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, 09.09.11 & 09.10.11, Robert McCoy, 'The Atomic Weight of Secrets,' Erin McKeown, and free speech in the Digital Age

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This week (September 9th & 10th, 2011) on The Signal…

Guitarist Robert McCoy plays solo, but he’s got the whole city of Baltimore as his back-up band.  We visit Robert at his favorite musical venue, outdoors under the trees at Wyman Park Dell, and we hear his contribution to the soundtrack of Charm City

Eden Unger Bowditch takes us inside the mysterious world of her young-adult novel, “The Atomic Weight of Secrets”

Singer/songwriter Erin McKeown has earned a national reputation as a riveting live performer, she’s going to be headlining next weekend’s annual Pigtown Festival, and guest producer Alex Ford brings us a profile

Plus:  Jay Stanley of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Program on the state of free speech in the Digital Age

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The Signal, 09.02.11 & 09.03.11, a Chester River boat cruise with poet Meredith Davies Hadaway, Charm City mother-daughter musical talent, and a profile of Maryland Zoo rhino-wrangler Tanya White.

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The Chester River has been an important part of life for poet Meredith Davies Hadaway.  It’s also been the inspiration for her poetry.  This week, the Eastern-Shore writer takes us out in her boat to share the waters that have meant so much to her.

 

We talk with mother-daughter duo Anne Watts and Posie Lewis about the joy that music brings to their everyday lives and the simple pleasure of performing together.

 

Plus:  When the five-o’clock whistle blows, what happens to the animals at the Maryland Zoo?  It’s the job of zookeeper Tanya White to get the creatures inside and safe & sound at the end of the day, and Signal contributor Charles Cohen tags along to watch her wrangle the rhinos.

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The Signal, 08.26.11 & 08.27.11, a gay serviceman's career under Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell, 'Divided Voices: Maryland in the Civil War', and the life of Ed McTeer, witch-doctor Sheriff.

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This week (August 26th & 27th, 2011) on The Signal…

 

US Navy veteran Jeremy Johnson made the tough decision to come out to his commanding officer after a ten-year military career under the ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ policy.  Jeremy talks with us this week about what went into his decision and what the repeal of the policy might mean for the future.

 

We pay a visit to the Maryland Historical Society for a preview of ‘Divided Voices: Maryland in the Civil War’. The show is the largest exhibition of Civil War artifacts in the society’s 167 year history.

 

Plus:  We talk with author Baynard Woods about his book, ‘Coffin Point:  The Strange Cases of Ed McTeer, Witchdoctor Sheriff’ – it’s the true story of an eccentric lawman who kept the peace in his Southern county for 36 years, without ever carrying a gun.

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The Signal, 08.19.11 & 08.20.11, Ginny Gong's immigrant experience, getting up-close & personal with farmed animals, and the artwork of Najwa Al-Amin

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This week (August 19th & 20th, 2011) on The Signal…

 

Ginny Gong was six years old when she came to the US from China with her family in 1954.  She always struggled for balance between her dual roles as an American kid and a Chinese daughter growing up under the roof of her parents’ hand laundry business.  Ginny joins us to share her unique experience as a “one-point-five generation” immigrant.

 

We meet two of the minds behind Ninety-Five, a book of photographs and stories about farmed animals living in sanctuaries and homes across the country. 

 

Plus:  we pay a visit to the Baltimore painting studio of Iraqi-born artist Najwa Al-Amin.

 

 

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The Signal, 08.12.11 & 08.13.11, Orfeia Vocal Ensemble, The Color of Night, and Eliza's Freedom Road

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This week (August 12th & 13th, 2011) on The Signal…

The members of Orfeia Vocal Ensemble introduce us to the hauntingly dissonant harmonies and intricate rhythms of traditional Bulgarian music.

We talk with Madison Smartt Bell about his novel, “The Color of Night.” The book examines the persistence of violence in American culture and its sinister effect on the mind of a woman who revels in its beauty.

Plus:  We head back in time to walk in the shoes of twelve-year-old Eliza, a fictional girl who stole away on the Underground Railroad with the help of Harriet Tubman.  Author Jerdine Nolen brings the journey to life in her historical novel for young adults, “Eliza’s Freedom Road:  An Underground Railroad Diary”.

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The Signal 8.5.11 & 8.6.11 - KS Resmi; Lee Boot; Shiori

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There’s practice, and then there’s practice…  For much of her childhood, South Indian Carnatic singer K S Resmi woke up every day before dawn to begin singing – and she’d keep singing, until after dark.  Resmi joins us to share her incredible story, and her equally incredible voice.

We talk with media artist Lee Boot about his project, “Who We Am,” an interactive website that explores how our thoughts and actions shape our culture and influence our everyday interactions.

Plus:  Japanese-American poet Shiori came to the US as a young girl in the wake of World War II, and she joins us to share from her book, “The Girl Who Loved Mothra,” a collection of poems about her parents, her childhood, and making the best of two colliding cultures.

 

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The Signal 7.29.11 & 7.30.11 - Life on "The Block", traditional Irish music, and Wendel Patrick

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For many Charm City locals, there’s a seedy stretch of Baltimore Street that might as well not exist, but this week guest producer Baynard Woods gives us a look at what life really is like for the people who make their living in the city’s red-light district, The Block.

Dan Isaacson, Mathew Olwell, and Kelly Smits join us for a live in-studio performance of traditional Irish music

Plus: When you hear the lush, layered musical arrangements on Wendel Patrick’s new CD, "Forthcoming,” you want to know how many people are in his band… The answer is surprisingly simple: It’s all one man, Wendel Patrick, and this hour he explains how he makes it happen with nothing but a keyboard and a computer.

 

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The Signal, 07.22.11 & 07.23.11, Muggle Quidditch, Margaret Edd's 'Finding Sara', and Walker & Jay's Child Ballads

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This week (July 22 & 23, 2011) on The Signal…

 

Bludgers, Quaffles, and the Golden Snitch – they’re all part of the high-flying sport of Quidditch in the fictional world of Harry Potter.  Now the game has cast its spell on real-world college students, and Signal contributor Matt Purdy reports on the action.

 

Margaret Edds was only three years old when her mother died.  As an adult, Margaret set out to learn about the life of this long-absent woman.  What she discovered about her mom, and herself, is in the pages of her new memoir:  “Finding Sara”

 

Plus:  We tap into a well of songs that survived a migration from the Scottish and English countryside to the hills and hollers of early America.  Baltimore musicians Walker & Jay are keeping these orphaned ballads alive and well today, and they join us to share a few treasures from their repertoire.

 

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The Signal, 07.15.11 & 07.16.11, guitarist John Decker, Baltimore Fishbowl, singer/songwriter Sarah Fridrich, and Fluid Movement's 'Mobtown Murder Mystery'

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This week (July 15 & 16, 2011) on The Signal…

 

Baltimore handyman John Decker once accepted a guitar as payment for some work he did on a house.  It wouldn’t be until years later that he really understood why he was meant to have that musical instrument.  We hear John’s story, we meet his new musical collaborator, Red Sammy, and we listen to him play his vintage 1931 National Resonator Guitar.

 

We talk with Betsy Boyd and Marion Winik, two of the minds behind Baltimore Fishbowl, a sassy new on-line publication that covers the fun, factual, and sometimes controversial aspects of life in Charm City.

 

We get a sample of Sarah Fridrich’s new album, You Call That Brave, featuring the unlikely blend of a grand piano and a rock-and-roll drum kit.

 

Plus:  Excerpts from the radio diary of Fluid Movement founder and producer Valerie Prez-Schere – she’s heading up the community performance troupe’s new water-ballet thriller, Mobtown Murder Mystery. 

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The Signal, 07.08.11 & 07.09.11, Woody Guthrie & Cisco Houston revisited, Benn Ray's summer reading list, and essayist Joanne Cavanaugh Simpson

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***THE SIGNAL AIRS FRIDAYS AT 7 PM AND SATURDAYS AT 1 PM***

 

This week (July 8 & 9, 2011) on The Signal…

 

Late, great American folk icons Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston are about to get a theatrical tribute in the upcoming original play, “Woody Guthrie Dreams,” and this week we talk with two local musicians, Caleb Stine and Michael Patrick Flanagan Smith, who’ll be stepping into the historical roles.

 

Literary guru Benn Ray of Atomic Books stops by with a few suggestions for summer reading, including both fiction and non-fiction selections, a graphic novel, and his latest “summer project book” to help keep you busy all season.

 

Plus:  From writer Joanne Cavanaugh Simpson, a meditation on what we grown-ups can learn when we watch children soak up new information about the world. 

 

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Contact Aaron Henkin or Lisa Morgan
thesignal@wypr.org

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