Midday on WNYC

Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Cay Johnston discusses his latest book It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the The Trump Administration is Doing to America. Cay Johnston, who has been reporting on Trump since 1988, examines how the Trump administration is remaking the government and goes inside the administration to show how the federal agencies that touch the lives of all Americans are being undermined.   This segment is guest hosted by Jami Floyd.

Former attorney and writer Zack McDermott talks about his new book Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness and a Mother's Love. McDermott, who is bipolar, tells the story of his descent into psychosis at age 26 and his desperate, poignant, often hilarious struggle to claw his way back to sanity. It's a journey that took him from New York City back to his Kansas roots and to his tough, big-hearted Midwestern mother, nicknamed the Bird. This segment is guest hosted by Jami Floyd.

July is here, and so are the days of excessive heat. Listeners, we want to hear your tips and stories for surviving the sweltering summer! Did you grow up with air conditioning? What's the craziest thing you've done to stay cool? What places in the city are your cool refuge? Leave a comment here, tweet us, or call 212-433-9692! This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson.

Actors Jessie Shelton and Jeremy Beck and The Mint Theater's artistic director Jonathan Bank discuss their new production, Conflict. Set in the 1920s in London, the play is a love story set against the backdrop of a hotly contested election. What starts off as people wanting to better the world turns ugly when politics become personal, and mudslinging threatens to soil them all. This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson. 

Terence Stamp discusses The Ocean Fell into the Drop: A Memoir, a show business memoir that traces Terence Stamp's obsessions of acting and mysticism and the relationship the two have to each other for him. From working with directors like Fellini, Loach, Pasolini and acting legends such as Olivier, Brando and Redgrave to following his spiritual teachers Krishnamurti and Hazrat Inayat Khan Stamp offers insights into his family life, life in the East End of London, Sufism and style. On July 3 following a screening of The Hit there will be a Q&A with Terence Stamp at The Metrograph.   This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson.

Andrew Marantz, a contributing editor for The New Yorker, discusses his piece "Fighting Words," which (is titled online as "How Social-Media Trolls Turned U.C. Berkeley Into a Free-Speech Circus") appears in the July 2 issue. Marantz reports from University of California, Berkeley, which was the home of the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s, and has been at the center of a national conversation about free speech on campus in recent years. In the fall, Carol Christ, Berkeley’s new chancellor, announced that the 2017-18 academic year would be a “free speech year” and that a student group had invited the professional irritant Milo Yiannopoulos to speak on campus, even though violence erupted before Yiannopoulos’s appearance at Berkeley the previous academic year. The article probes the efficacy of the First Amendment, its pitfalls, and potential. This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson. 

Actors Jon Michael Hill and Namir Smallwood are joined by playwright Antoinette Nwandu to discuss the new production Pass Over. The play focuses on two characters, Moses and Kitch, who stand around on the corner passing the time and hoping that maybe today will be different. A provocative riff on Waiting for Godot, the play exposes the emotional cycle of young men stuck in a pattern and looking for a way out.  This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson. 

Emmy Award-winning socio-political comedian W. Kamau Bell discusses his debut Netflix special, “W. Kamau Bell: Private School Negro,” available for streaming globally on June 26, 2018. Bell offers keen commentary on the current presidential administration, racism in America, parenting, and what it would be like if Michelle Obama still had a role in the White House. This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson. 

Kevin Baker, a Harper’s Magazine contributing editor, discusses his July cover story, “Death of a Great American City: New York and the Urban Crisis of Affluence,” which looks at how New York City has sacrificed the unique people the city has historically been known for being home to in the name of high-end development. Baker writes that this isn’t just a New York city problem, but rather a national one, stating "we now live in an America where we believe that we no longer have any ability to control the system we live under." This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson. 

Imani Perry discusses her recent piece in Harper’s Magazine, “Letter from Alabama: As Goes the South, so Goes the Nation.” Perry, a professor of African-American Studies at Princeton, finds that for every Roy Moore there is a Doug Jones or a Randall Woodfin, the progressive mayor of Birmingham. While much can be said about the South’s shortcomings, Perry also argues that "the South is disaster and it is also miracle." This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson.   

Chefs Allison Plumer and Anita Lo join Meghan McCarron special correspondent for Eater, to discuss her recent article, “The Chefs We Don’t See.” Meghan writes about the condescending language used to describe female chefs and the underrated lens through which female chefs are seen. McCarron writes, “The reckoning, so far, has not reckoned with food media’s reluctance to tell women’s stories.” Allison and Anita will weigh in with their experiences as female chefs.  This segment is guest hosted by Melissa Clark. 

This week’s Please Explain is all about knives! Josh Donald discusses his new book, Sharp: The Definitive Guide to Knives, Knife Care, and Cutting Techniques, with Recipes from Great Chefs, which includes photographs by Molly DeCoudreaux. Donald’s knowledge as a premier knife purveyor and go-to knives expert serves his readers well by offering practical advice on how to buy and care for good knives. He includes step-by-step instructions as well as 15 recipes from great chefs—including Stuart Brioza of State Bird Provisions and Melissa Perello of Frances—which feature all the cuts that mark an accomplished cook. This segment is guest hosted by Melissa Clark. 

Von Diaz discusses her new book, Coconuts and Collards: Recipes and Stories from Puerto Rico to the Deep South. When her family moved from Puerto Rico to Atlanta, Diaz traded not only locations, her diet also changed. Brimming with humor and nostalgia, this recipe-packed memoir takes a close look at what it means to grow up Latina in the Deep South. On July 21 Von Diaz will be signing books at the Grown NYC Green Market in Union Square (NYC). Von Diaz will be at the Decatur Book Festival (Atlanta, GA), August 31-September 2.  This segment is guest hosted by Melissa Clark.   Mami’s Bizcocho de Ron (Mami’s Rum Cake) When my friends found out I was writing this cookbook, several asked if Mami’s rum cake would be in it. And so it is. First I give you her original recipe, which uses a boxed cake mix. I highly recommend this recipe if you need to make something quickly and easily or aren’t very comfortable baking. It’s perfectly balanced and is my favorite cake to this day. But in homage to Mami, I’ve adapted her recipe to give it a little more depth, and that version follows. (In case you were wondering, my family calls me Bombi.) Special thanks to chef, friend, and mentor Kathy Gunst for her help adapting this recipe. Serves: 6 to 10 MAMI’S RECIPE Cake Canola oil cooking spray 1 cup finely chopped walnuts 1 box butter-flavor cake mix 1 (3.4-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding mix Unsalted butter Eggs ¼ cup white rum   Rum Syrup ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter 1 cup light brown sugar ½ cup white rum ¼ cup water 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a Bundt pan with cooking spray and sprinkle in the walnuts. 2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, combine the cake mix and pudding mix, then add the butter and eggs as directed by the instructions on the cake mix box. Add the rum. Beat at medium speed for 4 minutes. 3. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and level it with a spatula. 4. Bake for 33 to 35 minutes, until the cake is pale golden in color, slightly risen, and a toothpick or cake skewer comes out clean when poked in the center of the cake. 5. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. 6. Meanwhile, make the rum glaze: Combine all the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, until the sugar is fully dissolved and the glaze thickens just slightly. 7. While the cake is still warm, poke holes throughout the cake using the same toothpick or skewer you used to test the cake for doneness. Pour the hot glaze on top; don’t worry if the cake doesn’t take in the glaze immediately. It takes at least 10 minutes for the glaze to be absorbed. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and allow to soak for at least 3 hours or overnight. Invert onto a plate, then slice and serve

Sam Sifton, food editor of The New York Times and an "Eat" columnist for The Times Magazine, discusses the many different shades of barbeque – how barbeque is very different from a cookout, though both involve grills. He’ll get into how grilling and smoking can be about far more than just ribs and hamburgers. This segment is guest hosted by Melissa Clark. 

Tony Award winning actors Jessie Mueller and Lindsay Mendez and three-time Tony Award winning director Jack O’Brien discusses their revival production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel, a musical about two couples dealing with labor and love. Showing at the Imperial Theatre (249 West 45th Street). This segment is guest hosted by DW Gibson.