On The Record

The new book, The Lines Between Us, introduces us to a white suburban businessman and his wife, who felt a religious call to move to Sandtown in solidarity with its disenfranchised residents and an inner-city African-American mother, who believed her son would have a better life if they moved to a more affluent community in Howard County. Along the way, author Lawrence Lanahan shows us the public...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Jessie Bennett ... about… a birthday celebration that changed the course of her life. 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 P...

It was 290 years ago that the Maryland General Assembly issued Baltimore a town charter -- actually, voted out on July 30, 1729 … but Charm City is celebrating tonight with a party put on by Live Baltimore. The little settlement on the Patapsco was named for Cecil Calvert, second Baron Baltimore, first proprietor of the Maryland colony. Calvert never visited his colony. But even if he had, it’s sa...

You can start drawing Social-Security benefits at age 62--four or five years before full retirement age. That sounds pretty sweet to many people--until they realize they’re locking in the smallest possible benefit, which could leave them short of funds if they live to a ripe old age. Webster Phillips, with the advocacy group, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, explain...

Baltimore; summer 1966. Tensions between whites and blacks. Some women testing expectations. And then: a woman’s decomposed body turns up in Druid Hill Park lake. Laura Lippman latest novel, The Lady in the Lake, unscrambles multiple mysteries. 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...

In Maryland, about 100,000 students-almost one in eight-are in special education classes. Do they all belong there? Longtime public-education advocate Kalman “Buzzy” Hettleman’s latest book is, “Mislabeled as Disabled: The Educational Abuse of Struggling Learners and How We Can Fight It”.Hettleman says one reason failing students end up in special ed is that they don't receive research-based instr...

Here's a stoop story by Manfred van Dulman about a time he changed his mind ... and decided to grow up. You can hear his 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...

Broken hearts, violent lovers, vengeance--What do themes from the tragic opera Carmen ... have to do with high school? C-Jay Philip, artistic director and choreographer of “Voices of Carmen,” says the characters in this contemporary adaptation of the opera wrestle with realities teenagers face every day. Plus, we meet performers Faith Bender and Ui Seng Francois. Do you have a question or comment...

“Discover” is the theme of Artscape this weekend, the nation's largest free arts festival. We look at Teenscape: Jimmie Thomas, principal of the Media Rhythm Institute, tells how students learn artistic and technical skills for careers in the music industry. And we meet up-and-coming performers, emcee Shania Norris and rapper Saniyah Fletcher. Catch their performance on Saturday at Motor House fro...

As time passes and towns grow or shrink, first-hand knowledge about important places fades away. A new virtual trail of African-American heritage in Anne Arundel County aims to halt that loss and preserve historical sites, from the past four centuries. Jane Cox, of the county’s Office of Planning and Zoning, tells us about putting the online trail together. And Lyndra Marshall recounts how they co...

The swift rise in popularity of electric scooters has city dwellers and transit planners hustling to figure out how to deal with them. Some people love scooters … their freedom, their frugality; some people think they’re accidents waiting to happen. Meg Young, shared mobility coordinator at the Baltimore City Transit Bureau, tells us how the city is working to set ground rules for vendors and user...

It can be difficult to know where to turn after suffering trauma. We meet a dancer who, after surviving a brutal sexual assault, created her own place of community and well-being … for herself, and others. Tyde-Courtney Edwards founded “Ballet After Dark,” where survivors of sexual and domestic assault and those dealing with trauma can participate in therapeutic, movement-based workshops. She says...

Tonight thousands of people across the country will join in vigils to push back against the way the U.S. government treats migrants--separating families, and holding them in jammed detention centers. It’s a national movement, called “Lights for Liberty.” We talk with local organizers Zainab Chaudry from the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Tracie Guy-Decker from Jews United for Justice, and...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Susan Kim, about doing her best to stay cool at the pool. 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 she/h...

Will Baltimore ban plastic bags? The city council is considering a proposal to outlaw the single-use plastic bags that shoppers use for groceries and carry-out. Councilman Bill Henry details his proposal, which includes a tax on alternatives, like paper and compostable bags. He says it’s time for consumers and retailers to change their behavior. Then, how have other countries regulated plastic bag...

More than 160 murders in Baltimore this year, nearly all by bullet. In the face of years of devastating loss, curtailing the city’s homicide rate feels like an unsolvable puzzle. Harvard senior fellow Thomas Abt sees a way forward. His new book, “Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence - and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets,” offers evidence-backed tactics to reduce ho...

It’s summer: how do teenagers pass the time? We ask Bob Wall of Recreation and Parks how the city’s rec centers work to engage teens. Then, we visit the ‘Shake and Bake Family Fun Center’ to ask patrons what keeps them coming back. Plus, we preview the film ‘United Skates.’ It looks at the popularity of roller skating in African American communities and the fight to preserve it. Do you have a ques...

We think of ice cream as a summertime indulgence, but year round, Americans consume about a pint per person each week! In Amy Ettinger's book, ----Sweet Spot: An Ice Cream Binge Across America,---- she traveled the country, researching the confection, from a founding father’s recipe to ice cream made from buffalo milk. Then, Tim Andon of TIC Gums tells us about “Ice Cream University----. How does...

Today, we’re sharing two pieces from the Stoop Storytelling Series, a live storytelling event in Baltimore, produced by Jessica Myles Henkin and Laura Wexler. Here are two stories from women who faced hardship because of the color of their skin, and persevered in the face of mistreatment. Charly Carter gave up a rent-controlled apartment in New York City to pursue a job with a U.S Senate campaign....

The tiniest creature with the deadliest of bites … Professor Chris Potter's lab at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is working to understand why mosquitoes are attracted to humans, in order to quell diseases such as malaria and Zika, both transmitted by mosquito bite. By studying its sense of smell, Potter hopes to alter the way mosquitoes perceive human scent and flavor--in an effo...

The most ancient shark ancestors swam the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. What lessons can be learned from studying how they fight off infection? Evolutionary immunologist Helen Dooley of the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology explains how immune systems of humans and sharks are related and what might that mean for curing di...

After a devastating motorcycle accident, Hopkins bioethicist Travis Rieder was prescribed high doses of opioids to stave off pain. When he began to taper off the drugs, he was immediately thrown into withdrawal. Reider’s new book, “In Pain,” explores the history of opioids, how they became so widely prescribed, why they are so addictive, and how the medical system should be changed. Do you have a...

What makes a firework … work? On the cusp of Independence Day we speak with Jason Farrell, the fireworks coordinator in charge of the design and detonation of hundreds of pounds of fireworks for the Fourth of July celebration at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. And we meet John Conkling, a chemist and former American Pyrotechnic Association director, who describes what goes inside fireworks to make audie...

Here’s a Stoop Story from Sharon Gorenstein about the winding path to marriage. You can hear her story and many 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 Gerr she/her/hers mgerr@wypr.org 410-235-115...

Decades after Esther Nisenthal Krinitz lost her family in the Holocaust, she began stitching together childhood memories, using thread and fabric to detail life in their Polish village, and trauma of World War II.It was an avocation she took up while running a clothing store in downtown Frederick. Now dozens of her embroidered panels are on display at the American Visionary Art Museum, part of an...