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, 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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The Signal, 2.17.12 & 2.18.12, The Greektown Reading Series, Fiction from Jen Grow, Derek Musgrove’s ‘Rumor, Repression, & Racial Politics’; and presidential advice from Lionel Foster

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February 17th & 18th, 2012, on The Signal…

We hear about The Greektown Reading Series – a showcase of literary arts, music and food, all with a decidedly Greek flavor

Jen Grow joins us for a reading of her short story, ‘Small Deaths’

We head to the University of DC for visit with historian George Derek Musgrove, author of Rumor, ‘Repression, and Racial Politics: How the Harassment of Black Elected Officials Shaped Post Civil-Rights America’

Plus: City Paper columnist Lionel Foster shares some unconventional campaign advice for President Obama

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The Signal, 2.10.12 & 2.11.12, Nina Simone Tribute, “She’Baltimore,” and a tale of sloth from The Stoop

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February 10th & 11th, 2012, on The Signal…

The late Nina Simone was dubbed “The High Priestess of Soul,” and she’s about to be honored in a tribute performance at The Creative Alliance. Baltimore playwright Rosalind Cauthen is organizing the event, and we talk with her about Simone’s lasting impact

A conversation with Ira Kip and Nicol Moeller about “She’Baltimore,” a play about the sometimes overlooked (and under-reported) issue of domestic violence in the LGBT community

Erik Hanson tells a tale of unrepentant sloth, from The Stoop Storytelling Series’ night of Seven Deadly Sins

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The Signal, 2.3.12 & 2.4.12, August Wilson’s “Jitney,” The Soul Shakedown Party, and violinist Chelsey Green

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February 3rd & 4th, 2012, on The Signal…

August Wilson’s play, “Jitney,” stars a gruff, disenchanted cab dispatcher named Becker. Actor Roscoe Orman plays the part expertly, and that’s a testament to his theatrical range: He’s best known to the world as ‘Gordon’ from Sesame Street. We drop in at a rehearsal with Mr. Orman and the rest of the cast as they prepare to stage Morgan State University’s production of “Jitney”

We get a preview of this weekend’s Soul Shakedown Party at the Creative Alliance, an evening of music, film, food and dancing with a decidedly Caribbean flavor in honor of the legendary reggae artist Bob Marley

Plus: R & B meets classical strings when musician Chelsey Green trades the symphony circuit for the club scene

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The Signal, 1.27.12 & 1.28.12, Over the Rhine, “Signal to Noise,” and “Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother”

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January 27th & 28th, 2012, on The Signal…

Humorous and heartbreaking, gentle and piercing, sweepingly epic, and intimately personal: The band Over the Rhine embraces life’s paradoxes, and we talk with band-member Linford Detweiler about “The Long Surrender,” an album that celebrates the tenderness of human imperfection.

Sound artist and MICA Professor Jason Sloan gives us a preview of “Signal to Noise,” a new audio installation that explores how the interplay between intentional sound and the inherent noise associated with electronics affects our sonic media experiences.

Plus: We consider the stereotypes leveled at people who rely on public assistance when we meet Barbara Morrison. Her memoir is titled, “Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother”

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