Midday

Midday

By WYPR 88.1 FM BaltimoreSociety & Culture News

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Midday episodes

February 20, 2025 How is CASA advocating for Hispanic and Black immigrants?
How are Black and Brown immigrant communities navigating policy and priorities at the state and federal level?
Tom speaks with Cathryn Paul, the Policy Director for CASA which is an organizing group created to support immigrant communities in the Washington, D.C./Maryland region. She discusses CASA's legislative agenda for 2025.
Paul is joined by Denis, a Cameroonian immigrant in Maryland, who personally shares his concerns and experiences in the African immigrant community.
22 min
February 20, 2025 Artist Brinae Ali revives the story of Baltimore tap dancer Baby Laurence
The performance at Creative Alliance Baby Laurence Legacy Project: Tracing Steps.
19 min
February 19, 2025 Anger and frustration is too often escalating into violence on Maryland roads. What can we do about it?
Lillian Reed covered road rage recently for WYPR's news partner The Baltimore Banner.
49 min
February 18, 2025 Mr. Olszewski goes to Washington
Democratic Congressman Johnny Olszewski, Jr. represented Maryland's 2nd District for the these six tumultuous weeks of the Donald Trump Administration.
His constituency includes federal workers who are facing layoffs, and he is working to address possible cuts in federal aid for the state, which itself is facing a $3 billion budget hole.
Meanwhile, Democrats grapple with how to confront the new administration’s radical approach to governing.
Olszewski joins Midday to talk about his first weeks in the U.S. House, and his plans looking ahead to the rest of the term.
37 min
February 18, 2025 Great Blacks in Wax Museum gets an upgrade, and travelling exhibits
As we celebrate Black History this month, my next guest heads a museum which celebrates the achievements and the spirit of African Americans every day of the year.
Dr. Joanne Martin, along with her husband, Dr. Elmer Martin, opened the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in a storefront in 1983, with some wax figures they had purchased with money they had been saving to buy a house. Today, the museum’s collection includes more than 150 lifelike figures spanning Black history from slave ships to the present day.
Martin joins us to talk about recent upgrades to the museum's facilities, and a traveling in Annapolis and Washington, D.C.
12 min
February 17, 2025 'We Refuse' makes an argument for redefining Black history
A new book aims to rekindle the conversation about Black resistance to white supremacy in the history of the United States.
We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, is an impassioned love letter to Black resilience in our past and present.
The author, Kellie Carter Jackson, is an Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies at Wellesley College and a cohost of This Day in Esoteric Political History. Her 2019 book Force and Freedom was a finalist for the Frederick Douglass Book Prize and the Museum of African American History Stone Book Award.
49 min
February 14, 2025 Newswrap: Washington chaos hits Baltimore's small businesses
A local farmer and a restauranteur join Midday to discuss their experience of the first few eventful weeks of President Donald Trump's term. The pair say they are feeling the consequences of Executive Actions aimed at shrinking federal government and revamping immigration policy.
Elisa Lane is the owner of Two Boots Farm in Hampstead, in Carroll County. Two Boots grows cut flowers and produce and does floral design. They plan to set up shop at the Baltimore Farmer’s Market under the expressway downtown when the market opens in April.
Lane said her farm relies on U.S. Department of Agriculture grants and education services, and a recent freeze of funding could cost her the farm.
Irena Stein is the owner of the popular Venezuelan restaurant Alma Cocina Latina, on Charles Street near Penn Station in Baltimore. She is also the author of Arepa: Classic and Contemporary Recipes for Venezuela’s Daily Bread. Stein said many of her workers are in the United States on visas, and sudden changes to immigration policy threaten her workforce.
20 min
February 14, 2025 A cabaret couple celebrate their love in 'Painting the Town'
Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano's new album is Painting the Town.
19 min
February 14, 2025 Rousuck Review: 'Primary Trust' at Everyman Theatre
“Primary Trust” continues at Everyman Theatre through March 2. The play, from playwright Eboni Booth, won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize.
11 min
February 13, 2025 Perspective on immigration, in Maryland and beyond
President Donald Trump’s Executive Actions and some highly-publicized raids have targeted people without legal status who have been convicted or accused of criminal acts. There are multiple reports enforcement actions have swept up people who have no criminal record, and even some people who are American citizens.
Refugees who are in the United States legally, too, have been among those targeted in recent raids.
For perspective on the current climate for migrants in the country, we turn to Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, the President and CEO of Global Refuge. The non-profit that assists refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants.
Two people who work closely with local immigrant community, providing a range of services through the Esperanza Center, also join Midday. Matthew Dolamore is the Director of the Esperanza Center Angela Edman is a human rights attorney, and the Managing Lawyer of the Center.
49 min

About Midday

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Monday-Friday from noon-1:00, Tom Hall and his guests are talking about what's on your mind, and what matters most to Marylanders, the latest news, local and national politics, education and the…