On The Record

“I Am A Child Of God Inc.” helps middle and high school students in and around Baltimore find confidence and community, through weekly dinners, college tours, a scholarship program, and summer youth retreats. The group's founder and executive director Dr. Erin Lonon has received a Weaver Award grant to further her nonprofit's work. This conversation originally aired February 2025.

Tia McDonald, the driving force behind Mondawmin Urban Green Space, or MUGS, has received a Weaver Award grant to continue her work. We talk with her about educating neighbors about gardening, healthful eating, and providing fresh food for those who need it in Baltimore, through Aunt Beck's Place and Sunni's Harvest. This conversation originally aired February 2025.

R. Eric Thomas writes wry, perceptive essays about things that seem more amusing in his life than they do in yours. He grew up in West Baltimore -- but moving back after more than a decade away triggered stress and latent depression -- as well as some very funny episodes. We speak about his new book, "Congratulations, the Best is Over!" Asking Eric, a new syndicated advice column, is now in papers...

Mary Rose Madden tells a stoop story about how her mother passed on a love of cooking… and guidance on how to be a mom. You can hear more stories and find information about live events and the Stoop podcast at StoopStorytelling.com.

Did you know there's a natural savanna, located just a 20 minute drive northwest of Baltimore? Also called a barrens, the rare ecosystem at Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area is home to more than 30 rare plant and animal species - birds, bugs, reptiles, and more! We get a tour from Edwin Guevara, Outreach and Education Assistant for the Wildlife and Heritage Service at the Maryland DNR. He...

Customers are paying a lot for electricity these days. Some are thinking how great it would be to take advantage of solar energy floating free from the sky. But would solar even work for their home? And what would it cost to install -- how long before they’d see any savings? For 170 families in the city of Baltimore, there’s good news in a program called “Baltimore Shines,” organized by the non-pr...

In the first four months of this year, state legislatures across the country have taken up 575 bills targeting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. That’s according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which tracks that activity. On a federal level, the Trump administration is coming after the community on many fronts: in the military, education, healthcare… and even in the arts, with places as h...

Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013; 22 other states and the District of Columbia have also banned the practice. But capital punishment remains legal in many parts of this county. The most common method of execution is lethal injection. But there are a lot of misconceptions about it... like how it’s implemented, and how humane it is (or isn’t). Corinna Barrett Lain is one of the nation’s...

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month. For the seventh year, The Asia North Exhibition and Arts festival will fill the Station North Arts district with music, food, dance, and art to engage all of your senses! Everyone is invited, and we hear from artist Phaan Howng and co-curator Nerissa Paglinauan to get a preview!

Here's a Stoop Story from Chief Donna Wolf Mother Abbott about finding her way, and stepping into leadership for her Native American community in Dorchester County, Maryland. Monday, May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP). Two women from Baltimore’s Lumbee community are among those remembered: Tiffany Jones was abducted and murdered in 2018. And Y...

If you loved one of the 1,549 people who died in Maryland of an overdose in the past twelve months -- if you’re a brother, a parent, a daughter, a friend -- it may be small comfort that that number is 30 percent lower than the year before … and has been trending downward since 2021. It’s still too high. Emily Keller, Maryland’s ‘Special Secretary of Overdose Response, is charged with leading Maryl...

Ten years ago, when police chased Freddie Gray on the streets of Sandtown and arrested him, more people from his neighborhood were in state custody than from any other census tract in Maryland. That, according to data analyzed by the Justice Policy Institute and the Prison Policy Initiative. Their latest count shows things have changed only slightly: The Justice Policy Institute’s most recent data...

We have come a long way since dial up internet access. Today, almost anything can instantaneously be done online — like checking in for a flight, transferring funds, communicating with family, applying for a job. We depend on that digital connectivity. It’s become a lifeblood. But what happens when dependable access to the internet isn’t a given? Kenya Asli, director of the Mayor’s Office of Broad...

When schools and businesses started closing their doors at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Baltimore communities were clamoring for information they could trust. That prompted local health leaders to launch a series of group phone calls with the community. Five years later, those calls have transitioned into a weekly podcast: “The Community Calls with Dr. G and Kimberly,' hosted by Dr. G. and...

Here's a Stoop Story from Jason Newton about seeing Baltimore through new eyes, the day after a fiery, violent night in Sandtown-Winchester in April, 2015. Freddie Gray died in police custody, April 19, 2015. His death ignited a range from peaceful protests to clashes with police in Baltimore. May his memory, and what it came to stand for, live as inspiration for solidarity and caring community.

The violence and uprising after Freddie Gray died in police custody ten years ago shook Baltimore to its core. We ask executive director Todd Marcus and Rikiesha Metzger, interim director of the Jubilee Arts program at Intersection of Change, a community center in Gray’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, what’s changed, and what hasn’t. On April 30 from 7-9pm Intersection of Change will host Remem...

The events surrounding the death of West Baltimore resident Freddie Gray 10 years ago were a focus of national and international news. Images of a city united in protest, clashes with police, and grieving family members and friends were seen around the world. One of the most quintessential images of that time was captured by local photographer Devin Allen. It depicts a Black man running away from...

Ten years ago this week, protests filled the streets in Baltimore. They were the continuation of protests that had ignited even before the April 19th death of Sandtown-Winchester resident Freddie Gray, from injuries inflicted in police custody. Baltimore was in the national focus. Images of peaceful marches, fiery violence, armed national guardsmen, and clashes with police filled news programs acr...

Author Rosalia Scalia is out with another collection of short stories. It’s called “Under the Radar” and includes tales that catch people at their most vulnerable. Sometimes, because of death, and loss. Sometimes, it’s just because people are complicated. Complicated characters anchor every story in this book. They’re characters who will not leave your head — including a pig named King Charles who...

Ten years ago this week, Baltimore streets were filled with peaceful protests, clashes with police and fiery violence following the death, in police custody, of Sandtown-Winchester resident Freddie Gray. We hear from Dr. s. Rasheem, the director of the documentary “Baltimore Still Rising," which features accounts of the city’s response to the injustice and unrest that followed. It's the first epis...

Vaunita Goodman was diagnosed with end stage renal failure in 2016. Twelve hours a day on home dialysis made her feel isolated and trapped. Life was all about medical care, not living. Through sailing she found belonging and adventure again. In 2021, she received a kidney transplant. Now, with Dialysis to the Docks she helps other kidney patients find joy and freedom on the water.

Luke Spicknall tells us a stoop story of a reluctant sailor who learned a life lesson on a boat. The next live stoop show is a couple weeks away, on May 8th; it’s called “Look for the Helpers: Stories about first responders, caregivers, and unexpected heroes.” More information about live events and the Stoop podcast is at Stoopstorytelling.com.

Climate change is so pervasive we often don’t connect the dots. For a year, climate activist Mike Tidwell closely observed his own neighborhood in Takoma Park -- so many trees dying, floodwater racing down the street. We ask about his new book, "The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue." Tidwell will speak at Red Emma's on Wed. April 23, and at Ivy Bookshop on Thursday May 1.

Tens of thousands of middle- and high-schoolers in Maryland are getting ideas about what their future could be — ideas that might not have occurred to them a few years ago. The same part of the state’s K-12 education reform effort--the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future -- that requires students be “college or career -ready” by tenth grade, calls for each student to get individualized career counseli...

Here's a Stoop Story from Adam Stone about discovering how to grow together as a family. You can hear more stories and find information about live events and the Stoop podcast at StoopStorytelling.com .