When it’s too hot for the park or the pool, grab some popcorn and turn on a movie!

Max Weiss, editor-in-chief of Baltimore Magazine, talks about her favorite new films, from a sci-fi western to the "Top Gun" sequel. 

Then, Beyond Video is a volunteer-run video library in Baltimore. Co-owner Eric Hatch shares indie hits and cult classics.

Check out Max Weiss' reviews:
Nope
Top Gun: Maverick
Elvis
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Fire of Love

Eric Hatch's recommendations:
Ascension
Devil in a Blue Dress
Strawberry Mansion
Faya Dayi
La Piscine
The Swimmer
Thief

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

Life is throwing a lot at young people these days, hitting some harder than others, undermining their mental health. The Kids Count Data book dives deep into factors that can affect their well-being, and identifies what states, cities and schools need to address.

Benjamin Orr, head of the Maryland Center on Economic Policy, talks us through the research.

Then, Clarrissa Taylor Jackson, Director of Programs and Outreach at the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Baltimore, tells why peer education is the superpower behind their work:

“If you are living with a mental health condition and you’re living well, we want to work with you in the ways that make sense, so that we can make it okay for someone else to get where you are. To feel comfortable navigating life with their mental health condition, just like you are.”

Links: Kids Count Data Book full report, NAMI resources, Pathways to Hope NAMI conference, Aug. 26 and 27, 2022.

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

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … galaxy 3C 186, to be precise … two black holes merged, creating one supermassive black hole and propelling it at great speed away from the galaxy’s center. 

Eileen Meyer, an associate professor of physics at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, explains how this observation bolsters theories about how galaxies and black holes behave, "Galaxies tend to be born kind of in close family groups and they’re so massive, with billions of stars, that they start sliding towards each other."

We ask Meyer about this runaway black hole and how citizen-scientists can get involved in astronomical research.

Learn more:
Zooniverse
UMBC’s Eileen Meyer and team find strongest evidence yet of a black hole zooming away from its galaxy’s center
NOEMA observations support a recoiling black hole in 3C 186 

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’s public schools start the new year in just 25 days … and  the system is still looking to hire hundreds of teachers for vacancies.  How will classrooms be affected and what’s being done to get educators in place?

The schools’ chief of staff, Alison Perkins-Cohen, says the system has been recruiting energetically and still is. But, she warns Baltimore and Maryland are not alone in the teacher deficit:

“All of us need to be thinking nationally about how do we solve this problem and how do we make teaching more attractive to young people as such the important job that it is in terms of really shaping the future.”

Plus Baltimore Teachers Union officer Cristina Duncan Evans … explains teachers are excited for the new school year but the effects of burnout are real.    

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

While people in state prison come from all over Maryland, new Census data reveal the lopsided burden on some communities - the southern Eastern Shore, Hagerstown, and most acutely, Baltimore City.

The report, produced by the Justice Policy Institute and the Prison Policy Initiative, is titled, "Where people come from: The geography of mass incarceration in Maryland."

Keith Wallington of the Justice Policy Institute says the findings cast doubt on what is being done to prevent incarceration and reduce recidivism, "In many cases, individuals are going back to these same neighborhoods they come from, which are neighborhoods that have seen sustained investments in the justice system at the expense of other investments."

Check out data on the number of people in prison in 2020 from each Maryland county and from Baltimore City neighborhoods.

Then, Michael Harris of the Baltimore re-entry program, Face Inc. - Freedom Advocates Celebrating Ex-Offenders - talks about the challenges that confront returning citizens. Harris is a recipient of a 2022 Weaver Award. Learn more 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

Divorce is hard for adults. Children are more fragile. The National Family Resiliency Center holds a special place to protect the mental and emotional well-being of kids, and works to keep whole families communicating and supportive through transitions.

Executive Director Risa Garon describes how parents, lawyers, therapists and judges work together to make that happen. And Meg Sreenivas, a client turned peer counselor, describes how, when she was 12 -year-old, adrift, the center made all the difference. 

The NFRC will host a series of educational programs for teens beginning next month, and in October, the organization will hold therapy groups for teens in high school. These programs are designed to help teens deal with stress associated with school, peers, family and social media. More information here.

Original air-date: June 20, 2022.

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

D. Watkins is tired of the lies. Lies about being tough, about not feeling pain … or loss … or rejection. 

In his latest book, ‘Black Boy Smile: A Memoir in Moments,’ Watkins shows how he learned to face those lies and push through to the truth. He hopes everyone, especially young Black men and boys, find that strength from his stories:

“I want them to understand that we all have the power to write our own scripts. I want them to understand that even if you’re from a rough environment, you still deserve a happy ending, you deserve to be loved, you deserve people to care about you and you deserve to care about other people.” (15 sec)

Plus, how reading set his life on a whole different path.  

D. Watkins is part of the Writers LIVE! series at Enoch Pratt Central Library on Wed. Aug. 3 at 7pm. More details here. He'll also be signing copies of "Where Tomorrows Aren't Promised" with Carmelo Anthony at Urban Reads on Saturday Aug. 6 at 2pm. More info 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

Andy Lowrie wants you to wear his sculptural works of art, and also to think about how they are made. His exhibit, titled “Fulfillment,” now up at the Baltimore Jewelry Center, plays upon several interpretations of that word.

For instance, choosing a piece of jewelry is personally fulfilling, he says. It’s a mode of self-expression and self identity: 

“It’s also the word that is used for having goods shipped to us. So that idea, to me, was really interesting: how are we fulfilled, are we really being fulfilled by the things that are meant to be fulfilling us … What is fulfillment, in a sense.”

Links: Baltimore Jewelry Center, Station North Art Walk, Fulfillment exhibit at BJC, Artist's Talk at BJC.

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 Julie MacDonald about a friendly rat companion … and the power of magical thinking. You can hear her story and others at StoopStorytelling.com

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

Twenty thousand Baltimore children have a parent behind bars or on parole or probation. A new program called B’More Reconnects aims to solidify the bonds between a parent and child and reduce trauma. 

Kate Sweeney co-directs the Parent, Infant, Early Childhood Program at the Institute for Innovation and Implementation at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. She describes B’More Reconnects’ group parenting classes, which will start pre-release and continue for six months after. 

Then Deputy Mayor Faith Leach shares her connection to this initiative. After her mother was released from prison, they rebuilt their relationship, and Leach saw her mother return to college, "My mom’s story is the illustration of why we can’t ever - and let me repeat that - we can’t ever give up on our neighbors that are returning home."

And Kimberly Haven, executive director of Reproductive Justice Inside, talks about her experience as a mother in prison.

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