WTMD reflects the profound changes happening at college and public radio stations.
If you went to college before the mid-1980s, you probably remember your campus radio station as a student-run affair—most likely long on individuality and short on professionalism. There might have been a weekly blues show as well as a weekly polka show, with lots of obscure rock bands sprinkled in between.
Unless you memorized its crazy-quilt schedule, you never knew what kind of music would...
A unique blog and two caring students help a history teacher cope with MS.
Kate Hooks pulls her maroon Honda into a handicapped space in front of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute on a chilly early November morning. She adjusts her rearview mirror to get a good view of her mouth and brushes some lip gloss on before she starts the day.
Before she's done putting the cap back on the gloss, she feels an abrupt jolt and notices her trunk being opened by a short, smiley...
Vince Vaise, Chief of Interpretation at Fort McHenry
“To research for living history, I read a lot of original letters in the archives at Fort McHenry. There was one letter that stuck out in my mind from a citizen of Baltimore. He was sitting on his rooftop watching the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. I could almost imagine myself, on the roof of my own house, looking at the battle and knowing that if the Americans lose, the British are...
The gangsters who once ruled the streets are now helping to stop the shooting in Baltimore.
At dusk in the 3100 block of McElderry Street in East Baltimore, Dante Barksdale grabs a bullhorn. In baggie shorts and work boots, a hoodie pulled over his shaved head, Barksdale, whose very name is widely associated with inner city violence (courtesy of the HBO series The Wire), strides into the intersection of McElderry and North Robinson streets, stopping traffic. Forty-eight hours earlier, a...
Eight new Charm City residents reflect on their first year in Baltimore.
It's widely known that people born in Baltimore have a hard time leaving. But what about people who just got here?
In 2007, some 8,400 out-of-state residents packed up and relocated to Baltimore, according to IRS migration data. They nested in our city's various neighborhoods and acclimated to its colorful and sometimes curious customs. For eight new Baltimoreans, the first year presented both...
The mistress of mystery on Baltimore’s bum rap, Frances McDormand’s book shelf, and how not to get cast by her husband.
In her popular Tess Monaghan series, Laura Lippman writes about Baltimore with great affection, humor—and candor. In her latest standalone novel, Life Sentences, the best-selling author (and wife of The Wire's David Simon) tackles memory, the subconscious, and race.
Where did you go to school?Thomas Jefferson Elementary, then the brand spanking-new Dickey Hill Elementary, Rock Glen Jr....
In TNT's HawthoRNe, Jada Pinkett Smith plays a character who's a lot like her mom.
Even when Jada Pinkett Smith was still a student at the Baltimore School for the Arts (BSA), her mentor, theater department head Donald Hicken, knew his diminutive pupil was headed for stardom.
"What I remember most was that she was interested in everything: dancing, music, and acting," he says. "We had a student-driven variety show, and Jada took over the whole thing. She choreographed, danced,...
The Chamber of Commerce chief on wearing velvet, raising money, and achieving Rat Pack cool.
Gary Rubin has more job titles than Ryan Seacrest. He's the new chair of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce, the VP for University Advancement at Towson University, and—wait for it—an accomplished lounge singer. We add Grill subject to the list.
What is the best advice you ever got?"Whenever you get overly concerned with what people might be thinking about you, remember: Don't...
Hundreds of thousands of strangers have shared their deepest secrets with Frank Warren as part of an elaborate community art project.
If Frank Warren isn't the "most trusted stranger in America," which he has been called, he's definitely our collective confidant. Each week, hundreds of people write their innermost secrets on artfully decorated postcards and send them to Warren's house in Montgomery County. Along with the cable bill, mail-order catalogs, and magazines, he regularly sifts through confessional messages such as:
"I...
For nearly a century, the Tochtermans have been luring fishermen to an Eastern Avenue shop that's become a local institution.
It's late afternoon at Tochterman's, and the venerable tackle shop's neon sign flickers over Eastern Avenue. Its large-mouth bass, outlined in white light, splashes from an electric sea of green, hooked by some irresistible lure. The sign beckons fishermen of all stripes, hinting at pleasures to be found both out-of-doors and in the shop.
Entering Tochterman's is like walking into a forest...
