Rob Sivak
Contributing producer, MiddayRob Sivak is a contributing producer for Midday, with host Tom Hall. Recently retired after a seven-year stint as Midday's senior producer, Rob joined WYPR in 2015 as senior producer of Hall's previous show, Maryland Morning (which aired its final broadcast on September 16th, 2016). Before coming to the station, Rob enjoyed a 36-year career at the congressionally funded global broadcaster, Voice of America. At VOA, he honed his skills as a news and feature reporter, producer, editor and program host.
After reporting assignments at VOA's New York City, United Nations and Los Angeles bureaus, Rob spent two decades covering international food, farming and nutrition issues for VOA's 180-million worldwide listeners, and created and hosted several popular VOA science magazines. At Midday, he continued to pursue his passion for radio and his abiding interests in science, health, technology and politics.
Rob grew up as an ex-pat "oil brat" on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, and studied and traveled widely in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. He attended Hofstra University in New York and Boston University's School of Public Communications. Rob and his wife Caroline Barnes, a writer, live in Silver Spring, Maryland, where they've raised three daughters.
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Mayor Brandon Scott's new pick for city administrator discusses her new role, the City Council's issues with the office, and her priorities as the city's day-to-day operations manager. -
Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews the touring company production of Harper Lee's beloved story about racial justice in the Jim Crow South, in a new stage adaptation by Aaron Sorkin, at the Hippodrome. -
The company's founding director, Tyde-Courtney Edwards, discusses how her trauma-informed dance therapy helps young victims of sexual assault and other violence start rebuilding their lives. -
SSG Feemster — along with fellow US Army Field Band member SSG Lamar Riddick — is one of the US Army's first two rappers. Staff Sergeant Feemster tells us how that came down, and we'll hear a sample. -
The acclaimed writer joins us to discuss her shimmering new novel about life's routines and inescapable losses. -
The popular Democrat describes the agenda for his second term in office, and his legislative priorities for the final weeks of the 2023 Maryland General Assembly session. -
Baltimore Banner City Hall reporter Emily Sullivan explains the politics behind the City Council's handling of the Mayor's city-administrator nominee. -
Heather Warnken of UBalt Law's Center for Criminal Justice Reform and Ray Kelly of the Citizen Policing Project think imposing longer sentences for gun violence offenders is the wrong approach to the city's endemic gun-crime problem. -
Our Newsmaker guest is the city's new top prosecutor, who says he supports a bill in Annapolis that would impose longer sentences on gun-toting criminals. -
The medical director at Greater Annapolis Veterinary Hospital joins us with advice on what to do about canine influenza, and dos and don't of pet travel. Plus, answers to all YOUR pet care questions!
