Maryland Now

Maryland Now, brought to you by Blended Public Affairs This episode, Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin head to Capitol Hill for a wide-ranging conversation with Congressman Steny Hoyer, the dean of Maryland's congressional delegation, who retires in January after more than four decades in Congress, and Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth, who first walked into his office as an intern in 2011 and no...

Maryland Now — brought to you by Blended Public Affairs This episode, Dori Henry sits down for a roundtable on women in Maryland politics, joined by Alex Hughes, founder and president of Blended Public Affairs and former longtime Statehouse staffer, Sophia Silbergeld, one of Maryland's top political fundraisers, and Martha McKenna, president of McKenna Media and co-founder of Emerge Maryland. The...

A quick note: Maryland Now is taking a short break this week. Enjoy this favorite episode from last season, and join us back on October 1st for a brand new episode. In this "Roundtable" edition of Maryland Now, hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin dive into the quirky, surprising, and often controversial world of Maryland's official state symbols. From the 1893 Chicago World's Fair to cl...

Maryland Now — brought to you by Blended Public Affairs This episode, Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin sit down with Tom Perez — former U.S. Labor Secretary, former DNC Chair, former Maryland Labor Secretary, former Montgomery County Councilmember, and now a partner at Mayer Brown — for a wide-ranging conversation on the 2026 midterms, the state of American democracy, and what comes next f...

Maryland Now — brought to you by Blended Public Affairs This episode, Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin turn the mic on their own industry, sitting down with TJ Smith — until days ago the host of a talk radio show on WBAL, and before that spokesperson for Baltimore City Police and then-County Executive Johnny Olszewski — and Miranda Spivack , a former Washington Post editor, former top edit...

Maryland Now — brought to you by Blended Public Affairs This episode, host David Nitkin takes on healthcare — an industry so big and so personal that he almost didn't tackle it, given his own history working inside the Johns Hopkins system. Drawing on interviews with seven leaders across Maryland's hospitals, physicians, regulators, and insurers, David traces the 50-year history of the "Maryland M...

Maryland Now — brought to you by Blended Public Affairs This episode, Josh Kurtz takes a deep dive into the Blueprint for Maryland's Future — the state's roughly $4 billion, 10-year education reform plan — now about halfway through its run, with a formal progress report due out by the end of the year. Drawing on interviews with eight educators and political leaders, Josh traces the Blueprint's roo...

Maryland Now — brought to you by Blended Public Affairs This episode, Maryland Now hits the road. Hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin traveled to Ocean City for the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) conference — the annual gathering where most of Maryland's state and local government establishment spends a few days mixing official business with a packed circuit of evening receptio...

Maryland Now — brought to you by Blended Public Affairs Season 2 opens with a deep dive into the results of the newest Maryland Now poll, conducted by Blended Public Affairs and Perry Jacobson in partnership with Zenith Research. Hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin sit down with Adam Carlson, Founding Partner of Zenith Research, to break down what 800 likely Maryland voters are saying a...

Maryland Now is back! In this quick Season 2 teaser, hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin drop big news about the upcoming season. Returning mid-August, the team previews a packed slate of hard-hitting topics, deep-dive reporting, and candid roundtable discussions on the biggest policy and political shifts facing the state. From exclusive statewide polling ahead of the election to crucia...

In this special post-primary election episode, hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin sit down with political strategists Alex Hughes and Marvin James. Recorded midday on Wednesday, June 24, the team dissects the results of Maryland's June 2026 primary election, breaking down big-money congressional races, key state legislative upsets, and a historic demographic shift in local leadership....

In this season finale "Roundtable" edition of Maryland Now , hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin are joined by two highly regarded Annapolis lawyers and lobbyists: Tiffany Harvey of Cornerstone Government Affairs and Sean Malone of the Harris, Jones & Malone firm. Together, they break down the highs, lows, and unexpected tensions of the 2026 legislative session. The podcast explores...

In this "Roundtable" edition of Maryland Now , hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin dive into the quirky, surprising, and often controversial world of Maryland’s official state symbols. From the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to classroom lobbying efforts by elementary school students, the group explores how 26 different icons—ranging from the iconic blue crab to the prehistoric Astrodon john...

In this second "Roundtable" edition of Maryland Now , hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin are joined by two of the state’s most experienced political insiders: Don Mohler , former Baltimore County Executive, and Candace Dodson-Reed , Chief of Staff at the Maryland Economic Development Corporation. This episode focuses on the critical battles for County Executive and County Council in Ba...

If your child brought home a report card with a C average, you’d likely be underwhelmed. But a C average is what the American Society of Civil Engineers gives Maryland’s infrastructure, and they have some suggestions for how to improve. Infrastructure is the "bread and butter" of government—covering everything from the water in your pipes to the bridges on your commute—but as construction costs ri...

For decades, Marylanders have looked at maps of what could have been: a sprawling, interconnected rail network linking neighborhoods from Owings Mills to the Inner Harbor and beyond. While Washington, D.C. successfully colored in its transit lines, Baltimore was left with a "single metro line" and a light rail system described as "two systems flying in loose formation" that fail to feed each other...

The Chesapeake Bay is more than just a body of water; it supports a $600 million seafood industry in Maryland; it's a $3.2 billion tourism engine for the state, and it's at the very heart of Maryland’s self-image. But for the other five states in the 64,000-square-mile watershed, the Bay is often an abstract concept, a distant destination. This geographic and emotional disconnect complicates the d...

The filing deadline has passed, and the board is finally set for Maryland’s 2026 elections. With a flurry of last-minute entries and some surprising absences, the stakes for the state’s political future have never been clearer. From a wide-open race in the 5th Congressional District to generational challenges in some state legislative seats, there’s plenty to watch in this election cycle.   In thi...

Maryland is in the middle of a full‑blown housing crisis — and the consequences are showing up everywhere. For 12 straight years, more Marylanders have left the state than moved in, and the trend is accelerating. As Comptroller Brooke Lierman explains, it’s not just retirees heading south. Younger residents and middle‑income families are leaving too, taking billions in economic activity with them....

The Maryland General Assembly is back in session — and the only thing lawmakers must do each year is pass a balanced budget. And this year, an election year, there is no way that policy makers are going to raise taxes. So to fill an unexpected $1.5 billion gap between revenues and expenditures, fueled by unintended costs in healthcare and rising costs in education, Gov. Wes Moore is looking at spe...

Maryland Now opens its debut season with a deep examination of how a single piece of legislation from 1999 reshaped Maryland’s electricity market and helped set the stage for some of the energy challenges the state faces today. Hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin walk through the political forces, policy decisions, and long-term consequences that contribute to the high electric bills Ma...

Maryland Now is a new podcast from longtime Maryland journalists and public‑affairs veterans Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin — three people who’ve spent decades reporting on, working inside, and analyzing Maryland government and politics. In this trailer, the hosts introduce themselves, share their backgrounds, and explain why this podcast fills a gap in Maryland’s media landscape. With m...