signal

August 17 & 18, 2012, on The Signal: 

An unlikely musical friendship blossomed thirteen years ago between two Americans and two West Africans in the Ivory Coast.  Together, they formed the band Zieti.  Since then, political turmoil has kept the old friends half a world apart.  But thanks to modern technology, they’ve made a new album nonetheless.  The American half of Zieti joins us with the new tunes, and the stories behind them.

August 10 & 11, 2012, on The Signal:  

South Baltimore’s Filbert Street Community Garden was a trash-strewn lot when Jason Reed showed up there two years ago.  With the help of Curtis Bay Elementary Middle School students, he’s transformed the area into a flourishing green space, and we’ll drop in on Jason and the kids as they cultivate their harvest. 

A talk with the editors of “68: Riots and Rebirth in an American City,” a book about the riots in Baltimore following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.

August 3 & 4, 2012, on The Signal:  

We drop in at a Fells Point country music bar to hear the twang of honky tonk musician Arty Hill, whose new album, “Another Lost Highway,” brings a little Nashville flavor to Charm City.

We pay a visit to Pierce’s Park, a new public green space and memorial garden located on the Baltimore waterfront. 

Plus:  At age 23, Robert A Douglas has published “Fertile Concrete,” a memoir about his young life in Baltimore, and we talk with him about his path from drug dealer to gospel preacher.

July 27th & 28th, 2012, on The Signal:  

Ugandan multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Kinobe has toured the world, but he comes from a country where there’s no word for ‘music’.  We’ll talk with Kinobe about the beauty of that paradox, and we’ll hear the ancient sounds of his traditional instruments.

We stroll around Bolton Hill with poet Jennifer Wallace, whose book, “It Can Be Solved by Walking,’ explores the balance between nature, man, and the built environment, and celebrates the simple pleasure of walking.

July 20th & 21st, 2012, on The Signal:  

The Chester River is an important part of life for poet Meredith Davies Hadaway.  It’s also the inspiration for her poetry, and this week the Eastern-Shore writer takes us out onto the waters that have meant so much to her.

Arthur Magida talks about his book, THE NAZI SÉANCE: THE STRANGE STORY OF THE JEWISH PSYCHIC IN HITLER’S CIRCLE.  It’s the tale of a celebrated clairvoyant who let his ambition blind him to the realities of life in 1930’s Berlin.  

July 13th & 14th, 2012, on The Signal:  

We visit “Landscape as Laboratory,” the latest round of outdoor works inspired by Evergreen House, the 19th century Italianate mansion that was once home to Baltimore’s Garrett family.

Bill Hennick spent thirty years as a Baltimore firefighter and paramedic, and every day when he came home, he told his adventures to his daughter, Rachel Hennick.  Now, she’s written a memoir about her dad called “Ghetto Medic,” and we’ll talk with Rachel and the hero of her book – her dad.

July 6th & 7th, 2012, on The Signal:  

The roadside tourist trap “South of the Border” has been voted the ‘tackiest place in the mid-Atlantic,’ but for historian Nicole King, it was love at first sight.  Professor King has researched “South of the Border” with a critical eye, and she joins us with some profound cultural observations about a profoundly silly place 

NPR Political Junkie Ken Rudin confesses his own political failings in front of a live audience at WYPR’s 10th anniversary Stoop Storytelling celebration.

June 29th & 30th, 2012, on The Signal:  

David Silverman has a collection of almost 900 pinball machines, and in January 2012 he opened the doors to the National Pinball Museum in downtown Charm City.  We listen back to a visit with David, when he set aside his last-minute preparations to give us a crash course in pinball history.

Eden Unger Bowditch talks about her book, “The Atomic Weight of Secrets,” a Young-Adult mystery about the real-life magic of scientific invention.

June 22nd & 23rd, 2012, on The Signal: Master storyteller Gilbert Sandler joins us to share memories of a lifetime spent in Charm City and to talk about his new book, Glimpses of Jewish Baltimore. Sphere: The Thelonious Monk Story is a play that tries to make sense of a jazz legend’s unconventional genius, and we’ll visit with the folks who bring the story to life. Move over, Bruce Springsteen! You may still be The Boss, but New Jersey native Marion Winik has some tales of her own about growing up on the Jersey Shore.

June 15th & 16th, 2012, on The Signal: