On The Record

School is almost back in session! Kids in Baltimore City and Baltimore County - and several other jurisdictions around the state - are set to hit the books on Monday. Others will start in the coming weeks. In preparation, we bring you a couple school-themed Stories from the Stoop. We start with a memory from Beth Landeau about an embarrassing first day of sixth grade. Then we hear from Bridget Cav...

'Sunday Best', a new Netflix documentary, shows how Ed Sullivan did more than launch careers on his variety show--he used it as a platform to fight racism.

Amtrak’s multi-year Frederick Douglass Tunnel project moves forward, but folks in affected neighborhoods feel frustrated from unanswered questions, like relocation plans and appraisals for their homes.

What do cuts in food stamps and Medicaid, the denial of emergency aid to flood victims, the end of public-broadcasting funds mean for western Maryland? We ask Congresswoman April McClain Delaney.

Last fall, voters approved a ballot question that would add two seats in the chamber. But getting from seven council members to nine is a complicated political process, so to hear how it’s going, we turn to WYPR reporter John Lee, whose focus is on Baltimore County.

Here's a Stoop Story from Fred Lohr about a series of memorable summer camp experiences in Maine. The next live stoop event happens Friday, Aug. 22! The theme is ‘Naked: Stories about baring bodies, souls, and secrets.’ It starts at 7pm at Checkerspot Brewing Company with musical guest Danah Denice.

The population of the tiny blood sucking arthropods appears to be surging in Maryland. And if you spend time outside, they’ll try to make a meal out of you. Says JHU Prof. Douglas Norris: “They can crawl up pant legs, they can get in very tight spaces.” Maryland’s tick identifier offers tips for keeping them off.

August. Temperatures in the 90’s — with the humidity it feels hotter. And then Aug. 11 in the afternoon, about 4,000 BGE customers, mostly in Howard County, lost power for a half hour. The blackout was short and not widespread, but the headlines reminded customers who think their electric bills are too high that supply can also be an issue. We talk with BGE director of regulatory strategy and reve...

Among the seismic budget cuts propelled by President Trump, you may have missed his executive order March 14 essentially dismantling a small agency you hadn’t heard of, “The Institute of Museum of Library Services.” Why are librarians in Maryland upset, and what does any of it mean for you? It turns out that the IMLS has been sending Maryland libraries about $3 million a year, which they use for d...

Behind the headlines we remember from the Civil Rights Movement was an organized effort to teach African-Americans the literacy and civic skills they needed to register to vote--how to sign their names, how to read parts of the state constitution and how to hold their heads up as citizens. We ask author Elaine Weiss about her new book, 'Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools that Built the Civil R...

Here's a Stoop Story from Tom Hall about a performance made particularly memorable thanks to the intervention of a cat. Find more information about Stoop Stories, including live events and the Stoop podcast, at Stoopstorytelling.com

Today is International Cat Day! And Walters Art Museum is celebrating cats today and every day through late February with a new exhibit, called “Paws on Parchment.” It’s an exploration of the role cats played in folks lives during medieval times, as evidenced in manuscripts from the 1200s through the 1600s. We’re joined by Lynley Anne Herbert, the Robert and Nancy Hall Curator of Rare Books and Ma...

Last year about one in three Americans carried medical debt, and nearly one third of them took out loans -- totaling 74 billion dollars. We hear about ‘Dollar For’ - a non profit that teaches people how to eliminate medical debt by accessing financial assistance hospitals are legally required to provide. We talk with founder Jared Walker, and Sally Kervin and Nayano Taylor-Neumann, two Marylanders...

Lots of things to worry about in this world. Too much wealth and power in the hands of too few people, too many of them self-absorbed and thoughtless. Bad decisions that threaten the delicate balance of land and water. Not to mention tensions that keep people from appreciating the ones closest to them. If you can weave all that into an absorbing on-the-edge-of-your-seat mystery set near the ocean...

When Dr. Meena Seshamani, an ear-nose-&-throat surgeon and former head of the federal Medicare program, was sworn in as Maryland’s health secretary four months ago, she stepped into a swirl of challenges: budget and policy pressures from the Trump administration, the Free State’s high levels of opioid addiction and overdoses, departures of top staff. She joins us to talk about her priorities and c...

Wendy Sittner explores the impermanence of life. Here is her Stoop Story. For more information about Stoop Storytelling, including live events and the Stoop podcast, visit Stoopstorytelling.com

This month Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum opens a new solo exhibition, called “The Strength To Be Joyful: Messages from Mary Proctor” exploring the life and work of the Southern visionary artist. We talk with Ellen Owens, AVAM’s new Executive Director and Curator and Grants Manager Gage Branda to get a preview!

Our show today has roots in the dark history of Baltimore’s racist housing practices, called redlining. But what’s grown from it - in this case - is a streamlined path to homeownership with the intention of building neighborhoods based on equity. Two high school friends, who discovered their families had textbook example -- though polar opposite -- experiences with housing discrimination, set out...

The summer heat may have you wanting to stay inside, but it’s the perfect weather for spotted lanternflies. They’re an invasive species. You may have started seeing their adult form flit through the air in recent weeks. Spotted lanternflies may be pretty, but they can be pretty irritating, too. Especially to some farmers. But they are here to stay, and to find out how we can coexist, we turn to Dr...

The House of Ruth Maryland has supported survivors of violence by intimate partners for decades. It's learned that to end that violence, not just cope with it, abusers need access to help, too. Now there’s an anonymous hotline 24/7, for abusers called Gateway 2 Change

Here's a Stoop Story from Duilla DeMello about discovering a supernova.

The James Webb Space Telescope is celebrating its third year of operations, answering questions about asteroids, early galaxies, black holes, exoplanets and more. Deputy Project Scientist, Dr. Macarena Garcia Marin shares some of Webb’s discoveries.

Professor Martha S. Jones of Johns Hopkins .. an acclaimed scholar and historian whose work illuminates how we understand citizenship and the Black American experience … has now applied those skills to a memoir. She gives us new ways to think about race and the color line.

When you live in a city as old as Baltimore, you are always standing on a lot of history. Every single lot in this centuries-old town has decades of stories behind it. We talk with historian Katie Labor, who has been exploring some of those stories in her project called BehindBmoreLots.

More than two dozen people simultaneously overdosed on a mix of sedatives, fentanyl and other drugs in the Penn North neighborhood July 10. Combining drugs isn't unusual, but this is unprecedented. We talk to WYPR health reporter Scott Maucione.