WYPR: Midday with Dan Rodricks Podcast

Assessing the environmental impact of the 2013 Maryland General Assembly session with Rona Kobell, Midday contributor and reporter for the Chesapeake Bay Journal, and Pamela Wood of the Capital Gazette newspapers.

William Dobson is the foreign affairs editor of Slate; before that he was an editor for Foreign Affairs. He has traveled around the world, logging some 93,000 miles to report on the changing ways dictators do their thing. North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is not one of them -- the young leader of an old-school, frozen-in-time regime that stands in stark contrast to the many other dictatorships that survive and even thrive by adapting to life in the digital age. William Dobson talks about North Korea, and from there we move along what he calls the dictator’s learning curve, somewhere between democracy and authoritarianism, and a front line in the battle for global democracy.

Why do we choose the friends we do? How do friends influence us? And how have friendships changed in the digital age? A conversation about this important human relationship with Psychology Today contributor Carlin Flora, author of Friendfluence: The Surprising Ways Friends Make Us Who We Are.

NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik talks about the latest Pew Research Center’s State of the News Media Report; the ramifications of the Bradley Manning-WikiLeaks case; the canceling of NPR’s Talk of the Nation; the debut of MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes, and Rupert Murdoch’s efforts to buy the Tribune Co. newspapers, including The Baltimore Sun.

A sweeping gun reform legislation that received national attention, repeal of the death penalty, a significant increase in the gasoline tax and billion-dollar funding for Baltimore City school construction were the big pieces of legislation in the 2013 General Assembly session. We wrap up with Karen Hosler, WYPR State House reporter; and Sen. Verna Jones-Rodwell, chair of the Baltimore City Delegation.

Film critics Linda DeLibero and Christopher Llewellyn Reed look back at the career and contributions of the late film critic Rober Ebert, who died this week of cancer at the age of 70. Also, an appreciation of three stars born on April 5 -- Gregory Peck, Bette Davis and Spencer Tracy.

A look at the top stories of the region with the reporters who covered them. Special guest: Andor Skotnes, author of "A New Deal For All? Race And Class Struggles in Depression-Era Baltimore."

From Birmingham to Washington to Dallas, 1963 was a tumultuous year in the nation's long struggles with racial equality, and it will be remembered this year on notable anniversaries. A look at how far the country has come in 50 years -- and how much further it has to go for “post-racial” to be real. With Midday American culture commentator Sheri Parks.

Why do some people choose to color their hair while others let it go gray? Why do some people age better than others? Why are older people stereotypically so preoccupied with their aches, pains and bodily functions that they drive younger people away just when they need them most? We explore these questions and others about the aging process with Columbia-based psychiatrist and author Gordon Livingston.

Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership and executive director of the Downtown Management Authority, looks at the latest development projects and their place in the city’s future. Guest Host Melody Simmons

Under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, enacted during the Great Depression, when more than half of the nation’s senior citizens were in poverty. Ira Katznelson, professor of political science and history at Columbia, expands our definition of the New Deal by examining the domestic and global forces behind it. Katznelson is the author of Fear Itself: The New Deal and The Origins of Our Time.

The Congressional Budget Office thinks so. Currently, earned income in excess of $113,700 is entirely exempt from the 6.2 percent payroll tax that funds Social Security. Removing it, says the CBO, would stabilize the Social Security system. Others believe means testing makes more sense. A discussion with Andrew Biggs, former deputy commissioner of SSA and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; Michael Reisch, professor of social justice at the University of Maryland School of Social Work; Barry Rascovar, political commentator and communications consultant.

Experts predict a virulent and long allergy season this spring. Those who suffer might now have a painless alternative to allergy shots. Also, an implantable lens could help those who suffer from age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of irreversible vision loss. Plus, a look at the Oklahoma dental practice that might have infected thousands of patients with hepatitis or HIV. Our guest: Midday health contributor Dr. John Cmar.

Unmanned aerial vehicles are moving from military use into civilian hands. In fact, a law passed by Congress this year requires the FAA to open U.S. skies to widespread drone use by 2015. We look at how these robots could be used -- or abused. Our guests: Chris Anderson, CEO of 3D Robotics, founder of DIY Drones, and former editor of Wired; Midday science contributor John Monahan; and Jay Stanley, senior policy analyst with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, and editor of the ACLU’s Free Future blog.

An encore broadcast of Dan’s interview with Dr. Eben Alexander, author of "Proof of Heaven: a Neurosurgeon’s Journey Into the Afterlife." Alexander recounts his near death experience, and the ways in which it altered his beliefs regarding consciousness and heaven. Also, Linda Hoy, author of "The Effect: Where Science Meets Spirituality," explores the ways in which science might explain the afterlife, and the power of human spirituality.