The Signal

  • Friday 7-8pm
  • Saturday 1-2pm

The Signal, a weekly radio magazine produced by WYPR, is devoted to exploring Maryland's thriving artistic and cultural scene.

The Signal, hosted by veteran WYPR personality Andy Bienstock, promises to transport listeners to the region's cultural back roads: the studios, recital halls and basement workshops where art is conceived and brought to life.

The minds behind The Signal senior producers Aaron Henkin and Lisa Morgan, as well as Bienstock -- share an abiding love for the tradition of radio storytelling. Every program is crafted like a book of short stories, a radio quilt sewn together with thoughtful narrative transitions and embroidered with contemplative musical interludes.

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Program Days: 
Friday
Saturday
Short Program: 
Only Archive
The Signal, 4.27.12 & 4.28.12, Ugandan musician Kinobe, John Waters and Josh Slates on the MD Film Festival, and the purple prose of Groupon

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April 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’ in the vocabulary.  We talk with Kinobe about the beauty of that paradox, and we hear the ancient sounds of the kora, the ndongo, and the akogo.

John Waters unveils his annual special-screening pick for the 2012 Maryland Film Festival, and Signal film critic Josh Slates drops in with an overview of the festival’s upcoming cinematic highlights.

Plus:  Internet ad offers aren’t necessarily known for their literary quality, but middle school English teacher Matthew Byars has found some inspired prose in the unlikeliest of places – the online bargain site, Groupon.

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The Signal, 4.20.12 & 4.21.12, World of Warcraft, “It Can Be Solved by Walking,” and “Summer of ‘68”

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The massively multiplayer online roleplaying game “World of Warcraft” is inhabited by the avatars of more than ten million dedicated gamers worldwide.  The master of that alternate universe is Blizzard Entertainment’s system designer Greg Street, and he joins us to talk about the ups and downs of being a virtual god.

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

Plus:  a conversation with Tim Wendel, author of “Summer of ’68:  The Season that Changed Baseball – and America – Forever”

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The Signal, 4.13.12 & 4.14.12, Scenic Routes Records, Telesma's "Action in Inaction," Deborah Keene at The Stoop, and punk documentary "From the Back of the Room"

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We'll meet Alex Champagne and Dan Cohan of Scenic Route Records, a new label that combines old-fashioned ideals with a modern approach to making and sharing music.

We profile Baltimore psychedelic super-group, Telesma, whose new album, “Action in Inaction,” blends progressive rock, Buddhist chants, and the drone of the didgeridoo.

From the Stoop Storytelling Series, Deborah Keene recalls an ill-fated skinny-dipping outing - she and her friends made it back to Baltimore, but their clothes didn't.

Plus:  Amy Oden discusses her new film, From the Back of the Room, a 30-year look at the role of women in punk music and the DIY scene.

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The Signal, 04.06.12 & 04.07.12, art and music where you least expect it - some favorite stories...

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Art historian Kerr Houston explores the history of music as a weapon, from the drone of Scottish bagpipes to the screaming guitar assault of Metallica

Philosopher Crispin Sartwell takes to the streets of Baltimore on an aesthetic tour of the mundane, looking for beauty in the forms that surround us every day

Photo developer Lev Bar Av shares his thoughts about our life as he sees it, in an endless stream of freshly printed snapshots

Plus, a spoken-word collaboration from Native Son and Femi the Drifish

 

 

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The Signal, 3.30.12 & 3.31.12, The Filbert Street Community Garden, Esther Weiner’s Passover horseradish, and a story of pachyderm family ties at the Maryland Zoo

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March 30th & 31st, 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 dig in for their spring planting season. 

Hold your breath and don’t rub your eyes!  Jewish grandmother and chef extraordinaire Esther Weiner does culinary battle with three giant horseradish roots when invites us into her kitchen for a Passover recipe guaranteed to clear the sinuses.

Plus:  Maryland Zoo elephant manager Mike McClure steps up at the Stoop Storytelling Series to share a tale of big-hearted family bonds in the unlikeliest of situations.

 

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The Signal, 3.23.12 & 3.24.12, the unlikely musical survival story of Zieti; ellen cherry’s new album, ‘Please Don’t Sell the Piano’; and Marc Horwitz’s Shakespearean tour de force, ‘Ages of Man’

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March 23rd & 24th, 2012, on The Signal…

An unlikely musical friendship blossomed thirteen years ago between two Americans and two West Africans in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan.  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.

Music and conversation with singer-songwriter ellen cherry. Her new CD – which she produced with Caleb Stine - finds the artist putting down her guitar and returning to the instrument she played as a child – the piano.

Plus:  A visit with Shakespearean actor Marc Horwitz, who performs 24 different characters in his upcoming one-man show, Ages of Man.

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The Signal, 3.16.12 & 3.17.12, “Sphere: The Thelonius Monk Story,” traditional Irish music, international record hunter Sam Hopkins, and fiction from Elisabeth Dahl

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March 16th & 17th, 2012, on The Signal…

Was Thelonius Monk crazy, or did he just want us to think so?  The new biographical play, “Sphere:  The Thelonius Monk Story,” puts the jazz legend in conversation with a young psychiatrist, and together they try to make sense of his unconventional genius.  We’ll visit with playwright Max Garner, director Rosalind Cauthen, and actor David Mitchell, who bring the story to life on stage.

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we enjoy music and conversation with traditional Irish musicians Dan Isaacson, Mathew Olwell, and Kelly Smits. 

We sample some rare vinyl from the other side of the world:  International record hunter Sam Hopkins is just back from India, and he joins us to spin some of his latest finds.

Plus:  Remember Brood X? Elisabeth Dahl does.  The perennial hordes of cicadas have inspired her latest work of fiction, and she joins us for a reading.

 

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The Signal, 3.9.12 & 3.10.12, Out of the Blocks, Victoria Vox, Montford Point Marine, and The Inverse Delirium

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March 9th & 10th, 2012, on The Signal…

An excerpt of the documentary project, “Out of the Blocks,” from producer Aaron Henkin and electronic musician Wendel Patrick.  They went to 3300 Greenmount Avenue with a simple goal:  One city block, everybody’s story.

Ukulele songstress Victoria Vox shares her unlikely blend of serious songwriting and playful instrumentation.

World War II veteran Charles Wells was one of the first African-American US Marines, and he shares his memories of training at an outpost for black recruits called Camp Montford Point.

Plus:  A chat with the creator of the public radio parody podcast, The Inverse Delirium

 

 

 

This week (03.09.12 & 03.10.12) on The Signal:  An excerpt from “Out of the Blocks,” ukulele songstress Victoria Vox, Montford Point Marine Charles Wells, and The Inverse Delirium podcast

 

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The Signal, 3.2.12 & 3.3.12, Gathering of Waters, NOVO Festival, Tap Tribute, & Sam’s Stomach

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March 2nd & 3rd, 2012, on The Signal…

Novelist Bernice McFadden joins us to discuss her new book, “Gathering of Waters,” a story that mixes historical fact and magical realism in the town of Money, Mississippi.

We preview the 2012 NOVO Instrumental Music Festival with curator Mat Leffler Schulman and performers Mike Shank and Ruby Fulton.

Baltimore tap legends Buster Brown, Baby Laurence, and Hawk Hawkins may be gone, but their spirits live on.  Modern tap dancer Quynn Johnson shows us how two toes plus two heels can equal infinite rhythms.

Plus: a Stoop story about a healthy appetite, from WYPR’s own Sam Gallant.

 

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The Signal, 2.24.12 & 2.25.12, nonagenarian poet Isaac Rehert, a look inside Amish culture, and gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel

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February 24th & 25th, 2012, on The Signal…

A lot of great writers have been late bloomers:  Charles Bukowski wrote his first novel at age 49.  Frank McCourt published his first book at 66.  But Baltimore’s Isaac Rehert has got them all beat.  He’s just published his first book of poetry - at age 90.  Mr. Rehert joins us this week to share some poems from his aptly titled collection, “Renaissance”

We talk to Dr. Donald Kraybill, an expert on Amish society and a key consultant and contributor to a new documentary about the Amish that will air next week on PBS as part of the American Experience series

Plus:  From the “Musicians in their Own Words” series, gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembell talks about composing the score for the Oscar-nominated Woody Allen film, “Midnight in Paris”

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Contact Aaron Henkin or Lisa Morgan
thesignal@wypr.org

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