WYPR: Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast Podcast

In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The idea was to prevent another global recession. But has it worked? We ask former regulator and University of Maryland law professor Michael Greenberger. Filmmaker Errol Morris has made a new short doc for ESPN called "Team Spirit," about sports fans who carry their fandom to the grave. It features a Maryland funeral director who sells an Orioles casket. We talk with the funeral director--and to a Dorchester County woman who decided to bury her dad in it. Pop culture analyst and McDaniel College President Roger Casey tells Tom Hall what he thinks about the nominations for this Sunday's Primetime Emmy Awards. Treats for aesthetes!

How does suburban Maryland's job growth compare to that of Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia? "Lagging far behind," according to a Washington Post columnist who looked at the data. Meanwhile, the O'Malley adminstration touts a #1 U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranking for innovation and entrepreneurship. We bring the jobs picture into focus with Maryland Business and Economic Development Secretary Christian Johansson and University of Baltimore economist Richard Clinch. Copy editor John McIntyre teaches us a lesson in grammar and in profanity. When she's not writing, Newbery medalist Laura Amy Schlitz is a librarian at the Park School in Baltimore County. But she'll be at the several upcoming book festivals, where you can ask her about her tales about medieval villages and retellings of the work of the Brothers Grimm.

Maryland is one of just four states that deny damage awards if you are at all at fault in an accident. We’ll talk to a law professor and a reporter about why Maryland’s highest court may soon change that. Then, during the Iran hostage crisis, the CIA cooked up a scheme to extract several American diplomats. It’s the subject of the new Ben Affleck movie "Argo." The spy who organized the plot has retired to western Maryland; he’ll tell us how it went down. And J. Wynn Rousuck reviews the Arena Players' performance of Smokey Joe's Café. Plus the new CenterStage season is the first one completely programmed by artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah. Tom asks what he has in store.

Baltimore’s new Chief Information Officer has been on the job six weeks. Chris Tonjes is not just in charge of the computers on city workers’ desk, but also 911, 311, and the city’s aging computer infrastructure. Then, electronic musician Dan Deacon’s new album is called America. Our music reviewer Tim Kabara finds out why you can't have Dan Deacon's America without Baltimore. And, Tom Hall takes a walk through the sights and sounds of AKIMBO, a dance, music and art festival that hits Baltimore's Station North neighborhood tomorrow.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified 26 different species of gut bacteria that may be linked to obesity and diabetes. Nathan Sterner talks with Dr. Claire Fraser, who led the study. Fashionista Zoey Washington tells us how to hit a style home-run this fall. (Hint--you may want to think about a little piece of fur. It can be faux fur.) Our garden guru, Anne Raver, has decided to sell her family farm in Carroll County. Tom Hall visits her there to talk about this decision. And Treats for Aesthetes!

City Councilman Bill Henry is sponsoring four charter amendments that would shift the balance of power in Baltimore. We ask him what they would do. Then, Regina McCarthy takes us through the history of winemaking in Maryland, all the way back to the catawba vines planted by Thomas Jefferson's friend John Adlum in the early 19th century. And on the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks, Tom Hall takes a tour of the Maryland 9/11 memorial at Baltimore's World Trade Center in the Inner Harbor.

An agreement signed last month by the United Steelworkers Union has left 1600 Sparrows Point workers without health benefits or an active pension plan. We talk with Baltimore Brew reporter Mark Reutter about how it happened so quickly--and what's next for the plant. Then – On Sunday, the Found Footage Festival brings the best of the worst of VHS to the Creative Alliance. Nathan Sterner talks to festival co-founder Nick Prueher about what kind of bizarre and inadvertently hilarious footage lurks in the nation's thrift stores. Plus: Searching for Sugar Man and Sleepwalking with Mike Birbiglia…the movie guys tell us what to catch on the silver screen this month.

Are juvenile offenders getting adequate security and treatment? Nick Moroney, director of the Attorney General's Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit, tells us what's going well and what's not in Department of Juvenile Services institutions. That blue glow on the House floor? Yup--most of Congress is tweeting now. We'll take a look at politics and social media with Nathan Jurgenson, a sociology Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland. Treats for aesthetes. This weekend at the Creative Alliance, Baltimore musicians are reinventing the sound of Pink Floyd's album "Dark Side of the Moon."

Three Baltimore elementary schools are extending their school days from six hours to nine, making room for activities often left to after-school organizations -- like music and karate. We talk with the principal of one of the schools, and with the director of the program based in New York. Then-It’s the birthdate of Richard Wright, author of the important 20th century American novel Native Son. Baltimore writer Baari Shabazz tells us why Wright spent the end of his life in exile, writing about 4,000 haikus. Plus-theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck talks with arts and culture editor Tom Hall about the must-see plays and musicals of the coming year.

The efforts to end human trafficking in Maryland. And we hear from actor David Keltz, who specializes in interpreting Edgar Allan Poe, on just how he slips into the life of a dead man. Then - senior producer Lawrence Lanahan explains how Frank Zappa, born in Baltimore, became such a hero overseas. Plus, did you know that the character Rose in Titanic was a woman who lived in Baltimore? Fred Rasmussen of the Baltimore Sun talks with Tom Hall about Baltimore's connections to the storied ship.

Ira Glass, host of “This American Life” talks to Sheilah about creating TAL’s signature sound. And Tom takes a tour of Baltimore’s Greenmount Cemetery, the final resting place of Enoch Pratt, Johns Hopkins and John Wilkes Booth.

Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Tim Page on his work, his Asperger's syndrome, and the balancing act between the two. NPR correspondent Margot Adler speaks to Tom Hall about paganism and journalism.

R Dwayne Betts on coming of age in prison, and filmmaker Sig Libowitz on his film "The Response."

08-27-12: Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast

Most births attended by midwives take place in a hospital. Yet, many people still associate midwives with birthing at home or in a free-standing birth center. This morning we look at the different settings for midwife-attended births in Maryland. Then, a Baltimore student talks about the difference that skin tone makes among African-Americans today, and its roots in history. Plus, the story of the amazing sisters who brought Baltimore the Cone Collection of modernist art - as told by their great-niece and her daughter.