WYPR Features

A little known story behind the scenes of the making of the Hollywood blockbuster "King Kong" and its ties to Maryland.

In 1983, 1987 and 2000, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the other Chesapeake Bay region states all signed much-heralded agreements to clean up the nation’s largest estuary.

But these agreements all failed to make any progress in the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay for a simple reason: They were purely voluntary, with no enforcement mechanism.

Then, in 2010, the Obama Administration – after being sued – issued a new and revised Bay cleanup plan that everyone praised as being the real breakthrough. For the first time, EPA set firm numeric pollution limits for the states, and threatened to penalize the states that failed to meet the cleanup targets by the deadline of 2025.

For a few years, there was real hope for the Bay’s restoration – despite the stubborn refusal of the Bay’s biggest polluter, Pennsylvania, to stop dumping on its downstream neighbors in Maryland and Virginia.

Then, on January 3, the Trump Administration’s EPA caused an uproar. The Administration’s Chesapeake Bay Program director suddenly announced that the 2010 agreement was, in fact, not enforceable, and was instead just “informational” and “aspirational” – just like all the previous failed bay cleanup agreements.  The Trump EPA would do nothing to crack down on Pennsylvania’s pollution.

The wines of Australia's Margaret River are among the most refined and graceful in a country that prizes big strapping wines.  They show true class. Click the links to purchase Cellar Notes recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits.   

On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we review Kiley Reid's debut novel Such a Fun Age. The book is a clever, thoughtful examination of race and racism in America, and, it's our selection for the next meeting of The Weekly Reader Book Club.  

There’s nothing more calming and downright medicinal than taking a long walk through some our region’s beautiful hardwood forests. Pacing among the trunks of old trees, listening to the breeze lightly blow the leaves or – in the winter – the winds bend the branches. It’s perfection, all brought to you by nature.

During one of my recent walks, I was sad to see so many of these old-growth trees with small, D-shaped holes in their bark. Noticing these marks brought me from “meditative calm” to “moderate existential panic” pretty quickly. Why? These trees – most of which are ash trees – had been infected by an invasive species so damaging that we could see the complete eradication of ash trees in our region as a result. The emerald ash borer has been in Maryland since 2015 and has wreaked havoc on our ash trees since.

From record storm surges in Texas to rampant wildfires in California, the news about climate change is, quite frankly, a little scary. Listen in to learn how to empower kids to mature into conservation-savvy adults.  

Have you ever wondered how well prepared your Uber driver, tutor, or piano teacher is for retirement? Often when we discuss retirement, we think about traditional employees who work for an employer. Those who are not always top of mind, but are just as important, are the self-employed. How are they preparing for retirement or are they even considering retirement? Today, we have Catherine Collinson, president of nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, with us to discuss how the self-employed are shaping their retirement. 

I'm friends with quite a few young folks in their 20's who are just starting out, and for many, cooking is a mystery. To them, my first piece of advice is, don't worry, that's how we all started. My second piece of advice might be to start with something pretty basic and useful: classic winter stews. Chef Jerry Pellegrino will tell you there are a few basic tips that will come in handy not just for this winter, but for the rest of their lives.

On Friday, January 17, hundreds of eighth-graders in Baltimore will submit their high school choice applications. This one day will be the culmination of months of research, planning, and  soul-searching by students, families, guidance counselors, and others. 

This month, Julia Marciari-Alexander has Abigial Quandt, Head of Book and Paper Conservation, in studio to discuss the extraordinary 2 year conservation effort of the St. Francis Missal, on view next month at the Walters Art Museum.

On the night of Nov. 16, 1939, notorious gangster Al Capone was released from Lewisberg penitentiary - and headed for Baltimore. Capone was a sick man and planned to seek treatment at Johns Hopkins. He settles in the Oswego Avenue home of Manasha Katz, Captain of the Maryland State Police. But because he planned to stay in Baltimore a while, he though to arrange to have his favorite Italian food personally prepared for him at the then well-known restaurant, Maria's, in Little Italy. So he sent a lieutenant there to meet Maria and asked if he might inspect her kitchen. Very bad mistake. This is the story of why.

Have you ever heard of a floating hospital? Did you know that The Army and Navy have sailed almost 60 hospital ships since the Civil War? Steven Hill, Exhibits Manager at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, talks about our nation’s history of hospital ships.

On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we review two new, important memoirs that don't shy away from ugly truths: Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill and Chris Rush's The Light Years.

Locs, braids, Afros, twists. Black hairstyles on black bodies have always been highly-policed in America. Black hair is revered for its uniqueness and creativity and simultaneously reviled for the perceived offense of having naturally curly or coiled hair that distinguishes it from other races.

In 2019 the CROWN Act, or Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, was signed into law in California, banning race-based workplace discrimination based on one’s traditional and natural hairstyles. Similar legislation has now found its way to Maryland and Baltimore.

A lot of us have invested heavily in the holiday season, and now it's time to cut back a little bit.  But you don't have to give up your favorite wine. Here's four bargains.

The Maryland General Assembly’s annual legislative session opened today. The two most important environmental issues being debated this year in Annapolis are – once again -- climate change and the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay.

State Delegate Kumar Barve, a Democrat from Montgomery County and chairman of the House Environment and Transportation Committee, is proposing legislation that would shut down Maryland’s six remaining coal fired power plants.

“I do want to emphasize the pernicious effects of coal on our environment,” Barve told a telephone press conference organized by the Sierra Club. “Of course, coal not only produces more carbon dioxide for the atmosphere, but coal soot – the soot that’s not caught by the power plants, and ends up going into the atmosphere. It’s a terrible pollutant for human and animal life.”

You may be in hibernation, but the Chesapeake Bay region is an important migratory stop for an array of wintering waterfowl.

With our short days, long nights and frigid temperatures, our listening area is firmly amidst the Maryland winter. 

It’s a great time of year for me to eat homemade comfort foods and nap by a cozy fire. My kids tease me that I’m like a bear in hibernation.

And surprisingly, that’s partially true! My winter habits may be bear-like, but neither of us hibernate.

Here in Maryland it seems completely appropriate that our greatest natural resource, the Chesapeake Bay, is the home to one of the greatest fish in the whole world:  the celebrated rockfish. And Chef Jerry Pellegrino will tell you, the rockfish is hands-down one of the best tasting fish you'll ever come across.

Baltimore-based artist and jewelry designer Betty Cooke talks with BMA Director Christopher Bedford about her early career, the artists she admired, and why she has chosen to stay in Baltimore. A selection of Ms. Cooke’s jewelry is on view in Free Form: 20th-Century Studio Craft at the BMA through June 7.

On the night of December 7, 1961, Fire Prevention Chief Michael Horan was making a routine check in the Las Vegas nightclub on Harford Road when he discovered to his considerable discomfort that infractions of the city fire control were out of control. The dancers were dancing the Twist, a body shaking dance sweeping across the country - and on this night blocking the exit aisles of the Las Vegas club in Baltimore. He shut the club down only to see it re-open again - it's aisles jammed with dancers twisting again there was a reason for the way things were going for Chief Horan. This story explains . . . 

Elizabeth Catlett received a Lifetime Achievement Award in contemporary sculpture from the International Sculpture Center in 2003. Decades earlier, Carnegie Institute of Technology revoked her admission when the school learned she was Black. Jackie Copeland, Executive Director of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, tells us more about the groundbreaking artist.

During the last decade, when the Chesapeake Bay region states publicly promised to increase their efforts to clean up the nation’s largest estuary, four of the six states quietly cut funding for the state environmental agencies responsible for carrying out that cleanup.

Among the worst offenders, according to an examination of state budget documents by the Environmental Integrity Project, was Pennsylvania, the state that contributes by far the most pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.

Governors and lawmakers in the Keystone State cut funding and staffing at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection by about 15 percent between 2008 and 2018, even as the overall state budget grew by 18 percent over this time.

If your family is like mine, the holiday season becomes a race to see how many traditional holiday foods we can take down between the end of November and the beginning of January. Menu planning becomes akin to an Olympic sport as we try to fit in everyone’s favorites: stuffing, turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, and more. There is one dish, however, that I feel is under-appreciated. It’s usually relegated to a sad, small dish somewhere in the corner of the table, with only a small serving spoon because…let’s face it…it’s not that popular. Whether you make it from scratch or serve it in a jellied, can-shaped cylinder, cranberry sauce has been a staple on American tables since before America was even America. And I’m here to tell you that the cranberry deserves your respect.

Over 3,000 species make a home in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. But when the bitter cold comes, where does all that abundant life go?

It's party season, and most of us like to bring along something nice for the crowd to enjoy. Here are three sure-fire winners that you and your friends will love!

Tonight's the big night and there's still time to go out and do something crazy to help ring in the new year.  For that portion of the population with refined and cultivated taste, nothing quite beats caviar for putting a big exclamation point on evening's festivities.  Chef Jerry Pellegrino believes, it pays to know what you're talking about when it comes to caviar.

We've recently discussed Medicare and other medical open enrollment periods on this podcast. Although open enrollment is typically centered around health insurance, it provides an opportunity to check/review your retirement benefit selections. Today Catherine Collinson, president of nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, helps us understand what things to consider during this vital period.