On The Record

A new exhibit highlights Black women pushing for change across Baltimore. Artist Whitney Frazier gives us an inside look at the project, titled, " The Guardians: Reshaping History ."And we speak with one of the "Guardians," Gwen Brown. For decades she has advocated for recreation centers, after-school programs, and jobs for young people. Brown says she is motivated by the persistence of others. Se...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Out of the Blocks producer and artist Wendel Patrick about meeting his musical inspiration. Find out more about the Stoop Storytelling Series - check out upcoming live events and listen to 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 mha...

As the climate warms, will the places where Harriet Tubman and her family lived and worshiped survive rising sea levels? A report by the nonprofit Climate Central maps the risk of flooding along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway in Dorchester County.  We speak with one of the report’s authors, Kelly Van Baalen , and local guide Alex Green. Then, Julie Schablitsky , chief arc...

Farmers are experts in working the land. OK--Then why is there an initiative like the Million Acre Challenge? Farmer and program director Amanda Cather, of Plow and Stars Farm, says maintaining the health of soil isn’t enough: “ What we’re really talking about is regenerative farming. So farming that brings things back. Farming that builds soil health instead of just sustaining t...

Laura Lippman has published two dozen novels, most set in Baltimore, most mysteries. But her newest is the first she calls a book of horror. "I think that this is a work of horror because I think what goes on in writers minds is pretty horrible! I think it’s scary!”   Dream Girl is a twisty plot, from the improbable accident that immobilizes an aging novelist in his luxury apartme...

The kid who would become a noted foreign-policy hawk, one of President Trump’s national security advisors, grew up John Bolton in southwest Baltimore, son of a firefighter and a housewife. Bolton’s early and continuing interest in conservative politics shows in how he explains his decision not to testify in the first impeachment of Mr. Trump, just months after Bolton left his employ:"T...

The Mount Vernon Virtuosi ensemble comprises recent graduate musicians who have a passion for performing. They share their talents at no charge to the public -- not because classical music is not worth paying for … but because disseminating it may hold the power to transform people into better human beings. We hear why ... from its founder and artistic director, Amit Peled : “Music is...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Dr. Maneesha Ahluwalia about transforming her own loss and heartache into compassion and a second chance for someone else. Hey--that craving you're feeling?  Maybe it’s not for Hallowe’en sweets. Maybe you’re itching for some LIVE Stoop Stories! You can satisfy that urge next Wednesday, Nov. 3rd, at Creative Alliance! The open-mic show starts...

Today we begin a new series called ‘Pass the Mic.” We invite a host to choose guests and direct the conversation. Musician and activist Lea   Gilmore talks with writer and educator D. Watkins about the premise of his book, ‘We Speak for Ourselves ’: “I’m taking aim at this idea of people who are brave enough to jump in front of a crowd and say that they&rsq...

When The Baltimore Banner launches next year, its plan is to cover news of the Baltimore region intensely. Stewart Bainum Jr., the millionaire force behind it, just hired a top editor from The Los Angeles Times to lead the reporting -- and says he expects her to take risks, "If we’re not willing to experiment and be willing to fail different experiments, this won't succeed because there's no...

In her new collection of short stories, Baltimore writer Rosalia Scalia connects us to people we might never get to know by ourselves. Maybe they’re a lot older or younger than we -- or from a different ethnic group, and without Scalia at our side we wouldn’t realize that their families struggle like ours. Or maybe they’re just nasty, like the crotchety guy in the title story, '...

Since he was a kid, Conor McDowell had wanted to defend his country. He was proud to be a Marine, but the risks started to worry him. In 2019, his father Michael McDowell and mother Susan Flanigan got the awful news their only son had been killed: the light armored vehicle he commanded rolled over, crushing him. The investigation the McDowells pushed for counted hundreds of similar accidents in th...

Here is a Stoop Story from Matt Hayat about discovering the unexpected language of martial arts. Listen to more of the Stoop Storytelling Series and check out upcoming live events . On November 3rd, the Stoop will present, " Night Life: Stories about wild times, unexpected encounters, and after-dark escapades. " Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On th...

Unreliable transportation, work obligations that don’t allow for personal time during typical business hours, fickle internet connections. These factors can prevent people from taking care of healthcare concerns or legal questions. The Job Opportunities Task Force seeks to remove those barriers. Tomorrow, the nonprofit is hosting an all-night resource clinic in Baltimore, bringing volunteer...

It’s documented that using social media -- the scrolling, the likes, the shares -- is addictive and seductive. If that’s its effect on adults, what about young kids? Dr. Drew Pate , chief of psychiatry at LifeBridge Health, talks about the different ways social media influences the minds and moods of children. Then Danny LaBrecque , creator of ‘Danny Joes Treehouse’ and &ls...

Author Jen Michalski centered her third novel, You’ll Be Fine,  on a magazine writer in her 30’s who’s still carrying baggage from a couple foiled love affairs, as she tries to find common ground with her feckless younger brother and deals with A LOT of unresolved conflicts with her bohemian mother. And then her mother dies.  Still, Michalski says, she and her editor fe...

What does the picture of infant and toddler health look like in Maryland? We speak with Laura Weeldreyer of the Maryland Family Network about a new report that traces child well-being and how many low-income families make use of programs like food stamps and home health visits. Check out the report: Building Better Beginnings For Maryland's Children: Maryland's Prenatal-to-Three Equity Report .Plu...

Experiencing delusions, Brian Bechtold shot and killed his abusive parents in 1992. The court ruled him “not criminally responsible,” due to mental illness, and sent him for treatment to Maryland’s maximum-security psychiatric hospital. He claims he’s restored to mental health. His psychiatrists point to his attempted escapes and original diagnosis to say he’s NOT saf...

Ted Venetoulis, the son of Greek immigrants, was a city kid who made good as a reform politician in the suburbs. But his four years in elective office, as Baltimore County Executive in the ‘70s, were  just part of decades in public service, policy and business. Writer Michael Olesker , a friend for fifty years, marveled at Venetoulis’s unrelenting optimism. Johnny Olszewski , the...

Here's a Stoop Story from Dave Ettlin about the satisfaction of getting his day in court. You can attend a LIVE stoop show just days away on MONDAY, Oct. 18 at 7pm at Center Stage. The theme is: Didn’t See That Coming: Stories about shocks, surprises, and real-life plot twists. More information here . Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Rec...

Evictions are picking up, with no moratorium to stop them. Tisha Edwards, of the Baltimore Mayor’s Office of Children and Family Success , says 5,000 households have gotten help with rent, and funds are now available for relocation and security deposits . Find rental assistance information here .Find eviction-prevention resources across Maryland here . Nichole Battle, head of GEDCO , tells u...

Bethlehem Steel in Sparrows Point meant much more than a job for its employees. It forged a part of Maryland’s history. The Baltimore Museum of Industry’s exhibit “Fire and Shadow” uses voices, images and artifacts to chronicle the story. Curator Deborah Weiner  gives a preview. Plus we hear what it was like to grow up in the shadow of the mill, and how working there w...

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For more than one hundred years, thousands of Native American children were taken from their homes and sent to residential Indian schools in the United States and Canada, to forcibly assimilate them into white culture and Christianity. Indigenous advocate Jennifer Night Bird Miller describes cruelties they endured and what she hopes for as the U.S. moves toward understanding this painful past. &ld...

Here is a Stoop Story from Creative Alliance performance director Josh Kohn  about the importance of role models, even when they’re invented! You can hear his story and many others at stoopstorytelling.com, as well as the Stoop podcast.  There’s a lot going on this weekend. The Baltimore Running Festival is having its 20th outing tomorrow morning, coursing through Federal Hil...