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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Writers Guild of America negotiator John August and WGA's Los Angeles picket-line coordinator Danny Tolli discuss the issues driving the WGA's and SAG/AFTRA's continuing strikes against an alliance of Hollywood producers. -
The head of the Mayor's office administering the city's $641 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds joins us with an update on how the money is being allocated. -
The veteran public health advocate discusses the latest news, including the imminent availability of a new RSV vaccine and why older adults, especially, should get it; the FDA's approval of a new pill to treat post-partum depression; and how AI could play a useful role in medicine. -
In The Making of Another Major Motion Picture, the veteran movie star-turned-novelist pays homage to the grit, the gore, and the glory of modern Hollywood filmmaking. -
Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck spotlights the new production of the popular Broadway-blessed musical comedy that celebrates...the musical comedy. -
On our monthly look at films and filmmaking, Tom and Maryland Film Festival founder Jed Dietz talk with a producer and a curator of the WYPR-sponsored New/Next Film Festival, running August 18-20 at The Charles theater in Baltimore. -
Two personal-finance pros — Nicolas Abrams and Deborah Owens — share their insights on achieving financial security in these uncertain times. -
The constitutional scholar, author and UBalt Law professor joins us to discuss the significance of former President Donald Trump's latest criminal indictment, and the extraordinary legal and political challenges that lie ahead. -
In another of our regular conversations with the two-term Baltimore County chief executive, Mr. Olszewski discusses some of the key issues affecting Maryland's third largest jurisdiction. -
The former CBS News exec, who starts today as Your Public Radio's new president and general manager, discusses his goals for WYPR and WTMD, and his vision of community radio.
