On The Record

Who needs camp when you can design a mosaic, carve a statue from soap or compose a song … all from home! The ‘Baltimore Summer Arts Passport’ offers alternatives to ‘a cancelled camp summer’ for thousands of city youth. We talk with Julia di Busolo, executive director of Arts Every Day, who spearheaded the project, and with Dana Carr, executive director of Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center. She bel...

If white Christians take a closer look--at their church’s history, at its pious images, at the sermons they hear--they may begin to see a deeply racist theology embedded in the DNA of their faith. Robert P. Jones’ new book, “White Too Long” calls for a reckoning. Jones is the founder and CEO of the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute. Do you have a question or comment about a show or a...

Every day, scores of people in mental or emotional distress call for help. If they dial 9-1-1, what happens? As many argue for curtailing the role of police, what are other options in Baltimore for such emergency calls? Adrienne Breidenstine of Behavioral Health System Baltimore describes where gaps in the system let people down, and how they might be filled. And we ask Edgar Wiggins, founder of B...

Throughout Maryland’s history, the Bay’s bounty -- and its access to transatlantic trade -- proved irresistible to pirates. In her book “Pirates of the Chesapeake Bay,” Jamie Goodall explores the role of these legendary rebels and describes the fine line between piracy and privateering. Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Superv...

Four hundred years ago, after Galileo heard rumors that lenses in a tube could bring the planets and the surface of the moon into focus, he made detailed observations with a telescope and laid the groundwork for the scientific method. He also brought on himself the wrath of the greatest power in Europe, the Catholic Church, which called his analysis heretical. In a new biography, Galileo and the S...

From gun control to climate change to racial justice, young people are taking action to change the world - organizing marches and rallies, social media campaigns, lobbying lawmakers. What can young people learn from leaders from the past? How can storytelling play a role? Ahead of the Banneker-Douglass Museum's virtual conference for young people, we speak to David Fakunle, chair of the Maryland L...

Here is a Stoop Story from activist Destiny Watford about the power of storytelling to change minds. 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 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his sbdaw...

Like most of Laura Lippman’s novels, her new book is set mostly in Baltimore … and centers on a smart woman with complicated motives. But this protagonist is not fictional--this is Lippman herself, publishing her first non-fiction since her days as a newspaper reporter. It’s a collection of essays titled My Life as a Villainess. We learn why Lippman considers herself a bad friend, … why she used t...

The Black Lives Matter movement has emboldened Black communities to demand justice and equity in nearly every realm of American life. nearly every realm of American life. The Baltimore Rock Opera Society has taken that message to the online stage with its portrayal of the evolution of rock and roll ... told using a more accurate, more inclusive arc. We talk with Petula Caesar, producer of ‘Rock Op...

When Spiro Agnew, faced with prosecution for bribes dating back to his days as Baltimore County Executive, resigned the vice presidency in 1973 -- it seemed the glaring end of his political influence. But the book, "Republican Populist: Spiro Agnew and the Origins of Donald Trump’s America," contends Agnew did create a political legacy, and we see it today in Donald Trump’s America. Authors Zach M...

The COVID-19 pandemic may not be a hurricane, a terrorist attack or a war, but it is a disaster. As a disaster psychologist Dr. George Everly has spent four decades responding to the mental-health needs of victims of calamities around the world. 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/her...

The many awards and enormous audiences for ‘Hamilton - An American Musical’ have catapulted the show into Broadway history. But what about the American history portrayed on stage … How accurate is that? This month, as TV audiences can view the spectacle at home, we ask University of Maryland historian and Hamilton fan Richard Bell what the creators got right, and what misses the mark. He sees the...

Here's a Stoop Story from Tiffany about the importance of standing up for what you believe in. 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...

Decades after the Civil War, monuments honoring Confederate soldiers and leaders were erected across the country. University of Maryland law professor Larry Gibson says these monuments were part of the Lost Cause Movement--a campaign to glorify the South and minimize slavery as a cause of the Civil war. Gibson argues for more scrutiny when statues and monuments are placed in positions of honor. Ar...

Some scientists are calling urgent attention to the way the coronavirus can waft long distances through the air. These are not the droplets that fall to the ground or onto a surface within a few feet. These are tinier gobs of virus, much smaller than a human hair. They can linger indoors, then settle deep in our lungs. Dr. Donald Milton, a respiratory disease expert at the University of Maryland S...

Before Jaclyn Paul learned to manage her ADHD, her life was a turmoil of missed appointments, clutter, lost bills, late fees, stalled goals and unfinished projects. She struggled to create a social life and a peaceful home for her husband and son. In short, she was in pain. Getting organized was her way out of that pain. In her book, "Order from Chaos: The Everyday Grind of Staying Organized with...

The fight for Black civil rights started long before the 1960s. That’s a central theme in ‘The Black Freedom Struggle,’ a free webinar hosted tomorrow by the Maryland Historical Society. It focuses on the free Black Maryland experience from before the Civil War to the early Twentieth Century. We hear from presenter Christopher Bonner, associate professor of history at the University of Maryland. H...

Close to a million Marylanders have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus, meaning many have also lost health coverage, a vulnerable position during a public health crisis. The pandemic prompted officials to open a special insurance enrollment period -- it ends next Wednesday. More than 50-thousand people recently found coverage through the state marketplace. Michelle Eberle, head of the Mary...

Here is a Stoop Story from Rosemary Raun about what it takes for your voice to be heard. Check out more information about the Stoop Storytelling Series 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 mharvie@wypr.org 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr...

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 record 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' --...

It’s been a disruptive year for students. The school year dissolved into distance learning, then summer vacation, and now educators are bracing for a bigger than normal “summer slide” when classes resume. Aaron Dworkin, of the National Summer Learning Association, explains how the pandemic is exacerbating summer learning loss, and points parents toward online resources. You can check out "How To K...

Powerful painkillers can often dispatch acute pain, but using them for chronic, persistent pain carries the risk of addiction. Nearly two million Americans have a substance abuse disorder stemming from prescribed opioids. So scientists are researching ways to treat pain without drugs. We talk with journalist Yudhijit Bhattacharjee who wrote about them in The National Geographic. And we talk with U...

"There’s an extraordinary need out there, by any measure. Within the first 24 hours of launching the program on Wednesday we had 17-hundred applications either in progress or already submitted.” Baltimore Housing Commissioner Michael Braverman describes a need that reflects the desperation of renters. As unemployment climbed during the coronavirus shutdown, rent delinquencies in the city doubled....

Here is a spooky summertime Stoop Story from Tom Jub about why 12-year-olds are probably too young to be camp counselors. Check out more Stoop stories and 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/h...

With all its full-service centers open again, the Y in Central Maryland is welcoming members back, after months of essential activity like meal distribution and childcare for frontline workers. President John Hoey describes how the Y has adapted gyms, camps, and preschools to keep patrons safe. You can read the Y Reopening Guide here. Learn more about summer camps here. Do you have a question or c...