Washington City Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Arts Club: 28 Days Later Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

Zombies don't have hearts, but the Arts Club does. This week, the Arts Club team searches for humanity in the empty streets of a post-apocalyptic London and unpacks the metaphors in 28 Days Later.

Next: "The Entire History of You" Black Mirror, Season 1 - Episode 3 (Netflix).

Next Book: "The Water Dancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Arts Club: The Plateau Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

The Arts Club reads and draws inspiration from Maggie Paxson's The Plateau. We try to figure out how to find peace amidst violence, and we also respond to the author's incisive, thoughtful questions for us. The Arts Club is watching 28 Days Later for next week's episode. After that we'll be watching "The Entire History of You" from the first season of Black Mirror, followed by a discussion of the novel The Water Dancer. Read and watch along and tweet us at #CityPaperArtsClub

Arts Club: The Day After Tomorrow Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

The Arts Club watches The Day After Tomorrow and asks what normal looks like after a global disaster and compares the ongoing pandemic to climate change.

The Arts Club is reading The Plateau by Maggie Paxson for next week's episode. After that we're watching 28 Days Later and reading The Water Dancer. Read and watch along and tweet us at #CityPaperArtsClub to join in the conversation.

Scenes from Florida Avenue Market May 31, 2019

Show notes

On the cover of this week's paper, staff photographer Darrow Montgomery and podcast host Will Warren looked at the rapidly changing Florida Avenue Market—the longtime home to wholesalers and produce vendors that surrounds the newer Union Market. The pair documented its sights and sounds, and you can hear conversations with people whose lives touch the market in this installment of Washington City Podcast.

Stories in this episode:

Market Value

Music for this episode was by Lee Rosevere used under the Creative Commons license.

Housing Is Health May 24, 2019

Show notes

On this week's episode of Washington City Podcast, housing reporter Morgan Baskin talks about the relationship between housing and health. She looks at childhood asthma, which can be exacerbated by poor housing conditions.

Host Will Warren also looks at the week's news, including a true crime thriller and the art of the entree. He also recommends City Paper's "Day Tripper" issue, which is full of recommendations on ways to get out of town this weekend.

Stories in this episode:

Did The Princeton Place Killer Take Credit for a Murder He Didn't Commit?

Adrift in a Sea of Small Plates? These D.C. Restaurants Embrace The Art of the Entree.

The Best D.C. Day Trips

Doctors Blame D.C.'s High Asthma Rates in Part on Poor Housing

What Life Is Like—Still—In D.C.'s Public Housing

Nearly One-Third of the City's Public Housing Stock Is at Risk of Becoming Uninhabitable

DCHA Says Thousands of Units Are Nearly Uninhabitable. Tenants Want to Know: What's Next?

Music for this episode was by Lee Rosevere and Jahzzar used under the Creative Commons license.

Proposed Changes to D.C.'s Arts Commission Have Artists on Edge May 17, 2019

Show notes

On this week's episode of Washington City Podcast, arts editor Matt Cohen talks about his cover story looking at proposed changes to the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and the last year of turmoil at that agency. He wrote it with Kriston Capps.

Host Will Warren also looks at the week's news, which includes a story about D.C.'s parole system and the movements galvanizing the go-go community.

Stories in this episode:

Local D.C. Courts Acquitted Him, But He Still Went to Prison

The Success of Moechella and #DontMuteDC Is Galvanizing Go-Go

Mayor Muriel Bowser Wants Big Changes for the City's Arts Commission

Music for this episode was by Lee Rosevere and Jahzzar used under the Creative Commons license.

City Paper Recommends... May 10, 2019

Show notes

Our annual Best of D.C. issue is on the streets and online, and it's chock-a-block with all the things that make D.C. great. Readers voted for their favorite salons and mechanics, and City Paper staffers recommended their favorite things to do and eat and see in D.C. This week on the podcast, City Paper recommends a few things you can do this weekend, this week, and this year.

Music for this episode was by Lee Rosevere and Jahzzar used under the Creative Commons license.

What's Good With … Sylvia Traymore Morrison?! Apr 26, 2019

Show notes

"What's Good?!" with Haywood Turnipseed Jr. returns to Washington City Podcast. This week, Turnipseed Jr. talks with another local comic, Sylvia Traymore Morrison. Morrison is a noted impressionist, once roasted Muhammad Ali, and has been performing for 50 years.

As always, host Will Warren also brings you the week's news.

Stories in this episode:

Will Tourists Follow the International Spy Museum to L'Enfant Plaza?

Rent Hikes May Force Longtime Residents Out of a Columbia Heights Building

Drinks Will Cost You, But Dating Advice From Seven D.C. Bartenders is Free

How To Actually Enjoy Going to an Art Museum Apr 19, 2019

Show notes

D.C. is home to so many museums. Our collections house masterpieces from all over the world and across history—and many of them are free to enter. But some people, including Washington City Podcast host Will Warren, sometimes feel like a bit lost in a museum, unsure of how to get the most out of the experience and what to look for in the art. For all you trepidatious museumgoers out there, we have a few tips from regular City Paper art critic Kriston Capps and Warren, who recently went to the National Gallery of Art together:

1. Do some research, or just go.

2. Consider going on a beautiful day; it won't be as crowded.

3. Look at pieces from up close and far away.

4. Take YOUR time, whatever that means to you.

5. Gallery wall text is there for if you don't know what you're looking at.

6. The more you look, the more you get out of it.

7. Don't stress about "getting" a particular piece.

8. Go home when you're done.

Music for this episode was by Nctrnm and Lee Rosevere used under the Creative Commons license.

D.C.'s Child Welfare System Is Cutting Corners Apr 12, 2019

Show notes

This week on Washington City Podcast host Will Warren and housing complex reporter Morgan Baskin talk about Baskin's investigation into D.C.'s child welfare agency. The investigation was several years in the making, and looks at the devastating effects of an agency that is cutting corners to meet requirements set by a federal lawsuit. Per Baskin's reporting, both Child and Family Services Agency employees and the children they serve suffer. She talks about her story this week.

Warren also looks at the week's news: contract fraud and a cover up at the Department of Behavioral Health, the Metro PCS go-go controversy, and our Peeps diorama contest!

Stories in this episode:

Why Did D.C. End an Innovative Program to Treat Opioid Addiction?

A City Van Claiming to Help Heroin Users Went Missing. Then D.C. Covered It Up.

The Go-Go Community Weighs In on the Metro PCS Controversy

Vote for the Winner of City Paper's 2019 Peeps Diorama Contest

To Escape Court Oversight, D.C.'s Child Welfare System Is Cutting Corners

Music for this episode was by Lee Rosevere and Jahzzar used under the Creative Commons license.