On The Record

The Central Maryland Transportation Alliance released its transit report card for the region. Spoiler alert -- it’s a D+. We ask executive director Brian O’Malley how they measure success and how might things improve. Plus, we hear from Baltimore transit riders about their experiences. Links: Central Maryland Transportation Alliance , CMTA Report Card , Get Maryland Moving Do you have a question o...

Baltimore’s massive water and sewage system is its most valuable asset, and delivers water and wastewater services to more than 1.5 million people in the city, Baltimore county and neighboring counties. The system is owned and operated by the city, but the future governance is unclear. The Baltimore Regional Water Governance Task Force has spent months considering potential changes , with disagree...

If you imagine Baltimore city as a human body, its pipes and water mains could be compared to arteries, its trash and recycling services to white blood cells and its sewage lines as the lower intestines. All of this infrastructure, critical for daily life in Baltimore, are overseen by one department: The Department of Public Works. Interim director Richard Luna , named to the position last June, i...

From rowhomes in Baltimore to tobacco barns in Southern Maryland, the survival of historic buildings depends on training the next generation of masons, carpenters, and roofers. We speak with preservationists and business owners, and hear about a national initiative to promote jobs in the historic trades. Original airdate: 12/7/23 Guests: - Nicholas Redding , president and CEO of Preservation Maryl...

Every third Monday in January, we mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And every year, the generation of the Civil Rights Movement, its leaders and the everyday people who powered it, inch further and further into history. The archives maintained by The AFRO American News are seeking to build a link to that history, by preserving the record of its past editions spanning all the way back to the paper's...

The year Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, 1968, was a big year for a cause Rev. King championed: the labor movement. King was in Memphis, Tennessee, to campaign with unionizing sanitation workers. In April, he would be shot and killed. His death reverberated across the county. But the success of the sanitation workers in Memphis would have direct consequences for Baltimore and Maryland, where...

Christy Villalobos shares a Stoop Story about love, loss, and letting go. Listen to the Stoop podcast . The next Stoop event is two weeks from tomorrow - January 27th - at Morgan State University, in partnership with the Baltimore City House Delegation. The theme is “Baltimoored: Stories about transportation barriers to getting around town.” Do you have a question or comment about a show or a stor...

In " I Will Eat You Alive ," audiences are invited to a dinner party. With each "course," a trio of actors confront diet culture, fatphobia, and society’s expectations. We speak with Baltimore playwright Katie Hileman about reclaiming the word "fat."   “ I Will Eat You Alive " runs from January 25th through February 10th at The Voxel theater in Baltimore. Related events (to be held in the lobby of...

Black teachers in Maryland leave the profession at higher rates than their white teacher counterparts. Why? We talk with Baltimore Banner education reporter Kristen Griffith about what she learned. Plus, Wallace Lane , Michelle Early and Danielle Ferrentino talk about their very different experiences in the Maryland education system. Baltimore Banner article, " Black teachers are leaving. How can...

A recent study by the Maryland Center on Economic Policy argues more of Maryland’s welfare funds should go to cash assistance.  We speak with author and MDCEP State Policy Fellow Jasmin Aramburu . Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers mharvie@wypr.org 410-235-1903 Senior Producer,...

For more than a year and a half, Baltimore City has been running an experiment - $1000 a month to low-income young parents. How are families using the money? How have participants created a sense of community? Tonaeya Moore is the director of policy for the CASH Campaign of Maryland . Tazhane Jordan is a participant in Baltimore City’s guaranteed income pilot program. Learn more about the Baltimor...

Lawmakers are gearing up for the new legislative session in Annapolis. On their minds: how to handle a budget shortfall of three-quarters of a billion dollars, and what spending cuts could mean for transportation and climate plans. We speak with Pamela Wood , who covers government and politics for The Baltimore Banner , and Josh Kurtz , founding editor of Maryland Matters .   Read more: Maryland’s...

During the pandemic, according to Gallup polling , more Americans reported having depression or receiving treatment for depression. In fact, in 2020 that number was higher than any other point since Gallup started collecting such data in 2015. Many Americans are struggling with depression and other mental illness. We talk to two efforts in Maryland to seeking to meet the rising need for mental hea...

Baltimore is full of immigrant stories. Susan Muaddi Darraj adds to the tapestry with her debut novel: Behind You is the Sea . It draws on her Palestinian roots and her family’s immigration experience, tracing the intertwined daily lives of three families.  She will be in conversation with CityLit Project executive director Carla DuPree at Bird in Hand books on Tues. Jan. 16. More details here . D...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Sujata Massey about embracing a connected sense of the world. You can hear her story and others at Stoopstorytelling.com Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers mharvie@wypr.org 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers mgerr@wypr.org 410-235-1...

Ahead of the third anniversary of the Capitol Riot, we look at the threat Christian nationalism poses to American democracy. Robert P. Jones of the Public Religion Research Institute shares survey data on who holds Christian nationalist beliefs. Read the full report . View the results .  Then, the new documentary, “Spiritual Warriors: Decoding Christian Nationalism at the Capitol Riot,” explores t...

We talk with Nu Momish founder Gilly Shaw . Her business advocates for, supports and provides resources for new mothers -- whether that means a kind listening ear, or help tackling that mountain of laundry! She recently received a Black Futures Micro Grant from Cllctivly to help grow her business. Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Se...

We talk with Dawnita Brown , the founder of Binti Circle . The non profit creates community and provides support for Black daughters who are caregivers for their parents. She recently received a Black Futures Micro Grant from Cllctivly to help grow her business. Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen H...

Drummers, singers, guitar and accordion players - the folk music of Bulgaria is designed to spur dancers and entertain crowds with its striking blend of eastern and western sounds. How are Bulgarians in Maryland keeping this tradition alive and training the next generation of performers? We speak with father-daughter duo Kalin Kirilov and  Yana Kirilov, who are pursuing a folklife apprenticeship t...

The Baltimore School for the Arts and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra are partnering to offer hands-on learning experiences for students. What will this partnership look like? We speak with Jonathon Heyward, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Roz Cauthen , executive director of the Baltimore School for the Arts, a public performing-arts high school. Do you have a question or...

Growing up, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore adored her grandmother Gladys Goldstein; not for her acclaim as an abstract artist, but because she nurtured young Sycamore’s creativity. But that changed when Sycamore came out as gender queer. In her latest work, " Touching the Art ," Sycamore writes a mixture of biography, criticism, and social history in her sprawling memoir.  This episode originally air...

Here's a double scoop of Stoop Stories for the holidays! Christmas fanatic Sarah Achenbach  describes her ‘not so delicate’ negotiations with in-laws during the holidays … And Kelly Rudis talks about the awe of birth, and the power of transformation.  Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/h...

A new report shines lights on air pollution inside Maryland's residential and commercial buildings. The report is titled, Cutting Through The Smog: How Air Quality Standards Help Solve The Hidden Health Toll Of Air Pollution From Maryland’s Homes And Businesses . We speak with Ruth Ann Norton of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative and Hopkins pulmonologist Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos . The pair w...

At its peak in the late 1800s, the Chesapeake Bay produced more oysters than almost anywhere else in the world. During the twentieth century, however, oyster populations in the bay plummeted to a tiny fraction of their former levels. And 5 years ago—in 2018— a Maryland Department of Natural Resources assessment of the state’s waters found the oyster population had shrunk in half in less than twent...

As you walk to work or drive to the grocery store, you crisscross a network of hidden streams and rivers beneath Baltimore’s concrete surface. A public art installation and walking tour created by a local artist and designer seeks to pull back the pavement on Baltimore’s underground waterways. Ghost Rivers is a series of installations, wayfinding markers, and writings that took several years of re...