Books

Why do some students soar in the classroom while others fail? A new generation of researchers believes student success might have more to do with character traits -- perseverance, curiosity, optimism and self-control --than with intelligence. Our guest, author Paul Tough, his latest book, "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character." 

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Day After the Cuban Missile Crisis. David Coleman, author of “The Fourteenth Day," talks about the remarkable moment when the U.S. and Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear confrontation and how, in this Cold War battle of wits, the Kennedy administration verified that the Soviets had removed offensive missiles from Cuba.  

Play ball, but where? Sheilah discusses the Hagerstown Suns' facility options with Tom Riford, President and CEO of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Kristin Aleshire, Myserville Maryland Town Manager and Hagerstown City Council candidate.

Maryland Morning theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck reviews "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" at the Maryland Ensemble Theater.

How to help a friend or loved one who is exhibiting signs of emotional or behavioral turmoil and who could benefit from professional help. How to step in, without being insensitive, creating conflict or damaging your relationship. Dr. Mark Komrad is an award-winning psychiatrist on the teaching staff of Johns Hopkins, as well as the director of clinical ethics for the Sheppard Pratt Health System, where he teaches psychiatric residents. He is author of “You Need Help! A Step-by-Step Plan to Convince a Loved One to Get Counseling.”

Award-winning journalist Nancy Mullane tells the story of five convicted murderers sentenced to life with the possibility of parole and how their second chance, if it comes at all, is a massive struggle for redemption. Once a murderer, always a murderer? Who do these men become during decades in prison? What does it take for a killer to be accepted back into society?

We talk about the lawsuit between Baltimore Comptroller Joan Pratt and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and examine how it's affecting the functioning of city government.

How many books can you fit into a library the size of a birdhouse? We ask Lesley Noll, library services coordinator at The Village Learning Place. They're planning to bring "little free libraries" to Charm City.

A new kind of library is slowly spreading across America. It’s about the size of a bird-house, holds about 50 books, and you can put it in your front yard.

Web Extra: Lesley Noll on the response to the little free library prototype

When Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa in 1994, the world celebrated the end of apartheid and the dawn of a new democracy with economic opportunity for all. But journalist Douglas Foster says those dreams are far from reality today. Douglas Foster is the author of “After Mandela: The Struggle for Freedom in Post-Apartheid South Africa.”