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

A radio adaptation of Rob Roensch’s “Henry,” the NOVO Festival, and the neuroscience of creativity

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A woman tries to deal with a husband who’s somehow been possessed by the soul of Henry David Thoreau. It’s a special radio adaptation from the short fiction collection, The Wild Flowers of Baltimore, by Rob Roensch.

We’ll preview the 2013 NOVO Festival of Instrumental Music with festival organizer Mat Leffler Schulman and musicians Anna Meadors and John Carillo.

Is creativity quantifiable? Dr. Charles Limb has been studying the real-time brain activity of jazz improvisers, and we’ll talk with him about he’s discovered.

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Henry David Thoreau Wakes Up Confused

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Fiction writer Rob Roench has won the prestigious Scott Prize for his short-story collection, The Wild Flowers of Baltimore. He’s also an open-minded guy who agreed to collaborate with producer Aaron Henkin this week to present an original radio adaptation of his short story, “Henry.” In the role of “Henry” we hear Rob Roensch, “Henry’s Wife” is voiced by Carrie Gardner, and Aaron Henkin serves as narrator.

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NOVO Instrumental Musical Festival

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The 4th annual NOVO Instrumental Musical Festival kicks off Friday evening, March 8, at the Windup Space. More than 20 bands will take the stage over the course of three nights. Festival organizer Mat Leffler Schulman and musician-composers Anna Meadors and John Carillo talk with The Signal’s Lisa Morgan.

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Can ‘Creativity’ be Measured by Science?

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The ancient Greeks prayed to the muses for creative inspiration. They also practiced alchemy and believed the human body was made of four humors. While our understanding of science has become more refined over the millennia, the source of creativity is as mysterious to us today as it was in the age of mythical gods and goddesses. The Signal’s Aaron Henkin reports that might be about to change, though, as science tunes in to the human brain – at play.

Here's a video of Dr. Charles Limb talking about his research

Here's a link to jazz-man Mike Pope, one of Dr. Limb's research subjects

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2.22.13: Developmental Disabilities in a New Light – on the Silver Screen

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The Sprout Touring Film Festival will travel to 40 cities nationwide this year, and the Baltimore screening is just a few weeks away. Never heard of it? You’re not alone. Sprout is a showcase of movies by and about a population generally ignored by the media – people with developmental disabilities. Festival Director Anthony DiSalvo and Kate McGuire of The Arc Baltimore talk about the films with The Signal’s Aaron Henkin…

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A Hopeless Romantic (and Possible Threat to National Security)

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Ptolemy Slocum wanted to profess his love to his sweetheart, and he thought the most romantic possible place would be at the top of the Empire State Building. He shares the fantasy – and the reality – in front of a live audience at the Windup Space, as part of the Stoop Storytelling Series.

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The Nazi Séance

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Arthur Magida’s book, The Nazi Séance, is set in Berlin during the 1930’s. It was a time when the German economy was still in shambles after the Great War, and the Nazi party was slowly but steadily rising to power. The people of Germany were looking for something, anything, to believe in – and so they held séances, psychic readings, and communions with the dead. Arthur Magida speaks with The Signal’s Lisa Morgan about the book.

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Sprout Film Festival, Ptolemy Slocum at The Stoop, and “The Nazi Séance”

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The Sprout Touring Film Festival showcases inspirational movies by and about people with developmental disabilities, and as the festival heads to town, we explore some of the cinematic highlights with Sprout director Anthony DiSalvo and Kate McGuire of The Arc Baltimore.

Ptolemy Slocum wanted to profess his love to his sweetheart, and he thought the most romantic possible place would be at the top of the Empire State Building. We’ll hear him share the fantasy – and the reality – at the Stoop Storytelling Series.

Arthur Magida talks about his book, The Nazi Séance: The Strange Story of the Jewish Psychic in Hitler’s Circle. It’s the tale of a celebrated clairvoyant who let his ambition blind him to the realities of life in Berlin during the 1930’s.

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2.15.13: Bernice L McFadden’s “Nowhere is a Place”

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How much do you know about your family tree? For critically-acclaimed author Bernice L McFadden, that question has been an ongoing source of curiosity. It’s also the inspiration for her latest novel, Nowhere is a Place. McFadden joins The Signal’s Aaron Henkin for a conversation about the new book.

(The author speaks at the downtown Pratt Library on Tuesday, February 17th. Details are here.)

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2.15.13: Maryland’s Civil War Photographs

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It’s taken him more than 40 years, but Ross Kelbaugh has assembled the largest private collection of vintage Maryland photographs and related material in the state. Kelbaugh’s new book, Maryland’s Civil War Photographs: The Sesquicentennial Collection, offers a look at the people who lived and died during the war. Kelbaugh joins The Signal’s Lisa Morgan to share the stories behind the photographs.