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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The Baltimore Banner's Emily Sullivan discusses Mayor Brandon Scott's ouster of his chief of staff, Chezia Cager, and communications director Cirilo Manego. -
The public health advocate discusses the latest news, including the end of the federal state of COVID emergency on May 11, the deepening substance abuse epidemic and Baltimore's search for a new health commissioner. -
Writer Bonnie Garmus discusses why her first published novel about a smart, self-assured young woman in early '60s America has become a run-away best seller. -
Midday's theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck spotlights a new production of the 2006 musical inspired by the macabre and moving writings of Edgar Allan Poe. -
Guest host Emily Sullivan of the Baltimore Banner recaps Wednesday night's public City Hall forum on the Baltimore budget, with perspectives from Banner reporter Adam Willis and political analyst Sophia Silbergeld. -
Baltimore's ambitious downtown redevelopment plans have lost some of their momentum. Guest host Jayne Miller and two Baltimore Banner reporters share their insights on what's gone wrong. -
Guest host Jayne Miller examines the reasons why Blacks in Baltimore, across Maryland and across the US lag significantly behind Whites in the rate of homeownership — and what's being done to close the gap. -
Guest host Jayne Miller explores a range of issues affecting Maryland's health care system, from overly long ER wait times to a long-term care industry suffering from its own aging infrastructure. -
The director of the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance joins guest host Jayne Miller to explain how - and why - her non-profit gathers data on the important changes underway in the Baltimore region. -
Baltimore's top cop discusses how the city is bringing down the crime rate, his department's response to teen gun violence, and what the mayor's planned youth curfew could mean for public safety.
