WYPR: Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast Podcast

As Catholic Bishops gather in Baltimore for their biannual conference, we talk with Baltimore Archbishop William Lori about Catholic voters and political issues. We check in with The Baltimore Sun's technology reporter Gus Sentementes for the latest in tech news. Maryland Morning theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck brings us her review of "Heroes" at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. Local musician Lisa Banahan is raising money to find a cure for Polycystic Kidney Disease, which has struck her and many members of her family. We'll meet Lisa and hear a song from a musician who's playing a PKD benefit this weekend. A few years ago, Michael Lisicky thought he'd write a nostalgic book about Hutzler's. Six printings of that book -- and three more books -- later, he's here to tell Tom Hall why people can't get enough of old department stores.

What role did race play in this election? What does the president’s victory tell us about how our society is changing? And what has Barack Obama done--or failed to do--to address inequality? Then, the "LGBT" community celebrates a same-sex marriage victory in Maryland. We talk with gay and transgender advocates about what's next on their agenda. Plus, election's over -- time to go see a movie! Tom Hall talks to Jed Deitz and Mike Sragow on November's best flicks.

In addition to voting for President Barack Obama, Maryland voted yes on all seven statewide ballot questions. To run down the results from the 2012 Election, Sheilah is joined by WYPR's Fraser Smith and Joel McCord, as well as The Capital's Pamela Wood and Bethany Rodgers of the Frederick News-Post. BSO music director Marin Alsop will conduct Beethoven's Fifth Symphony four times this week. She talks to Tom Hall about what some call the epitome of classical music, and the work by Baltimore-born composer Christopher Rouse that she'll premiere alongside it. Treats for aesthetes!

We'll hear from voters at their polling places, and we'll find out how the polling is going from WYPR reporters stationed at polling places and election monitoring hotline headquarters. You probably know that you Mitt Romney and Barack Obama are running for president--but did you know there are 23 people running for the office as write-in candidates? We hear from a few of them, and learn how the process works around the country. Before there were elections in this country, there was a revolution! And some colonists chose to flee rather than revolt. We learn more from Maya Jasanoff, who wrote about it in her book "Liberty's Exiles."

A recent Johns Hopkins study found that immigrant children perform better in school than their native-born peers. We ask study co-author, Lingxin Hao – why is that? Some beautiful birds will pass through Maryland during migratory season. But don't forget to keep your yard ready for the ones who will stay all year. Nathan Sterner asks environmental educator Karen Kelly Mullin what we can do to help these birds through the winter. Maryland Morning theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews In-Flight Theater and Arachne Aerial Arts' production of "For That Which Returns" at the Baltimore Theatre Project. What do you have to do to get young people's attention about this election?! Tom talks to Jianna Lieberman and Aviva Paley, two MICA design students who have created a voter registration drive to boost turnout among college-age voters.

ProPublica reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones tells us why she believes the federal government has, for over four decades, blown its chance to help create more integrated communities across the country. Then, Tom Hall talks to biographer Charlene Boyer Lewis on Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte, daughter of a Baltimore businessman, sister-in-law to Napoleon, and one of the defining celebrities in the early 1800s.

Tom Hall reaches out to people in Garrett County and on the Eastern Shore for an update on post-Sandy conditions. One of the referenda on the ballot next week that has gotten less attention than others is the Congressional redistricting map. Marylanders will be able to decide whether to abide by the obviously gerrymandered map. Sheilah talks with a law professor and journalist about the controversial map. Monica Lapenta has loved opera from an early age. She loves it so much, she decided to write children's books based on operas. She joins Tom Hall to talk about how these books open up the world of opera to children. Treats for aesthetes!

Hurricane Sandy is here. Tom Hall talks to Maryland Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Ed McDonogh about what you should be doing to stay safe, and how to get to safety if the storm damages your home. And, Nathan checks in with BG&E spokesman Rob Gould. Then, should Baltimoreans vote for ‘mayor’ at the same time they're voting for U.S. president, rather than the year before, as they do now? The change is on the city ballot. We hear from Councilwoman Rikki Spector, who's pushing for it, and community activist Doc Cheatham, who wants a different change. And, Tom talks to author Christopher Tilghman, who has returned to the Eastern Shore for his latest novel, The Right Hand Shore.

As Sandy bears down on Maryland, we talk live with Baltimore Sun reporter Scott Dance in Ocean City. We also call out to Western Maryland to ask University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science president Don Boesch what this storm can do to the bay. The Civil War shaped America in ways that continue to play out 150 years later. We talk with George Wunderlich, who runs the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, about how a set of orders issued in 1862 formed the basis of modern emergency medical treatment. Maryland Morning theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews "The Completely Fictional-Utterly True-Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allen Poe" at CENTERSTAGE. We talk with director Barry Levinson about his new eco-horror film, The Bay.

Today in our ongoing series about inequality in the Baltimore region, we’ll meet Cherry Hill Community Coalition chairperson Michael Middleton; Baltimore native Rhonda Williams, author of The Politics of Public Housing: Black Women's Struggles against Urban Inequality; and Berkeley law professor john a. powell, who was a key expert witness Thompson v. HUD, a case in which a federal judge ruled that the federal government must take a regional approach to Baltimore City's public housing. Then, in the final segment of today's "Lines Between Us" episode, we'll hear what happens when city residents of public housing--and those who have housing vouchers--move out to the suburbs.

Play ball, but where? Sheilah discusses the Hagerstown Suns' facility options with Tom Riford, President and CEO of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Kristin Aleshire, Myserville Maryland Town Manager and Hagerstown City Council candidate. Maryland Morning theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" at the Maryland Ensemble Theater. The public knew writer Jeannette Walls through her gossip columns, but embraced her when she wrote about her own troubled childhood in the book "The Glass Castle." We talk with her in advance of her appearance at the Baltimore Speaker Series. The local theater scene just got bigger with Buck Jabaily’s Baltimore Performance Kitchen. Tom Hall talks to Jabaily and to Bashi Rose, a theater artist behind the Kitchen’s premiere production, Red Flags. Treats for aesthetes!

A recent state audit of Baltimore City Public Schools found abundant problems with how the school system handles its finances. City Schools CEO Andres Alonso is here to discuss the audit's findings, as well as how he plans to resolve the issues. Tom talks to Corey Williams, the filmmaker behind a documentary that chronicles the efforts of people in the Baltimore and D.C. area trying to make a living in the film industry, and to Harford County-based actor Marili Mejias.

On October 17, WYPR's Tom Hall interviewed Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as part of the city's annual cultural town hall meeting. One of the main topics was how to find sources of funding when the economy is in bad shape. Mayor Rawlings-Blake said the city does what it can--but that other institutions are imporant to maintaining these projects. Then-Sheilah speaks with professor of pediatrics Dr. Maureen Black and local mother of five, Margaret Marion about the "Witnesses to Hunger" exhibit which documents the experiences of families who are facing hunger and poverty.

10-19-12: Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast

We talk about the lawsuit between Baltimore Comptroller Joan Pratt and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and examine how it's affecting the functioning of city government. How many books can you fit into a library the size of a birdhouse? We ask Lesley Noll, library services coordinator at The Village Learning Place. They're planning to bring "little free libraries" to Charm City. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There are lots of myths out there about what causes the disease. We take a hard look at the link between diet and breast cancer with nutritionist Monica Reinagel. And treats for aesthetes!