WYPR: Midday with Dan Rodricks Podcast

A limited supply of quality rentals in popular neighborhoods such as Federal Hill, Fells Point and Mount Vernon have tenants scrambling to secure leases and offering to pay more than landlords are asking. Developers, meanwhile, are continuing to renovate old office buildings and midtown warehouses for apartments. A look at the rental rush and the health of the central city with Kirby Fowler, president of the Downtown Partnership.

Americans are living longer than ever, aided by ever-advancing life-saving medical technologies and treatments. But some doctors question such expensive and aggressive interventions and are pushing for a better understanding of all options in end-of-life care. Our guests: Jonathan Rauch, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a contributing editor for The Atlantic and the author of the recent Atlantic article, “How Not to Die”; Maryland Del. Dan Morhaim, an emergency room doctor and author of The Better End: Surviving (and Dying) on Your Own Terms in Today’s Modern Medical World; and Dr. Anthony Riley, medical director of Gilchrist Hospice Care.

In 2008, Roxana Orellana Santos, a dishwasher, was arrested while eating lunch outside her workplace in Frederick after two sheriff’s deputies questioned her and determined she was to be deported on a civil immigration warrant. She was held in an immigration detention facility for 45 days. Last week, a federal appeals court ruled the deputies had no basis to arrest or even briefly detain Santos. Immigration advocates says she was racially profiled as part of the Frederick sheriff’s involvement in a federal program that has led to the deportation of hundreds of undocumented workers. A look at Frederick County’s aggressive approach to illegal immigrants with Sheriff Chuck Jenkins; Jose Perez, an attorney with LatinoJustice, who litigated the Santos case; Blaine Young, commissioner for Frederick County; and Kim Propeack, political director, CASA de Maryland.

Rebecca Skloot, author of the best-selling book about Henrietta Lacks, joins us to talk about the latest news from the world of HeLa cells: The National Institutes of Health reached an agreement with the Lacks’ family that for the first time requires scientists to get permission to study her ubiquitous genome. Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, joins Midday on Science contributor John Monahan to comment on that announcement and its implications for research. Also, we talk to Corey Fleischer, a mechanical engineer at Lockheed Martin and University of Maryland Baltimore County alum, whose inventions recently won top prize on the Discovery Channel’s reality TV show “Big Brain Theory.”

President Obama promises greater accountability of surveillance programs conducted by the Maryland-based National Security Agency. At the same time, he says the massive collection of telephone calls and emails will continue. Is the NSA’s Prism program legal? Should Americans tolerate it in the name of national security? Our guests: Gabriel Schoenfeld, Hoover Institute fellow and author of Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media & the Rule of Law; and David Fidler, law professor at Indiana University and one of several privacy experts who last week urged the Supreme Court to overturn the authorization of NSA’s collection of Verizon calls.

Former Top Chef contestant and cooking celebrity Edward Lee joins Midday foodies John Shields of Gertrude’s and Henry Hong of Waterfront Kitchen to discuss his new cookbook, Smoke and Pickles: Recipes and Stories From a New Southern Kitchen.

A look at the most interesting stories of the region with the reporters and editors who covered them. This hour: A coalition of Civil rights groups wants the state to create a memorial to patients of the former Crownsville State Hospital, and officially recognize its disturbing history. We'll examine the tragic story of Crownsville, the old asylum for African-Americans in Anne Arundel County, with Tom Marquardt of the Capital. Also, political analyst Barry Rascovar on Governor O’Malley's latest steps toward becoming a presidential candidate, and Ian Duncan of The Sun has the latest on Black Guerilla Family gang leader Tavon White. Then: How you and the kids can help biologists take inventory of creatures who make a lot of noise this time of year.

A conversation with iconic pop culture essayist and New York Times Ethicist Chuck Klosterman, who is out with a new book, I Wear the Black Hat. Klosterman examines the burgeoning role and deepening complexity of the anti-hero in American culture. We explore the modern understanding of villainy and take listener calls on ethical dilemmas.

We continue our look at the controversial proposal of public financial support for the $1.1 billion Harbor Point development in Harbor East.

Beneath the walls of the Grand Canyon lies a stretch of the Colorado River known only to a select few. River guide and journalist Kevin Fedarko, former senior editor for Outside magazine, weaves a tale of adventure and survival about a group of boatmen who tried to set a rafting record through that stretch of the river after an historic flood. Fedarko is the author of The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History through the Heart of the Grand Canyon.

On the heels of the city’s restaurant week, Baltimore Sun critic Richard Gorelick joins Midday to discuss the latest news, including closures of a number of area eateries -- Della Note and Rocco’s Capriccio in Little Italy, Vino Rosina in Harbor East, The Dogwood in Hampden, and Morning Edition in Butchers Hill – and the openings of new ones.

Intrepid journalist Anna Badkhen spent a year in rural Afghanistan documenting the lives of the people who live where heroin is cheaper than rice and villagers survive on the old-time tradition of carpet weaving. She chronicles those stories in her new book, The World is a Carpet: Four Seasons in an Afghan Village.

In the wake of the Great Recession, poverty is no longer limited to the country’s biggest cities. From Cleveland’s long-struggling inner suburbs to the traditionally affluent suburbs of Maryland, almost every major metropolitan area has experienced rising poverty beyond its urban core. A look at the changing map of poverty with Brookings Institute fellow Elizabeth Kneebone, author of Confronting Suburban Poverty in America; Saundra Bond, associate vice president of the United Way of Central Maryland; and Bita Dayhoff, president of the Community Action Council of Howard County.

Instead of feeling better, a visit to the physician can sometimes leave you feeling dissatisfied and disoriented because of a communication breakdown between you and your doctor. Dr. Zackary Berger, author of Talking to Your Doctor: A Patient’s Guide to Communication in the Exam Room and Beyond, joins Midday on Health contributor Dr. John Cmar to talk about ways to better communicate and create a healthier relationship with your doctor and the health care system.

The Consumer Federation of America says safe drivers with lower-income, less-educated backgrounds often pay more for basic car insurance than their white-collar, better-educated counterparts. We take look at such car insurance disparities with Tom Feltner, director of financial services for the CFA; Franz Schneiderman, communications director for the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition; Baltimore City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke; and Steve Weisbart, chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute.