September 18, 2007
September 17, 2007
Reporting from Iraq, not everyone's idea of a choice job. Despite the obvious risks, some people wouldn't have it any other way. One of our guests this hour, The Washington Post's Baghdad Bureau Chief Sudarsan Raghavan, has been on with us a couple times before. Last time, his hearing was damaged from a bomb blast in the Green Zone that he was caught in the middle of. I remember him talking about whether he considered leaving Iraq after that, and it sounded like he really felt compelled to stay. Check out his articles here.
Two other reporters are joining us for the first time today, Gordon Lubold from the Christian Science Monitor and Tina Susman from the LA Times. Just click on their names to see what they've been writing.
Hopefully, we'll have an hour today that goes beyond all of the political rhetoric on Iraq last week, from Petraeus and Crocker's testimony to Bush's speech, and helps us gain an understanding of what is really going on there.
-Justin
September 17, 2007
This year te Baltimore Symphony Orchestra plans to perform the symphonies of Beethoven. With the exception of Mozart, there is probably no other classical composer as popular as Beethoven. From Schroeder's adoration of the composer in the Peanut's comics to the animated sequence set to the Pastoral Symphony in Disney's Fantasia, Beethoven remains at the forefront of the classical music canon.
This hour Marc takes an in depth look at Beethoven. He'll discuss the man and his music with Maestra Marin Alsop Music Director of the BSO. Also taking part in the discussion are John Gingerich, who's on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music and Bill Meredith, Director of the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies.
-MarcusSeptember 13, 2007
September 13, 2007
-Jessica
September 13, 2007
September 12, 2007
The results are in. Mayor Sheila Dixon handily won the Democratic nomination in yesterday’s primary and is on her way to becoming Baltimore’s first elected female mayor. In the closely watched race for City Council President, incumbent Stephanie Rawlings-Blake won also. Aside from the incumbents in the top spots winning the nomination the real story of yesterday’s primary election was the low voter turnout.
Election officials reported one of the lowest voter turnouts for a mayoral election in years. With a soaring crime rate and the ongoing issues of schools and development why was there such a lackluster turnout?
Marc talked with a panel of reporters including John Fritze of the Sun, Sean Yoes of the Afro-American and Columnist Antero Pietella this hour to discuss yesterday’s primary and what the results mean for the future of Baltimore.
-Marcus
September 12, 2007
September 11, 2007
First of all, is it just me, or does "General Petraeus" sound like a character from The Aeneid or some other Greek war epic? It's a strange contrast with "Ambassador Crocker."
Secondly, the attention seems to really be focused on him, as opposed to Ambassador Crocker. Maybe Crocker feels slighted, or maybe he's happy to avoid the harsh glare of the spotlight. Either way, here are a couple takes on our willingness to trust military opinion on the war moreso than political opinion: one from the NY Times yesterday and one from The Center for Media and Democracy.
Here is the transcript of Petraeus' testimony yesterday and here is the transcript of Crocker's testimony yesterday.
Today is Patriot Day, a national holiday. Wikipedia has an interesting article on it here. Yes, there are greeting cards available, even e-cards.
-Justin
September 11, 2007
Today during our second hour we bring you some great music!
-Jessica
September 10, 2007
...we'll find out tomorrow. In the meantime, it's time to figure out who to vote for. If you haven't done your homework, yet, and are wondering what the mayoral candidates have to say, you can hear four of them for half an hour each on today's show: Andrey Bundley, Jill Carter, Sheila Dixon, and Keiffer Mitchell.
If you're looking to really go in depth, check out the new, ever-expanding page of election coverage we've been putting together on wypr.org.
-Justin
September 6, 2007
A challenge for our listeners. If anyone can figure out why the following search terms are sending people to our blog, I will send you a free copy of any show you like.
According to the blog stats that our blog provider shows us, people have typed the following phrases into search engines and then surfed to our blog.
Feet (today)
Girl feet (yesterday)
Feet girls (two days ago)
Girl foot love (two days ago)
I think I just figured out why this is occuring. But I keep the challenge open!
-Jessica
September 6, 2007
With the primary less than a week away some observers are looking past the mayoral primary and view the City Council President as the political race to watch in the city. Last week Marc sat down for brief one on one interviews with three of the Democratic candidates for city council president. Marc spoke with current City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Councilman Ken Harris and Community Activist Michael Sarbanes. The candidates discussed why they’re running, their commitment to making Baltimore a safer city and their vision for Baltimore’s future.
Which candidate do you like? Who do you think will make the biggest changes in the city? What don't you like?
Poll: Who would you like to see be Baltimore City Council President?
- MarcusSeptember 6, 2007
September 5, 2007
I'll leave it up to you to make a connection between the two topics of our show today.
The new school year is underway, and we continue our educational coverage at 1pm with Nancy Grasmick, the State Superintendent of Schools. For Maryland, of course.
But first at noon, we have a more, perhaps, abstract hour of thought. It started with Bob Herbert's editorial in last Saturday's NY Times called "Anxious About Tomorrow." It got us thinking about the huge changes in US society, ranging anywhere from health care, to technology, to education, to our whole polical system and economy... everything, basically. Are our current politcal and social institutions fit to adapt to these changes?
We'll be trying to get the bottom of these and other small questions in an hour today.
-Justin
September 1, 2007
The next time you listen to or watch an interview see if you notice how many times the person being interviewed says um…like… or you know... In this modern age of You Tube, 24-hour news and paparazzi even the most polished public speaker is bound to be caught making a verbal gaffe.
Overuse of too many “uhs…” or “ums…” can result in someone being seen as a poor speaker or unintelligent. According to our guest this hour language expert Michael Erard verbal gaffes say a lot about who we are. In his new book UM…Slips, Stumbles and Verbal Blunders, and What They Mean Michael Erard offers an in-depth study of everyday speech, Freudian slips and our fascination with language mix-ups.
Join us for a discussion that will have you looking at language in a whole new way Do you have a great and embarassing story of a verbal blunder you've made? If so, share it with us! -MarcusSeptember 1, 2007
In July, Mayor Sheila Dixon fired Police Commissioner Leonard Hamm and replaced him, at least temporarily, with Frederick H. Bealefeld III who has stated he would like the job full-time.
As the Sun recently reported, Bealefeld has emerged as one of the top two contenders for the position of Baltimore’s top cop. Viewed as a street-savvy hands-on cop, Bealefeld, who comes from a family of police officers, has steadily climbed the ranks through the police department to his current position.
-Marcus Poll: Should Fred Bealefeld be the permanent police commissioner?August 31, 2007
Happy Labor Day folks!
We're celebrating by taking the day off and putting on a couple choice interviews that you might have missed earlier this summer.
At noon, we have an in-depth look at the history of the Pentagon. The interview is with Steve Vogel, a reporter at The Washington Post and author of a book fittingly called The Pentagon: A History. It actually has a longer, second subtitle as well: The Untold Story of the Wartime Race to Build The Pentagon - And to Restore It Sixty Years Later.
At one, we have a guest who should need little introduction, Michael Chabon. Here him talk about his novels, including The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and his most recent book, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, as well as his enthusiasm for Barack Obama and plenty more.
Also, keep an eye on our website this week for the premier of a new section featuring behind the scenes videos of the campaigns leading up to the Baltimore Primary Elections, and our coverage of them. We're all thrilled to see the dialogue taking place here after the mayoral debate on Tuesday.. hope to see more as the election draws near.
-Justin
August 30, 2007
Interesting story of how this show came to be..
I keep a list of ideas for possible future shows. Marc had an idea last fall about "expanding/democraticizing internet access." Months passed, and nothing came of it. Then, earlier this summer, a friend of a friend named Pete showed up to play basketball at my house one evening. He was telling me about his job as a research associate for a non-profit in DC that works to improve internet accessibility in the US. I was telling him about my job here, and then realized he was the perfect person to talk to about this show idea from long ago.
Fast forward, Pete hooked me up with a ton of information and other people to talk to in planning a show about the digital divide, and why it matters that people have fast and affordable internet access. It's crazy to look at how quickly a lot of other countries have progressed in this area, while the US has been dropping further and further behind. The internet was invented here, but while other countries have treated as a neccessary part of infrastructure that government should ensure is developed, we have treated it like a luxury commodity, allowing the big telecommunications companies to make huge profits but not ensuring that our population is best served.
Time for the show.. hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to hearing what you have to say afterwards.
-Justin
August 30, 2007
Join us today at one o'clock when we will be talking to the Presidents of Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 3, Baltimore City Firefighters Local 734, Baltimore City Fire Officers Association Local 964, and Baltimore City Sheriff's Office Lodge 22. They've formed a public safety alliance and have information for the public about how to be safe...and there is lot's of policy issues to discuss, from the turmoil in the fire department after the death of a young recruit last February, and the uncertainty in the Police Department as an interim commissioner takes the lead (with others circling) and an election takes place.
Join us with your comments and questions today.
-Jessica
August 29, 2007
I complained here about the lackluster spirit surrounding the mayoral debate and how disappointed I was in it. I had been looking forward to the excitement surrounding the elections since the Senate and Congressional races wrapped up. I love elections; I think they are so much fun. All the civic enthusiasm, watching people get excited and angry--it's fun for me. I'm a dork, I guess. I had been disappointed with how ho-hum it was all shaping up to be.
But last night restored my faith! We held our mayoral forum at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. In attendance were Sheila Dixon, Andrey Bundley, Robert Kaufman, Mike Schaefer, Jill Carter, and Keiffer Mitchell. The crowd was intense and very involved. I heard a lot of "Tell it!" and "Yes you did!" and "No you didn't!" We had to stop and ask people to be quiet several times. There was quite the peanut gallery in the back of the auditorium, where I was standing. Emotions were running high. Of course I had to tsk-tsk some people for talking over the candidates but I was also thrilled that people were inspired!
I hope you'll listen to the forum today, which we are rebroadcasting from 12-2 pm on the show. And then come here and let us know what you think!
Poll: If the primary were today, who would you vote for?
-Jessica
August 28, 2007
Back to school.. never my favorite time of the year. So, I'm thankful that as students from nursery school to grad school go back to school this time of year, I'm not among them.
That being the case, I wouldn't have chosen to do what author Linda Perlstein did. She spent a year immersed in the life of Tyler Heights Elementary School in Annapolis. Her book, Tested: One American School Struggles To Make The Grade, chronicles the time she spent there. Its focus is on the effect No Child Left Behind, and the increased focus on standardized testing in education, is having on school administrators, teachers, and most importantly, students.
Public education in the US has changed a lot in just the past few years. If you have first-hand experience with those changes, as a student, parent, teacher, or through any other perspective, we welcome your thoughts, as always.
-Justin
August 28, 2007
For the first time since they’ve kept records, beginning in the 1950’s, home prices are expected to go down. Across the country mortgage foreclosures are becoming an increasing problem. What happens to the economy if a large number of homeowners go into default? Marc's guest this hour is Maryland Labor, Licensing and Regulation Secretary Thomas Perez. Tomorrow he’s scheduled to testify before the Maryland Senate Finance Committee regarding the foreclosure problem in Maryland. In addition to mortgage foreclosures Marc will talk to Secretary Perez about the ongoing issue of slots in Maryland. Perez recently completed a report concluding slot machines are necessary to protect the state’s horse racing industry. Marcus Information for first time home buyers: 1-800-784-0316
August 28, 2007
Tonight Marc is moderating a mayoral candidates forum at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. It's at 7-9 pm in the Wheeler Auditorium. It's open to the public but seating is limited so make sure to get there on time. Thanks to the League of Women Voters of Baltimore City for arranging the event! This forum will be broadcast on our show tomorrow.
-Jessica
August 28, 2007
As we approach this second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina I am just so angry and appalled at lack of response by our federal government. Over one million people have been displaced, tens of billions in damages occurred, almost 2,000 died, half the hospitals are not open, only 17% of transportation system is up and running in NO, over 40% of the homes have no electricity.
New Orleans is one of America’s most important cities. It is one of the keys to our cultural heritage. Lives have been displaced perhaps permanently. OK, even if some argue that we should not rebuild in the path of flooding and potential hurricanes what is our responsibility to our fellow citizens who have met with disaster?
The people of NO might as well be living in Darfur or Mozambique or Bangladesh. What we have not done to massively rebuild that community and to help its citizens is an abomination.
Most of the work being done in the Big Easy is being done by you and me, by volunteers who give their time to rebuild those communities, to provide medical care, to fight for the rights of the incarcerated.
If we can’t rebuilt the Big Easy, then what do we expect to do in Baghdad?
-Marc
August 27, 2007
Hey everyone …How do you cover an election with honesty and integrity? We are going to talk about that at the noon hour today.
Here we have Baltimore City elections with four democrats and one green running for President of the City Council. That’s not so hard, but you have nine candidates running for Mayor.
The media, even in the City Council President race, is focusing on the two “big names,” Stephanie Rawlings Blake and Michael Sarbanes. When we sponsored the President’s debate last week with the League of Women Voters, the Sun the next day focused on Rawlings-Blake and Sarbanes. They were really good that night, but Councilman Ken Harris and Green party candidate Maria Allwine had some really profound things to say, and one would never know that by reading the article.
So, what do we do? If you have no money, you can’t buy signs, media time or literature. So, you get forgotten by the voters and the media. Do we in the media have a special responsibility to raise the public debate to be all inconclusive? Is there a threshold in polls or money that should decide who gets covered? Is public financing the answer and how do you do that? How do you break through the clutter?
Let us know .. call in or blog on to give us your ideas.
And at one, it is Jonathan Kozol … he is amazing. He is one of the most cogent, brilliant thinkers about education anywhere. His books like Savage Inequalities are milestones in educational writing. All of you have been to school or have kids in school or had kids in school. We all have opinions about what education should be. He and I will cover vouchers, No Child Left Behind, standardized testing and most importantly from his book, Letters to a Young Teacher, the art and beauty of teaching. That art and beauty of teaching is something we are losing all too rapidly. Did you see the Sunday Sun with the article about pre-school? We are taking the play out of nursery school and kindergarten … kindergarten mean children's garden, where they can blossom, learning through play.What are we doing to our children? Unless you can afford private school it seems we are regulated by mind numbing regulations, testing and boredom. Thank God for the creative teachers who love our kids and teaching enough to make it alive despite the rules “to teach for the tests!”
What are your thoughts? I would really like to know. Hear you on the air... read your thoughts on the blog, marcAugust 27, 2007
August 27, 2007
Another election season is upon us. While there are five candidates seeking the office of Baltimore City Council President and nine candidates running for mayor how many candidates are you aware of? The same with the Democratic and Republican candidates running for next year’s presidential nomination. Can you name all of them?
When a number of candidates run for one political office does the media attention on only the leading candidates influence the race? Do candidates end up getting excluded because of polling, fundraising and media resources? This hour we discuss the role of the media in political races. We’ll discuss the who, how and what determining which candidates receive the most media coverage with Sean Yoes, Senior Reporter for the Afro-American newspaper, Baltimore Sun City Editor Howard Libit and Patrick Gonzales, whose market and research firm conducts political polls.
What do you think?
Poll: Should the media pay more attention to lesser known candidates?
You can go here (pdf) to get the League of Women Voters 2007 Primary Voters' Guide. And come to our Mayoral forum on Wednesday night from 7-9 pm in the Wheeler Auditorium at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. MarcusAugust 24, 2007
On Tuesday, author Linda Perlstein is coming on the show. I was looking up reviews for her new book Tested, which led me to Newsday's site. The headline of their current "most emailed" story caught my attention: "Televangelist Bynum recovering after attack." Another click revealed that it is also currently their "most viewed" story. I was intrigued enough to read it, but it's strange to think about what captures people's short attention spans these days...
-Justin
August 24, 2007
Let me recommend the website www.watchingamerica.com once again. It's a great website that translates into English articles about the United States from all over the world.
I found a recent article from a Swiss paper of interest. It's called Can America 'Find Love' Again? It's basically advice from a Swiss columnist on how America could improve its popularity around the world. A recent Pew Poll that talked to 45,000 people in 46 countries found that this is how people feel about us:
image borrowed from www.watchingamerica.com
Yikes. What do you think of that? I'm sort of surprised that people on Venezuela are so split. We seem to be pretty popular in Africa; must be all those aid dollars?
How important is it that other countries have a favorable impression of the United States? Does it matter? Should we try and improve it? How could we improve it?
Poll: Is it important for America to have a positive approval rating?
We don't have a show planned on this topic, but I'd just be interested to hear what you have to say.
image borrowed from www.watchingamerica.com
Yikes. What do you think of that? I'm sort of surprised that people on Venezuela are so split. We seem to be pretty popular in Africa; must be all those aid dollars?
How important is it that other countries have a favorable impression of the United States? Does it matter? Should we try and improve it? How could we improve it?
Poll: Is it important for America to have a positive approval rating?
We don't have a show planned on this topic, but I'd just be interested to hear what you have to say.
-Jessica
August 22, 2007
Tonight, a very special two hour Marc Steiner Show. We bring you a conversation with Dr. Andres Alonso, the new CEO of Baltimore City Schools. He'll be on the air with the Chairman of the Baltimore City School Board.
My co-producer Marcus says he has seen this scenario a thousand times; a new official comes into a city, and there is a lovey-dovey honeymoon period where everyone extols the virtues of the new official and truly believes this person will have the secret on how to change things. And then the blush leaves the rose. What do you think? Have you heard things from Dr. Alonso that make you feel that maybe this guy has a chance to really make a difference?
Poll: Do you think Dr. Andres Alonso can make Baltimore City Schools better?
Poll: Should Baltimore have an elected school board?
Poll: Should the City-State Partnership be ended?
Poll: Should principals and teachers have more autonomy?
Join us tonight! Get your questions in beforehand here, or email us at thesteinershow@wypr.org, or call during the show, from 7-9 pm, at 410-662-8780, or 1-866-661-9309 (I finally got those numbers memorized!)
-Jessica
August 22, 2007
Ooowee! If you didn't join us last night at the Enoch Pratt Free Library to hear the candidates for President of the Baltimore City Council argue their cases for why they should be elected, you missed out! I'll be honest; I wasn't thrilled at the idea of working until 9:30. But I had a great time and was really impressed by a lot of the things the candidates had to say.
Couldn't come? That's okay; we're replaying the entire debate today, on air. Tune in to hear Maria Allwine (G), Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D), Ken Harris (D), Michael Sarbanes (D), and Charles Ulysses Smith (D). You'll hear their answers to burning questions such as: If you had the power to do so, would you remove the Male/Female sculpture in front of Penn Station? What high school did you go to? And of course, we'll talk serious policy issues; the drug problem, vacant homes, schools, taxes, etc.
Special thanks to the League of Women Voters of Baltimore City for arranging and hosting the event!
Don't miss next weeks forum with the candidates for Mayor of Baltimore City! Same time (Wednesday, 7pm), same place (Wheeler Auditorium, Enoch Pratt). Call 410-377-7738 for more information.
Listen to the forum! Hour One Hour Two
-Jessica
P.S. Extra points if you can determine exactly where the debate got a little dirty!
Poll: Who would you like to see be Baltimore City Council President?
Poll: If you had the power to, would YOU remove the Male/Female statue outside of Penn Station?
August 21, 2007
Today we bring you four fascinating interviews.
- Congressman Elijah Cummings joins us to discuss the Iraq War and more.
- We talk to Principal Susan Burgess and teacher Tracy Larkins from George Washington Elementary, a Baltimore City school that is having great results on standardized testing. What are they doing right?
- Our old friend Richard Vatz, Professor at Towson and Associate Psycology Editor of USA Today Magazine, stops by to discuss his recent editorial about Republicans and 2008 politics.
- And finally, we talk to Rabbi Arik Ascherman and his wife Rabbi Einat Ramon (the first Israeli-born female Rabbi) about the human rights work they do in Israel and Palestine.
-Jessica
August 20, 2007
We did this GREAT interview with Frank Deford one April. It was live in front of a crowd of people at Hood College. It was great; Marc and Frank talking for an hour about sports and how sportsmanship has changed...the audience asked questions...everyone had fun and it was a great, great show. A great, great show that no one ever got to hear because of a mysterious corruption of the audio. Sigh. So join us today at 1 pm as we force lightening to strike again, for another great hour with the really wonderful Mr. Frank DeFord. You know him from his witty and always surprising sports commentary on NPR's Morning Edition. He's just written a new novel called The Entitled: A Tale of Modern Baseball. Listen to this show! -Jessica
August 20, 2007
We're back! We're back! Did you miss us?
And as always after an extended time away...we bring you an hour of Open Phones to get back into the swing of things. What's going on in the world that you care about? What made you mad last week? How do you feel about things?
We missed you! Give us a call ( 410.662.8780) during the show, or email us (thesteinershow@wypr.org) or leave a message here!
Listen to this show!
-Jessica
August 7, 2007
I'll be honest. Sometimes, the phone calls from A. Robert Kaufman are not always the most welcome. You know he is going to twist your ear about not having a certain viewpoint (read:his) on the show, and will give you a slightly long winded explanation of how he feels and the data to back his opinions up and why this is important and so on and so on. We're often pressed for time in this job, so sometimes this is not always the most welcome phone call.
But the thing about Bob is, this is really a person who pretty much gives everything he has to the things he believes in. He's spent his life speaking out for the kind of people that most consider the dregs of society-the poor, the addicted, the prostitutes, the mentally ill. He imagines a society where someone who needs help gets it. That's really very radical and it's not often that someone espouses these beliefs and then puts their money where their mouth is like he does. We live in a Christian nation but this perennial candidate and atheist is one of the few people I know that really embraces and lives some of the social teachings of Jesus about poverty and loving and taking care of those in need, our modern day lepers.
So I have a lot of respect for Mr. Kaufman-and will always take his phone calls. He's on our show today because he is running for Mayor of Baltimore, and I know he has a lot to say about how we can make this a better city. I hope you'll join us.
-Jessica
August 6, 2007
I will confess that when the whole scandal about the firing of seven U.S. Attorneys I didn't find myself too captivated by the entire ordeal. It was one of those incidents where, sure, I knew it was important, but I was having trouble rousing myself to be captivated by it. Maybe it just seemed like just more of the same. But the larger debates that have arisen from it are another story-such as the one over executive privilege.
President Eisenhower was the heaviest user of executive privilege-he invoked it over 40 times in response to demands from Senator Joseph McCarthy that White House aides testify before Congress. The last time an aide went to court for not complying with a congressional supeana was in 1983, when Environmental Protection Agency official Rita Lavelle was told by the Reagan Administration to not testify regarding the use of Superfund money. The jury found her not guilty of contempt charges.
The White House has asserted "executive privilege" as a reason to keep Bush Administration aides from testifying in Congress. According to a lot of things I have read, executive privilege lives in a sort of "constitutional wilderness." The concept seems to be generally accepted as an idea, but it's scope and it's weight are undetermined.
Join us today as we discuss this issue. What do you think? Is President Bush going too far with who he is extending executive privilege too? Is Congress on a witch hunt?
-Jessica
August 1, 2007
On 8/1 and 8/2 we will be bringing you some great rebroadcasts.
- Wednesday at Noon-Though it is known as the Summer of Love, 40 years ago the summer of 1967 was a summer of increasing urban unrest. Newark and Detroit both suffered serious riots that claimed the lives of almost 70 people. Maryland saw it's share of violence that summer as well. In the usually quiet hamlet of Cambridge, on the Eastern Shore, 20 buildings were burned to the ground as the result of racial tensions. Baltimore's Summer of 1967 was by no means peaceful. So three cities, each shaped by their history of racial tensions and violence--all three cities who are struggling with rising crime in their cities today. What can we learn? We'll talk to Antero Pietella from the Baltimore Examiner, Stephen Henderson from the Detroit Free Press,and Jonathan Schuppe from the Newark Star Ledger to discuss issues of crime and violence in cities.
- Wednesday at One-In another vein entirely...we discuss nonviolence. Mark Kurlansky was our guest earlier this year to discuss his fascinating book Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea. We'll talk about Gandhi and Martin Luther King, of course, and how they used nonviolence-but this isn't just a history lesson. We'll talk about the future of nonviolence, and how this radical notion could work in places like Palestine or Iraq.
- Thursday at Noon-As a writing for Rolling Stone, The Atlantic Monthly, Playboy, Car and Driver,and more, P.J. O'Rourke's political writings have reached a more diverse audience than possibly anyone else. He joined Marc to discuss his latest work, On the Wealth of Nations. That's right-it's a book about a book. Don't hurt yourself now!
- Thursday at One-Carl Hiaasen has been delighting readers of his novels and his Miami Herald column for years with his witty, dry humor famous for skewering corrupt officials. He became a journalist's hero last year when he stood up to a compromised publisher at his paper last year-and won. He'll talk about that and also his latest novel Nature Girl, a novel populated with the colorful and larger-than-life characters Hiaasen is famous for. And-hometown connection alert-his brother is our city's very own Baltimore Sun reporter Rob Hiaasen!
-Jessica
P.S. I wonder if my visit to www.playboy.com/magazine made bells go off in our IT person's office?July 31, 2007
Should someone who has been convicted of a felony be allowed to vote after they finish their sentence and return home from prison?
The laws governing ex-felons voting rights vary from state to state, and many have changed in the last few years. Ex-felons can now vote in most states, now including Maryland as of this year.
It makes sense to me that someone deserves to have the choice to vote after they've finished a prison sentence, whatever their crime was. Any other argument aside for the moment, aren't prisons supposed to offer a chance for reform and rehabilitiation?
I've heard arguments otherwise, though, including on the show today. One caller suggested that offering ex-felons voting rights amounts to an attack on The Republican Party, based on his assumption that most ex-felons would vote Democrat.
Any thoughts?
-Justin
July 30, 2007
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A rebroadcast of Marc's November 2006 interview with essayist, novelist, playwright, author and political critic Gore Vidal whose latest memoir is titled Point to Point Navigation.
Marcus
A rebroadcast of Marc's November 2006 interview with essayist, novelist, playwright, author and political critic Gore Vidal whose latest memoir is titled Point to Point Navigation.
MarcusJuly 30, 2007
The past two months have seen a decline in military enlistment. Where the military was once seen as means of upward mobility and obtaining an education, concern over the possibility of being sent to Iraq and Afghanistan has led to a decline in military enlistment.
Guest host, Goucher College President, Sanford Ungar discussed the methods the military is using to attract more people to join the military with Curtis Gilroy Director of Accession Policy Director, Accession Policy for the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Anita Dancs Research Director National Priorities Project.
MarcusJuly 26, 2007
In honor of his induction, this week into the Baseball Hall of Fame, we are rebroadcasting Marc's interview with Baltimore Oriole's legend Cal Ripken, Jr. He's known as the Iron Man for breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak in 1995. Ripkin played 21 seasons with the Orioles and and that time he was voted Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player twice.
Earlier this year, Cal Ripken received the ultimate honor of being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility. In April, Marc interviewed Cal about his book Get in the Game: Eight Elements of Perseverence that Make a Difference. In the book, Ripken shares stories about his career in baseball and insights on life and work.
-Marcus
July 26, 2007
The sports world has been rocked to its foundations in the last week or so, with allegations that an NBA referee bet on games, including some he worked. In addition, one of the NFL’s marquee players is facing federal charges that he operated a dog fighting operation on his property. Meanwhile, the greatest career accomplishment in baseball history is being pursued by a man that many believe used performance enhancing substances. Guest host Milton Kent of the Baltimore Sun, discussed these topics, as well as the enshrinement this weekend of Cal Ripken into the baseball Hall of Fame and the start of the Ravens’ training camp.
July 25, 2007
The popularity of television shows like Cold Case and CSI have proven to be ratings winners for networks and resulted in increased interest in detective work. But real life seldom mirrors television and the work of the police is not wrapped up in an hour with commercial breaks.
This hour Marc talked with Lieutenant Terry Mc Larney and Detective Homer Pennington of the Baltimore Police Department Homicide Unit. They're also cold case detectives who recently solved a 1989 Baltimore murder. We learned about the detective work that goes into solving years-old murder cases. Marc then talked with forensic psychologist Jim McGee about his work and the role profiling has played in police detection.
Marcus
July 25, 2007
I'm not Jewish. When I told two friends who are Jewish about today's show with Tsvi Bisk, I said, "He basically says that Jews need to stop being so obsessed with the past." These two friends come from about as different political viewpoints as possible, but they each said, "He's right. Jews are obsessed with the past."
Now the interesting thing is that both of these friends are also young-in their twenties. And in his book called The Optimistic Jew, Tsvi Bisk says that Judaism will lose the attention and interest of these young people-the future- if it remains what he calls "a culture constantly in mourning," a culture obsessed with what happened in the past. He believes that the Jewish people need to turn their attention from the past to the future in order to become leaders in the 21st century.
Thoughts? What did you think when he said that Jews needed to stop obsessing over the Holocaust? Or when he said that Israel is not the goal-it is simply a tool, a means towards liberal democracy? I thought he said some pretty interesting and controversial stuff. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
-Jessica
July 25, 2007
Our Beloved Bay
Today at noon we brought you a conversation with Gerald Winegrad. He is a former state senator who is now a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. We invited him on because of a recent op-ed he wrote for the Baltimore Sun called What it will take to restore the Bay. His op-ed paints a dismal scenario of how Bay restoration will fare if we keep continuing on as we are now. He talked with Marc about the tough political decisions that have to be made. He thinks that we are giving a free pass to agricultural polluters, and we need to demand that they stop polluting or take their land and return it to forestland. He says we have to let the state have more power over land-use decisions. What do you think? Are chicken farmers given way too much leeway? Should counties and municipalities be able to do whatever they want with their land? What should we do?-Jessica
July 25, 2007
(Plastic Bottles, 2007 by Chris Jordan) Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes. Next to the cell phone and the i-pod, the accessory du jour is a bottle of water. Whether it’s Fiji, Deer Park, Aquafina or Dasani, the bottled water industry is a billion-dollar business. But why do people spend so much on something they can get for free? And what impact are all those plastic bottles, that don’t get recycled, having on our environment?
Budgetary and environmental concerns over bottled water have led cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles and Ann Arbor Michigan to prohibit the use of city funds for bottled water. In addition, restaurants nationwide are removing bottled waters from their menus. One of Marc's guests this hour was business writer Charles Fishman, who wrote about the bottled water industry for Fast Company Magazine. What he learned about the industry may change the way you think about, or purchase, bottled water.
Other related links to this show:
International Bottled Water Association Website
EPA National Primary Drinking Water Regulations
Consumer Reports on Water Filters
Life Straw for Water Purification
-Marcus
July 25, 2007
Marc's guest this hour was former Montgomery County Delegate now Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot. Franchot has been in the news of late for his clashes with Governor Martin O’Malley over the state budget, slots and a Queen Anne County land deal.
Critics of Franchot feel his attempts to raise the profile of the Comptroller’s office unmasks his ambition to someday occupy the governor’s office. In addition observers believe the Comptroller is venturing into areas such as budget balancing, economic development and environmental policy which have traditionally been the governor’s domain.July 23, 2007
First off today, Iraqi-born, Maryland-residing professor Adil Shamoo joins us to discuss where he would like to see US foreign policy in Iraq go from here. Here's his July 16 editorial from The Sun: "America Should Leave Iraq, But For the Right Reasons."
Then, we'll hear about the long history of struggle for democracy within Iran. Our guests are Janet Afary and Kevin B. Anderson. They are husband and wife, and co-authors of both the book Foucault and The Iranian Revolution: Gender and The Seductions of Islamism and the recent article in The Nation magazine "The Iranian Impasse."
Lastly, anyone been to The Walters Museum lately and seen The Gee's Bend exhibit? Tune in to hear an interview with Louisiana Bendolph and Mary Lee Bendolph, two of the quilters from Gee's Bend, as well as Linda Day Clark, whose photographs from Gee's Bend make up an accompanying exhibit.
-Justin
July 18, 2007
Two shows in one blog post.
At noon we'll have our monthly installment of open phones. If you want to get your ideas for discussion in early, comment here and we'll see what you have to say before we go on the air!
Then at one, we'll join in the frenzy of anticipation for the new Harry Potter book, which is going to be out at midnight on Friday. I learned all about how closely guarded a secret this book is being kept until then when I looked into getting an advance review copy. Turns out there's no such thing; I guess they don't need to worry about a lack of publicity. So, it leaves us to speculate about what is going to happen in the last book. We'll also hear some ideas about what you and your kids can read once you've exhausted the Harry Potter collection.
-Justin
Here's a list of books that were discussed today:
- Harry Potter Series
- Chronicles of Narnia
- Phillip Pullman’s books
- Lion Boy series
- Inheritance trilogy – Christopher Paolini
- Twilight and New Moon – Stephanie Myers
- Coraline – Gaiman
- Wizards Hall – Jane Yolen
- So you want to be a Wizard – Diane duane
- The Great Stalk and Company – Kipling
- The Omen – Terry Prachett
- Good Omens – Neil Gauman
- The House of the Scorpion – Nancy Farmer
- Mercedes Lackey - Tamora Pierce
- Bartimaeus Trilogy
- Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- Mike Lupica
- Matt Christopher
- The Dangerous Book for Boys
- The Spy Handbook
- The Redwall Series – Brian Jacques
- Enid Blyton’s books
- Discworld Series – Terry Pratchett
- Lloyd Alexander’s books