Like many other businesses, the business of politics is dominated by white men...


Jennifer Palmieri’s new book is a manifesto and how-to guide for women who operate in a male-centric environment. It’s called She Proclaims: Our Declaration of Independence from a Man’s World.

Jennifer Palmieri joins us on Zoom from her home in Maryland.

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During today's live Midday broadcast, Tom Hall commented on Baltimore Mayor Jack Young's abrupt firing last Friday of the city's long-time Housing Commissioner, Michael Braverman:

"Before we go to a break, a major development in Baltimore city government happened late last Friday. Mayor Jack Young fired Michael Braverman, the city’s Housing Commissioner. Nadya Morgan, Mr. Braverman’s Chief of Staff was also let go. The change at the top of the agency comes as an eviction crisis looms because of the coronavirus, and as Mr. Young prepares for retirement in only about three months. In a statement, Mr. Braverman thanked his colleagues in and out of the agency, and said, quote, 'My termination came as a complete surprise to me.'

"Sources at City Hall tell me it came as a complete surprise to just about everyone else, too, including the City Council President, Brandon Scott, who is the Democratic nominee for Mayor, and who is expected to win the November election and take office in December. In a statement sent to me this morning, Mr. Scott said, 'I wasn't made aware of Mr. Braverman's firing until after it had already happened, and was surprised by the decision.'

"Mayor Young’s office declined to make the Mayor available to us today on Midday, saying that he does not discuss personnel matters. Mr. Braverman is traveling, and unavailable to comment as well.

"Michael Braverman served our city for more than 30 years, and his expertise in housing and development was sought after by people all over the country. Absent any explanation from the Mayor or his staff as to why Mr. Young felt compelled to fire such a highly regarded city official, as Mr. Young reaches the end of his brief career as Mayor, one is left to conclude that Braverman’s termination is simply an act of petty vindictiveness. No one knows why the Mayor or perhaps some on his senior staff had a problem with Michael Braverman, but the citizens of Baltimore should have a problem with Mayor Young disrupting the function of this important agency, in the middle of a pandemic, without explanation.

"Our city has lost an excellent Housing Commissioner, and yet again, we are given reason to lose confidence that city leaders actually have the best interests of Baltimore at heart. If Mayor Young is making a decision like this without informing the President of the city council, his likely successor, what can we expect in the transition process this November? One can only hope that in December, when a new cadre of leadership does inherit a plethora of problems facing Baltimore, those leaders will be able to attract the kind of exceptional talent that Michael Braverman represented in the housing department, and in all city agencies." -- Tom Hall

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Joe Biden accepted his party’s nomination to be their standard bearer in November on the fourth and final night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

With less than 90 days left in the campaign, recent polls have Biden leading the President by a substantial margin. Will that lead hold, and will Republicans, who get their chance to make their case next week, be able to parry the Democrats’ attacks and tighten the race?

Guest:

Bakari Sellers is an attorney and CNN Political Analyst. He is a former Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, and author of the book, My Vanishing Country: A Memoir.

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