On The Record

Running in the Republican primary for Attorney General, Michael Anthony Peroutka , a retired lawyer and former member of the Anne Arundel County Council, says his top priority would be to undo what he sees as the government’s overreach of the pandemic: "My top priority would be to redress what I call gross violations of the rights of the people to assemble, to care for their own medical health, to...

More than one hundred thousand Americans await an organ transplant … and most organ donations come from deceased donors.  Ieesha J ohnson , executive director of community outreach at the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, works to dispel myths and educate the public about what it means to be an organ donor. And Danette Ragin , an organ recipient and relative of deceased organ donors, talks abo...

Daniel and Mary Bell tried to use the courts to win freedom for their family, so history shows us more details about them than many other enslaved people in the 19th century. We know that Francis Scott Key, who wrote our national anthem, was one of the white people who lined up against freedom for enslaved people like the Bells. A new film tells the Bells’ story. We talk to director Kwakiutl Drehe...

Love him or hate him -- and people did both -- William Donald Schaefer, the unforgettable Mayor of Baltimore City, got stuff done. One of his persistent commands-- “Do It Now!”-- is the title of a new musical about his tenure as mayor. Yeah, you read that right. We get a preview from Timoth David Copney, director and choreographer, and from Jonathan Jensen, who wrote and composed the songs that ta...

 Here’s a Stoop Story from Eric Schaefer , about the power of belief. You can hear his 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 410-235-1157 Producer Sam...

The Attorney General is the chief legal officer of Maryland. Former prosecutor and retired district court Judge Katie Curran O’Malley is vying for that seat in the Democratic primary July 19. We ask about her plans to fight gun violence, protect the environment, maintain reproductive rights for women,  and what she learned from her father, J. Joseph Curran Jr., who for two decades held the job she...

A kind of immunotherapy--extracting a cancer patient’s own white blood cells and re-engineering them to destroy the cancer cells--is raising hope.  Dr. Aaron Rapoport , who heads cellular therapy at the University of Maryland’s Greenebaum Cancer Center, says in about half the three hundred patients he’s treated with this therapy, the cancer is gone. Kathy Ruehle, an oncology nurse for 36 years, ma...

Running in the Democratic primary for Attorney General, Congressman and former lieutenant governor Anthony Brown says his top priority would be cut crime, using the office’s organized-crime unit to go after drug rings, and forestalling repeat offenders by getting them job training, drug treatment and other services the first time they’re locked up. He said he’ll also focus on consumer rights and c...

As conservatives cheered the Supreme Court’s decree ending  federal abortion rights, … advocates of those rights seethed. What is the fallout in Maryland?   We hear from Erin Younkins . She’s a mother of seven and the director of Life, Justice and Peace for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.  Then Lynn McCann of the Baltimore Abortion Fund describes barriers that make accessing abortion difficult for w...

Here is a Stoop Story from Josh Kohn about keeping his promise to his mother. Need more Stoop? Check out the Stoop Storytelling website and learn about live events and the Stoop podcast. 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 Ge...

The exhibit, " Discovery and Revelation ," at the Smithsonian examines three centuries of Americans’ evolving views on the relationship between faith and science. Peter Manseau, who directs the museum’s Center for the Understanding of Religion in American History, talks about the artifacts displayed. One, a portrait of Henrietta Lacks--a Baltimore woman whose cancer cells were taken for research--...

Kimi Yoshino  had established an impressive career in journalism-- she was managing editor of the  Los Angeles Times --  when business magnate Stewart Bainum asked her to leave all that to become editor-in-chief of the online news operation he was starting:  The Baltimore Banner . Yoshino says, "This for me was a chance to start fresh and to build the kind of newsroom that I wanted to work in, the...

In Baltimore, a city besieged by gun violence, more than half of criminal firearms charges are dropped without a conviction, guilty plea or probation deal … and the public and police often don’t know why. That’s one of many things  Ivan Bates --one of two lawyers challenging incumbent State’s attorney Marilyn Mosby--says he’d change if elected, "We’ll work with the police department - together, co...

What do you want the end of your life to look like? Physician  Dan Morhaim  says planning for the inevitable ensures you receive the treatment you’d like to have. His latest book, written with his wife, Shelley Morhaim, offers a guide to the legal, medical, and personal choices surrounding death. It's titled, "Preparing for A Better End: Expert Lessons on Death and Dying for Y...

Divorce is hard for adults. Children are more fragile. The National Family Resiliency Center holds a special place to protect the mental and emotional well-being of kids, and works to keep whole families communicating and supportive through transitions. Executive Director Risa Garon  describes how parents, lawyers, therapists and judges work together to make that happen. Then Meg Sreenivas ,...

Many boys and young men are feeling stressed, even depressed--and detached from people around them.  Andrew Reiner  observes it in some of the classes he teaches at Towson University, and he spoke with scores of males of all ages as he researched his book,  Better Boys, Better Men. Reiner explains, “A lot of boys do not ask for help because they have been taught that message t...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Elliot Wagenheim about his best moment as a father. You can hear more stories at Stoopstorytelling.com . Lots of ways to celebrate Juneteenth this weekend! The fourth annual Skill Sharing Juneteenth event will take place tomorrow, with music, food trucks, the Swoozy clothing swap and more! It will be at the Current Space, 421 North Howard St. From 1 to 6 p.m. tomorr...

The job of the State’s Attorney in Baltimore is to fight crime. We ask Thiru Vignarajah , running in the Democratic primary against the same incumbent who soundly defeated him in 2018, about his plans to combat car jackings, dissolve open-air drug markets and quash violent crime. And why, over the course of four years, he’s run twice for this office and once for Mayor: “This city...

Roca , the violence intervention program that fixates on young men in Baltimore, is grounded on cognitive behavioral change. That’s why, explains Roca’s community partnership director JT Timpson, its model is to relentlessly pursue young men at risk and build relationships with them -- which takes years. Then Betsy Tolentino of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, tells why ca...

Today we Pass the Mic to LGBTQ advocate and educator Jabari Lyles . His guest -- Londyn Smith de Richelieu , Baltimore City’s new Director of LGBTQ Affairs-- talks about the need to change the culture and attitude toward trans folks from within City Hall. Then Lyles is joined by Legacy Forte , head of BMORE BLXCK , talking about resources they provide for Black trans youth and Toby , a trans...

In R. Eric Thomas’ new young adult novel, “Kings of B’more,” two teens embark on an epic adventure across the city. Harrison and Linus are both Black, both gay, and both worried about what the future holds. What should they do after high school? Will they stay best friends after Linus moves away? Thomas wrote characters who are affectionate, who see the beauty in each other...

The IN Series opera-theater company’s Othello challenges the drama’s racial undertones. Weaving in jazz and politically-charged artwork, it transports audiences beyond the typical Verdi opera. Artistic director Timothy Nelson describes the evolution of the show, and tenor Walker J. Jackson says he wants audiences … to see beyond Othello as a brute force with a monstrous mind. He...

Here's a Stoop Story from Lisa Snowden , editor in chief of the soon-to-relaunch Baltimore Beat . She talked about the power of journalism and telling authentic stories. You can hear hers and other stories 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@wyp...

The job of Maryland comptroller, the chief financial officer, is open for the first time in decades. Two Democrats and a Republican are running. The comptroller collects taxes and oversees how money is spent. Democrat Brooke Lierman , who now represents south Baltimore in the House of Delegates, argues the comptroller should also assess how the state is addressing climate change … and help...

When the Shriver Hall Concert Series, Carnegie Hall and others asked Morgan State Professor James Lee III to compose a new work, he thought of the 19th-century African-American writer Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who struggled for racial and gender equity; he chose her poem, A Double Standard.  On Juneteenth, soprano Karen Slack will sing Lee’s new music in its Baltimore premiere . She...