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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Guest host Jayne Miller discusses Red Line revival plans with Maryland Del. Robbyn Lewis, and wades into the debate among community leaders over a proposed transit-oriented development project in Lutherville. -
Guest host Jayne Miller speaks with a lawmaker, a scholar and a union president about the fundamental changes underway in the nature of office and factory work, and in the workforce itself. -
Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck spotlights the Rep Stage production of a new work by playwright Dane Figueroa Edidi that explores themes of race, gender and history. -
Today, three perspectives on some recent developments in science and technology that are impacting our lives — for better or worse. -
Guest host Ashley Sterner speaks with a state lawmaker, a physician, trans activists and a local pastor about the growing support for transgender rights in Maryland. -
Baltimore City's annual tax sale, designed to collect unpaid bills from delinquent city homeowners - is the focus of a Baltimore Banner investigation. We get three perspectives on tax sale problems, and possible solutions. -
Acclaimed novelist Madison Smartt Bell joins us to discuss his latest work of fiction, a haunting, lyrical mystery set in Paris. -
In a new collection of personal essays, the bi-racial civil rights activist, author, executive and educator opens up about his family's unique heritage and his hopes for a just, equitable American democracy. -
In her new book, the Duke University sleep researcher dispels some popular myths about insomnia and describes safe, simple steps for achieving a good night's sleep. -
Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck spotlights a new production of Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin's play about four teen girls trying to create a safe space amid the pressures and perils of high-school life.
