Roughly Speaking

If the polls are correct that 7 out of 10 women disapprove of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate, who are the women of the other 30 percent and why do they support him?In this podcast:Melissa Deckman, chair of political science at Washington College, has spent a lot of time with Republican women, particularly those aligned with the tea party — the “Mama Grizzlies,” self-branded and characterized by Sarah Palin as conservative moms who became politically active because they feared for their children’s future. What do they find appealing in Trump and will this new brand of conservative feminism ever gain any traction? What of the tea party generally? Do those who identify with it support Trump? Will the tea party, which came to life with the Obama presidency, fade with its passing or be re-energeized if Hillary Clinton is elected?Melissa Deckman is the Louis L. Goldstein Professor of Public Affairs at Washington College in Chestertown, Md. She’s concentrated on women in politics and religion in politics. She is the author or co-author of four books. Her latest, published by New York University Press, is "Tea Party Women: Mama Grizzlies, Grassroots Leaders and the Changing Face of the American Right."

2:37: We start the show with our weekly visit with Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik. NBC did something the other night that got stuck in David’s craw, but that does’t keep him from talking about it. The network’s nightly news program moved, anchor Lester Holt and all, to Trump Tower. Holt interviewed presumptive GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump and anchored the rest of the broadcast from the building’s gold-and-marble lobby. Says David Z: Bad idea.19:51: Today is actor George Clooney's 55th birthday. He’s in another film due for release this month: Money Monster, co-starring Julia Roberts and directed by Jodie Foster. Film critics Linda DeLibero and Christopher Llewellyn Reed discuss Clooney’s career, from his start on television through his turn to award-winning acting and directing.It’s Kentucky Derby weekend, the start of the Triple Crown races, and we have two features related to the season:50:17: Ross Peddicord, director of the Maryland Horse Industry Board, helps you get in touch with your inner horse. There are many places to do that across the state -- if you want to ride a horse, brush a horse, or just muck out a stall. Ross also has potentially good news related to the arabbers of Baltimore and an effort to preserve the horse-drawn produce wagons of the inner-city. We’ll also tell you about a one-night equine movie festival coming up at The Senator Theatre in Baltimore, featuring a film that the whole horse world has been talking about, "Harry and Snowman."1:06:48: Brendan Dorr, bartender at the B----O American Brasserie, will tell us how to make a classic Kentucky-style mint julep with love. We’ll also hear about the official drinks of the other Triple Crown races, including the Belmont Breeze. Plus, Brendan assesses the first batch of rye whiskey from the new distillery of Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, arriving in stores just in time for the Preakness and the making of Black-Eyed Susans.

After the March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan, Tim Jorgensen suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a lot of emails and phone calls. People were frightened. People had questions. Jorgensen, a Johns Hopkins-trained radiation biologist based at Georgetown University, spent a good amount of time explaining radiation and the risks from exposure to an international news media. Since then, he’s written a history of radiation, telling fascinating stories of research and discovery, exploring controversies and offering an objective look at radiation’s benefits and risks. "Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation" is published by Princeton University Press. Jorgensen lives in Maryland. He is associate professor of radiation medicine and director of Georgetown’s graduate program in health physics and radiation protection. In addition, he is an associate in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

3:20: Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck talks about the Orioles, the team's recent injuries and the value of connective tissue.19:06: This Sunday, May 8, marks 50 years since Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, in his first season with the Orioles, hit the first-ever home run out of Memorial Stadium. Mark Melonas, an Orioles fan who lives near the site of the bygone stadium, talks about Robinson's feat and an event this weekend to mark its golden anniversary.

5:17: On May 1, 2015, after the long week of unrest and curfew, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby stepped into War Memorial Plaza and announced charges against six Baltimore police officers in connection with the in-custody death of Freddie Gray. Since then, one of the officers, William Porter, stood trial; that trial ended in December with a hung jury. We get an update on the next step in the prosecution of the officers from the Sun’s criminal justice reporter, Justin Fenton.13:12: A year after the demonstrations and unrest, do people still want to move to Baltimore? How are city housing sales doing? The answer might surprise you. Dan speaks with Steve Gondol and Annie Milli about LiveBaltimore’s efforts to provide incentives — up to $5,000 each — to prospective home buyers, and what the past year in home sales looked like.27:22 Last year at this time, there was some question about whether the 17th annual Maryland Film Festival would happen. We’ll hear from Jed Dietz, founder and director of the festival, about last year's and the one that starts next week.40:24: Chris Reed has reviews of new films, including an action comedy starring Key and Peele.48:41: Paula Gallagher recommends a cool book about insects that sting.51:55: Sean Gallagher, a Baltimore-based editor for Ars Technica our favorite techsplainer, talks about the use of paper ballots and scanners, instead of touch screens, on Election Day.1:03:55 And a look ahead to next Saturday’s Kentucky Derby and a look back to last year’s Triple Crown victory of American Pharoah with Joe Drape, who covers horse racing for The New York Times and just wrote a book, "American Pharoah: The Untold Story of the Triple Crown Winner’s Legendary Rise."

In this podcast:1:39: Republican analyst Richard Cross and Sun reporter Yvonne Wenger: Analysis of the U.S. Senate and presidential primaries in Maryland and of the Baltimore Democratic mayoral primary. Cross says Trump is now the Republicans' "de facto nominee" and looks ahead to a Trump vs. Clinton general election matchup. Wenger crunches some numbers in the mayor's race, noting that both winner Catherine Pugh and runner-up Sheila Dixon outperformed their percentages in the final Sun poll. 17:26: Rep. Chris Van Hollen victory speech clip: Upon winning the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Van Hollen pays respects to the longtime public servant he's nominated to replace, retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who refused to endorse Van Hollen or his opponent, Rep. Donna Edwards. 18:23: Goucher Poll director Mileah Kromer and Sun reporter Luke Broadwater: In addition to a new mayor, Baltimore is guaranteed significant turnover on the City Council. Kromer also remarks on what she sees as self-inflicted wounds by Donna Edwards and Broadwater on the city's high turnout. 49:25: Sun media critic David Zurawik: Zurawik examines candidates' media presence and spending, which in the Baltimore market was higher than usual this year.

5:36: NPR's Cokie Roberts: The longtime political analyst and author has a new book, this one about women of Washington before, during and after the Civil War. Roberts shares a few tales from "Capital Dames," with some fascinating connections to Baltimore and Maryland, including the woman at the center of a deadly scandal involving the son of Francis Scott Key.1:57, 29:30: Two books reviews from Paula Gallagher: A memoir by David Kushner, a Rolling Stone contributor, about his brother, Jon, who was kidnapped and murdered in Florida in 1973; and a collection of essays called, "The Books That Changed My Life."32:59: The Reginald F. Lewis Museum on the anniversary of the Baltimore uprising: Charles Bethea, its new chief curator, talks about the Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture's look into issues about the American black male raised by the death of Freddie Gray.

A veteran and former Pentagon official, Maryland attorney Richard J. Douglas is making his second run for the Republican Senate nomination, hoping to become his party's nominee to replace Sen. Barbara Mikulski. Douglas, who lives in College Park, finished second in the 2012 GOP Senate primary to Dan Bongino. Douglas served as a deputy assistant Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration and spent five years on Capitol Hill as a staff attorney to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee. During the 1970s, he served aboard a Navy submarine and, in 2006, was recalled from reserve duty to serve in Iraq. Other major candidates for the nomination are Kathy Szeliga, a state delegate from of Baltimore County, and Chrys Kefalas, an executive at the Washington-based National Association of Manufacturing.

In this podcast:Sandtown-Winchester is the West Baltimore neighborhood where the late Freddie Gray was arrested last April, and it’s where he grew up. It's within District 7 of the Baltimore City Council, and that’s the focus of today’s show. The 7th District is central-west Baltimore City -- Sandtown, Hampden, Reservoir Hill, Matthew Henson, Walbrook, Druid Heights, Ashburton. Today, we offer interviews with six of the Democratic candidates campaigning to replace Nick Mosby, who decided to run for mayor this year instead of re-election to his council seat. 1:54: David McMillan is an official in emergency management for the city of Baltimore; he comes with an interesting family history and a desire to make the municipal government work better.21:31: Kerry Davidson is a Harvard-educated lawyer who turned a Penn North crack house into his home; he thinks the 7th District, like the city generally, is full of potential that’s being missed.44:55: Marshall Bell is a policy analyst for the City Council whose brother, Lawrence Bell, was once the council president. Marshall Bell has a criminal record from years ago and a powerful personal story that informs his candidacy.1:00:37: Shawn Tarrant is a former state delegate who served the west side in Annapolis and who says the 7th district's most pressing issues are jobs, quality affordable housing, crime and blight.1:18:46: Antonio Asa has an interesting idea about what the city could do with the hundreds of vacant houses on the sprawling west side.1:30:23: Ahmed Royalty says that, if he's elected, he will use his $66,000 annual council salary to fund programs that he thinks will improve city life.Next episode: On Monday -- one more candidate interview to offer: Richard Douglas, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Tuesday’s primary election.

We have a lot of ground to cover today. If you live in northwest Baltimore City, if you live in central and east Baltimore, we’re bringing you the candidates for City Council from your part of town. In this podcast:District 5 is northwest Baltimore -- that is, Pimlico, Howard Park, North Roland Park, Fallstaff, Cross County. Rochelle "Rikki" Spector has been the City Council member for that district since the 1970s. She’s retiring. A woman named Elizabeth Ryan Martinez and two men, Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer and Christopher Ervin, are hoping to replace her. There are other Democratic candidates in the District 5 primary, but they didn’t RSVP Roughly Speaking.2:08: Elizabeth Ryan Martinez is an attorney who works in the Baltimore City law department.17:18: Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer is a young entrepreneur and community association leader.36:37: Christopher Ervin is a 47-year-old former Marine who served time in prison on drug charges. Since his incarceration ended, he has worked in offender rights and restorative justice.We had a much better response from candidates for the 12th District. That’s in central/east Baltimore, including neighborhoods such as Station North, Collington Square, Old Goucher, Greenmount West, Middle East and Oliver. Veteran City Councilman Carl Stokes decided to run for mayor this year, leaving his council seat up for grabs. Today, we’ll have Gary Crum, Kelly Cross, Gordon Stick -- whose slogan is "Stick with Stick Because Stick Will Stick With You" -- as well as Ertha Harris, Rashad Staton and Jason Pyeron.51:30: Kelly Cross is a legal consultant who moved to Baltimore from Washington six years ago and became active in the Old Goucher neighborhood.1:15:09: Gary Crum is from East Baltimore’s Oliver neighborhood and works as a property manager.1:28:30: Ertha Harris is a businesswoman and entrepreneur who has been politically active in the 12th District for years.1:40:44: Gordon Stick is a Bolton Hill native and gemologist whose campaign is based on the concept of incentives -- providing rewards for student achievement and good citizenship.1:51:41: Jason Pyeron is a software contractor who lives on 24th Street, between Old Goucher and Charles Village; he’s a civic activist who decided to run for City Council because he found all other candidates too accepting of the status quo.2:10:00: Rashad Staton is a young educator and entrepreneur who lives in Perkins Homes.Next episode: Our series of interviews with candidates ends on Friday with five of the 7th District candidates.