WYPR: Midday with Dan Rodricks Podcast

We follow up on three major ballot measures approved by Maryland voters last week. Now that same-sex marriage is legal, will there be a gay-friendly business boom? Will more gay and lesbian couples move to Maryland? Also, a look at what happens next with the passage of casino gambling expansion. And what does the Maryland Dream Act mean for high school students, the regional economy and the effort to pass a national Dream Act?

With Thanksgiving just about a week away, we thought we’d talk about shopping for the big meal central to the holiday, and survey the ever-changing supermarket scene in Baltimore and central Maryland. Food prices have climbed considerably in the last two years; at the same time, it seems shoppers have more choices than ever. We’ll speak with Phil Lempert -- the Supermarket Guru, as seen on TV. He follows the food industry and advises consumers on how to be savvy shoppers in the grocery store. Gary Haber of the Baltimore Business Journal and Jeremy Diamond of the Diamond Group survey the regional supermarket scene. And we hear from the smart shoppers in our audience: Where do you shop for groceries and why, and what discoveries have you made about the stores in our community?

What was health care like in early America, before and after the revolution? Elaine Breslaw, retired professor of history at Morgan State University, provides a fascinating and skin-crawling chronicle of the 18th Century -- the practitioners and their practices, from purging to pain relief, and the whole realm of alternatives to the infection-fighting medicine that was being developed in Europe. Breslaw, a visiting scholar at the University of Tennessee, is the author of “Lotions, Potions, Pills, and Magic: Health Care in Early America."

On Election Day, voters in Colorado and Washington made it legal to smoke pot without a prescription or medical reason, challenging federal law and reigniting the volatile debate about the decriminalization of marijuana nationally. We talk to law enforcement officials who cheer the results in Colorado and Washington and are advocating for the end of prohibition on illegal drugs in the U.S.

As New York and New Jersey recover from super-storm Sandy, scientists are sounding alarms about intense weather patterns and sea-level rise related to climate change. Midday on Science contributor John Monahan joins Rich Foot of Foot’s Forecast and Jordan Nelms, adaptive plans manager of the Maryland Emergency Management Agency, to talk about how Maryland and other states prepare for a disaster-prone future.

Nearly four in 10 private sector workers – and 80 percent of the lowest wage workers – do not have paid sick days to care for their own health, according to a national advocacy group. In Maryland, the Job Opportunities Task Force estimates that 800,000 workers are not eligible for paid sick days. The JOTF is part of a movement for a national paid sick days standard. Our guests: Jason Perkins-Cohen, executive director, JOTF; Ellen Bravo, long-time advocate for working women; and Maryland Del. John Olszewski, D-Baltimore County.

Food that simmers: With the fall weather turning crisp, tips on one-pot cooking, and soup and stew recipes from Henry Hong, chef, food writer and manager at Waterfront Kitchen in Fells Point, and John Shields, chef and owner of Gertrude’s Restaurant in the Baltimore Museum of Art.

This hour, a chance for listeners to weigh-in on the election with analysis from Midday political analysts.

A conversation with Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin about the election, the Congressional divide, and the looming fiscal cliff.

Midday's team of analysts and political experts look at how Maryland voted during last night's election including an analysis of the same-sex marriage victory, the Maryland DREAM Act victory, the confirmation of the new redistricting map and expanded gambling.

After the most expensive presidential campaign in American history, some of the most brutally negative congressional contests in recent memory, and several controversial ballot measures in Maryland and other states, our panel of political experts give their analysis, weigh in on the winners and losers and take your questions about the historic 2012 General Election on both hours of Midday.

Experts in modern medicine are constantly looking for ways to improve the human condition, frequently turning to genetic medicine for answers to some of the body’s most troublesome problems. Nathaniel Comfort, associate professor at Johns Hopkins' Department of the History of Medicine, takes us through the promises of medical genetics, the medical dimension of eugenics and the moral risks of seeking human perfection. He is the author of “The Science of Human Perfection: How Genes Became the Heart of American Medicine.”

Test your knowledge of the presidential candidates and American political history with Dan and guests. Also, an interview with Kenneth Davis, author of "Don't Know Much About The American Presidents."

In the aftermath of the recession, income inequality in the U.S. reached a new high, according to the Census Bureau, and no surprise to political economist and Marketplace commentator Robert Reich. He says our political and economic systems are rigged against average working people. But what to do about it? Reich, former U.S. labor secretary, talks about his election year ebook, “Beyond Outrage: What has gone wrong with our economy and our democracy, and how to fix it.” Original air date 10/3/12

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Donald Barlett and James Steele say Congress is complicit in the destruction of American manufacturing and the secure jobs that once fueled our economy. They say it helped dismantle private pension systems while cutting taxes for the wealthy. Barlett and Steele, who have been reporting on U.S. economic and political issues for more than 30 years, are authors of “The Betrayal of the American Dream.” Original air date 8/28/12