Roughly Speaking

2:19: Dan talks about the Trump and Clinton campaigns with Herb Smith, longtime political analyst and professor of political science at McDaniel College; Michael Reisch, professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work; and Richard Cross, Maryland Republican analyst who served as a speechwriter at the Republican National Convention last month in Cleveland.37:26: Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik discusses how the Trump campaign has challenged some of the traditional approaches to news reporting on a political candidate.54:24: Book critic Paula Gallagher reviews the latest in the Harry Potter series, a script for a play, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."Links: http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/Poli_Sci/facsmith.htmhttp://www.ssw.umaryland.edu/academics/faculty-bios/michael-reisch/http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/http://www.bcpl.info/category/between-the-covers-blogger/paula-ghttp://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-harry-potter-sequel-cursed-chil-20160803-premiumvide

2:42: Sun reporter Natalie Sherman and architect Klaus Philipsen talk about Under Armour's big pitch for a new corporate campus in Baltimore -- the multi-billion-dollar Port Covington project -- and the developer's request for more than $600 million in infrastructure from the city. Philipsen is the president of ArchPlan Inc. of Baltimore and blogs daily as the Community Architect. Sherman covers real estate and economic development for The Sun.34:06: Philipsen discusses last weekend's devastating flood in Ellicott City and the challenges of rebuilding the historic mill town on the banks of the Patapsco River.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-natalie-sherman-20141007-staff.htmlhttp://communityarchitectdaily.blogspot.comhttp://www.archplan.com

Today Dan welcomes Margaret "Meg" Guroff, a magazine editor and writer in Washington who gets to work on a bicycle. She loves biking, and has written a book about it, a cultural history called, "The Mechanical Horse: How The Bicycle Reshaped America," published by the University of Texas Press.Link:http://utpress.utexas.edu/index.php/books/guroff-mechanical-horse

In this podcast, the stories of two naturalists — Nick Carter, who lives at the headwaters of the Choptank River, the longest river on the Eastern Shore of Maryland; and Theodore Roosevelt, the nation's 26th president and a lifelong naturalist.2:38: Tom Horton, long-time environmental writer and author, tells the story of the Choptank River on the Delmarva Peninsula and Nick Carter, the naturalist who lives on an old farm at its headwaters. Carter does a wonderful thing for the river – he does nothing. Horton explains in his new book, "Choptank Odyssey: Celebrating a Great Chesapeake River," with photos by Dave Harp.20:56: One of the nation’s great naturalists was also its 26th president, Teddy Roosevelt. He developed an interest in nature when he was a boy and maintained the fascination through his life. Our guest is Darrin Lunde, a museum naturalist who works at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington. He is the author of "The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A Lifetime of Explorat

2:24: John Fritze, The Sun’s Washington correspondent, reports from the Democratic National Convention, where delegates made history Tuesday night by nominating Hillary Clinton for president. 13:24: Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck discusses the surprising and promising turn in the Orioles’ starting pitcher rotation.

3:37: American culture commentator Sheri Parks discusses Donald J. Trump’s candidacy for president and how it has further alienated American minorities from the Republican Party. Parks is associate dean in arts and humanities at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Roughly Speaking contributor.25:33: Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik reviews news coverage of the Republican convention and the forced resignation of Roger Ailes as CEO of Fox News.42:40: Book critic Paula Gallagher recommends six novels: "This Must be the Place," by Maggie O’Farrell; "Dark Matter," by Blake Crouch; "Disappearance at Devil's Rock," by Paul Tremblay; "You Will Know Me," by Megan Abbott; "The Unseen World," by Liz Moore; "How to Set a Fire and Why," by Jesse Ball.59:16: Film critic Christopher Llewellyn Reed reviews new movies and talks about films to be released in the coming weeks, including a remake of the Hollywood epic, "Ben-Hur."

A bloody disaster within a debacle: Today's podcast explores a long-buried claim that American troops, many from Maryland, were betrayed during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I.In 1916, there was a presidential election, with Woodrow Wilson running successfully for a second term while pledging to keep the U.S out of World War I. But that only lasted until the following spring. Congress declared war against Germany in April 1917, and by 1918, American troops were immersed in battle in France. In September, there was a massive offensive involving more than a million troops. That’s where William Walker’s story takes us — into a place known as the Meuse-Argonne, and specifically to a flat-topped hill known as Montfaucon, heavily fortified by the Germans, bristling with machine guns and artillery, a place the French dubbed “Little Gibraltar."Walker’s new book argues that an American general disobeyed orders that likely cost many lives and delayed the end of the war. This story has been buried all these y

1:49: John Fritze, the Sun’s Washington correspondent, talks about Dump on Hillary Day at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. The convention officially nominated Donald J. Trump for president, speakers tore into his presumptive Democratic opponent, and Dr. Ben Carson brought up Saul Alinsky again.11:55: A talk about everything — #BlackLivesMatter, police, guns, police shootings, shootings by police, President Obama, Republicans, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling — with the provocative Kimberly Moffitt, associate professor in American studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore County.38:12: David Miller, founder of the Dare To Be King consultancy in Baltimore and creator of “10 Rules For Survival When Stopped by the Police,” shares his thoughts on the recent deaths of black men in police shootings, the assassination of white officers by black men, and what he must tell his son about all this.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-john-fritze-20141007-staff.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/m

1:22: John Fritze, the Sun's Washington correspondent, reports on the first day of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and Mileah Kromer, director of the Goucher Poll, comments on the anticipated nomination of Donald Trump for president.17:57: Stan Haynes, a Baltimore attorney and historian, talks about the good old days, when conventions were rough and tumble, frequently held in Baltimore, and full of surprises. Haynes tells the story of the 1880 Republican convention in Chicago, when James Garfield, a man drafted to nominate another for president, ended up as the party's nominee. Haynes is with the law firm Semmes, Bowen ---- Semmes and the author of two books, "The First American Political Conventions: Transforming Presidential Nominations (1832-1872)," and, "President-Making in the Gilded Age: The Nominating Conventions of 1876-1900."Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-john-fritze-20141007-staff.htmlhttp://www.goucher.edu/academics/political-science-and-international-relations/the-sarah-t-h

3:22: Presidential historian Richard Striner says the 2016 election could be a catastrophe for the nation and the Republican Party or a breakthrough for progressive politics. He talks about the course of the GOP over the last century and the rise of Donald J. Trump. Steiner is professor of history at Washington College and the author of several books, including "Father Abraham: Lincoln's Relentless Struggle to End Slavery." and, more recently, "Woodrow Wilson and World War I."26:39: Amie Parnes, senior White House correspondent for The Hill and co-author of a book about Hillary Clinton, assesses the damage done to the presumptive Democratic nominee’s presidential aspirations by the FBI director’s recent report on her use of a private email server. Parnes and Jonathan Allen of Bloomberg News are co-authors of"HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton."45:14: Henry Hong of the Thames Street Oyster House and John Shields of Gertrude’s restaurant talk to Dan about his evolving recipe for a better meat

1:57: Why you should see “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” on the big screen: After “Finding Dory,” the pickings are slim among new releases this summer. So film critic Linda DeLibero noticed in coming attractions a revival screening of “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” at the Charles Theatre in Baltimore on July 23 and 25. Until the new Jason Bourne movie gets here, she says, this might be your best summer ticket. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" was directed by John Huston, and it starred his father, Walter Huston, who won an Oscar as an old gold prospector who meets up in Mexico with two guys down on their luck, one played by Humphrey Bogart, the other by cowboy actor Tim Holt. They set out to seek a fortune in the hills, and what follows is a classic cinematic drama about gold fever, grit and greed. Linda DeLibero is director of film and media studies at the Johns Hopkins University and she co-directs the Hopkins/MICA film center.25:39: Bonus: On this 14th of July, Bastille Day, we could not resist an

In this podcast: Six questions about the Hillary Clinton email scandal for Sean Gallagher, the Baltimore-based IT editor of Ars Technica. A Navy veteran, Gallagher once served as a computer security officer.

2:53: After the killings of five police officers in Dallas in apparent retaliation for the fatal shootings of black men by police in Minnesota and Louisiana, Dan speaks with Carl Reuben, a rapper known as VeganG. The conversation covers Reuben's experiences with police in Maryland, his angry song and video about stop-and-frisk practices, his reaction to Orioles manager Buck Showalter's call for understanding across the racial divide, and Reuben's positive message about "living a virtuous life."25:29: Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik comments on the sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former FOX News host Gretchen Carlson against the cable channel's CEO Roger Ailes.Links:http://www.carlreuben.com/#visionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvd2d-SdWnwhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-kendall-hilton-recalls-his-poignant-exchange-with-buck-showalter-after-orioles-no-fans-game-20160428-story.html

Ironman competitor Rick Armiger, a 45-year-old vice-president at Morgan Stanley in Baltimore, just returned from Germany after completing his 25th long-distance triathlon. He plans to enter two more Iron Man competitions this summer. In today's podcast, Dan speaks with Armiger about how he trains for the endurance challenges — surprisingly, he says his daily diet includes ice cream — and what got him into the Ironman culture. It was a family tragedy 20 years ago that alerted Armiger to the critical importance of cardiac health and led him to establish the Ironheart Foundation, a support network for athletic-minded cardiac patients, their doctors and nurses, relatives and friends. The Ironheart Foundation just produced a movie that will have a screening on July 21 in Baltimore.

In this Independence Day episode of Roughly Speaking, some fresh perspectives on Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, with two leading Jefferson scholars — Annette Gordon-Reed, who won the Pulitzer Prize for history for her research on Jefferson and his slave Sally Hemings, and Pete Onuf, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia and senior researcher at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies. Gordon-Reed and Onuf have collaborated on a book, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination.”

Is it really elitist for the news media to fact-check everything Donald J. Trump says? Dan speaks with David Zurawik, the Sun’s media critic, about the claim by a Trump supporter on CNN that Trump’s political opponents, not the media, should point out any misstatements by the verbose Republican presidential candidate. David also talks about the too-cozy relationship between political operatives and the cable news channels. Plus, a preview of a new Viceland series, “Black Market,” featuring actor Michael K. Williams, who played Omar on HBO’s “The Wire.”Baltimore County librarian and Roughly Speaking book critic Paula Gallagher offers her 13 best choices for summer reading, including “Vinegar Girl,” a new novel, set in Baltimore, by Anne Tyler.

A Johns Hopkins expert on the Affordable Care Act provides an objective assessment of the implementation of the health insurance law after the third year of enrollment. Jonathan Weiner, professor in health policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, talks about the good and not-so-good aspects of the nation’s historic health insurance expansion, including the refusal of several states with Republican governors to accept federal funds to cover the poorest of their uninsured. Weiner calls that “the biggest political malpractice I’ve seen in my life.” A 30-minute look at the status of the law nationally and in Maryland with one of the country’s go-to experts on the law.

Penguin Random House made publishing news when it agreed to pay a reported $2 million for the rights to a series of novels by a new writer, Emma Cline. The first in that series, “The Girls,” based on the Manson family murders of the late 1960s, is out. Paula Gallagher reviews Cline’s debut novel.Is there such a thing as a “hot hand” in basketball? What’s going on when we see baseball players having a hot streak or a slump? Johns Hopkins’ researcher Jonathan Flombaum takes us to the intersection of sports, brain science and philosophy for a talk about LeBron James and the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, the Baltimore Orioles, and what studies tell us about athletes who get “hot.” Flombaum is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Science at Johns Hopkins University, and he’s affiliated with the Visual Thinking Lab at Hopkins.

In this podcast:2:05: On the day after the latest verdict in the trials of Baltimore police officers accused in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, Sun reporters Justin Fenton and Kevin Rector talk about the acquittal of Officer Caesar Goodson, who faced the most serious charges of the six original defendants. With one hung jury and now two not-guilty verdicts, will Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby drop the lesser charges against the remaining four defendants? 26:10: The New York Times called Michael Denzel Smith "the intellectual in Air Jordans." A contributing writer to The Nation and cable commentator, Smith writes about coming of age in the time of Barack Obama, LeBron James, Trayvon Martin and the Black Lives Matter movement. His new memoir, "Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man’s Education," reflects on being young and black in a country that, eight years after electing the first African-American president, has Donald Trump as a choice for a successor.(courtroom sketc

What’s it like to run a Baltimore city school? Dan speaks with five principals who were recently honored for their outstanding work. They are recipients of "Heart of the School" awards, established this year by the Fund for Educational Excellence. The inaugural awards celebration was held at the Hippodrome Theater in May. More than 450 nominations for 88 principals were submitted by teachers, parents and students. From a list of 11 finalists, five winners were chosen. They are our podcast guests today: 1:49: Chris Battaglia of Benjamin Franklin High School at Masonville Cove20:58: Tamika Daniels of George W.F. McMechen High School in Dorchester/Ashburton30:45: Mary Donnellyof John Ruhrah Elementary/Middle School in East Highlandtown40:20: Najib Jammal of Lakeland Elementary/Middle School in Lakeland51:27: Rochelle Machado of Arundel Elementary/Middle School in Cherry Hill