On The Record

The math of the food chain is simple: if no native plants, then no native bugs ... nor birds, nor pollinators ... then no food. It may sound extreme but truth be told, it’s where we’re headed. Professor Doug Tallamy of the University of Delaware is adamant that it’s not too late to restore the ecosystem. And he says homeowners are poised to make a huge impact as stewards of the land. Check out the...

Here is a Stoop Story from Shawna Renée , about a memorable breakfast. You can hear more stories, as well as the Stoop podcast, here . 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 P...

Since the onset of the pandemic, more Americans are uncertain about where their next meal is coming from. The B’More Community Fridge aims to chip away at hunger with a refrigerator and pantry that’s open 24-hours a day. We speak with co-founders Clara Leverenz and Abbey Franklin about bringing the fridge movement to Baltimore, and working with the Greenmount West community to keep it...

Governor Hogan’s move to end enhanced federal unemployment benefits early is on hold until legal arguments are thrashed out in the next couple of weeks. What would the end of the special pandemic benefits mean for the thousands of gig workers in Maryland? Two freelancers--oboist Rick Basehore and writer Wendy Meyeroff-- describe bewildering applications and long gaps but say the benefits are...

Six years before the American Revolution, a 20-year-old mixed-race woman had had enough of servitude; she disguised herself in boys’ clothes, and escaped from her enslaver from the docks of Baltimore.  She’s one of the STARS of Bowie State historian Karen Cook Bell ’s narrative Running from Bondage . Bell says enslaved women were inspired to break free by the talk of liberty...

As Jessica Anya Blau’s latest novel starts, Mary Jane has just turned 14. She’s starting a summer job as a nanny of an endearing five-year-old, just a short walk from her own traditional home in Baltimore’s Roland Park. Mary Jane’s conservative parents think it’s great their daughter will be working for a doctor. They don’t yet know he’s a psychiatrist who...

Though fireworks in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor are cancelled for this year, there will still be a celebration of light! The new Domino Sugars Sign, restored to all its 70-foot-by-120-foot glory, will be turned on for the first time. We hear some reasons Baltimoreans love it so: “We’re getting married in two months, and our reception is at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, and we pi...

Opioid overdose deaths climbed last year and continue to edge up. So, what happens when a pandemic and an epidemic collide? We ask addiction medicine specialist Dr. Yngvild Olsen. Then, Edgar Wiggins takes stock of 29 years leading Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc. He describes how it works to divert some 9-1-1 calls to mental-health professionals and how showing up to listen can often calm things d...

Riding the school bus should be the social, relatively mindless part of a pupil’s day. But a recent study finds that’s not the case for Baltimore City middle- and high-school students, who rely on public transit--not yellow buses--to get safely to and from school. We hear from the report’s co-author Kwane Wyatt , Program Director of Analysis & Engagement at the Fund for Educa...

The price of insulin is steep, but people who need it risk their health if they skip a dose. The Open Insulin Foundation aims to break the hold pharmaceutical companies exert on the cost, working instead with local labs to develop cheaper versions of insulin. We speak with co-founder Anthony Di Franco and Dr. Lisa Scheifele of the Baltimore Underground Science Space , BUGSS. Scheifele describes ho...

Are children in America better off now than a decade ago? We ask researcher Nonso Umunna about the latest “Kids Count” report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It spotlights a range of factors like poverty, school enrollment, and health-insurance coverage. Where did child welfare stand in Maryland before the pandemic, and what resources do families need? Then--school social worker Ashl...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Katie Caldwell about finding the courage to come out. Check out the Stoop Storytelling Series - including upcoming 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 Gerr s...

In Dwayne Ratleff’s novel, Dancing to the Lyrics , a kid growing up in East Baltimore in the 1960s knows he’s different from the other children before he quite knows what it means to be gay. He’s processing that, as well as a lot of cruelty and depraved conduct by adults in his life, balanced with nurturing support from an assortment of characters. It’s a memoir cloaked in...

When Rev. Brian Linnane looks back on the 16 years he is wrapping up as president of Loyola University Maryland he thinks of the innovative approach he brought to merging first-year students into the liberal-arts college, the efforts to integrate Loyola more closely into the city, and the work for diversion and inclusion. About a third of incoming classes are now people of color, but Linnane said...

As many as one of five tenants in Maryland is behind in their rent. Advocate Carol Ott talks about why--including foul-ups in unemployment benefits for many who lost jobs in the pandemic. The United Way of Central Maryland, with landlords and some local governments, is identifying zip codes with highest risk of renters winding up homeless. Adam Skolnik of the Maryland Multi-Housing Association say...

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!” It’s a twisty plot, from the improbable accident that immobilizes an aging novelist in his luxury apartment in...

Business travel is dead. Consumer Privacy? no more. But we’ve learned to be more adaptive … and more willing to plan for uncertainty in the future.  These are a few of the takeaways Amy Webb , founder of the Future Today Institute, sees resulting from fifteen months of living with the Covid-19 pandemic.  Webb also describes some tech trends she anticipates for 2021 and beyon...

When the pandemic suspended theater as he knew it, Odyssey Works Artistic director Abraham Burickson decided to harness technology to create a new kind of togetherness -- not just a ‘sorry second’ to ‘real life.’‘ The Book of Separation,’ is a customized participatory virtual experience built for an audience of two. It’s about togetherness, but Burickson s...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Mike Lowry about gratitude for all those parents who love you, know matter how crazy life gets. 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...

CityLit Project supports writers as well as their ardent fans. Each year it also recognizes someone who works above and beyond to nurture the culture of literature. This year CityLit is bestowing its Chic Daumbach award on author and educator D. Watkins for his ongoing commitment to young people in Baltimore: “I know how I would have felt if a person took an interest in coming to my school a...

“School-to-prison pipeline” labels policies that put Black and brown kids who cause trouble at school at greater risk for criminal charges … and a path to incarceration.  Everyman Theatre’s current production, Pipeline , traces the pressures on one family. We talk to veteran actor and former policeman Jefferson A.  Russell , who plays the father of a son at risk...

It’s not hard to imagine Edgar Allan Poe as obsessive. Consider his passionate poetry, his tales of horror barely tapping reality --not to mention his personal life: his ardent marriage to his cousin and his baffling death on the streets of Baltimore.  But manic about SCIENCE?   In his new biography, The Reason for the Darkness of the Night: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of...

It seems so simple but can so easily elude us: noticing the quiet, the surprising, the graceful--the moments of delight --that abound each day. Can we become more aware of delight, with practice? Poet Ross Gay gave himself a year-long task: each day to fine-tune his ‘radar for delight,’ …  to observe the small caretaking gestures that connect us, and to handwrite a short es...

Seventy-three years ago tomorrow, a new law permitted women to serve in the U.S. military--not only during war, but also in times of peace--and in all the branches. We speak with two women veterans about their experience. Laverne Harmon served two decades in the U.S. Army. Now, as program manager for vocational rehabilitation services at the VA Maryland Health Care System , she connects veterans t...

Here is a Stoop Story from Rebecca Ward about the ups and downs of starting over. Check out more information about the Stoop Storytelling Series - including upcoming 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 Produc...