We know all too well that plastics are clogging our landfills, swirling in our oceans and now, research shows, microplastics have been detected in the blood of humans.

Dr. Lynn Grattan, a practicing neuropsychologist with the University of Maryland Medical Center and professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, explains how plastics can enter the human body, and what can happen once they get there:

“These particles are bio available for uptake in the human bloodstream. That means when you eat or inhale the plastics, they can enter the human bloodstream and then circulate to all other parts of the body.”

Plus, how to minimize your exposure to plastics. Hint: it’s time to stop drinking out of flimsy one-use water bottles!

Links: Environment International Research Report, Guardian article, Dr. Lynn Grattan at UMMC.

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

Thousands of state jobs that had required a four-year degree to apply … won’t from now on, Governor Hogan announced last month. The nonprofit “Opportunity@Work” will help the state recruit, tapping into workers with alternative experience - like military service, on-the-job learning, or an apprenticeship.

The group’s Chief Customer Officer, Bridgette Gray, says this move shines light on the millions of Americans who’ve been overlooked by degree requirements.

Then, Maryland’s unemployment numbers are slightly worse than the national figure, but employers are desperate to hire. What’s the disconnect? We ask economist Daraius Irani.

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

Maryland’s new map of congressional district boundaries has Governor Hogan’s approval, "This is a huge win for democracy and for improvement in the process, and now we’re going to have fair maps and fair elections in this election cycle."

Governor Hogan signed the new map into law yesterday afternoon. This is lawmakers’ second attempt; their first map was rejected by a circuit court judge for giving Democrats an unfair advantage.Josh Kurtz, founding editor of Maryland Matters, gets us up to speed.

But first, the legislative session ends Monday. WYPR's Joel McCord fills us in on what lawmakers have accomplished - a path to legal cannabis, action on climate change - and what’s left to tackle.

Read more on redistricting:Legal battles over Maryland's redistricting maps endSpecial Magistrate Says Court of Appeals Should Deny Challenges to Maryland’s State Legislative Map

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

Half a century after the 13th Amendment ended slavery, people who had been slaveholders continued to serve in Congress.Washington Post reporter Julie Weil describes her research into the more than 1800 Congressmen who were enslavers at some point in their lives.Check out the WaPo Q&A about this research.One of those members of Congress was Charles Carroll of Carrollton. We hear from curator Michelle Fitzgerald and scholar Jasmine Blanks Jones about an effort to honor the Black people held in bondage by the Carroll family at their Homewood Estate in Baltimore, on which Johns Hopkins University sits today.Read about the Ritual of Remembrance. Learn more about the Ross family.Original air date: January 26, 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

Here’s a Stoop Story from Jeremy Stern about playing the long game … and winning.

You can hear his stories and others, and learn about upcoming live events and the Stoop podcast - 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

Ever daydream about how life might be easier to deal with if you could just access a superpower ? The play ‘Black Superhero Magic Mama’ connects us to a Black mother who retreats into the fantasy world of comic books, and finds strength and solace as she copes with the violent loss of her son. We talk to actor Nikki Scroggins, who plays the mother and her alter ego, Angel Maasai and with director Aladrian Wetzel:

“Black women are seen as the archetype of being strong. And this play allows people to see that Black women have nuances, we can be sad, we can be angry, we can become super heroes and kick super-villains’ butts.”

Links: Strand Theater Co, Tickets

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

It’s another crowded primary in the race to be Maryland’s next governor. Sixteen candidates and counting, so far.

Rushern Baker is campaigning for a second time to take the head seat of the Free State, arguing that his experience as a two-term County Executive of Prince George’s county - the second largest in the state - sets him apart from his rivals:

“In this critical time we face, with Covid, it’s not the time to bring somebody in who doesn’t know where the bathroom is. It’s the time we need people who can immediately go in there and make these changes and know what they’re doing, from the first day they put their hand on the bible.”

Links: Rushern Baker website

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

Hard to imagine the University of Maryland, Baltimore County without Dr. Freeman Hrabowski III at the helm, but after three decades as president, he will step down at the end of June.

Hrabowski came to the school as vice provost in 1987, and co-founded the Meyerhoff Scholars Program a year later. It aims to increase the diversity of future leaders in science, technology, engineering and math.

Hrabowski says seeing diversity among those who teach and lead a campus encourages students to aspire to greater career goals, “Students need to see not only a college president who may be of a different race, but professors of literature or philosophy or biochemistry who come from those backgrounds.”

Learn more about UMBC. Check out Dr. Hrabowski's TED Talk.

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

John King -- former teacher, principal, New York schools commissioner and Secretary of Education in the Obama administration -- is running now for the Democratic nomination for Maryland governor.Ahead of the July 19th primary election, we ask the Silver Spring resident how he would address the economic impacts of the pandemic, attract living-wage jobs, and revive Baltimore’s Red Line.

King says his top priority is education, and the Blueprint -- a multi-billion dollar education reform package -- is a good start, "We should see it as the floor, not the ceiling. There’s more to be done to make sure that we’re investing in things like mental health services and school counselors, which are so desperately needed as we recover from COVID."

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 Laura Lippman has been publishing tales of suspense, and winning awards for them, for a quarter century. She doesn’t take for granted the devious characters and puckered plots that shape her stories:

"I keep trying to make this harder on myself. I think the scariest thing for me would be to sit at my computer and think: ‘This is easy, I know how to do this.’ I want to be kind of terrified.”

We readers are kind of terrified, too, as we make our way through the twelve short stories in Lippman’s latest offering, a collection titled Seasonal Work. Healthy walks in Leakin Park. Common-wall brick houses on the west edge of town. Such common places, such ordinary things. And so many murders.

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