On The Record

A safe, effective vaccine against Covid-19 could resurrect jobs, send kids back to classrooms--change our lives. But how safe and effective? And how quickly can we have it? Dr. Robert Gallo, the AIDS-research pioneer now leading virus science at the University of Maryland----argues we could get much of the benefit by inoculating people with an old, very cheap drug--the oral polio vaccine developed...

Fifty-seven years ago--August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. transfixed those gathered near the reflecting pool on the national Mall ...for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. “I have a dream,” he said, and described it, including “one day right there in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers....

Nearly a week after Baltimore’s housing commissioner was fired, the public doesn’t know why. We ask Tisha Guthrie, a tenants’ rights advocate, why it’s important, and Councilman John Bullock, chair of the city council’s housing committee, what’s next. A wave of evictions is expected when courts resume hearing landlord claims next week. We ask Tisha Edwards, interim director of the Mayor’s Office o...

Just weeks after the Declaration of Independence had been signed, George Washington’s rag-tag Continental Army confronted an immense British military force. Washington needed to retreat from Brooklyn into Manhattan--but how to buy time to do it? Four hundred young fighters from Maryland engaged the redcoats to give cover to the escaping Americans. Author Chris Formant blends historic facts with in...

One hundred years ago, women got the vote in the U.S. Constitution. That didn’t mean all women actually got to vote. In her new book, historian Martha Jones describes how African-American women strategized, organized, preached and marched--sometimes alongside white suffragists and sometimes alone. They tackled racism at the same time they fought sexism. Jones calls her new book Vanguard, because,...

From the fear of getting sick to the sadness of canceled plans, children are experiencing a wide range of emotions as the pandemic persists. That stress takes a toll on their mental health. Psychologist Sharon Hoover co-directs the University of Maryland medical school’s National Center for School Mental Health. She says more resources are needed. We hear the voices of children coping with the pan...

Just as tens of millions of Americans are making plans to vote by mail--came sudden reports of delayed deliveries, vanished equipment, slashed overtime. Much of the country is up in arms about the U.S. Postal Service. The Washington Post reporter Erin Cox fills in details of its slow decline and needed reforms. She tells why the recent appointment of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and his sweepin...

It’s August … the dog days of summer. Thinking of getting away? Here’s an audio postcard from On the Record producer Melissa Gerr, about her experiences on a recent journey through the air. If you missed your Stoop story today -- or any day -- you can find all the tales right at your fingertips when you visit Stoopstorytelling.com, or the Stoop podcast. Also, there’s a virtual Stoop coming up next...

A virtual film festival next week will examine housing discrimination through the lens of film. Raemond Parrott, of Baltimore’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights, previews the motion pictures and discussions; and tells about the pandemic-related complaints his office is investigating. Then, filmmaker Emily Stubb describes “deserted,” a documentary that follows West Baltimore activist Anthony Franc...

As water bottles break down and fleece jackets shed fibers in the washing machine, small pieces of plastic enter the ecosystem. What threat does this pollutant pose to the environment? Bay Journal reporter Whitney Pipkin is the author of a recent report on microplastics. How is this debris impacting marine life? What steps can we take to reduce plastic pollution? Click here for more information ab...

Humans and cars have always had to share the road. But that territory is in demand as more people spread to the outdoors in order to physically distance during the pandemic. Neighborhood organizer Odette Ramos tells us about Slow Streets, the Baltimore City Department of Transportation's effort to calm traffic and make residential streets safer. And Del. Robbyn Lewis discusses building on the mome...

The right of women to vote was added to the U.S. constitution one hundred years ago. To understand the Nineteenth Amendment, look back fifty years, just after the Civil War, to the provision that opened the vote to Black men. Michael Ross is a professor of constitutional history: “As one newspaper said, there were loopholes through which a coach and four horses could be driven in the 15th amendmen...

During segregation, Baltimore’s Ashburton and Forest Park neighborhoods were home to Black and Jewish families. But by the sixties, Jewish residents had begun to move to the suburbs. This history--and its recounting in the book by Antero Pietilla “Not In My Neighborhood,” - is what brought together Rabbi Mitchell Wohlberg of Beth Tfiloh Congregation and Rev. Terris A. King of Liberty Grace Church...

Here’s a Stoop Story from social worker and violence-prevention specialist David Ross about a lesson he learned from his favorite teacher. Check out more stories from Stoop Storytelling Series 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 410-235-190...

Stay-at-home measures help ward off Covid-19, but they take a toll. Some people are experiencing side effects --like depression--after weeks of self-isolation. The Mental Health Association of Maryland launched ‘The Connections Project’ to pair vulnerable seniors with volunteers who provide conversation and care, virtually. Kim Burton, Director of the association’s Older Adult programs, explains h...

Efforts to slow transmission of the coronavirus have affected nearly every walk of life. Two chaplains tell us how they’ve creatively adapted their approaches to offer comfort and care to patients and staff during this time of social distancing. Rabbi Jeffrey Orkin is director of pastoral care at Levindale long-term care facility. And Rev. Denise White is staff chaplain at Johns Hopkins Bayview Me...

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, it is eroding the legal wellness of low-income families. Amy Petkovsek, Director of Advocacy, Training, and Pro Bono for Maryland Legal Aid, says the nonprofit is bracing for an influx of cases. How are attorneys handling requests to help people draft wills and fight eviction? Do they have the resources they need? Plus, two clients share their stories. Do you...

When crime surged in 2015 after the Freddie Gray protests, Baltimore police were more determined than ever to rack up more arrests and seize more illegal guns from the streets. A new book chronicles how that empowered cops on the ‘Gun Trace Task Force’--some of whom had been planting evidence, making illegal arrests and robbing drug dealers for years--to step up their own illicit activities. It to...

Twelve weeks before an important national election, Maryland has only about half the normal number of elections judges and David Garreis thinks many of them may still decide the coronavirus makes working the polls Nov. 3 too risky. Garreis leads the ‘Maryland Association of Elections Officials,’ which wants to replace precinct voting with fewer, bigger voting centers--maybe at high schools--where...

Here's a Stoop Story from Arthur Sutherland about what he learned from the funny pages. 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 Gerr s...

As coronavirus spread, families stayed home, and children missed their scheduled immunizations. Pediatrician Dr. James Campbell warns that skipping these shots may result in an epidemic during a pandemic. Read more about threat of under-vaccination here. Then, Stacie Stender, of Jhpiego, an international non-profit, describes how the pandemic disrupted global efforts to contain HIV, malaria, and t...

A small piece of cloth has sparked a big debate in the U.S.: some Americans believe mandates to wear a mask infringe on their personal freedoms. Turns out, this has happened before. Marian Moser Jones, Associate Professor in The University of Maryland School of Public Health, tells us about the ‘anti-mask league of 1918.’ Jones admits that today’s social distancing and mask-wearing mandates can fe...

At the end of this month, hundreds of thousands of Maryland renters may be called to court for failure to pay rent. State Senator Shelly Hettlemen represents Baltimore County. She leads a workgroup advocating for a dozen actions to address the looming crisis. Read their reccomendations here. We ask what she's hearing from residents. And Adam Skolnik, head of the Maryland Mutli-Family Association,...

During the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans are staying home in order to stay safe. But what if home is the opposite of safe … because you’re trapped inside with your abuser? Fushena Cruickshank from the The Maryland Health Care Coalition Against Domestic Violence, tells us how they’re training healthcare providers to help patients in these dangerous circumstances. And Lauren Shaivitz,...

Here's a Stoop Story from Terry Sapp about the healing power of heavy metal music. You can hear his story 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 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers...