WYPR: Midday with Dan Rodricks Podcast

Almost as soon as the Boston Marathon bombs exploded, the news media gave wall-to-wall updates on the blasts and the ensuing manhunt for the suspects. Douglas Rushkoff, technology and media commentator for CNN, talks about how we’re adapting -- or not -- to such an immediate, crushing flow of information. Rushkoff is the author of Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now.

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier. We discuss Robinson’s legacy with Darryl Pryor, co-producer of 42, and Andre Holland, who portrays legendary sports writer Wendell Smith in the new biopic. Also joining us: Moses Newson, veteran journalist and biographer of Baltimore sportswriter Sam Lacy, who crusaded for baseball’s integration.

With the epic fail of his post-Newtown gun reforms and the first terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11, President Obama arrives at the 90-day mark of his second term with his job approval slipping and many wondering what, if anything, he can achieve before midterm elections. Our guests: Ari Shapiro, NPR White House correspondent; Michael Reisch, professor of social justice at the University of Maryland School of Social Work; and Barry Rascovar, political commentator and communications consultant.

In recognition of Earth Day, a conversation with Eric Rutkow, author of American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation, about the country’s complex history with trees. Also, we hear from Ty Paup, chef at Goucher College, about the school’s Low Carbon Diet Day, and the incorporation of earth-friendly foods into school menus.

Joan Walsh, editor-at-large for Salon and MSNBC political analyst, comments of the events of the past week in Boston and what effect the arrest of a foreign-born American could have on immigration reform. What's The Matter With White People, Walsh's book about American social and cultural divisions, has been updated since last November's election and republished in paperback.

A look at the latest in legal news from the courts of Maryland and the nation with Baltimore attorney Jim Astrachan.

May 1 is the deadline for high school seniors to decide which college they'll attend in the fall, and money is a big factor in that decision. Midday Money contributor Kim Clark, senior writer for Money magazine and an expert on higher education finances, untangles the financial aid process. Also, David Leondhardt, Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, on why high-achieving, low-income students are not entering the country’s best colleges.

Outspoken pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson sparked a media firestorm following his comments on Fox News linking gay marriage to pedophiles and bestiality. He has since stepped down as a graduation speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, where there was a major student backlash against his remarks. Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik looks at Carson’s new role as right wing political pundit. Also, a critique of Orioles telecasts; the new season of HBO’s VEEP, filmed in Baltimore and starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus; and the sixth season of AMC’s Mad Men.

With the fall of the Tikrit region of Iraq 10 years ago this week, the U.S. and coalition partners declared the war effectively over, less than a month after its start. On May 1, President George W. Bush stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier and declared the end of combat operations. But that was hardly the end of the war and bloodshed. Terry Anderson, history professor at Texas A & M University and Vietnam veteran, looks back at the country’s costly military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Baltimore is home to one of the oldest, most storied high school rivalries in the nation: City College versus Polytechnic Institute, City versus Poly! And Baltimore has one of the richest traditions of high school debate in the nation. Midday brings the rivalry to radio with a live on-air debate on three issues: Should Congress ban assault-style weapons? Should colleges stop using scores from the SAT as a factor in the admission of students? Should the state and federal governments spend more than $1 billion to construct the Red Line through Baltimore?

A look at the latest from Boston following the double bombings at the finish line of the Boston Marathon yesterday. We take listener phone calls for comment, and talk to local guests and experts on the matter.

Deborah Hicks grew up in a working-class family in rural North Carolina. In The Road Out: A Teacher’s Odyssey in Poor America, she weaves a narrative of growing up in Appalachia with her experiences as an educator trying to help a group of troubled girls in inner-city Cincinnati. Hicks works at Duke University’s Social Science Research Institute, and is the founding director of PAGE, an educational partnership supporting girls and young women in Appalachia.

M.J. “Jay” Brodie, former president of the Baltimore Development Corp. and now a columnist for the Baltimore Business Journal, shares his vision for the city, including his ideas for improving parts of East and West Baltimore. Also, we’ll touch on the recently announced plans to renovate Lexington Market, and the latest Red Line developments.

Great Sandwiches We Have Known: with John Shields of Gertrude’s and Henry Hong of The Waterfront Kitchen, plus author Hirsch Goldberg, who has chronicled an old Baltimore family and their famous deli. Goldberg is the author of "It All Started with a Deli: The Attmans of Lombard Street."

A look at the top stories of the region with the reporters who covered them.