Each year, Baltimore’s Open Society Institute Community Fellows take on a project to improve city life.

Devan Southerland, whose son has autism, talks about building inclusivity in McElderry Park. Over the next year and a half, she will develop Brown on the Spectrum, to provide resources and cultivate work and other opportunities for young people with autism in Baltimore City.

And engineer Anisah Best plans to raise digital literacy among seniors and returning citizens. Best is the founder and CEO of Baltimore Tech Hub. With her fellowship, she will establish ED x Tech Literacy Training.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Climate scientist David Goodrich bicycled nearly 3,000 miles over paths navigated by enslaved people on the Underground Railroad -- including Harriet Tubman’s route to independence in Canada. Why? What did he learn? We ask about his book, "On Freedom Road: Bicycle Explorations and Reckonings on the Underground Railroad."

Goodrich will be speaking at the bookstore Bird in Hand tomorrow evening at 6 pm. Details here.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Cancers of the blood -- like lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma--make up about one-tenth of all cancers. The prognosis for patients with blood cancers is being revolutionized by new treatments that harness a patient’s own white-blood cells and turn them into cancer zappers. It’s called CAR T-cell therapy; the FDA approved it several years ago and it's now more available to patients with aggressive lymphoma. For about half the patients who get it, this new immunotherapy is a cure. 

We speak with University of Maryland oncology professor Dr. Aaron Rapoport, who directs the transplant and cellular therapy program at the Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. And with nurse Kathy Ruehle, senior coordinator and manager of the program.

The, Sonia Su is cancer-free after three bouts of lymphoma. She shares her story and talks about Kits to Heart, the nonprofit she founded. 

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Here's a Stoop Story from Josh Riley about how gifts can come in many forms.

Attend the next LIVE Stoop storytelling Mon. Feb. 6 - the theme is Every Body Has a Story. More details here.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Can you name the three branches of American Government?

Dozens of Maryland middle-school students will test their knowledge in the National Civics Bee -- an effort to engage young people with their communities -- and democracy. We hear how it works. 

Links: National Civics Bee competition info, Test your skills in civics.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Dance transports audiences and invokes emotions. We hear how performers in Baltimore will honor the legacy of African Americans’ influence on dance, and also carry it forward: The Gordon Center’s ‘Take a Leap Series’ and Baltimore Jazz Collective’s ‘Baby Laurence Project.'

Links: Take a Leap dance series, Baby Laurence Project at Creative Alliance, Baltimore Black Dance Collective, Baltimore Jazz Collective. Baby Laurence and Sammy Davis Jr. perform together (Youtube)

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Baltimore is six months into its test of offering a guaranteed income. Two hundred young parents who live in the city receive $1,000 a month, no strings. How are they spending this money? 

We speak with Tonaeya Moore, the senior policy manager for the CASH Campaign of Maryland, a non-profit helping to administer the program. And hear from participant Jewels Hawkins, who lives in East Baltimore.

Check out the dashboard of pilot programs across the country.

About 30 cities across the country are testing guaranteed-income approaches. We listen back to our conversation from May 2022 with Stacia West of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania and Hopkins epidemiologist Lorraine Dean.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Shawn Nocher’s latest novel, "The Precious Jules," set in Roland Park, is a family story on edge. When a young sister with developmental disabilities was sent away, shame and secrets were buried. What will happen now that she’s grown, and may come back? Who is her family now? 

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Incarcerated people rarely get to tell those on the outside what life is like for them on the inside. In the exhibit “Life on Hold,” at Notre Dame of Maryland’s ‘Gormley Gallery’ artwork by women at the Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup reveals some of the emotions and realities they face from living a life in prison. We get a preview from curator and art therapy lead Casey McKeel.

Links: Life On Hold, Gallery Talk, art material donation for participants at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women.

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472

Here's a Stoop Story from Lori James Townes about her work as a forensic social worker and the idea that we are all more than our transgressions.

You can take in a live Stoop Storytelling show this Monday, February 6 at Everyman Theater, 7 p.m. The theme is: “Every BODY has a story: The body beautiful … the body as battleground.”

Do you have a question or comment about a show or a story idea to pitch? Contact On the Record at: Senior Supervising Producer, Maureen Harvie she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1903 Senior Producer, Melissa Gerr she/her/hers [email protected] 410-235-1157 Producer Sam Bermas-Dawes he/him/his [email protected] 410-235-1472