Roughly Speaking

4:46: Award-winning author Mohsin Hamid, whose new novel, “Exit West,” is a love story about refugees fleeing a war-torn country, talks about migrants, globalization, nationalism and America in the time of Trump. Hamid is scheduled to appear Saturday at the Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore for a fundraiser for the International Rescue Committee’s Baltimore area refugee rescue and resettlement efforts. Hamid is the author of three previous novels, including “The Reluctant Fundamentalist,” an international best-seller in 2007.23:12: With President Trump having revised and signed an executive order banning immigrants from six majority-Muslim nations, veteran journalist Arnold “Skip” Isaacs returns to Roughly Speaking to offer more perspective on American fears of terrorism and the roots of Islamophobia. Isaacs says those fears are overheated and in part driven by anti-Islamic extremists who push conspiracy theories about “civilization jihad,” sharia law and terrorist connections to Muslim-American organizations.Links:https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/books/review-exit-west-mohsin-hamid.html?_r=0http://www.redeemerbaltimore.org/events/moshin-hamid-exit-west/

Will Englund (5:17), who won a Pulitzer Prize as a reporter for The Baltimore Sun, is the author of a new book about the American entrance into World War I. The book, "March 1917," is being released this week. It tells the story of the end of U.S. neutrality during the bloody conflict in Europe and the collapse of the Russian empire under the czars. Also with a new book is Gene Fax (24:26), author of "With Their Bare Hands: General Pershing, the 79th Division and the Battle for Montfaucon." On today's podcast, Fax tells how the U.S. — and Baltimore, in particular — mobilized for war.Links:http://books.wwnorton.com/books/March-1917/https://ospreypublishing.com/with-their-bare-hands

Should local governments or nonprofits establish “safe places” for heroin addicts to shoot up? Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan calls it “absolutely insane” and “idiotic,” but for a man who just declared a state of emergency because of a deadly drug epidemic, maybe he ought to read Susan Sherman’s report and recommendations before dismissing the idea. Sherman, a professor and researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says “safe-drug consumption spaces” have reduced overdose deaths, linked addicts with treatment services, reduced crime and saved money. Such places are now in operation in 66 cities in 11 countries. On today’s show, Sherman talks about how these “safe places” work and how they might come to Baltimore, where deaths from opioid overdoses have been on the rise. Officials say Maryland had 2,000 such overdose deaths in 2016, prompting Hogan’s Wednesday announcement.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-drug-safe-20170225-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-heroin-funding-20170301-story.htmlhttp://www.abell.org/publications/safe-consumption-spaces-strategy-baltimorehttp://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-safe-drug-consumption-space-20170221-story.html

As Donald Trump and his White House staffers continue to attack the news media, culture commentator Sheri Park opens a broader conversation about the press in 2017, the changes that have taken place in journalism since the advent of social media, and how Trump’s attacks might influence public opinion of the nation’s mainstream news organizations.

Our film critics, Linda Delibero (12:30) of Johns Hopkins University and Christopher Llewellyn Reed (5:08) of Stevenson University, react to the 2017 Academy Awards, and the most shocking snafu in Oscars history — the announcement of the wrong winner for best picture.

7:56: President Trump’s executive order on immigration cuts by more than half the maximum number of refugees the United States will take from troubled lands each year. Trump claims that refugees, particularly those from Syria, pose a threat to public safety and national security. But what are the facts? Veteran journalist Arnold “Skip” Isaacs takes a hard look at the data, and finds virtually no evidence to support the president’s claim.3:05: Book critic Paula Gallagher recommends a memoir of “addiction and ambition” by a young woman described as “New York’s enfant terrible,” Cat Marnell. The book: “How To Murder Your Life.”Links:https://consortiumnews.com/2017/02/17/jeff-sessionss-dubious-refugee-math/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/books/review/how-to-murder-your-life-cat-marnell.html?_r=0http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/How-to-Murder-Your-Life/Cat-Marnell/9781476752273

Sean Gallagher is the Baltimore-based IT editor and national security editor of Ars Technica, the Cond\u233\u Nast website covering technology news. In an earlier life, Sean was a naval officer whose computer skills landed him assignments as network administrator and computer security officer. He’s plugged into the world of national security, cybersecurity and intelligence. Today, Dan and Sean discuss the Russian connection to Donald Trump and the 2016 Trump campaign for president, the resignation of national security adviser Mike Flynn, the president’s frequent trips to Mar-A-Lago, and what people in security and intelligence think about Trump’s use of an Android device for his many Tweets. Sean just wrote a story about all that: Trump’s security faux-pas palooza.Links:https://arstechnica.com/author/sean-gallagher/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/trumps-apparent-string-of-security-faux-pas-trigger-call-for-house-investigation/

More than a million African-American men served in segregated units of the U.S. military during World War II. While most were relegated to Army support units, the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion served in combat in France and took part in the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive of the war, in December 1944. Eleven members of the battalion were captured by Nazi SS, tortured and massacred in the small Belgian village of Wereth. The Army covered up the atrocity; it did not become known until 50 years after it occurred. There is now a memorial in the village to the Wereth 11. Today’s guest is Denise George, co-author with Robert Child, of "The Lost Eleven: The Forgotten Story of Black American Soldiers Brutally Massacred in World War II."Links:http://www.wereth.org/en/historyhttp://www.historynet.com/the-wereth-11-a-little-known-massacre-during-the-battle-of-the-bulge.htmhttp://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/531793/the-lost-eleven-by-denise-george-and-robert-child/9781101987391/

Kelly Cross, a Baltimore community activist, has a crazy idea about preserving the old Maryland Penitentiary and possibly turning it a destination — with a museum, art gallery, shops and restaurants. It sounds farfetched, but some architects and philanthropists already have taken a look at the place. They see potential. Plus, Baltimore Heritage is on the case, calling for the state of Maryland to revise demolition plans and consider saving the 19th Century penitentiary and another building in the prison complex to the east of the Jones Falls Expressway — the Tudor Gothic warden’s house on Madison Street. Preservation is one motivation but, for Cross and others, the closing of the penitentiary’s west wing and the dilapidated Baltimore City Detention Center present an opportunity to reduce the concentration of prisons and jails in a high-profile part of the city and better connect East Baltimore to the city’s core.Links:https://strobophotostudio.pixieset.com/kellycross-baltimoresfuturegrowthanddevelopment/http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/prominent-architects-museum-cultural-center-baltimore-jail/https://baltimoreheritage.org/preservation/baltimore-jail-demolition-threatens-landmark-ties-citys-history-slavery/https://baltimoreheritage.org/preservation/baltimore-jail-demolition-threatens-landmark-ties-citys-history-slavery/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-ci-jail-20170127-story.htmlhttps://i1.wp.com/baltimoreheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/baltimore-jail-demolition-map-2016-03.jpg

2:46: Paula Gallagher, Baltimore County librarian and Roughly Speaking book critic, recommends a new work of science fiction, "All Our Wrong Todays," by Elan Mastai.6:28: Sarbanes is a widely recognized name in Maryland. Paul Sarbanes was a U.S. Senator for 30 years. John Sarbanes, the senator's son, is a member of the House of Representatives, serving Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District. The next Sarbanes you’ll hear about is the congressman's son, Nico Sarbanes, a 23-year-old jazz musician who’s just releasing his first recordings this month. A trumpet player and singer, and student of jazz, Nico Sarbanes joins us today, ahead of his performance at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, to talk about his ambition to capture "the Baltimore sound."Links:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FEY5EP2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8----btkr=1http://www.midatlanticjazzfestival.org/artists/nico/http://www.midatlanticjazzfestival.org/