Show

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!

So, I hope you enjoy.  We'll be back on Monday!

-Jessica

P.S. I wonder if my visit to www.playboy.com/magazine made bells go off in our IT person's office? 

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

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

At noon tomorrow we will be discussing something we try to return to often: Iraq War veterans issues. First, an update from Joshua Kors.  You might remember we've had him on twice to discuss the work he did investigating the personality disorder scandal.  That is when soldiers wounded in active duty in Iraq were being discharged under Chapter 5-13, a personality disorder.  But personality disorder is a pre-existing condition, and that meant the Army was not responsible for providing disability or medical benefits.  Kors' investigative work showed that men who were very clearly wounded DURING their service were being cheated of benefits they rightfully deserved by this classification.  His work has attracted the attention of senators who have petitioned Defense Secretary Robert Gates to investigate and who have also introduced an amendment that would temporarily suspend Chapter 5-13 until an investigation can be had.  You can learn more at the website for ABC World News with Charles Gibson, where Bob Woodruff has been working with Kors to continue reporting the story.  And then...more new shocking investigative work from The Nation.  The Nation has spent the past several months interviewing 50 combat veterans of the Iraq War and these interviews have uncovered what the Nation says is a brutal side of the war and a shocking record of disturbing behavior by American troops.  You can read the report here.  We are going to be joined by the reports authors and by some of the veterans who were interviewed.  Join us for this important show.

-Jessica

I've had people tell me that Dr. Andrey Bundley is the kind of guy whose candidacy should get a lot more press and attention than it does-that he should be a candidate that attracts attention, but his campaign has seemed to ride under the radar.  I have to admit I am kind of disappointed by the Baltimore mayoral election so far.  When we were working hard on shows about the senatorial and congressional campaigns, I remember thinking, "Wow, I cannot wait to see how exciting the Mayoral campaign is!"  But it's been sort of quiet and....okay...boring.  Have people just sort of decided that the interim mayor and thus incumbent Sheila Dixon is going to win? Well I haven't--forget that!  Come on people, let's have a race here!  Let's get serious!  Let's get excited! Let's pay some attention!  Let's call and write in and ask Andrey Bundley important questions!!!! I am counting on all of you to restore my flagging civic enthusiasm!

-Jessica

Five people were shot this weekend.  Two people were fatally stabbed last week.  One of the victims was a 15 year old girl.  A witness in a murder case was shot, and police have charged a 15 year old boy with the crime.  The murder toll has hit 180. Do you think the police and the Mayor are doing enough? We're going to talk today with Marcie Jones of the Baltimore Crime Blog,Ser Greene of the Ashburton Area Association, and Brian Dale, President of the Ridgely's Delight Neighborhood Association. Bring your comments and thoughts to the table....

-Jessica

 

Our discussion of Citizens on Crime in Baltimore began with a conversation with Anna whose husband Zach was attacked in front on his home on June 1^st.  The attack on Zach shows how vulnerable we all are to crime in our city. As a show of solidarity and an attempt to reclaim our streets from violence friends and family of Zach are organizing a Neighbors’ Night Out on Sunday, August 5^th from 2 – 8pm. For more information on this event go to: www.zachsowers.com/neighbors-night-out.php

 

 

I read on CNN.COM today that they have discovered hominid fossils in Ethiopia that date from a time period for which the history of human evolution is poorly understood: 3.5-3.8 million years ago. Which just makes our show for Tuesday so perfect! A few months ago Marc came in all excited about an article he had read about a book called The Last Human: A Guide to Twenty-Two Species of Extinct Humans.  He asked me to get a review copy of the book and to try and get the authors on. Today you will be hearing from paleoartist Viktor Deak and Richard Milner, a historian of science, editor of Natural History Magazine, and author of the Encyclopedia of Evolution and Darwin's Universe.  So obviously humans are the sole surviving hominid lifeform.  That seems normal to us.  But in fact it is very strange; for most of their history, it seems that various types of humans and prehumans coexisted together.  That's so interesting to me, and I think a lot of other people too; why else would we like the Geico caveman commercials so much that the ABC network thinks it is a good idea to turn it into a television pilot?  We like the idea of a world where various Homo species live together.  I think we like the way something really similiar to us but not just like us tells us things about ourselves.  We're obsessed with twins and triplets and stories about long-lost siblings for the same reason.  But talking about this book isn't enough.  It's power comes from the dozens and dozens of arresting, amazingly lifelike images created by paleoartist Viktor Deak.  I knew you needed to see them to really understand how cool this book is.  So...just for you...because I care...Here is a slideshow of some images from the book.  Get started!

-Jessica

In August 2006, the Department of Public Works of Elkton, Maryland went to the woods where some homeless people were living, pushed their belongings into a pile, and then carted it all off to a dump. The town also passed legislation this May that made illegal certain types of loitering.  Now, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland is suing to protest the legislation and what took place in August 2006. We invited the police, Mayor, and Commissioners of Elkton to come on.  No one took us up on our offer. So we'll talk this half hour about this court case, and the larger issue of rural homelesses in Maryland.  More than 38 thousand people are turned away from shelters each year in Maryland because there simply are not enough beds or enough money to help them.  The town of Elkton has a men's shelter on Main Street had 18 beds total last summer.  48 men were on the waiting list to get in.  So what are the resources or strategies that small municipalities can use to deal with the issue of rural  or small-town homelessness? How can we balance the concerns of business owners who say the homeless population causes problems for them with the needs of the homeless themselves? We'll discuss that this half hour. And please feel free to share with us your own experiences with homelessness or your encounters with the homeless, whether you live in a city or a small town.

-Jessica

We're back!  Sorry about the break in blogging.  Normal operations to resume.

Didja hear our interview with Ralph Nader today?  What do you think?  Crusader?  Spoiler? Well, today we had him on as an author.  The book is The Seventeen Traditions.  In this book he takes a look back at the values that shaped his own life and childhood, values such as listening, charity, and patriotism.  An overly sentimental look back, or does this book hold lessons for how we can reinvigorate our civic involvement? Do you want to meet Ralph Nader?  He will be in Baltimore this weekend at an event sponsored by Red Emma's.  It will be at St. John's Church at 2640 Saint Paul Street in Charles Village this Saturday at 1 pm.

-Jessica

We've got a fantastic show for you at one o'clock today.  Folk music legends Doc Watson and Jean Ritchie are giving us their first joint interview in decades.  You can see them this month at the Common Ground on the Hill Roots Music Festival. The show is prerecorded, so we cannot take any calls, but you can leave comments, memories, and questions here. Enjoy!

-Jessica

I hope you will join guest host Jim O'Leary today at Noon for a look at some of the most recent and exciting developments in space exploration.  There are several robotic missions that are about to or just begun.  We'll talk about the New Horizons mission.  Since January 2006 this space probe has been traveling to Pluto.  It won't arrive until 2015, but will send back information about atmospheric escape, which will teach us about Earth's atmospheric evolution.  That's just the tip of the iceberg for this mission.  The Messenger spacecraft has been en route to Mercury since August 2004.  It will orbit Mercury-the first spacecraft to do so-and will send back the first new information in 30 years about that planet. And in just a few days, the Dawn spacecraft will be launched.  This spacecraft will be exploring the asteroid belt. So join us this hour as we discuss these exciting developments in space exploration!

-Jessica

 

I am just going to go ahead and admit that I am afraid of science.  I am also afraid of math.  Just the idea of trying to understand mathmatical or scientific concepts makes my brain shut down.  There were many unpleasant moments in high school because of this mental block.* But so now that I am a bit older and a bit more patient, and more interested in the world around me, I find myself actually wanting or needing science sometimes in order to be able to understand concepts or ideas that are important to our world.  Like, climate change, or bird flu, or stem cells.  But where to go to get that kind of information?  Who is going to teach science to adults? Natalie Angier is!  Her new book has been called a "guide for the scientifically perplexed adult who wants to understand what those guys in lab coats on the news are babbling about."  That would be me.  Is it you, too?  Join us today and find out.

 -Jessica

*College was quite a different story where thanks to distribution requirements that were kind to non-scientific minds, I was only made to take two science classes.  Most people took psychology, but I took a course called Ethonobotany and a course called The Biology of Science Fiction.  This was hands down the best science course I have ever taken.  In fact it was one of the best classes I took in college.  Every meager things I know about science I learned in this class from science fiction writer and professor Joan Slonczewski.  If you like science fiction, check out her stuff.  Thanks for helping me not be totally terrified of science, Professor S.

 

I'm hanging this picture above my desk.

Whether you love Dick Cheney or hate him, you gotta admit...he's got to be pretty clever to have made the vice presidency so powerful. Marc shared a colorful quote during his introduction to today's show.  John Nance Garner said the vice-presidency is "not worth a pitcher of warm piss."  Lovely image, and perhaps not true anymore-or at least, not true for Dick Cheney, who has exercised considerable influence from that position. We'll be discussing this at noon today.  What do you think?

-Jessica

How do you feel about the fact that tens of thousands of people are coming to our state because of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)?  Are you a real estate agent who is looking forward to the business? ...or a parent who is worried about more kids in an already overcrowded school? Are you a highway construction worker looking forward to benefit from the money for new transportation projects? ...or a frustrated commuter dreading even more clogged roadways? Are you a homeowner hoping to benefit from a rise in property values that may result from a rise in demand? ...or someone one or two years away from being a first time home-buyer dreading the effect these well-payed military types will have on local home prices (that would be me!)? There are just so many ways to feel about BRAC! Today at noon we are joined by Lt. Governor Anthony Brown.  He is the chair of the BRAC subcommittee.  He is going to tell us what he has been doing to make sure we are ready for all these people.

-Jessica

Whatever you think of her politics, you have to respect the passion and commitment that Maria Allwine shows to the causes that are dear to her. Her newest incarnation is as the Green Party candidate for President of the City Council of Baltimore City.  She'll be joining us today to discuss her agenda for that office.  What would she do if elected?  She's run for office before, but never served.  Would her history of political activism translate into effective political leadership?  What would it mean for Baltimore to have someone like Maria Allwine at the helm of our city council? Join us with your thoughts and questions.

-Jessica

 A little bit of radio lingo for you: perf-chat.  That's when a musician comes into the studio and performs AND chats with the host.  That is what we are going to do on Wednesday with two members of the Cowboy Junkies.  The Cowboy Junkies made their mark in 1988 with The Trinity Session, which was recorded live in a single day in a church in Toronto.  Now they are out with their 11th studio album, called At the End of Paths Taken.  It's a rumination on family, on standing in between growing children and aging parents, on marriage, birth, and death. They'll be playing at Ramshead Live!on Wednesday night, but you can join us Wednesday at 1 o'clock for a performance and to hear Marc talks with Margot and Michael Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies.

-Jessica

Have you ever heard of the practice of "selective reduction"?  This is when a woman who has become pregnant with more than one child has a doctor eliminite one or more fetuses through an injection of potassium chloride. The idea is to strengthen the chances of survival for the remaining fetus or fetuses.  It's a traumatic experience for the women and families who must undergo it. The rate that selective reduction happens?  It is going up as more and more women use Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART).  Many of the fertility treatments used today result in a woman carrying multiple fetuses. But while she may conceive that many, the womb remains, as author and journalist Liza Mundy says, " ideally, a single-occupancy vehicle."  And so in order to save one or two fetuses, others must be reduced.  According to Liza Mundy, 1 in 7 American couples struggle with fertility problems.  And in our "want it, get it" culture, those struggling with fertility problems aren't going to just accept the hand nature has dealt them.  They're going to invest in what is now a multi-billion dollar industry and in many cases, sacrfice financial stability and their health in order to achieve pregnancy.  And it's hard to not support what these couples are doing-the pain of being unable to conceive or carry a child to term is unthinkable. Liza Mundy's new book is Everything Conceivable: How Assisted Reproduction is Changing Men, Women, and the World."  In this book she takes a comphrensive look at the growth of the ART industry and beyond.  She tackles the philosophical and ethical questions that this new technology is creating and the vast consequences it has for human destiny. I hope you will join us for this fantastic show and call or write in with your own experiences with Assisted Reproductive Technology or your thoughts on the ethics of it all.  Or post in the blog for other's to read your thoughts.

-Jessica

Who the heck is Andres Alonso? Well, starting July 1st, the new CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools. He's also a Cuban immigrant, a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School.  He's been a teacher and was most currently the Number 2 official in the New York City Public School System. He's also our guest tomorrow at Noon. Now, I know you all are passionate about our schools and how they need to be reformed.  I hope to see lots and lots of comments and ideas in this blog.  Anything posted before the show will be given to Marc so he can consider to read or ask during the program.

-Jessica

 

update:  Don't miss our two hour special with Dr. Andres Alonso that will air from 7-9 pm on August 22nd on WYPR!

 

This afternoon we welcome Stanford University professor Seth Lerer. He is the author of Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language.  If you are a fan of William Satfire and love to learn the etymology of words, this show is for you.  My boyfriend is a big fan of words and wordplay.  I had to beg him last night to cease anagramming words outloud-it's driving me crazy.  He's the kind of word nut that will excitedly tell anyone who will listen how awful and awesome once meant the same thing, and will get very heated when discussing how he believes people misuse the word myriad.  If you have the same tendancies (or if you are just driven mad by people who do), join us today.  We'll be talking about how the English language has developed, and some of the people who had the biggest influence, like William Shakespeare.  Did you have any idea how many words he invented?  Apparently, I have him to thank for my name.

-Jessica

It's time for another rollicking round of Open Phones.  What's on your mind?  Call in at 410/662/8780, 866/661/9309, email at steinershow@wypr.org, or post your comment or idea below and I'll get it to Marc before the show.

-Jessica

On Thursday we are going to be pre-recording an interview with Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar.  They've written a book called On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl's Guide to Personal Finance. The back reads "Most young women would love to live a carefree lifestyle filled with lunches, Louis Vuitton, and lattes, but what you might not know is that doing so can lead to future financial breakdown." I am famously bad with money.  I have no debt only because I KNOW I am bad with money and am thus terrified of credit cards.  But I also have no savings.  And I know most women my age are in the same boat.  Isn't our generation of women supposed to be smarter than this?  Aren't we supposed to be into the idea of providing for ourselves and taking care of ourselves?  Yet I look around and most of my friends seem to be waiting for someone else's finances to make things like home ownership and a college education for their children possible.  Since this will be a pre-record, we won't be able to take calls.  I'm hoping that in the comments section of the blog some of our female listeners will post questions or comments about their failures/successes in managing their personal finances.  What pitfalls have you experienced that you want to warn other women to avoid?  What have you succeeded at? 

-Jessica

 

The FBI released it's 2006 crime statistics last week and it looks like Baltimore is the second most violent city in the country, behind Detroit. Our homicide rate is out of control. Yet the violent crime rate, which includes rape, robbery, and assault, is down, bucking a nationwide trend. What's going on? We'll tackle some of the same topics we talked about with David Kennedy.  How is Mayor Dixon's reign influencing the Police Department?  Will there be a shift away from the statistics driven model that O'Malley preferred?  How is the Police Department using Mayor Dixon's crime plan?  What is the strategy? We'll be joined by Baltimore City Police Department Deputy Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld.  Join us!

-Jessica

Today we welcome David Kennedy on the show.  He used to be a resercher and professor at Harvard, where he wrote the seminal study Beyond 911: A New Era for Policing.  He also directed the Boston Gun Project, which was a large scale iniative focused on dealing with the homicide rate for young people in that city. His expertise is in community policing.  Now, that's a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot, but what does it really mean?  It means a style of policing that strives to reduce violent crime by increasing interaction and cooperation between law enforcement and the communities they serve.  It's an enforcement strategy but also a philosophy about the role law enforcement plays in a community and its relationship to the public.  David Kennedy will join us today to talk about how the community policing model has worked in other American cities.  Will Baltimore invest in this model to bring down our homicide rate? Join us at noon....

-Jessica

This June marks the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War. Like anything else in history that has anything to do with Israel, this topic can still inflame passions, exacerbate tensions, cause arguments, etc. To commemorate the anniversary of this important time in history, we'll be joined by Tom Segev. He is an Israeli journalist and historian who just recently wrote a book on the Six Day War called 1967: Israel, the War, and the Year that Transformed the Middle East. Tom's previous books challenged accepted views of Israeli history. In this book he works to provide a complete and holistic account of all of the social, historical, psychological, national, and international factors that led to the war. Should be a great hour with, I'm sure, many passionate callers. Too shy for the phone? Leave your comments here!!!

-Jessica Phillips