On The Record

“I Am A Child Of God Inc.” helps middle and high school students in and around Baltimore find confidence and community, through weekly dinners, college tours, a scholarship program, and summer youth retreats. The group's founder and executive director Dr. Erin Lonon has received a Weaver Award grant to further her nonprofit's work. This conversation originally aired February 2025.

Tia McDonald, the driving force behind Mondawmin Urban Green Space, or MUGS, has received a Weaver Award grant to continue her work. We talk with her about educating neighbors about gardening, healthful eating, and providing fresh food for those who need it in Baltimore, through Aunt Beck's Place and Sunni's Harvest. This conversation originally aired February 2025.

R. Eric Thomas writes wry, perceptive essays about things that seem more amusing in his life than they do in yours. He grew up in West Baltimore -- but moving back after more than a decade away triggered stress and latent depression -- as well as some very funny episodes. We speak about his new book, "Congratulations, the Best is Over!"
 
 Asking Eric, a new syndicated advice column, is now in papers nationwide. You can send questions to [email protected]

Mary Rose Madden tells a stoop story about how her mother passed on a love of cooking… and guidance on how to be a mom. You can hear more stories and find information about live events and the Stoop podcast at StoopStorytelling.com.

Did you know there's a natural savanna, located just a 20 minute drive northwest of Baltimore? Also called a barrens, the rare ecosystem at Soldiers Delight Natural Environment Area is home to more than 30 rare plant and animal species - birds, bugs, reptiles, and more! We get a tour from Edwin Guevara, Outreach and Education Assistant for the Wildlife and Heritage Service at the Maryland DNR. He occasionally leads tours of the area with the Natural History Society of Maryland. For information on how you can help preserve Soldiers Delight, check out the Friends of Soldiers Delight.

In the first four months of this year, state legislatures across the country have taken up 575 bills targeting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community. That’s according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which tracks that activity.
 
 On a federal level, the Trump administration is coming after the community on many fronts: in the military, education, healthcare… and even in the arts, with places as high profile as the Kennedy Center canceling week’s worth of events set to celebrate World Pride festival in Washington, DC.
 
 The climate can feel dangerous. And in the midst of this atmosphere, the Baltimore City Police Department has started an initiative to offer support the LGBTQIA community. It’s called Safe Place.
 
 We learn how it works from Sgt. Robin Blackmon, who works with auxiliary police volunteers and on hate crimes response and from Sgt. Doug Gibson, who oversees the mounted unit, soon to join the special liaison unit.

Customers are paying a lot for electricity these days. Some are thinking how great it would be to take advantage of solar energy floating free from the sky. But would solar even work for their home? And what would it cost to install -- how long before they’d see any savings? For 170 families in the city of Baltimore, there’s good news in a program called “Baltimore Shines,” organized by the non-profit Civic Works. People with low and moderate incomes can have solar installed and connected free. We talk with Eli Allen, Civic Works’ senior program director, and with John DeHuitta, a Civic works trainee.

Maryland abolished the death penalty in 2013; 22 other states and the District of Columbia have also banned the practice. But capital punishment remains legal in many parts of this county. The most common method of execution is lethal injection. But there are a lot of misconceptions about it... like how it’s implemented, and how humane it is (or isn’t).
 
 Corinna Barrett Lain is one of the nation’s leading authorities on the death penalty, and author of the new book: “Secrets of the Killing State: The Untold Story of Lethal Injection.” She will be speaking about tomorrow night at 6pm at Red Emmas.
 
 This conversation includes graphic descriptions of lethal injection and death.

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month. For the seventh year, The Asia North Exhibition and Arts festival will fill the Station North Arts district with music, food, dance, and art to engage all of your senses! Everyone is invited, and we hear from artist Phaan Howng and co-curator Nerissa Paglinauan to get a preview!

Here's a Stoop Story from Chief Donna Wolf Mother Abbott about finding her way, and stepping into leadership for her Native American community in Dorchester County, Maryland.
 
 Monday, May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP). Two women from Baltimore’s Lumbee community are among those remembered: Tiffany Jones was abducted and murdered in 2018. And Yasmine Wilson was murdered in 2019. Both were mothers. And both were taken violently, in front of their young daughters.
 
 May their memories and those of others, live on in the name of justice, visibility and healing.

Ten years ago, when police chased Freddie Gray on the streets of Sandtown and arrested him, more people from his neighborhood were in state custody than from any other census tract in Maryland. That, according to data analyzed by the Justice Policy Institute and the Prison Policy Initiative.
 
 Their latest count shows things have changed only slightly: The Justice Policy Institute’s most recent data show Sandtown-Winchester and nearby Harlem Park rank no. 3 in the number of residents incarcerated -- although by rate, per 100-thousand people, Sandtown is still No. 1 in Maryland. 
 
 That detail is part of the picture as public officials and criminal-justice reformers work to implement reforms proposed this spring by the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative. Its work is premised on statistics that show Black people make up roughly 30% of Maryland’s population, but they are 51% of its adult arrests, and 71% of its prisoners and parolees. We talk with Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue to learn more.

If you loved one of the 1,549 people who died in Maryland of an overdose in the past twelve months -- if you’re a brother, a parent, a daughter, a friend -- it may be small comfort that that number is 30 percent lower than the year before … and has been trending downward since 2021. It’s still too high.
 
 Emily Keller, Maryland’s ‘Special Secretary of Overdose Response, is charged with leading Maryland’s fight against overdose deaths. We ask her about the state’s anti-overdose strategy and about getting resources into the hands of local groups engaged in the fight.

We have come a long way since dial up internet access. Today, almost anything can instantaneously be done online — like checking in for a flight, transferring funds, communicating with family, applying for a job. We depend on that digital connectivity. It’s become a lifeblood. But what happens when dependable access to the internet isn’t a given?
 
 Kenya Asli, director of the Mayor’s Office of Broadband and Digital Equity, is working to level the playing field for Baltimoreans. We learn how.

When schools and businesses started closing their doors at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Baltimore communities were clamoring for information they could trust. That prompted local health leaders to launch a series of group phone calls with the community.
 
 Five years later, those calls have transitioned into a weekly podcast: “The Community Calls with Dr. G and Kimberly,' hosted by Dr. G. and Ms. Kimberly Hailey-Fair.
 
 For a look at the evolution of the podcast and how it’s keeping communities informed, we talk with Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-Director of Medicine for the Greater Good, and with Reverend William Johnson Jr, Pastor of Sharon Baptist Church and Community Chaplain of Johns Hopkins Health System, who provides spiritual closings for each episode.

Here's a Stoop Story from Jason Newton about seeing Baltimore through new eyes, the day after a fiery, violent night in Sandtown-Winchester in April, 2015.
 
 Freddie Gray died in police custody, April 19, 2015. His death ignited a range from peaceful protests to clashes with police in Baltimore. May his memory, and what it came to stand for, live as inspiration for solidarity and caring community.

The violence and uprising after Freddie Gray died in police custody ten years ago shook Baltimore to its core. We ask executive director Todd Marcus and Rikiesha Metzger, interim director of the Jubilee Arts program at Intersection of Change, a community center in Gray’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, what’s changed, and what hasn’t.
 
 On April 30 from 7-9pm Intersection of Change will host Remembering Freddie Gray: This Too Shall Pass
 
 Details: Jubilee Arts program will be hosting a memorial show to honor the life of Freddie Gray and the aftermath of the Baltimore Uprising. If you have artwork of all forms (painting, music, poetry, dance, and more) that reflects upon this moment in time and the movement surrounding its events, our team wants to hear from you!
 
 TO SUBMIT: Contact [email protected] OR call 410.728.1199
 
 FOR DROP OFFS/IN PERSON SUBMISSIONS: Visit us at 1947 Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217 through April 24 between 10am-5pm.
 
 Artist Statement for “Remembering Freddie Gray: This Too Shall Pass”
 
 While this may seem like a contradiction in language, the title reflects a greater truth: that in this life, we will face moments of joy and moments of pain. There will be heartache. There will be suffering. Yet in all of this, we must remember that this world is not our final destination.
 
 'This Too Shall Pass' reminds us that life moves in seasons. No one knows how long we will be here, but what matters most is what we choose to do with the time we have been given.
 
 This commemoration honors the life of Freddie Gray and the injustice he endured. It is not meant to dismiss the pain or erase the tragedy, but to call us to action. To remember is not only to look back, but also to ask where do we go from here.
 
 In a world where the human spirit is suffering, a world in search for love, justice, and healing, how do we hold on to hope? How do we build peace, nurture joy, and stay rooted in our shared humanity, even as this world continues to pass away?
 
 Though our time on this planet is brief, our impact can be lasting. Let us reflect not only on the good or the bad, but on the fullness of life such as the life of Freddie Gray and the lives of so many others who have been taken too soon. Let us carry their names not as burdens, but as seeds. May their memory plant something righteous within us. Something enduring. Something true. And may we do this knowing that there is an everlasting love that can heal us all.
 
 Dr. Rikiesha Metzger

The events surrounding the death of West Baltimore resident Freddie Gray 10 years ago were a focus of national and international news. Images of a city united in protest, clashes with police, and grieving family members and friends were seen around the world.
 
 One of the most quintessential images of that time was captured by local photographer Devin Allen. It depicts a Black man running away from dozens of charging policemen. Allen at the time was an amateur photographer; yet his photo landed on the cover of Time Magazine’s May 11, 2015 issue and it sparked Allen’s photojournalism career. 
 
 Many of his rarely-exhibited images from 2015 are on view now through June 22 at the Baltimore Museum of Art in ‘Heavy With History, Devin Allen and the Baltimore Uprising.’
 
 Baltimore Beat editor-in-chief Lisa Snowden curated the show, Tracey Beale, BMA director of public programs organized it. We hear from them, and from Devin Allen who shares his memories of that time, how it shaped his work, and the power that comes with controlling the narrative.

Ten years ago this week, protests filled the streets in Baltimore. They were the continuation of protests that had ignited even before the April 19th death of Sandtown-Winchester resident Freddie Gray, from injuries inflicted in police custody. Baltimore was in the national focus. Images of peaceful marches, fiery violence, armed national guardsmen, and clashes with police filled news programs across the country. In many ways, that period changed Baltimore forever -- yet in many other ways, the City has not changed.
 
 We talk with Lisa Snowden, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the digital and print-based Baltimore Beat, to explore the effects those events had on journalism for her, and how they uplifted Black creatives and activists in Baltimore.

Author Rosalia Scalia is out with another collection of short stories. It’s called “Under the Radar” and includes tales that catch people at their most vulnerable.
 
 Sometimes, because of death, and loss. Sometimes, it’s just because people are complicated. Complicated characters anchor every story in this book. They’re characters who will not leave your head — including a pig named King Charles who you will fall in love with. Scalia will read from her book at Books and (Meat) Balls, a Benny's in Little Italy, Tues. April 22 at 6:30.

Ten years ago this week, Baltimore streets were filled with peaceful protests, clashes with police and fiery violence following the death, in police custody, of Sandtown-Winchester resident Freddie Gray. We hear from Dr. s. Rasheem, the director of the documentary “Baltimore Still Rising," which features accounts of the city’s response to the injustice and unrest that followed. It's the first episode of the documentary series, Baltimore Legacy Project. We also hear from Justice Georgie, Wide Angle Youth Media social media intern, about why learning about Baltimore's grass roots legacy is important for future generations.

Vaunita Goodman was diagnosed with end stage renal failure in 2016. Twelve hours a day on home dialysis made her feel isolated and trapped. Life was all about medical care, not living. Through sailing she found belonging and adventure again. In 2021, she received a kidney transplant. Now, with Dialysis to the Docks she helps other kidney patients find joy and freedom on the water.

Luke Spicknall tells us a stoop story of a reluctant sailor who learned a life lesson on a boat. The next live stoop show is a couple weeks away, on May 8th; it’s called “Look for the Helpers: Stories about first responders, caregivers, and unexpected heroes.” More information about live events and the Stoop podcast is at Stoopstorytelling.com.

Climate change is so pervasive we often don’t connect the dots. For a year, climate activist Mike Tidwell closely observed his own neighborhood in Takoma Park -- so many trees dying, floodwater racing down the street. We ask about his new book, "The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue."
 
 Tidwell will speak at Red Emma's on Wed. April 23, and at Ivy Bookshop on Thursday May 1.

Tens of thousands of middle- and high-schoolers in Maryland are getting ideas about what their future could be — ideas that might not have occurred to them a few years ago. The same part of the state’s K-12 education reform effort--the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future -- that requires students be “college or career -ready” by tenth grade, calls for each student to get individualized career counseling. 
 
 We hear from two advocates for workforce counseling: Democratic Sen. Cory McCray, representing Dist. 45, and a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the product of an apprenticeship. And from Kirkland Murray, president and CEO of the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Association, and president of the statewide association of workforce boards. 
 
 Then we get an idea of what the counseling entails in a conversation with Noah, a senior at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, and with Brady Wheeler, senior program manager of the Baltimore Career Coach Initiative, a program in the Mayor's Office of Employment Development.

Here's a Stoop Story from Adam Stone about discovering how to grow together as a family. You can hear more stories and find information about live events and the Stoop podcast at StoopStorytelling.com .

After his childhood of “shabby gentility,” in Baltimore, Murray Kempton’s New York newspaper columns spanned the 20 century with clear insights about who America was leaving behind. We talk with Andrew Holter, the editor of a new collection of Kempton’s journalism.
 
 Holter will speak at Writer's LIVE at Enoch Pratt Library Tuesday April 15, and at the Union Market location of Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. on Thurs. May 8.

Several times a year the Natural History Society of Maryland offers folks an opportunity to explore the geology of Baltimore City’s buildings and monuments. The next tour is on Sunday, April 13th, led by Sam Glasscock, a semi-professional geologist who volunteers for the Natural History Society — he gave us a preview.

Laying out his plans for Maryland in a speech two months ago, Gov. Wes Moore called for more focus on what boys and young men are going through. This morning, we’ll try to understand what’s going on with men and boys, by talking with two men who spend a lot of time thinking about it, and trying to improve things.
 
 Alex Zequiera is president of Saint Ignatius Loyola Academy, and Andrew Reiner, a senior lecturer at Towson University and the author of "Better Boys, Better Men: The New Masculinity that Creates Greater Courage and Emotional Resiliency.”

Maryland’s massive budget deficit has loomed over the General Assembly session that’s wrapping up. Today is Sine Die. What taxes are lawmakers raising?
 
 What spending do they intend to cut? How are they preparing Maryland for the Trump administration’s changes? We ask Rachel Baye, WYPR senior reporter and editor and Brian Sears of 'Maryland Matters' as the legislature starts its last day.

Jeanette Machen tells us a stoop story about her first grade hero: Jedi Master Yoda. There is a live stoop event is coming up next week! On Wednesday April 9th, the series presents “Battling the Elements: Stories about confronting the forces of nature.” More information about live events and the Stoop podcast is at Stoopstorytelling.com.

This weekend at The Voxel performing arts theater, audiences will step aboard a spaceship, and train their eyes, and ears, on the stars …
 
 "Cloud Nebula" is an afro-futuristic cinematic opera produced by Baltimore-based music collective Afro House.
 
 We talk with writer Scott Patterson, also co-founder and Artistic Director of Afro House and with Alisha Patterson, co-founder and Managing Director of Afro House to get a preview!

Conversations with dozens of authors. Intensive deep dives into how publishing works. A masterclass in mystery writing. One-on-one critique sessions for aspiring writers. A literary marketplace -- there will be SO MANY options at the Lord Baltimore Hotel Saturday when the 22nd CityLit Festival gets underway.
 
 Carla DuPree, CityLit Project’s executive director, joins us to share her excitement about all the partnerships and offerings.

When was the last time you had a lengthy, honest and open conversation with someone you didn’t know well? Or even better -- with someone who you assumed held a whole different world view than your own.
 
 The Associated Jewish Federation of Baltimore, the Elijah Cummings Youth Program and Associated Black Charities, are making these conversations happen intentionally, with its ‘Rekindle Fellowship’ program.
 
 By bringing together leaders from Baltimore’s Black and Jewish and Black Jewish communities for thoughtful and challenging face to face dialogue, the hope is to break down barriers and promote a deeper understanding between the communities.
 
 We hear from two members of the first cohort of Rekindle: Nancy Poole, Manager of High School Placement at KIPP Baltimore and Joey Fink a certified financial planner.

Transgender people are being targeted by the Trump administration in nearly every sector: from the military, to schools, to healthcare. And the ACLU says more than 500 anti LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures this year alone.
 
 What's happening in Maryland? 
 
 To find out, we talk with Lee Blinder, executive director of Trans Maryland, Charlotte Hoffman, policy director for Trans Maryland and M Pease, a therapist and a doctoral student in counseling psychology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Here's a Stoop Story from Stacey Lee about finding your spark ... and paying it forward. The next live Stoop event happens April 9 at Checkerspot brewing. The theme is Battling the Elements: Stories about confronting the forces of nature.

Light illuminates. And it can affect our moods, how we interpret our surroundings, even how we interact with a space. In the coming months, six Baltimore artists will be creating public works that harness these qualities of light, thanks to one million dollars from the Bloomberg Philanthropies' Public Art Challenge. Baltimore is one of just eight cities across the US to get the funding, which will support installations centered in the Station North Arts District. The first unveiling happens Friday, March 28 from 6-10pm with Zoe Charlton's piece, Third Watch.
 
 We get a preview from visual artist and curator Derrick Adams, and artist Phaan Howng describes how she translated her painting into a 3D light sculpture for her piece, 'Big Ass Snake (Plants) on a Plane.'

One year ago today, in the very early hours of the morning, the Dali cargo ship left the Port of Baltimore. Minutes later, at 1:28am, the ship struck one of the piers of the Francis Scott Key Bridge as it attempted to make its way to sea. The bridge -- that had stood for decades over the Patapsco -- collapsed in seconds. Eight workers were on the bridge at the time. Two were rescued. The other six lost their lives. The tragedy has forever changed the city’s skyline, and even more so the surrounding communities.
 
 But Baltimore came together, as it always does. Plans to build a new bridge are underway. And the families and communities have begun the process to rebuild, and to heal.
 
 Maria Gabriela Aldana is an oral historian and community engagement specialist and for the past several months, she’s been conducting interviews of people from all walks of life, whose lives were affected by the collapse. She is also the co-founder of The Art of Solidarity, which is working with the Baltimore Museum of Industry to document what the collapse of the Key Bridge has meant to our community. It’s called “Echoes from the Key Bridge," funded by the Baltimore Community Foundation.

When the Key Bridge shattered a year ago, the lives of many people shattered with it -- of course, the families of the six men who died working on the bridge. But also people whose livelihoods depended on the bridge.
 
 In Dundalk, at the east end of the bridge, jobs disappeared or were impossible to reach. Businesses closed. Lives that were already stressed grew more stressed. Catholic Charities stepped up the work it was already doing on health and wellness, immigration services, and workforce development of … to create a one-stop shop for people to get help: The Building Hope Dundalk support Center.
 
 We talk with its program manager is Mayra Loera , who already was managing client services at the Esperanza Center and immediately after the bridge tragedy helped support the families of the men who died.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States covering about 4-thousand 480 square miles and containing some 15 trillion gallons of brackish water. The Bay is also full of oysters! Maryland saw the lowest oyster harvest ever in the early 2000s, but thanks to the hard work of lots of different groups, oysters are bouncing back. A new plan from the Eastern Bay Oyster Coalition Workgroup has a goal of improving things more. We talk with Olivia Caretti, Coastal Restoration Program Manager at the Oyster Recovery Partnership to learn more.

President Trump has signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender troops from serving in the military. We hear from Tony Woods, Secretary for the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families: “This is playing politics with the military. And I think this policy will eventually fail, and will be looked upon as a shameful period of our country’s history.” Plus he talks about why this ban would put the entire country at risk.

More than half of Baltimore’s children live with one parent; many of those families live in poverty. For 51 single mothers here, and their kids, the nonprofit Jeremiah Program offers coaching, community, and financial help to get them to a college degree. We talk to its director, Danielle Staton and Ebony Peacock, a mom with two kids who says the program has provided immeasurable help and support.

Here's a Stoop Story from Rebecca Fielding about her role as a mom, her amazing son Enso, and all that she’s learned from him along the way. The next live Stoop event happens April 9 at Checkerspot Brewing. The theme is ‘Battling the Elements: Stories about confronting the forces of nature.’

Eyes and body language can give big clues about how someone really feels. What about their laugh? That holds hidden truths, too. We talk to University of Baltimore researcher Prof. Sally Farley about her findings -- and why a simple laugh can reveal if someone is newly in love …

Governor Wes Moore is calling on the Maryland General Assembly to impose cuts to the landmark school reform plan known as 'The Blueprint for Maryland's Future'. We talk about the proposals with Liz Bowie, who covers education for our news partner The Baltimore Banner.

Child Care in Maryland is expensive and hard to find. A new report by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, ranks Maryland as the eleventh most expensive state for child care. In Annapolis, legislators are considering several bills to make the service more affordable. We asked Chris Peusch of the Maryland State Childcare Association what proposals hold the most hope.

As a special pledge treat for our listeners today, we’re serving up a double scoop of stoop stories!
 
 There's one from Dena about a childhood wrapped in rules … and from George Hopkins, about about the importance of being a role model and proudly taking up space. The next live stoop storytelling show happens at Checkerspot Brewing on April 9 at 7pm -- the theme is Battling the Elements: Stories about confronting the forces of nature!

The world’s failure to deal with the climate crisis is “The Great Derangement,” says award-winning writer Amitav Ghosh. He traces how capitalism and colonization led to more burning of fossil fuels, and why artists and writers, if they chose, could reimagine the future.
 
 Ghosh will be speaking at the Loyola Symposium , "The Great Uprooting: Migration and Movement in the Age of Climate Change" on 3.13 at 6:30.

We talk with evolutionary biologist Dr. Nathan Lents, about his book “The Sexual Evolution: How 500 Million Years of Sex, Gender, and Mating Shape Modern Relationships”. The book explores sex, gender, mating, and more in dozens of species -- from insects, to birds, to fish… to the primates most closely related to us humans. Lents is a Professor of Biology at John Jay College of The City University of New York. 
 Lents will be talking about the book at 6:30pm on March 17th at the Towson Branch of the Baltimore County Public Library, as part of the Book Lovers Bash, a month-long celebration of books, authors and reading.

Returning citizens face lots of challenges following incarceration. Healthcare Access Maryland is hoping to eliminate a big one. Their new program aims to ensure people get the continued behavioral and physical care they need. We hear from Traci Kodek, HCAM executive director, to learn how it works.

Here's a Stoop story from Jonathan Thierman about a medical misadventure ... with a happy ending! More information about Stoop Storytelling including live events and the Stoop podcast can be found at Stoopstorytelling.com