On The Record

There can be a lot of stress in giving long-term care to someone you love. For many caregivers, the complications of the pandemic are escalating that stress. Compromised immune systems, exhaustion and short tempers can result. Mary Chaput, Program Director of Caregiver Support in Anne Arundel County., talks about ways to access respite care and how to identify when it’s needed. She says it starts...

Less than five weeks before the election deadline--some state and local politics this morning! WYPR state government and politics reporter Rachel Baye updates us on what proposed changes in police powers and prerogatives state senators started examining in hearings last week. Then, Ian Round, who covers politics and accountability for Baltimore Brew, discusses the race for mayor of Baltimore, prop...

A century from now, what will people remember about life during COVID-19? Allison Tolman of the Maryland Historical Society talks about the new project, ‘Collecting In Quarantine.’ She says it’s important to collect stories ‘in the moment’ to capture the nuances of daily life. Plus, UMBC professor Rebecca Adelman tells why she launched the website ‘Coronavirus Lost and Found: A Pandemic Archive' -...

With many bus and train riders staying home during the pandemic, transit agencies across the country are being hit with huge losses in revenue and facing tough decisions. Councilman Ryan Dorsey, chair of the city council’s transportation committee, joins us to discuss the effects of the cuts in service put forth by the Maryland Transit Administration. Brian O’Malley, head of the Central Maryland T...

Trumpeter Brandon Woody is a young artist with big dreams, and the work ethic to achieve them. We hear about his band, UPENDO, as well as how performing has changed during the pandemic. 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 Ger...

The Maryland Episcopal diocese has made a powerful statement: delegates to the diocesean convention this month voted decisively to commit one million dollars in reparations -- funds that will go toward strengthening and expanding programs in African American communities in Baltimore and beyond. The Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, Bishop of the Maryland Episcopal diocese, talks with us about forgive...

Restoring a meadow habitat, protecting vernal pools, searching for the Eastern Hellbender--the Susquehannock Wildlife Society spans 20 acres in Harford County. Executive director Scott McDaniel gives us an update on the construction of the Wildlife Center. He tells why education about the natural world is an essential part of conservation, and introduces us to the Eastern Copperhead snake. Is it m...

The word ‘Zoom’ takes on a whole new meaning in 2020. It’s no longer just a reference to speed … though it has accelerated the ease with which people connect, whether across town or around the globe. Cellist Amit Peled felt that boosted connection in his newly launched online cello academy--his response to being cut off from students by the pandemic’s lockdowns. Plus, we meet his student Elham Al...

Here's a Stoop Story from Beth Frederick about practicing tolerance and experiencing grace. You can hear her story and many others at Stoopstorytelling.com, as well as 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 entire world awaits a Covid-19 vaccine. The Trump administration is pushing “Operation Warp Speed” in an effort to find one fast. Dr. Wilbur Chen, of the University of Maryland Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, is conducting trials and explains the process. Plus, we hear why it’s imperative that vulnerable communities be involved in testing a vaccine. George Escobar of CASA’s D...

School is back in session! As distance learning continues across Maryland, Baltimore City Schools CEO Dr. Sonja Santelises joins us for an update. What’s the plan for reopening? How are city schools bridging the digital divide? If you have technology or academic questions, you can reach City School’s Online Learning Support Line at 443-984-2001, from 10a-3p for assistance. Do you have a question o...

You can learn about the history of slavery in Maryland from books, or you can experience by visiting--virtually or in person--the places where enslaved people lived, worshipped, were sold, and sought freedom. Dennis Doster oversees the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s ‘Black History Program.’ To fully understand the Underground Railroad, he says, look further back, to the W...

The story of voting rights in the United States charts cycles of restriction and expansion. In her book, “Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America,” U-B Law associate professor Gilda Daniels traces a path from Reconstruction to Jim Crow to the Voting Rights Act to today, calling attention to barriers that block minority and marginalized groups from the ballot box. Daniels says these b...

When was the last time you sat shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers in the dark, waiting for a theater curtain to rise? Or, perhaps the bigger question … When might be the next time? Acme Corporation co-artistic director Lola Pierson was paralyzed by that thought … so she created “The Institute for Counterfeit Memory,” a play contained in a box -- a way for patrons to experience live theater in the...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Jay Herzog about the importance of impeccable timing and the difference five seconds can make. You can hear his stories and many others at Stoopstorytelling.com or on 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 Se...

Suicide has been on the increase in the U.S. for two decades, long before the coronavirus showed up, although isolation and stress these days may be raising the risk. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 34. Dr. Carmen Lopez-Arvizu is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Kennedy Krieger Institute and describes warning signs that parents can watch for in chil...

Internet access allows us to work and learn at home. For some, it’s a luxury out of their reach. To dent that digital divide, Adam Bouhmad founded Project Waves, a nonprofit that provides free Internet access to families across Baltimore. UMBC assistant professor Foad Hamidi describes how lack of internet makes disparities even worse for low-income families. And Jay Bennet tells how getting connec...

Thousands of Marylanders, behind on their rent, are at risk of eviction. The national moratorium on evictions the Trump administration just put in place could help. Carol Ott, who heads tenant advocacy for the Fair Housing Action Center of Maryland, explains how to apply, and urges tenants to hang on to proof they filed with their landlords. Ott and Charisse Lue, a housing lawyer with the Public J...

Even as she was growing up in a posh Baltimore family a century ago, Virginia Hall defied convention. Still, no one--especially after a hunting accident forced amputation of her lower left leg-- could imagine she’d become one of the most intrepid spies of World War II. Rejected as a junior diplomat by the U.S., Hall got a field job in a fledgling British spy operation. It sent her to France to sup...

As teachers across Maryland welcome students to the new school year, we talk about the continued challenges of distance learning. Cristina Duncan Evans taught for more than a decade in Baltimore City and now serves as Teacher Chapter Chair for the Baltimore Teachers Union. She tells what she’s hearing from educators, what resources they need, and what they make of the long sessions of live learnin...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Maggie Master about the ups and downs of parenting and distance learning. You can join the Stoop for a free virtual show later this month--on Tuesday, September 22nd. The theme is, “Of Substance: Real, personal stories about our complicated and contradictory relationships with drugs and alcohol”. Check out the Stoop Storytelling Series podcast too. Do you have a question...

Data shows that Black and Brown communities are in the crosshairs of the Coronavirus pandemic. But history baked in racism has taught those communities not to trust doctors. Dr. Stephen Thomas, director of the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity, has created a network of barbers and stylists who disseminate accurate COVID-19 information in a trusted atmosphere. Plus, we hear from Mike...

As Coppin State University starts its fall semester this week, fewer than a fifth of its students are back on campus in West Baltimore, but that is still hundreds more than at most other colleges in the region. President Anthony Jenkins--99 days into the job--contends the campus amenities and support are critical to some incoming students, thus making the decision to welcome students on campus. Pl...

Why is it so hard to get a comprehensive count and description of the health care workers who have died from Covid-19? Are agencies … not keeping track, or hiding what they find? ProPublica recently told of an anesthesiologist who was disturbed by that question … and made tracing the ‘lives lost’ her mission. Journalist Nina Martin’s article is: ‘Nobody Accurately Tracks Health Care Workers Lost t...

Scientists always saw the workings of the human mind as separate from the body. Whatever might keep neurons in the brain from sending electrical messages across synapses, experts thought, it had nothing to do with rampant inflammation in the body. But then, science journalist Donna Jackson Nakazawa reports, new research found that microglia, tiny cells viewed as the brain’s janitors, sometimes go...