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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Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck spotlights the eclectic new production of the Shakespeare classic that's filled with music, dance and a myriad of magic tricks. -
Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday joins us with her picks for best flicks of '22, ahead of next Tuesday's Golden Globes awards, plus a look at why the venerable Parkway Theatre is struggling. -
Two eminent scholars of religion and politics join us to discuss the growing power of this far-right movement, its ties to the January 6th insurrection, and how it threatens democracy in America. -
Theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck talks with the New Yorker staff writer about his new book, "Finale: Late Conversations with Stephen Sondheim," based on his three years of interviews with the late, great Broadway composer and lyricist. -
Tom Hall opens the phones to hear what listeners think about one of the city's biggest challenges for the new year: curbing the relentless rates of homicide and other violent crime. -
Two veteran political reporters - Pamela Wood of the Baltimore Banner and Bryan Sears of The Daily Record - offer their assessments of Larry Hogan's improbable tenure as governor, and his political future. -
The emergency physician and public health advocate discusses the latest on continuing RSV, flu and COVID-19 threats, and answers your health questions. -
Each week here on Midday, it is our practice to read the names of the people who have lost their lives to violence in Baltimore City. -
The genre-defying musician, rapper, poet and podcaster discusses what fuels her many passions, and her concert at Baltimore's Ottobar. -
Three prominent Black thinkers discuss a proposal to convene a summit of elected leaders to address the unique challenges confronting African American men.
