It’s been more than 200 years since what is now ‘The Peale--Baltimore’s Community Museum” opened its doors. So it deserved a facelift! Five years and 5-and-a-half million dollars later, it’s welcoming visitors again. We hear what’s new! 

Links: Accomplished Arts Apprentices recruitment fair, The Guardians Reveal Party, Our Voises, Our Truth; Hostile Terrain; Behind the Diagnosis, Through My Eyes; Sankofa Experience.

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 Kevin Hoffman about someone who would NOT be voted “best boss of the year."

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

Freedom Jones directs violence intervention for the Center for Hope at LifeBridge Health, which currently oversees four Safe Streets sites in Baltimore and will adopt two more next year. There, outreach workers mediate conflict before it turns deadly. We ask Jones about stopping gun violence and treating the trauma it causes.

Learn more about Mayor Scott's plans for violence prevention and community violence intervention.

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

Democrat Heather Mizeur -- former state delegate and former candidate for governor -- is running to unseat the Maryland congressional delegation’s lone Republican, Andy Harris. How is she building a coalition in the deeply red first district? What are her priorities if elected?

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

The sparkly American Visionary Art Museum has a new director: We talk with Jenenne Whitfield about her plans and her ideas for AVAM’s synergy with Baltimore. Plus, Gage Branda, AVAM curator, previews the upcoming exhibit: ‘ABUNDANCE: Too Much, Too Little, Just Right.’  

Links: American Visionary Art Museum current exhibit, "Abundance", AVAM Annual Gala.

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

Since 2012, the Goucher Prison Education Partnership has offered college courses to men and women at two Maryland prisons. Executive Director Eliza Cornejo describes how Goucher stays in touch even after participants leave prison to help them continue their studies or find work.

And William Freeman, a graduate, now pursuing a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, says signing up for GPEP was a no-brainer, "One, I had the time, and two, there were other individuals who were in close proximity to me that I could witness on any day studying in small groups. And I used to see the level of intent and purpose that they seemed to have with the material and with one another, and I wanted it."

Watch Freeman's 2020 Commencement speech here. Information about the Gala 10th Anniversary event Nov. 11 can be found 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

Baltimore writer Anthony Moll’s collection of poetry, titled, “You Cannot Save Here,” weaves together pop culture and counterculture references - everything from video games characters to song lyrics to tweets - against an apocalyptic backdrop. 

Rather than imagining a happy ending, Moll takes a sober look at reality and asks what comes next, "Any time you turn on the news, any time you consider the state of the world--whether it's climate change or Covid or war or anything else--it’s hard not to think what it means on a grander scale."

We ask about Moll’s approach to writing, and how the process of drafting poems differs from writing a memoir. 

Moll will be speaking at the Ivy Bookshop on October 13th with Frederick writer Suzanne Feldman. 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

Here is a Stoop Story from Jabari Lyles, former Director of LGBTQ Affairs for the Office of the Mayor, about founding the Gay-Straight Alliance at Towson High School. 

You can listen to more Stoop stories by checking out the Stoop Storytelling Series’ podcast, hosted on WYPR's podcasting platform, Your Public Studios.

The next live Stoop show will be Oct. 24th at Center Stage. The theme is “Tales from the Crypt: Stories that shiver your spine and boggle your brain.” And on Nov. 3rd, the Baltimore Museum of Art will host the Stoop show, “Movement in Every Direction: Stories about Modern-Day Migration.” 

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

Pickleball, the madly popular sport embraced by all ages, is not without growing pains. Tim Almaguer Division Chief for Community Engagement & Strategic Partnerships at Baltimore City Recreation & Parks tells about efforts to meet demand.

And Betsy Cunningham, pickleball fan, shares her grand vision for the sport:

“It’s a way to bring peace to our neighborhoods. First thing you do when you get on the court is you find out who you’re playing with, and you say hello. And the goal of the game is not to win, the goal is to have a good time. And when you finish you congratulate the team for what a good game they played. So you win fairly, you lose fairly. I like that idea for peace, I think we could use that in Baltimore.”

Links: Baltimore Pickleball, Baltimore City Recreation and Parks, USA Pickleball, Baltimore City Pickleball info.

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

Since March 2020, most of us have a deeper grasp of who is an “essential worker.” The Baltimore Museum of Industry is featuring a show about those who are indispensable to our young people: Baltimore City school food-service workers. Like Sheila Alston, who helped feed students for more than 30 years:

“We are part of the learning process with the kids. Because a child cannot learn if they’re hungry.”

We learn more about the audio-visual exhibit from the B-M-I’s director of interpretation Beth Maloney, and from photographer J.M. Giordano who created the black and white portraits:

“These are people who do a fantastically important job, so I wanted to make them look like superheroes almost.”

Links: Food for Thought, online at BMI, J.M. Giordano, Night Work at Goucher College Rosenberg Gallery.

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