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
Here’s a Stoop Story from Elliot Wagenheim about his best moment as a father. You can hear more stories at Stoopstorytelling.com.
Lots of ways to celebrate Juneteenth this weekend! The fourth annual Skill Sharing Juneteenth event will take place tomorrow, with music, food trucks, the Swoozy clothing swap and more! It will be at the Current Space, 421 North Howard St.
From 1 to 6 p.m. tomorrow, MICA will host an Indigo Talk and Dye Workshop as Kibibi Ajanku unveils the heritage and practice of West African dye traditions. It will be at MICA, 131 West North Street in Baltimore.
On Sunday, the Historic East Towson Juneteenth Music Festival will take place from 1-6 p.m. at the Elks Lodge on East Pennsylvania Ave. And especially for kids, on Sunday afternoon, the SoulStock and Culture Queen Juneteenth Jubilee at Bliss Farms in east Baltimore.
Link to all Juneteenth listings in Baltimore.
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 job of the State’s Attorney in Baltimore is to fight crime. We ask Thiru Vignarajah, running in the Democratic primary against the same incumbent who soundly defeated him in 2018, about his plans to combat car jackings, dissolve open-air drug markets and quash violent crime. And why, over the course of four years, he’s run twice for this office and once for Mayor:
“This city is in crisis. And to watch from the sidelines as your team is getting slaughtered is really hard. And whether it’s as the running back or the quarterback, I want to get on the field. So for those folks who think Thiru just wants to get back in the game, they are absolutely right.”
Plus, why he says the staggering level of crime in Baltimore could be used to reverse the flow of city prosecutors heading out the door.
Links: JusticeforBaltimore, MDElections2022
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
Roca, the violence intervention program that fixates on young men in Baltimore, is grounded on cognitive behavioral change. That’s why, explains Roca’s community partnership director JT Timpson, its model is to relentlessly pursue young men at risk and build relationships with them -- which takes years. Then Betsy Tolentino of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services, tells why case workers throughout the state are being trained in Roca’s model and how it's meeting success. Learn more about the Roca's REWIRE CBT training here.Original air date: April 13, 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
Today we Pass the Mic to LGBTQ advocate and educator Jabari Lyles. His guest -- Londyn Smith de Richelieu, Baltimore City’s new Director of LGBTQ Affairs-- talks about the need to change the culture and attitude toward trans folks from within City Hall.
Then Lyles is joined by Legacy Forte, head of BMORE BLXCK , talking about resources they provide for Black trans youth and Toby, a trans tenth-grader at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, on the message he picks up from youth-centered anti-trans legislation across the US:
“They want to send the message to younger people because they want to tell them when they’re young: your existence is wrong. You shouldn’t feel safe in your existence. You shouldn’t feel ok with your existence.”
Links: Baltimore Office of LGBTQ Affairs, BMORE BLXCK, Trans Maryland resources, The PRIDE Center of Maryland.
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 R. Eric Thomas’ new young adult novel, “Kings of B’more,” two teens embark on an epic adventure across the city. Harrison and Linus are both Black, both gay, and both worried about what the future holds. What should they do after high school? Will they stay best friends after Linus moves away?
Thomas wrote characters who are affectionate, who see the beauty in each other. He says that tenderness is missing from the genre. We ask about his inspiration and about depicting queer stories beyond coming out.
Thomas will be speaking Tuesday, June 14, at the Ivy Bookshop. Event 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
The IN Series opera-theater company’s Othello challenges the drama’s racial undertones. Weaving in jazz and politically-charged artwork, it transports audiences beyond the typical Verdi opera.
Artistic director Timothy Nelson describes the evolution of the show, and tenor Walker J. Jackson says he wants audiences … to see beyond Othello as a brute force with a monstrous mind. He hopes to convey the nuance of the character:
“I want people to really see the humanity of this character. And I think there are parts of his character that every human being can identify with. Being a human being who’s just trying to live life, trying to find acceptance, and trying to make sense of everything that’s happened to him."
Links: Othello at Baltimore Theater Project, IN Series Opera Theater Company.
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 Lisa Snowden, editor in chief of the soon-to-relaunch Baltimore Beat. She talked about the power of journalism and telling authentic stories. You can hear hers and other stories 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
The job of Maryland comptroller, the chief financial officer, is open for the first time in decades. Two Democrats and a Republican are running. The comptroller collects taxes and oversees how money is spent. Democrat Brooke Lierman, who now represents south Baltimore in the House of Delegates, argues the comptroller should also assess how the state is addressing climate change … and help Marylanders connect to high-speed internet.
The comptroller casts one of the three votes on the mighty Board of Public Works. If elected, Lierman says, that would be mandate:
“To be the people’s advocate, to be an independent voice and to ensure that we’re using the power of the purse in Maryland to help grow generational wealth and also build out for generations to come.”
Links: Brooke Lierman for Maryland Comptroller, MD Elections 2022, early voting information, voter registration info.
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 Shriver Hall Concert Series, Carnegie Hall and others asked Morgan State Professor James Lee III to compose a new work, he thought of the 19th-century African-American writer Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, who struggled for racial and gender equity; he chose her poem, A Double Standard.
On Juneteenth, soprano Karen Slack will sing Lee’s new music in its Baltimore premiere. She says of the poem, “With all of the various movements, and, you know, MeToo, and all of these things, we’re in this time right now. The poem is not outdated whatsoever in how women are always trying to push the boundaries of sexism.”
Plus, Clay Washington, the president of the Kennard Alumni Association, recounts the roots of the Kennard African-American Cultural Heritage Center in Queen Anne’s County, and its Juneteenth festival on Saturday, June 11th. Additionally, on Sunday, June 19th, the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History and Culture will celebrate traditional Juneteenth and Father’s Day with free admission and special events.
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
Baltimore’s pervasive gun violence both inflames the trauma that shadows many residents … and is caused by that trauma. Dr. Tracy Bale of the University of Maryland med school researches how adverse experiences shape the way our brains work--why, for instance, a child on high alert after gunshots in the neighborhood is not focusing in school. She said she and other scientists are:
“Trying to understand the biology in how we might intervene both in prevention but also in therapy, to think about how that biology has altered how their brain functions in a setting such as school.”
We ask Bale and Shantay Jackson, director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, about the interplay of trauma and personal responsibility.
Trauma summit, Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, CDC: How Epigenetics 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
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