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
When it comes to adding new perspective to the struggle for racial equality, poet Kondwani Fidel is uniquely suited for the job. His latest book is “The Antiracist: How to Start the Conversation About Race and Take Action.”
Fidel reflects on his losing friends and family to gun violence in East Baltimore, and on uncovering how poverty and segregation are the intended consequences of embedded racism.
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
Hunger and isolation are two devastating side effects of the pandemic. But eager volunteers are stepping up.
Quinton Askew leads 2-1-1 Maryland, the state’s health and human-services hotline. Volunteers have answered 36,000 calls a month, on average, since March. He describes how 2-1-1 helps seniors grocery shop, take their medications, and navigate telehealth appointments.
You can connect by dialing 2-1-1 from any phone, texting your zip code to 8-9-8-2-1-1, or chatting online. Learn how to receive services or volunteer with the Caregiver Services Corps.
Plus, Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland has tripled meal delivery since March. Julie Hollander, Senior Director of Volunteer Services, tells how they’ve ramped up operations. Volunteer Gerry Galuardi says packaging thousands of meals is hard but worthwhile work.
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 hundreds, even thousands, of Maryland residents are diagnosed each day with Covid-19, health workers around the state try to interview them and offer help, ask who they’ve spent stretches of time with recently, and contact those people to warn they may have been exposed. Contact tracing can be a powerful tool to control spread of the virus, but the system is stretched. We hear about it from Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman, Anne Arundel County’s health officer and Nurse Kristy Frashure describes the tracing calls. Plus, Stephen Babcock of Techical.ly Baltimore tells us how the MD Covid Alert phone app works.
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 the midst of the off-the-charts unpredictability of this year, we turn to Amy Webb, founder of the Future Today Institute. She doesn't predict the future. But she’s spent decades analyzing trends and intuiting signals that help governments and global companies plan for the long range. How is the pandemic opening a market for clothing that doesn’t physically exist? Which huge corporations will emerge stronger? How could Baltimore capitalize on the work-at-home trend? And Webb has advice for the average person looking to ease the panicky feelings 2020 has wrought: “The best that we can do is be more flexible and adaptable everyday. And to keep our eyes on the future, and the future we want to inhabit, and try to get there.”
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
After World War II hundreds of members of the Lumbee Native American community relocated from North Carolina to Southeast Baltimore, in search of work. Today, the community has dispersed, moving from the city to the county. One tradition that brings them together--chicken and pastry.
Rosie Bowen, of Rose’s Bakery in Northeast Market, has made sure to pass this recipe down to her daughter, Adriana Bowen-Herrera.
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 Susan Ellsberry about a message that changed her life. Learn more about the Stoop Storytelling Series. The next live virtual Stoop show is the "Holiday Hoo-Ha" on December 12th.
If you’re digging into your holiday shopping--this is a great time to remember local stores. Check out Baltimore Snap’s profiles of local black-owned stores and Preservation Maryland’s list of Main Streets across the state.
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 we mourn our usual Thanksgiving plans this year, we can find comfort in nature--the changing leaves, the crisp air, the chirping birds. Scott McDaniel leads the Susquehannock Wildlife Society in Harford County. One of his goals is to debunk myths about the Eastern Copperhead snake, far more likely to scurry away than to strike.
And biologist Sarah Stellwagon describes how glue and silk conspire so spiders ensnare their prey in complex webs.
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
Though meals will be planned, gifts exchanged, and lights kindled … Many of our loved ones will be missing from around our tables this holiday season. We ask Dr. Aliya Jones, Maryland’s Deputy Health Secretary, what to watch for regarding emotional wellness during this time, and how we can help ourselves and those we care about.
Plus, we talk with executive director Rabbi Dena Shaffer and Peer Leadership Fellow Emily Schloss from 4Front, a hub for Jewish teens, to hear how young people are training to help each other through the pandemic.
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 the American republic was only a couple decades old, and more people were held enslaved in Maryland than all but two other states, enslaved people could petition the courts for freedom--if they could show they were descended from a woman who had been free. Before slaveholders got the laws changed, hundreds of enslaved people in Prince George’s County won their independence. Researching this history for his book “A Question of Freedom,” William G. Thomas III talked to descendants of people enslaved by Jesuit priests in Prince George’s … and learned that his white forebears helped the Jesuits. This country needs a reckoning of slavery’s impact, Thomas says.
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
Before March, part of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School’s success formula was to place every student in an internship--one day a week in a business or non-profit where they could observe professionals at work as they learned on-the-job behavior themselves. John Busse is in charge of the internships.
The students’ work also paid about a third of their tuition. We ask Busse and seniors Delya White and Corey Bowden what happened when the pandemic hit, and in-place learning stopped, and what’s happening now.
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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