Roughly Speaking

Book critic Paula Gallager recommends ----Love And Ruin,---- a new novel based on the marriage of Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn.With the release today of ----Solo: A Star Wars Story,---- film critics Linda DeLibero and Christopher Llewellyn Reed tells us what they think of the latest prequel in the Star Wars franchise while offering a retrospective of the main subject of the new movie -- Han Solo, the smuggler and starship pilot played by Harrison Ford in the original series.Our critics: Linda DeLibero is director of Film and Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Christopher Llewellyn Reed is chair and professor in the department of film and moving image at Stevenson University. They join us once a month to discuss the cinema, current and classic.Links:https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534054/love-and-ruin-by-paula-mclain/9781101967386/http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/sns-tns-bc-solo-movie-review-20180524-story.htmlhttps://krieger.jhu.edu/film-media/directory/linda-delibero/https://chrisreedfilm.com/

As graduation season approaches, a lot of college-bound seniors are happy to have the tense admissions process behind them. That process, says family psychologist Brad Sachs, is fraught with all sorts of problems created by the pressures placed on students to win acceptance to the country's most prestigious universities. Some high school students have been driven to suicide over pressures from final exams and college expectations. Sachs works with children and parents as they struggle through the college decision, right up until graduation and, in some cases, even beyond. He talks about the pressures kids feel to excel and to get to top-tier schools.Brad Sachs specializes in clinical work with children, adolescents, couples and families. He is the founder and director of The Father Center, a program designed to meet the needs of new fathers. You can find Brad Sachs and a list of the books he’s written on his website.Links:http://www.drbradsachs.com/https://www.ocregister.com/2018/03/19/this-16-year-olds-suicide-letters-are-a-cry-for-help-and-a-national-call-for-change/http://www.drbradsachs.com/books.htm

In another in our series of conversations leading up to Maryland's June 26 primary election, tech guru and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alec Ross introduces us to his running mate, Julie Verratti, and talks about the need for ----21st Century thinking---- in state government. Ross criticizes the incumbent Republican governor, Larry Hogan, for failing to support Baltimore by killing the Red Line transit system and the redevelopment of the state government center on the city's west side. He also talks about the need to address the increasing costs of child care across the state.Verratti describes her background in federal government, working in the Small Business Administration, and her experiences running a business -- a brewery and restaurant -- in Montgomery County.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks/bal-roughly-speaking-2018-gubernatorial-candidates-storygallery.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bs-roughly-speaking-alec-ross-immigration-crackdown-20171005-htmlstory.html

On today's show: A visit to the busy City Seeds kitchen at the East Baltimore food hub, and Paula Gallagher's weekly book recommendation.Paula's choice this week: ----Broadway: A History of New York City in Thirteen Miles,---- by Ken Leadon.Time to see what’s happening at the East Baltimore food hub, a redevelopment project that has been in the making for several years. Last fall, City Seeds became the hub’s first tenant, moving into a shiny new building off North Wolfe Street. City Seeds is a commercial kitchen that provides catering and grab-and-go meals for some major institutions and businesses in Baltimore. Its core mission is to employ people who’ve faced challenges in their lives and train them for culinary careers. It’s an impressive social enterprise of the Humanin non-profit. On today’s show, we meet Deborah Haust, the Humanim vice-president who runs City Seeds as well as the other program in the new space, School of Food; Chef Aharon Denrich and some of his staff -- James St. John, the cookie man; Lovetie Gbalazeh, and Kingsley Aubmere.Links:http://books.wwnorton.com/books/Broadway/http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/baltimore-diner-blog/bs-fo-food-hub-20171110-story.htmlhttp://www.cityseeds.org/https://www.schooloffood.org/

With more than 135 million views, ----This Is America,---- the provocative video by Childish Gambino, the musical alter ego of actor Donald Glover, has quickly become a cultural phenomenon. The symbolism in its dancing, staging and violent imagery has been the subject of robust interpretation. The song opened at No. 1 on Billboard's singles chart this week. American culture commentator Sheri Parks joins us to talk about the song's refrain, ----This is America/Don't catch you slippin' up,---- and what she sees as a reference to several recent instances of white people calling 911 to report black people in public spaces.Sheri Parks has been associate dean at the University of Maryland and, starting June 1, she will be taking on a new job as vice-president for strategic initiatives at the Maryland Institute College of Art.Links:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY

Childish Gambino's provocative "This is America" has quickly become a cultural phenomenon.

Picking up on a favorite subject of Republicans since Ronald Reagan -- the assumption of widespread abuse of the country's social safety net -- the Trump administration has ordered an audit of federal welfare programs while supporting efforts by some states to attach work requirements to food stamps and Medicaid.Dan's guest: Michael Reisch, an expert on social policy, professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and a one-time resident of public housing in New York.Reisch explores why many Americans who in some way benefit from the social safety net -- or have it as backup -- believe that it’s rife with fraud. A letter from a Sun reader in western Maryland provides Exhibit A of that attitude.

In another in a series of interviews with candidates in June's primary, Baltimore State's Attorney candidate Ivan Bates promises to recruit experienced lawyers to prosecute repeat violent offenders who, he says, have been getting off too easy during the tenure of incumbent Marilyn Mosby.Bates says the failures of Mosby's office have contributed to Baltimore's increase in violence, a surge now in its fourth year. The city recorded its 100th homicide of the year this week.Bates, a defense attorney and former prosecutor, says Mosby's office has been depleted of prosecutorial talent, makes too many plea deals and loses too many prosecutions of violent offenders. He also says he wants to emphasize fighting crime at its roots — among juvenile offenders, and in the communities hardest hit by violence.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-youth-violence-20180509-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-100-homicides-20180509-story.htmlhttps://elections2018.news.baltimoresun.com/baltimore-city/states-attorney/https://elections2018.news.baltimoresun.com/baltimore-city/states-attorney/ivan-bates/

In another in a series of interviews with candidates in June's primary, Baltimore State's Attorney candidate Ivan Bates promises to recruit experienced lawyers to prosecute repeat violent offenders who, he says, have been getting off too easy during the tenure of incumbent Marilyn Mosby. Bates says the failures of Mosby's office have contributed to Baltimore's increase in violence, a surge now in its fourth year. The city recorded its 100th homicide of the year this week.Bates, a defense attorney and former prosecutor, says Mosby's office has been depleted of prosecutorial talent, makes too many plea deals and loses too many prosecutions of violent offenders. He also says he wants to emphasize fighting crime at its roots — among juvenile offenders, and in the communities hardest hit by violence.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-youth-violence-20180509-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-100-homicides-20180509-story.html

Episode 385 featured an interview with Kevin Kamenetz, the Baltimore County executive and Democratic candidate for governor in next month’s primary election — and his running mate, Valerie Ervin. They visited us last week. So you can imagine my shock to get a tip at 4:37 am this morning that Kevin Kamenetz had died. We confirmed the county executive’s death about an hour later, and that is today’s lead story in the Sun. Having interviewed Kevin several times over the years, I got to know him and admired his commitment to public service and his efforts at good government in Baltimore County. In answer to the question, why should Maryland Democrats vote for you in the primary: Kevin Kamenetz defended his long record in politics and public service, and he rejected the idea that being a career politician is a bad thing.In an age of increasing cynicism about politics and distrust of government, it’s easy to become suspicious of the the motives of people, like Kamenetz, who hold office over many years. But the final measure is in honest service, sustained commitment to the public and accomplishments that serve the greater good. Kevin Kamenetz takes too early such a record to his grave.