Arts & Culture

Michael Griffin of Maryland's Department of Assessments and Taxation tells us why you should apply for the Homestead Tax Credit before the December 31st deadline if you haven't already.

An experimental Alzheimer's treatment at Johns Hopkins Medicine uses electricity to stimulate memory centers in the brain. Nathan Sterner talks with professor Paul Rosenberg who's leading the trial at Hopkins.

Tom Hall visits an exhibit at Maryland Institute College of Art honoring influential fiber artist Lenore Tawney.

It’s mid-December, when everyday life—usually busy—can accelerate to unthinkably hectic speed. You can end up rushing from work to an elementary school production of the Nutcracker to a holiday party.  All those different events can require different attire.  What's the best way to go from day to night? 

Zoey on blue.mp3

Zoey on layers.mp3

Tom Hall remembers his friend and colleague, jazz musician Dave Brubeck, who passed away last week just short of his 92nd birthday.  We also listen back to an interview he did with Maryland Morning in 2009.

December 7th & 8th, 2012, on The Signal:  

When he was drafted during the Vietnam War, Jim Karantonis trained to be a medic and he was assigned stateside - in the psych ward at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  The former neuropsychiatric technician joins us to reflect on what he learned from his patients.

Benn Ray of Atomic Books visits with his unique holiday suggestions, including graphic novels, sheet music, a hot new cookbook, and one item that seeks to re-invent the notion of what a book truly is.

The Maryland Film Festival WYPR Spotlight Series features screenings of films, followed by interviews with people involved with the film, or related to the movie's subject matter. Previous screenings have included Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life And Time Of Tim Hetherington, a tribute to photojournalist Tim Hetherington, who was killed in Libya in 2011. 

Steve James, director of The Interrupters

Lucy Alibar, screenwriter of Beasts of the Southern Wild

Kurt Schmoke, former mayor of Baltimore

If you’re one of the Doomsday disciples who believe December 21st marks the “end of days,” then you don’t have to worry about last minute Christmas shopping. Why do the Mayan Prophesy and the apocalypse continue to be an obsession for so many? Midday's American culture commentator Sheri Parks debunks the notion that the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world on December 21st.

With tens of thousands of Marylanders in foreclosure, today we'll hear about two remediation programs: the National Mortgage Settlement, which could bring principal reduction to distressed borrowers, and the Independent Foreclosure Review, which could put your mortgage in front of a neutral third party to look for the bank's mistakes and potentially get you some financial compensation from your servicer. Deadlines for both are looming.