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
Since 2012, the Goucher Prison Education Partnership has offered college courses to men and women at two Maryland prisons. Executive Director Eliza Cornejo describes how Goucher stays in touch even after participants leave prison to help them continue their studies or find work.
And William Freeman, a graduate, now pursuing a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, says signing up for GPEP was a no-brainer, "One, I had the time, and two, there were other individuals who were in close proximity to me that I could witness on any day studying in small groups. And I used to see the level of intent and purpose that they seemed to have with the material and with one another, and I wanted it."
Watch Freeman's 2020 Commencement speech here.
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
Some factors in the economy are slowing--but not the job market. “Help wanted” signs are everywhere. Some employers are brainstorming how to hire the talent they need. Penn-Mar Human Services, a nonprofit that offers a range of supports for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, works with businesses that want to analyze whether some part of their workflow would fit a person with a disability. Greg Miller is Penn-Mar’s CEO:
“It is not a charity, it is not something where we expect an employee or a business to lower expectations. It is trying to find the right job in the right business for the right person.
And we meet Tim O’Neill, a Penn-Mar client who has worked at Bank of America’s Hunt Valley campus for two decades, .. and his manager, Joseph Waldron.
Links: Penn Mar Customized Employment Program
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
Even in pre-school, Jessie Dunleavy’s son Paul struggled to learn. His disabilities forced him to switch schools over and over. He turned to poetry, and eventually, after several mental-health diagnoses, to drugs. After he died of an overdose, his mother found a poem alluding to his addiction as a moral disgrace. Dunleavy said it broke her heart, "I would do anything to change that, because I think the shame drives you further into the addiction and into seeking the escape.”
In the memoir, "Cover My Dreams In Ink," Dunleavy recounts the sobering lessons she learned from Paul’s life and death.
Find Dunleavy's blog here. This interview first aired on January 25, 2021.
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
Newspapers in the US have been closing at the rate of about two each week since 2005. But journalism may be on the rise for Baltimore. We talk with Teri Henderson, Arts and culture editor for Baltimore Beat, the city’s latest edition to local news coverage. And with editor in chief Lisa Snowden, who describes what she thinks the paper can become:
“My vision is news that is accessible for everybody. So physically accessible, which means that we have a physical paper, we have a website with no paywalls, But also, that serves everybody.”
Links: Baltimore Beat, Baltimore Beat Launch party
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 Elijah McBride about the difference between just hearing someone … and really listening to them. You can hear his story and 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 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his sbdawes@wypr.org 410-235-1472
Journalist Baynard Woods grew up in the last quarter of the 20th century, son of white parents raised in the Jim Crow South, descendant of forebears who had enslaved hundreds of Black people in South Carolina.
His memoir, "Inheritance: An Autobiography of Whiteness," traces his dawning awareness of the crimes and outrages of his dead ancestors, and his parents’ failure to confront that history and the privileges it created. Woods identifies whiteness as the problem, and calls for it to be dismantled.
On Thursday, August 25, the Ivy Bookshop will host a conversation between Baynard Woods and Leslie Gray Streeter. Details here.
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
More than one hundred thousand Americans await an organ transplant … and most organ donations come from deceased donors.
Ieesha Johnson, executive director of community outreach at the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, works to dispel myths and educate the public about what it means to be an organ donor.
And Danette Ragin, an organ recipient and relative of deceased organ donors, talks about how somebody’s decision to donate a kidney has profoundly changed her life:
“Until the shoe is on the other foot, you really probably won’t know the true significance of it. But if you have any reservations, I pray that my testimonial will help you come to a decision to at least try to help someone.”
Links: Donor law changes: update your Maryland license donor status; Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, On Sat. Aug. 27th, Living Legacy Foundation commemorates National Minority Donor Awareness month with local in person events, information can be found here.
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 it’s too hot for the park or the pool, grab some popcorn and turn on a movie!
Max Weiss, editor-in-chief of Baltimore Magazine, talks about her favorite new films, from a sci-fi western to the "Top Gun" sequel.
Then, Beyond Video is a volunteer-run video library in Baltimore. Co-owner Eric Hatch shares indie hits and cult classics.
Check out Max Weiss' reviews:
Nope
Top Gun: Maverick
Elvis
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Fire of Love
Eric Hatch's recommendations:
Ascension
Devil in a Blue Dress
Strawberry Mansion
Faya Dayi
La Piscine
The Swimmer
Thief
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
Life is throwing a lot at young people these days, hitting some harder than others, undermining their mental health. The Kids Count Data book dives deep into factors that can affect their well-being, and identifies what states, cities and schools need to address.
Benjamin Orr, head of the Maryland Center on Economic Policy, talks us through the research.
Then, Clarrissa Taylor Jackson, Director of Programs and Outreach at the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Baltimore, tells why peer education is the superpower behind their work:
“If you are living with a mental health condition and you’re living well, we want to work with you in the ways that make sense, so that we can make it okay for someone else to get where you are. To feel comfortable navigating life with their mental health condition, just like you are.”
Links: Kids Count Data Book full report, NAMI resources, Pathways to Hope NAMI conference, Aug. 26 and 27, 2022.
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
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … galaxy 3C 186, to be precise … two black holes merged, creating one supermassive black hole and propelling it at great speed away from the galaxy’s center.
Eileen Meyer, an associate professor of physics at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, explains how this observation bolsters theories about how galaxies and black holes behave, "Galaxies tend to be born kind of in close family groups and they’re so massive, with billions of stars, that they start sliding towards each other."
We ask Meyer about this runaway black hole and how citizen-scientists can get involved in astronomical research.
Learn more:
Zooniverse
UMBC’s Eileen Meyer and team find strongest evidence yet of a black hole zooming away from its galaxy’s center
NOEMA observations support a recoiling black hole in 3C 186
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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