Stay Connected***No longer adding new episodes*** On The Record was co-hosted by Sheilah Kast and Ashley Sterner. Sheilah and shared conversations with audacious artists, intrepid scientists, community leaders and more. And of course, tales from the beloved Stoop Storytelling Series.
On The Record was produced by Melissa Gerr. Jon Ehrens created the theme music. Louis Umerlik designed the logo.
Copyright: © 2024 WYPR Baltimore
Though fireworks in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor are cancelled for this year, there will still be a celebration of light!
The new Domino Sugars Sign, restored to all its 70-foot-by-120-foot glory, will be turned on for the first time. We hear some reasons Baltimoreans love it so:
“We’re getting married in two months, and our reception is at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, and we picked that because the Domino Sugar sign will illuminate the dance floor.”
Plus a conversation with pyrotechnic expert John Conkling, who describes how fireworks work ... and why we love them:
“I think it’s something really just psychologically deep in the human soul, to see the sky explode in color, noise, light …”
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
Opioid overdose deaths climbed last year and continue to edge up. So, what happens when a pandemic and an epidemic collide? We ask addiction medicine specialist Dr. Yngvild Olsen. Then, Edgar Wiggins takes stock of 29 years leading Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc. He describes how it works to divert some 9-1-1 calls to mental-health professionals and how showing up to listen can often calm things down.
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
Riding the school bus should be the social, relatively mindless part of a pupil’s day. But a recent study finds that’s not the case for Baltimore City middle- and high-school students, who rely on public transit--not yellow buses--to get safely to and from school.
We hear from the report’s co-author Kwane Wyatt, Program Director of Analysis & Engagement at the Fund for Educational Excellence. Then students Imani Humphries-Torres and Kamri Moses describe some of their personal experiences.
Link: Not In Service: Why Public Transit Must Aim to Serve Students
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
The price of insulin is steep, but people who need it risk their health if they skip a dose. The Open Insulin Foundation aims to break the hold pharmaceutical companies exert on the cost, working instead with local labs to develop cheaper versions of insulin. We speak with co-founder Anthony Di Franco and Dr. Lisa Scheifele of the Baltimore Underground Science Space, BUGSS. Scheifele describes how e-coli cells are biohacked to create a fast-acting form of insulin.
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
Are children in America better off now than a decade ago? We ask researcher Nonso Umunna about the latest “Kids Count” report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It spotlights a range of factors like poverty, school enrollment, and health-insurance coverage. Where did child welfare stand in Maryland before the pandemic, and what resources do families need? Then--school social worker Ashley Woods describes the way the pandemic affected teens’ mental health and the bumpy road ahead as more students return to the classroom this fall.
Check out the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2021 KIDS COUNT Data Book. It ranks Maryland 24th nationally. You can hear more from Nonso Umunna at WYPR’s virtual event on youth mental health, at 3 pm today. We have a link to details, as well as to information about a webinar at 1 pm tomorrow, hosted by Advocates for Children and Youth, titled, “Safety Nets: Stronger and Secure Families.”
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
Here’s a Stoop Story from Katie Caldwell about finding the courage to come out. Check out the Stoop Storytelling Series - including upcoming live events 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 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers mgerr@wypr.org 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
In Dwayne Ratleff’s novel, Dancing to the Lyrics, a kid growing up in East Baltimore in the 1960s knows he’s different from the other children before he quite knows what it means to be gay. He’s processing that, as well as a lot of cruelty and depraved conduct by adults in his life, balanced with nurturing support from an assortment of characters. It’s a memoir cloaked in fiction. One piece of advice that sticks is not to care what other people think of him.
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
When Rev. Brian Linnane looks back on the 16 years he is wrapping up as president of Loyola University Maryland he thinks of the innovative approach he brought to merging first-year students into the liberal-arts college, the efforts to integrate Loyola more closely into the city, and the work for diversion and inclusion. About a third of incoming classes are now people of color, but Linnane said what he hears from minority students shows him more must be done:
“Yes you retain us, yes we graduate, yes we give our all to our organizations and to leadership. But that doesn't mean we are happy here, that doesn't mean that we feel at home here.”
Plus, the theologian's thoughts about recent news in the Catholic Church.
Links: Father Linnane tribute page, retirement announcement, What is Messina.
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
As many as one of five tenants in Maryland is behind in their rent. Advocate Carol Ott talks about why--including foul-ups in unemployment benefits for many who lost jobs in the pandemic.The United Way of Central Maryland, with landlords and some local governments, is identifying zip codes with highest risk of renters winding up homeless. Adam Skolnik of the Maryland Multi-Housing Association says landlords are helping many tenants apply at once for the federal aid that’s been backed up. United Way President Franklyn Baker says a test project in Baltimore County shows it works.For more information about the STEP program and other forms of rental assistance, visit the United Way of Central Maryland or call 2-1-1.
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
Laura Lippman has published two dozen novels, most set in Baltimore, most mysteries. But her newest is the first she calls a book of horror
“I think that this is a work of horror because I think what goes on in writers minds is pretty horrible! I think it’s scary!”
It’s a twisty plot, from the improbable accident that immobilizes an aging novelist in his luxury apartment in Locust Point, to the mysterious phone calls that terrorize him, but don’t slow his vivid flashbacks: memories of literary success, an unfaithful father, ex-wives and sexual escapades. He knows he’s addled, but is it the drugs for his pain, or is it dementia? And then something truly baffling happens …in Dream Girl.
Links: In conversation with Wall Street Journal critic Terry Teachout 6.22, A Likely Story Books in Sykesville 6.28 at .E.W. Becks on Main St.
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 sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
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