WYPR: Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast Podcast

Today on The Lines Between Us: Black children, white adults. That's the portrait that a young activist named Dayvon Love draws of Baltimore's nonprofit sector. We'll hear his essay, and then talk to members of Baltimore Racial Justice Action and Latino Providers Network about how race and power come into play when people want to help poor communities. Then – Author Stephen Hunter on his novel "The Third Bullet," which finds a narrative thread in the chaos surrounding the final bullet that took President Kennedy's life fifty years ago.

How do you run an efficient town meeting? That’s one of the skills offered to community leaders at the Maryland Municipal League convention, taking place in Ocean City this week. We talk with two people there about governing at the local level. Then, 150 years ago, more than 27,000 soldiers were wounded in the Battle of Gettysburg. We learn about the role in treating those wounded played by the Daughters of Charity from Emmitsburg, ten miles south of the combat. And, a new documentary about guitarist John Fahey screens Friday in Takoma Park. Tom Hall talks with director James Cullingham about Fahey's legacy.

There are many alarms in hospitals. Too many, according to a nurse at Johns Hopkins who's studying it. "If we just look at cardiac monitors, there could be up to 771 alarms per bed per day. That is staggering." All those alarms can cause what's known as alarm fatigue, where caregivers tune the alarms out. We find out what's being done to prevent it. Then, we learn about The Milford Mill Swim Club, opened in 1950, run by three family generations, and now headed for auction. And, what Baltimore buildings and traditions have disappeared over the years? Tom Hall talks with the co-authors of a new book, "Lost Baltimore", on the city's invisible history.

First-S. Dallas Dance, Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools, sits down with Sheilah Kast to reflect on his first year as Superintendent and to discuss what students, teachers, and parents can expect in the 2013-2014 school year. Then-Maryland Morning theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews Antony and Cleopatra at Chesapeake Shakespeare Company's outdoor summer venue in Ellicott City. Plus-Culinary historian Michael Twitty travels throughout the United States investigating the food histories of Africans and African-Americans. He sits down with Tom Hall to discuss the culinary histories of African-Americans in Baltimore, and discusses the work that goes into his "culinary version of Roots."

When convicts pay their debt to society…should they accrue financial debt? “The Lines Between Us” asks Baltimore's deputy public defender how much money it costs to be involved with the criminal justice system. Then–why are Maryland debtors landing in jail? The short version: they're missing court dates. But consumer advocates say the process is unfair to the poor. We'll hear how the courts might react to a state law passed this spring to keep debtors out of jail.

The Supreme Court ruled last week that human genes cannot be patented. One of the plaintiffs in that case is a geneticist who now works at Johns Hopkins. We talk about what the ruling means for patients—and for new research. Then, a visit to the Baltimore American Indian Museum. We speak with two artists of two different generations, art disciplines, and cultural traditions about collaborating on the museum’s newest exhibition, "Stories InForm." And, this week 30 artists will descend on Frederick County to be part of "Easels in Frederick," a painting event outdoors or en plein-air. Tom Hall talks to one of the event's co-chairs and a plein-air painter.

Maryland is the only state that sets rates for hospital services. Some hospitals say the rates are too low: the University of Maryland Medical System and some other hospitals have announced layoffs. We talk about it with John Colmers, former state health secretary and chair of the state's rate-setting commission. Then, perhaps no one captured life in mid-20th century Maryland better than the late Baltimore Sun photographer Aubrey Bodine. Today his daughter brings us a new photo book of umbrella menders, crab pickers, and other locals. It’s called: "Bodine's Industry: The Dignity of Work." And, Tom Saunders of Renaissance Production and Tours joins Tom Hall in Druid Hill Park to see some of the most important landmarks of Baltimore's African-American history.

Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, Laura Lippman, "The Beaux Stratagem" review, and history tales for kids

June 14, 2013 Can racial disparities in our prisons be connected all the way back to policing strategies? Today on "The Lines Between Us," we look at police-community relations with Baltimore Police Lt. Col. Melvin Russell, who heads up the department's new community partnerships unit.

Ernest Burkeen took over as Baltimore’s director of Recreation and Parks six months ago. We ask him about his vision for the city’s parks and rec centers, and how outdoor activities can change young lives. Then, what to wear when it's pouring one moment, sweltering the next … and how to advise your kids on what’s internship-appropriate. We ask our fashion maven, Zoey Washington. Plus, Baltimore author Marion Winik has had two husbands, three children, and is approaching dating in her 50s with abandon. Tom Hall talks with Winik about her memoir "Highs in the Low 50s." And, the Maryland Morning Culture Calendar!

It took two decades, but molecular biologist Carol Greider won a Nobel Prize in 2009 for work she did as a graduate student. Now, thanks to sequester budget cuts, graduate students have been cut from her lab at Johns Hopkins. We talk with her about the sequester’s impact on her research. Then, civil rights leader and retired Morgan State professor Homer Favor died this past weekend. We'll hear part of a conversation we taped with him less than two months ago and we’ll talk about his life and work with Ray Winbush, director of the Institute for Urban Research at Morgan State. And Tom Hall asks children's lit authors Elisabeth Dahl and Elissa Brent Weissman about the challenges of childhood illuminated in their new books.

Has housing in the Baltimore region changed from a buyer's market to a seller's market? And why is the total number of houses on the market so low? We look at the latest real estate numbers with regional economist Daraius Irani of Towson University and The Baltimore Sun's Steve Kilar. Then, Andrew Zaleski, lead reporter for the news site Technically Baltimore, joins Nathan to talk about data maps that detail where property taxes hit hardest or where vacants color a neighborhood and other regional tech news. Plus, What does it mean to be a 21st century politician? Tom Hall asks author Jonathan Alter, who writes about political gridlock in a new book called "The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies".

Is there anything that can break the cycle of violence and incarceration in Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods? Today, on The Lines Between Us, we look at the role of fathers. Tom Hall talks with Joe Jones from the Center for Urban Families, which works to keep fathers in their children's lives. Then, the best and worst of summer cinema, with Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday and Maryland Film Festival director Jed Dietz.

June 5, 2013 Why is Baltimore offering $107 million dollars in tax incentives for a new development at Harbor Point? We ask the CEO of the Baltimore Development Corporation, Brenda McKenzie. The Baltimore-based activist group FORCE wants to make consent a bigger part of the conversation surrounding sex. We talk with the two founders about why--and the monument they're building on the National Mall. Tom Hall talks with the director of "I Am Divine", a new documentary about the life of Divine, best known for his drag-queen persona in the films of John Waters.

When you heard this spring that 13 corrections officers had been indicted, accused of fostering corruption at the Baltimore City Detention Center, did you wonder how they got to be corrections officers? We talk with two top officials involved in training about how it works. Then, when your first job, at age 15, is working with the dead, how does it affect how you view the living? We ask Sheri Booker, who’s written a memoir of her nine years working at the Albert P. Wylie Funeral Home in west Baltimore. Plus: theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews the comedy "Pickle My Monkey ” at the Maryland Ensemble Theater in Frederick. And: a peek inside a new documentary about the Source Family, a 1970s cult led by the charismatic guide, Father Yod.