On The Record

Behind the headlines we remember from the Civil Rights Movement was an organized effort to teach African-Americans the literacy and civic skills they needed to register to vote--how to sign their names, how to read parts of the state constitution and how to hold their heads up as citizens. We ask author Elaine Weiss about her new book, 'Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools that Built the Civil R...

High utility bills are ripping through many customers’ budgets. The General Assembly is considering several bills it hopes would increase how much electricity is generated in Maryland. The Public Service Commission, which sets the rates electricity and gas companies can charge, says it's studying “lessons learned” from the multi-year rates it has set for Baltimore Gas & Electric. None of this atte...

Rebekah Opher has received a 2024 Baltimore Weaver Award for her work in addressing food insecurity for unhoused people in the city. The award, which includes $5,000 in grant funds given by Weave: the Social Fabric Project, an offshoot of the Aspen Institute with support from M&T Bank. One of her projects is Aunt Beck's Place, providing Sunday dinners for people experiencing homelessness.

President Trump’s executive orders put funding for the arts in peril. How might that affect Baltimore’s art landscape? Cara Ober of Bmore Art weighs in, and reminds us why we should care: “The arts, and artists are there to really sustain us during difficult times. It’s entertainment, but it’s there to feed our souls.” Plus, she says get out and experience art now, and offers these highlights: Rev...

Brian Higginson tells us a stoop story about working to center his artistic imagination on Charm City. There are a couple of live stoop events happening next week! On Wednesday March 5, The Road Less Traveled: stories about forging unique career paths. And on Thursday March 6, BE: Stories of Mental Health: personal tales about the challenges, surprises, struggles, and triumphs of improving mental...

Among the flurry of executive orders President Trump has signed in his first month in office are a series of directives targeting transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people. Among other things, these orders attempt to ban gender affirming care for youth, bar transgender people from serving in the military, and forbid trans athletes from participating in women’s sports. Court challenges are underw...

People with autism spectrum disorder often have difficulty with imitating other people's actions. Kennedy Krieger is developing a diagnostic tool called the "Computerized Assessment of Motor Imitation" (or CAMI); it's a one-minute tool that uses motion-tracking technology to distinguish children with autism from those with ADHD or neurotypical peers. We hear how it works from Dr. Stewart Mostofsky...

Scores of children in Maryland have died from abuse and neglect in recent years -- one of the worst records in any state. We hear from Baltimore Banner investigative reporter Jessica Calefati why that news is just now reaching the public, and what’s being done.

“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.

The Jewish Museum of Maryland is full of historical and cultural treasures. Now they’re even more accessible -- with new interactive, state-of-the-art displays! We hear about the renovation from executive director Sol Davis. "Picturing Past and Present" happens Sunday, February 23.

Today, two Stoop Stories: Rev. Cristina Paglinauan talks about finding her voice. And Andrea Chamblee tells a story about tapping into her power. More information about the Stoop Storytelling Series - including upcoming live events and the Stoop podcast - is at stoopstorytelling.com.

Ending birthright citizenship, freezing federal grants, slashing research funds: President Trump’s Executive orders are flying fast and furious. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown says they are "like a tsunami, a tidal wave. It’s like waking up every morning to a natural disaster.” He and some fellow Democratic attorneys general around the country have joined forces and are pushing back. We a...

Even before Maryland hit a budget crisis, the accounts in the Developmental Disabilities Administration were surging. Spending on the supports and services that help people with developmental disabilities live productive lives had spiraled from about a billion dollars two years ago to more than a billion-and-a-half last year, blowing past the state’s allocation and still rising. Gov. Wes Moore’s p...

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.

Each week two hundred people check their worries at the door and raise their voices in song. We meet members of Charm City Sings, and its driving force, Heidi Ackerman.

Here's a Stoop Story from Katherine Gorman about looking for love, and finding … herself. Find more information about the Stoop Storytelling Series - including upcoming live events and the Stoop podcast - at Stoopstorytelling.com

Two-thirds of gun crimes in Maryland involve firearms trafficked into Maryland, mostly on I-95. LifeBridge Health has launched “Stop the Iron Pipeline.” What are they trying to do? Adam Rosenberg, vice president of violence intervention and prevention at the healthcare system and executive director of the LifeBridge Health Center for Hope outlines their efforts.

Whether in the form of truffles, kisses, bars, or fudge, Americans consume nearly three billion pounds of chocolate every year, according to the online data website Statista. While chocolate does have healthful components like fiber and antioxidants, most of us love chocolate for the taste. But not all chocolate we consume is the same and Jinji Fraser, of Jinji Chocolate on Greenmount Avenue in Ba...

The ads showed up in Black run newspapers for decades after the Civil War — urgent descriptions of loved ones sold away. We talk to history professor Judith Giesberg, who compiled an archive, and now a book: Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families. Giesberg will be speaking at the downtown Pratt Library Mon. Feb. 10 at 7pm.

It’s Maple syrup time! It's that brief window where trees yield the sap becomes syrup. Brittany Roger, an environmental educator, and manager of school programs at the Irvine Nature Center, walks us through the process.

Here's a Stoop Story from Ashley Kidner about helping native bees make it through the winter. You can get more information about the Stoop podcast and upcoming live events at Stoopstorytelling.com.

President Trump’s push to end “birthright citizenship” would rewrite what the Fourteenth amendment has meant since 1868. Scholar Martha S. Jones traces how free Blacks in Baltimore shaped and asserted the idea of birthright citizens before the Civil War. (Orig. broadcast, July, 2018)

This Sat. Feb. 1, the Walters Art Museum welcomes the Lunar New Year of the Snake, with food offerings from Ni Hao, performances, lunar-new-year themed art. We get a preview from Dany Chan, the Walters’ Associate Curator of Asian Art.

In honor of the Year of the Snake, we bring you TWO stoop stories… both of them, about snakes! We start with Beth Bugnaski with a tale about fostering an appreciation of snakes, in all their glory, among kids. Then a second Stoop Story about a snake assist, as told by Tracey Field. You can find more information, including live events and the Stoop podcast, at Stoopstorytelling.com

Maryland’s General Assembly continues to grind through its 2025 session with work ranging from public safety to education to tax reform, as well as transportation budgets. Next week, a group of Marylanders, called Better Transit Now, is planning to focus on that issue. We talk with Paul Sturm, manager of Better Transit Now and chair of the Downtown Residents Advocacy Network, and Lauren ‘Bemi’ Byr...