Roughly Speaking

1:54: Book critic Paula Gallagher reviews what has all the makings of the next great American novel, Colson Whitehead’s "The Underground Railroad."9:11: Sean Gallagher, IT editor of ars technica and our favorite tech-splainer, talks about the suspected Russian hack of Democratic National Committee email and its larger, geopolitical significance.28:33: We meet John Rusnak, a former currency trader convicted 14 years ago in one of the largest U.S. bank frauds in history. As an ex-offender, Rusnak now devotes a good part of his life to a jailhouse ministry, visiting young men and boys -- juveniles all -- who face trial for violent offenses. Rusk is executive director of UnCuffed, a faith-based organization devoted to young offenders who face an uncertain future.47:28: And we top off the show with a chat with John Shields, cookbook author, chef and owner of Gertrude’s in the Baltimore Museum of Art. Today’s topic is Corn: Beyond Boiled and Buttered. We’ll compare notes on recipes for corn off the cob.Links:http://calendar.prattlibrary.org/event/writers_live_colson_whitehead_the_underground_railroad#.V64B71srK71http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/08/dnc-staffers-fbi-didnt-tell-us-for-months-about-possible-russian-hack/http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-john-rusnak-dry-cleaner-redemption-20140412-story.htmlhttp://www.uncuffedministries.org/team/http://www.johnshields.com/http://www.gertrudesbaltimore.com/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bal-corn-off-the-cob-some-recipes-from-chesapeake-connoisseur-john-shields-20160812-story.html

A University of Baltimore criminologist talks about the scathing Department of Justice report on the Baltimore Police Department. Jeffrey Ian Ross wonders why federal investigators did not undertake their examination of policing practices sooner and how the DOJ will go about enforcing its recommendations for reforms. Ross is professor in the School of Criminal Justice and a research fellow of the Center for International and Comparative Law at UB. He is the author of several books including, "Policing Issues: Challenges and Controversies," published in 2011 by Jones ---- Bartlett Learning.Links:http://www.jeffreyianross.com/Forthcoming_Q0KG.phphttps://www.amazon.com/Jeffrey-Ian-Ross/e/B000AQ10W6/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1378919895----sr=1-2-enthttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/doj-report/bs-md-ci-doj-reaction-20160810-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-doj-report-20160810-story.htmlhttps://www.facebook.com/dan.rodricks/photos/a.212487828799080.50839.212350378812825/1086232888091232/?type=3----theater

2:19: Dan talks about the Trump and Clinton campaigns with Herb Smith, longtime political analyst and professor of political science at McDaniel College; Michael Reisch, professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work; and Richard Cross, Maryland Republican analyst who served as a speechwriter at the Republican National Convention last month in Cleveland.37:26: Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik discusses how the Trump campaign has challenged some of the traditional approaches to news reporting on a political candidate.54:24: Book critic Paula Gallagher reviews the latest in the Harry Potter series, a script for a play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."Links: http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/Poli_Sci/facsmith.htmhttp://www.ssw.umaryland.edu/academics/faculty-bios/michael-reisch/http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/http://www.bcpl.info/category/between-the-covers-blogger/paula-ghttp://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-harry-potter-sequel-cursed-chil-20160803-premiumvideo.html

2:42: Sun reporter Natalie Sherman and architect Klaus Philipsen talk about Under Armour's big pitch for a new corporate campus in Baltimore -- the multi-billion-dollar Port Covington project -- and the developer's request for more than $600 million in infrastructure from the city. Philipsen is the president of ArchPlan Inc. of Baltimore and blogs daily as the Community Architect. Sherman covers real estate and economic development for The Sun.34:06: Philipsen discusses last weekend's devastating flood in Ellicott City and the challenges of rebuilding the historic mill town on the banks of the Patapsco River.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-natalie-sherman-20141007-staff.htmlhttp://communityarchitectdaily.blogspot.comhttp://www.archplan.com

Today Dan welcomes Margaret "Meg" Guroff, a magazine editor and writer in Washington who gets to work on a bicycle. She loves biking, and has written a book about it, a cultural history called, "The Mechanical Horse: How The Bicycle Reshaped America," published by the University of Texas Press.Link:http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/guroff-mechanical-horse

In this podcast, the stories of two naturalists — Nick Carter, who lives at the headwaters of the Choptank River, the longest river on the Eastern Shore of Maryland; and Theodore Roosevelt, the nation's 26th president and a lifelong naturalist.2:38: Tom Horton, long-time environmental writer and author, tells the story of the Choptank River on the Delmarva Peninsula and Nick Carter, the naturalist who lives on an old farm at its headwaters. Carter does a wonderful thing for the river – he does nothing. Horton explains in his new book, "Choptank Odyssey: Celebrating a Great Chesapeake River," with photos by Dave Harp.20:56: One of the nation’s great naturalists was also its 26th president, Teddy Roosevelt. He developed an interest in nature when he was a boy and maintained the fascination through his life. Our guest is Darrin Lunde, a museum naturalist who works at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington. He is the author of "The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A Lifetime of Exploration and the Triumph of American Natural History."Links:http://www.schifferbooks.com/choptank-odyssey-celebrating-a-great-chesapeake-river-5867.htmlhttp://crownpublishing.com/news/naturalist-darrin-lunde/#.V5o0GdIrK70

2:24: John Fritze, The Sun’s Washington correspondent, reports from the Democratic National Convention, where delegates made history Tuesday night by nominating Hillary Clinton for president. 13:24: Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck discusses the surprising and promising turn in the Orioles’ starting pitcher rotation.

3:37: American culture commentator Sheri Parks discusses Donald J. Trump’s candidacy for president and how it has further alienated American minorities from the Republican Party. Parks is associate dean in arts and humanities at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Roughly Speaking contributor.25:33: Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik reviews news coverage of the Republican convention and the forced resignation of Roger Ailes as CEO of Fox News.42:40: Book critic Paula Gallagher recommends six novels: "This Must be the Place," by Maggie O’Farrell; "Dark Matter," by Blake Crouch; "Disappearance at Devil's Rock," by Paul Tremblay; "You Will Know Me," by Megan Abbott; "The Unseen World," by Liz Moore; "How to Set a Fire and Why," by Jesse Ball.59:16: Film critic Christopher Llewellyn Reed reviews new movies and talks about films to be released in the coming weeks, including a remake of the Hollywood epic, "Ben-Hur."

A bloody disaster within a debacle: Today's podcast explores a long-buried claim that American troops, many from Maryland, were betrayed during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I.In 1916, there was a presidential election, with Woodrow Wilson running successfully for a second term while pledging to keep the U.S out of World War I. But that only lasted until the following spring. Congress declared war against Germany in April 1917, and by 1918, American troops were immersed in battle in France. In September, there was a massive offensive involving more than a million troops. That’s where William Walker’s story takes us — into a place known as the Meuse-Argonne, and specifically to a flat-topped hill known as Montfaucon, heavily fortified by the Germans, bristling with machine guns and artillery, a place the French dubbed “Little Gibraltar."Walker’s new book argues that an American general disobeyed orders that likely cost many lives and delayed the end of the war. This story has been buried all these years, and Walker believes he’s found the paper trail that establishes what went wrong and why. The key players in the story: General John "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of the U.S. forces in World War I, a major general named Robert E. Lee Bullard, the 79th Army Division, and two infantry regiments — the 313th, or Baltimore’s Own, and the 314th. We'll also hear the story of Henry Gunther, a soldier from Baltimore who died in the final minute of the so-called War to End All Wars.Links:http://www.betrayalww1.comhttp://www.betrayalww1.com/men-of-montfaucon.htmlhttp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2008-11-11/news/0811100097_1_henry-gunther-11th-month-war-i

1:49: John Fritze, the Sun’s Washington correspondent, talks about Dump on Hillary Day at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The convention officially nominated Donald J. Trump for president, speakers tore into his presumptive Democratic opponent, and Dr. Ben Carson brought up Saul Alinsky again.11:55: A talk about everything — #BlackLivesMatter, police, guns, police shootings, shootings by police, President Obama, Republicans, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling — with the provocative Kimberly Moffitt, associate professor in American studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.38:12: David Miller, founder of the Dare To Be King consultancy in Baltimore and creator of “10 Rules For Survival When Stopped by the Police,” shares his thoughts on the recent deaths of black men in police shootings, the assassination of white officers by black men, and what he must tell his son about all this.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-john-fritze-20141007-staff.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/blog/bal-ben-carson-warns-of-clinton-new-world-order-20160719-story.htmlhttp://amst.umbc.edu/faculty-and-staff/moffitt/http://daretobeking.net/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bal-video-baltimore-based-group-s-10-rules-for-surviving-a-police-stop-20160711-story.html