Roughly Speaking

In part four of our four-part series on Baltimore’s political history with Matthew A. Crenson, we hear about the factions and prejudices that influenced municipal elections and public policy in the 20th Century. Crenson talks about the post-World War II mayoralties of Thomas J. D’Alesandro Jr., a master politician; that of his son, Thomas D’Alesandro III, who was mayor during the riots of 1968; and those of William Donald Schaefer and Kurt L. Schmoke. Matt Crenson is professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University. His book from Johns Hopkins University Press is “Baltimore: A Political History.” Its official release is set for August 8 at the Baltimore City Archives. He will also appear at the Ivy Bookshop in September.Links: https://www.amazon.com/Baltimore-Political-History-Matthew-Crenson/dp/1421422069https://www.facebook.com/events/696332980558435/https://baltimorecityhistory.net/http://www.theivybookshop.com/

Political historian Matt Crenson describes Baltimore in the decades after the Civil War — slowly building up its industrial base, paving streets, dealing with unsanitary conditions. The post-war period also saw the rise of the Gorman-Rasin political machine. After the Great Fire of 1904, city leaders rebuilt downtown Baltimore, adding a sewage system to the underlying infrastructure. They also made racial segregation official, forcing blacks and whites to live separately for decades to come. Matt Crenson is professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University. His book, "Baltimore: A Political History," will be published next month by the Johns Hopkins University Press.Links:https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/baltimore-0

In Part II of our series on Baltimore politics, Matt Crenson talks about the city in the middle of the 19th Century, when the Know-Nothings took over City Hall and, at the outbreak of the Civil War, a mob attacked Union troops on Pratt Street. To maintain peace and orderly commerce, President Lincoln dispatched Union troops to occupy Baltimore throughout the war. The war, says Crenson, reshaped the city's culture, economy and politics. Matthew A. Crenson is professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University. His book, "Baltimore: A Political History," is about to be released by the Johns Hopkins University Press.Links:https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/baltimore-0

Today we start a four-part series on Baltimore's political history with Matt Crenson, whose 514-page book on that subject is being published next month by the Johns Hopkins University Press. The book covers four centuries, from the development of Baltimore Town in colonial Maryland to its incorporation in 1796 to its time as an occupied city during the Civil War, through industrialization, segregation, and Baltimore's more recent history. Over the next four episodes of the show, we’ll hear about events that shaped Baltimore’s identity, the two major obstacles it faced in growing up, how it became known as Mobtown, and what of the past influences Baltimore today.Coming Wednesday: Part Two: Rise of the Know-Nothings and an occupied city during the Civil War.Links:https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/baltimore-0

Trompe l’oeil is a French phrase meaning "a trick of the eye," or to "deceive the eye." It’s a style of painting in which objects are depicted with realistic detail and look deceivingly three dimensional — as if you could walk or drive right through them. Pardon our French, but the new term in American politics might very well be Trump L’oeil — that is, the unartful deceits of the president, his sons, his staff and his apologists. In Trump L’oeil, up is down and down is up, a man looks presidential only because he’s standing next to men and women who actually do. In Trump L’oeil, a meeting between the President’s son and a Russian lawyer was about international adoptions, not about getting political dirt on your political opponent from a foreign adversary. Trump L’oeil employs false equivalents, as if getting debate questions in advance compares with actually going to a meeting with a Russian tied to the Kremlin, knowing the Kremlin was trying to skew the U.S. election. In Trump L’oeil, a 36 percent approval rating is “not bad at this time," and the Senate health insurance bill will "strengthen and secure Medicaid for the neediest in our society.” Dan's guests today are Kimberly Moffitt, associate professor in American studies at the University of Maryland Baltimore County; and Melissa Deckman, chair in political science at Washington College.

Our favorite foodies, John Shields and Henry Hong, share ideas with Dan about serving up a buffet of salads from the garden or from the farmers markets. This episode includes advice for making, among other things, an Italian carrot salad and marinated zucchini. Those recipes, along with John's Five-Spice Chicken Marinade, can be found at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bal-your-guests-will-inhale-this-salad-and-ask-for-the-recipe-20170714-story.html.

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by the great novelist Gabriel Garc\u237\ua M\u225\urquez. Long before he was awarded a Nobel for literature, Garc\u237\ua M\u225\urquez started his writing career as a reporter in his native Colombia. In 1955, he caused a sensation by breaking a story about the ordeals of a sailor and corruption and incompetence in the Colombian Navy. The story, published as a series in a Bogota newspaper, revealed Garc\u237\ua M\u225\urquez's powerful gifts for storytelling and marked a turning point in his life as a writer.

Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio wonders what drives human curiosity, what makes everyone, from children to experienced scientists, ask, "Why?" That's the name of his new book, a survey of the science of curiosity. What parts of the human brain work toward solving mysteries and achieving a higher understanding of life on Earth and among the stars? Who among us are the most curious? Livio, who worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore from 1991 to 2015, is the author of five earlier books on science. He will discuss his latest, "Why? What Makes Us Curious," at the Ivy Bookshop on Thursday, July 13, at 7 p.m.Links:http://www.mariolivio.com/http://www.theivybookshop.com/upcomingevent/3359

Today's guest, Finn Murphy, thinks he has the best job in the world: He moves families long distances in an 18-wheeler, gets to know a lot of people (some of them truly weird) and sees some great sites as he drives from Florida to British Columbia, with many stops in-between. When it's time to rest, he sleeps in his cab on a bed with a feather duvet. Murphy is a long-time, long-haul driver, and he's written a memoir about his experiences, full of trucker jargon and amusing stories. "The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tale of Life on the Road" has just been published by W.W Norton ---- Company.Links:http://books.wwnorton.com/books/The-Long-Haul/

Drug overdoses now kill more Americans than car crashes and homicides. Hundreds of people die every week from overdoses of heroin, fentanyl and opioid painkillers. In Maryland last year, the number of people who died of overdoses surged 66 percent, and the 2,089 deaths represented an all-time high. Baltimore accounted for about a third of the overdose deaths in the state. Many of the people using opioids today were originally prescribed pain-killing medications by their doctors. Physicians once were reluctant to prescribe opioids, but the pharmaceutical industry convinced many that they were depriving their patients of relief. By last year, doctors had written some 289 million prescriptions for opioids such as Oxycontin. On today's show, Dr. John Cmar of Sinai Hospital talks about the opioid crisis and the challenges facing doctors who want to alleviate pain in their patients while reducing the frequency and amount of addictive pain-killers they prescribe for them.Links:https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/06/05/upshot/opioid-epidemic-drug-overdose-deaths-are-rising-faster-than-ever.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-fatal-overdoses-20170608-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0705-pain-management-20170702-story.html