On The Record

Brain Balance, a drug-free approach to improving focus, behavior, anxiety and social skills, is coming to Maryland. We talk to co-owner Beth Snow, to alumna Mallory Chizek. Brain Balance Achievement Center will have a soft opening next week in Columbia--and will have a grand opening in April.

Nonprofits cover about a third of Baltimore real estate, and they don’t pay property tax. There’s a move to make the bigger ones pay their fair share. We talk with Loraine Arikat, senior policy analyst for 1199 SEIU, United Healthcare Workers East and member of With Us For Us leadership, and with Rachel Kutler, Baltimore director for Jews United for Justice to hear more about the PILOT program and...

Gov. Moore’s plan to close the state’s $3 billion-dollar budget hole is now up to the legislature. We talk to Guy Guzzone, chair of the Senate Budget and Tax Committee to hear some of the details of how it might be done.

Avian flu is on the rise in Maryland. What does that mean for poultry farmers and for the public? We hear from state veterinarian Jennifer Trout, and and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health professor, Meghan Davis. Anyone who sees sick or dead birds in the wild should not handle or move the birds, but should report them to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service by calling 1-877...

Here is a Stoop Story from Corinne Parks about making connections with our furry, scaled and feathered friends. The next LIVE stoop event is "More Room in a Broken Heart: Stories About Loving, Losing, and Rebuilding" on February 13th at Checkerspot Brewing Co. with musical guest ‘Outcalls.’ We’re pretty glum here at OTR today: our talented, organized, creative, fearless senior supervising producer...

Offered by the Parents' Place of Maryland, Baby LEADers is a free 5-week virtual course for families of children aged 5 and younger who have a diagnosed or suspected disability or developmental delay. Kristen Paul, director of Early Childhood Programs for the Parents’ Place of Maryland, discusses how the program helps parents understand their rights and how to advocate for their children. LaToyia...

Baltimore is a city of artists. And every year, the “William G Baker Jr. Memorial Fund” invests in artists AND arts institutions to help support their creative endeavors. It’s the largest private dedicated funder of the arts in the Baltimore Region. We speak with David London, the new director of the Baker Fund Grants Program, and Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson, who received the 2023 Mary Sawyers Imbo...

You’ve probably heard of “news fatigue” – that feeling of exhaustion at the constant flow of information that prompts people to follow the news less closely. Staying engaged can be difficult even for folks who are actively trying to make the world a better place. So, how do you maintain your focus? For advice, we’re joined by Dara Friedman Wheeler. She’s a licensed clinical psychologist and co-aut...

Thirty-one years ago, Congress made Martin Luther King Jr. Day a day of service and charged AmeriCorps with leading this effort. MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a National Day of Service. Today, people across all 50 states will dedicate their time to serving their communities, doing things like delivering school supplies to teachers and students, cleaning-up vacant properties, re...

Here is a Stoop Story from Terri Diener about listening to our pets, what she calls, “the best job in the world.” The next Stoop show is February 13th at Checkerspot Brewing Company. The theme is, “More Room in a Broken Heart: Stories about loving, losing, and rebuilding.”

When water temperatures drop in the Atlantic Ocean, the chill has a major impact on sea turtles. The cold can stun them, leaving them debilitated in the water or causing them to wash up on the beach. On the Record's Ashley Sterner goes behind the scenes at National Aquarium’s turtle rehabilitation facilities.

The use of psychedelic-assisted therapy to treat trauma and other ailments is on the rise. University of Maryland, Baltimore puts it front and center with an interdisciplinary speaker series across social work, pharmacy, and nursing called Multidisciplinary Perspectives on the Science and Practice of Psychedelic Therapies. We get a preview from Megan Meyer, MSW, PhD, and from Dr. Allison Kelliher,...

Baltimore is rich with history, and the Baltimore City Historical Society wants to make sure people understand just how special and complex it is. For more than 15 years they’ve teamed up with the Village Learning Place to present Baltimore History Evenings, inviting speakers to detail stories that make up Charm City’s past. They happen at 7 pm the third Thursday of each month, beginning Jan. 16,...

Puberty - just the word may send shivers down your spine. In addition to annoying acne and crushes, getting your period can evoke feelings of embarrassment or shame. In Baltimore, one woman is trying to change that. Kai Inman founded 'The Hygiene Hookup,' a nonprofit that aims to provide education and resources about menstruation. She’s one of 20 local recipients of this year’s Weaver Awards, pres...

Baltimore recorded 201 homicides in 2024, down 23 percent from the year before. The city had seen more than 300 murders a year for the prior eight years. We ask Greg Marshburn, Catholic Charities’ Program Director for Safe Streets, about the progress he's observed. Of Baltimore’s ten Safe Streets sites, four are supervised by Catholic Charities. Previously, Marshburn served as the Site Director fo...

For years, people have been calling for significant changes to the Employed Individuals with Disabilities or EID program, offered by the Maryland Department of Disabilities. One of the biggest advocates recently “aged out” and lost her benefits while working to improve access. We talk with attorney Josh Basile, who is enrolled in the program, and disability rights advocate Michael Dalto to hear ho...

Here's a Stoop Story from D.C. Colburn about acknowledgment, acceptance, and self-determination.

Marylanders have a new, simpler way to file federal taxes. We ask Comptroller Brooke Lierman what difference it will make.

Maryland’s legislature is about to convene. We ask WYPR statehouse reporter Rachel Baye what issues lawmakers will tackle.

Tips for staying safe and ready for winter hazards.

The Baltimore Museum of Industry is documenting what the collapse of the Key Bridge has meant to our community. We hear from oral historian Maria Gabriela Aldana about how she's collecting stories and making space for grief and healing. (Music: Escape by ONYCS)

Here’s a Stoop Story from Helen Shafer about a diagnosis that rocked her world.

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder is a neurological and developmental disorder that can affect how people interact, communicate, learn, and behave. It’s typically diagnosed in children by about age five in the U.S., according to the National Autism Data Center. At Zoe’s Just Dezzerts in Baltimore’s Federal Hill neighborhood, people with autism are celebrated for their talents and differences, an...

On this New Year’s morning, we’re listening back to our conversation from February with Carnegie Mellon University historian Edda Fields-Black. Her book, "COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War,” highlights Harriet Tubman’s extraordinary service as a Union spy. Using pension records, bills of sale, wills, personal letters, newspaper articles, and mo...

For 140 years Baltimore’s Franciscan Center has responded to community needs -- from food and clothing to counseling and dental care. Now they offer ‘Dignity Plates Culinary Training Academy’ , which gives people skills and confidence that leads to employment and can transform lives. We talk with instructor Chef April Dubose, and with cohort 11 students Detrich Jordan, Shakera Murphy, Harry Lowe,...