Midday

Another installment of Midday in the Neighborhood, our series in which we focus on each of the 278 unique and storied enclaves that make up our great City. Lauren Kelly-Washington of Greenmount West, Ben Marks of Ridgely’s Delight and Michael Woollen of Canton join host Tom Hall.

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It's Thursday and time again for Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of Maryland's regional stage. Today her spotlight is on Disaster!, the 2012 musical comedy created by Seth Rudetsky and Drew Geraci, and co-written by Rudetsky and Jack Plotnick. The musical made it to Broadway for a brief run in 2016, and it's now getting a new staging at Cockpit in Court Summer Theater, on the campus of the Community College of Baltimore County, in Essex.At the heart of this nostalgic spoof are the hit songs of the 70s and 80s -- played here by an 8-piece band under the direction of Michael deVito -- and the cinematic earthquakes, tidal waves, and infernos that were the staples of the era's disaster flicks. Directed and choreographed by Todd Pearthree, the musical features performances by Shane Lowry as Chad, John Andrew as Scott, Brian Jacobs as Professor Ted Scheider, and Lisa Pastella as Sister Mary Downy.Disaster! continues at Cockpit in Court through Sunday, June 30. For performance and ticket information, click here.To register online for the Hamilton @ The Hippodrome $10 ticket lottery that Judy and Tom discussed at the end of this segment, click here. You can also enter the lottery using the official app for HAMILTON, now available for all iOS and Android devices in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Hamilton will be on stage at The Hippodrome from June 25 through July 21.

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It's the Midday Newswrap for Friday, June 21, 2019. The big news today is the increasing tension between the United States and Iran. Overnight, President Trump reportedly ordered an attack on military targets in Iran, and according to Trump's Friday morning Tweets, after the mission was underway, he changed his mind, and the attack on Iran was called off.To help put these events into context, Tom talks with two close observers of the long-simmering U.S.-Iran conflict: David Ignatius is an associate editor and syndicated columnist for the Washington Post. He joins us on the line from Washington, DC. And Dan Lomothe is a national security and military affairs reporter for the Post; he joins us from the Pentagon. Our other big story this week also involves President Trump. With more than 20 Democratic candidates for president hoping to challenge Mr. Trump in 2020, the President officially kicked-off his re-election campaign Wednesday night at a boisterous rally in Orlando, Florida. Anne Gearan covers the White House for the Washington Post. She was at that rally, and joins us on the line from the White House.A special thanks to Midday's summer intern, Rob Velazquez, for his help on today's NewsWrap.

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When Frank Langfitt returned to China for his second reporting tour in 2011, he came up with a novel way to hear what Chinese people had to say. He offered them free cab rides. He’s chronicled those stories in a fascinating new book, ----The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China.---- Frank Langfitt joins Tom Hall to discuss the book and more.

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Today, a special Juneteenth edition of Midday: Live from The Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, in downtown Baltimore. Our topic today: Reparations: Can America Atone for the Sin of Slavery? As this program aired, a House Judiciary subcommittee was holding a hearing about HR 40, a bill that would create ----a Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans.---- It is sponsored by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey has introduced a companion bill in the Senate. Booker is one of several Democratic candidates for President who have expressed their support for Reparations. So, what is it that they support? What would reparations look like? With 68% of Americans, including more than a third of African Americans, opposing compensation for descendants of slaves, what is the political viability of reparations legislation like HR40? Can America ever adequately atone for the sin of slavery?Midday's expert panel today explores the moral, economic and cultural dimensions of reparations. The panel includes:Dr. Ray Winbush is the director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State University. In addition to many articles, he has written has published two books about reparations: Belinda’s Petition: A Concise History of Reparations For The Transatlantic Slave Trade, and Should America Pay?: Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations.E.R. Shipp was the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize (1996) for commentary. She is a founding faculty member of the School of Global Journalism and Communication at Morgan State University, and a columnist with the Baltimore Sun. Adjoa A. Aiyetoro is a professor emerita at the William H. Bowen School of Law, and a founding member of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations (N’COBRA).Tom begins the program by inviting Jacqueline Copeland, the executive director of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum and our host for today's event, to briefly discuss the significance of the Juneteenth observance, and the role of the Lewis Museum in Baltimore's cultural and political landscape.We couldn't take any phone calls today, but we welcomed listener comments and questions via email, at [email protected], and on Twitter, @MiddayWYPR. We also streamed on the WYPR Facebook Page, and you can watch the video of the event here.

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As another school year comes to a close, it's a good time to check in again with Baltimore City Public Schools CEO, Dr. Sonja Santelises.Dr. Santelises has made it a priority to increase the academic performance of city students. There is good news on that front: the high-school graduation rate is up for city kids, and the drop-out rate is down.But the achievement gap between white students and students of color persists, and the system still faces challenges associated with dropping enrollment and aging infrastructure. Today, Dr. Santelises joins Tom in the studio to discuss the progress made, and the work still ahead, in improving the city's public school system, and she addresses listener questions and comments.This program was live-streamed on WYPR's Facebook page, and you can watch the video here.

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On today's Midday on Transit, a check on how well the region is dealing with its transportation challenges, in Baltimore City and beyond. From Governor Hogan's controversial ----Traffic Relief Plan---- in the Washington suburbs, to a shake-up and critical oversight at the Baltimore Department of Transportation, what's working, what isn't, and how can we fix it? Transportation reporter Katherine Shaver with the Washington Post, and Brian O’Malley, president and CEO of the Central MD Transportation Alliance, join Tom on the line to discuss the governor's plan to construct express toll lanes on I-495 and I-270. Then, Tom discusses the challenges facing Baltimore's bus, subway and light rail transit systems, with guests Kevin Quinn, CEO and administrator of the Maryland Transit Administration, Samuel Jordan, president of the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition, Baltimore City Councilman Ryan Dorsey (D. 3rd Dist) and Klaus Philipsen, a Baltimore architect and urban planner and founding partner in the firm ArchPlan, Inc. .

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Today, percussionist Rajna Swaminathan and, vocalist, Ganavya Doraiswamy join Tom in Studio A for a live performance. They are members of Rajas, an experimental music ensemble that explores resonances among Indian music, jazz and other improvisational traditions. Rajna and the Rajas are performing at Baltimore’s Creative Alliance this Sunday at 7:30pm.

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On today's News Wrap, Heather Caygle of POLITICO joins us for a look behind some of this week’s national headlines. Delegate Robbyn Lewis tells us about her experience in the Transit Challenge. And Justin Fenton talks about his new series in the Baltimore Sun.

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The Summer Solstice is next Friday, and joining Tom today to help us put our summer reading list together is Heidi Daniel, the President and CEO of Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library.She also updates us on the many goings-on at our city’s wonderful library. Those include the Pratt's new ----Wash and Learn Initiative---- that's bringing internet access to laundromats around the city; the annual Summer Challenge; the June 29 PrattCon at the SE Anchor Library, the library's version of Comic-Con that will celebrate graphic novels and comic book culture; and the nearly complete renovation of the Central Library.Also today, Heidi Daniel shares her 2019 summer reading recommendations, which you can check out below...This program is being livestreamed on WYPR's Facebook page, and you can watch the video here.

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