WYPR Features

If you like zinfandels, you should try primitivo. Al and Hugh share some of the "treasures" they've found.  

Click the links to purchase their recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits. 

This month, the U.S. Senate will be considering legislation that threatens to reverse historic progress in cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.

On July 19, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives voted 213 to 202 – largely along partisan lines – to pass a budget amendment that would prohibit the federal Environmental Protection Agency from penalizing states that fail to meet pollution limits for the bay imposed by EPA in 2010.

The lead sponsor was Republican Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, an ally of the farm lobby, which went to court to contest the federal Bay pollution limits.

“The EPA cannot be allowed to railroad the states and micromanage the process,” Goodlatte said. “With this amendment, we are simply telling the EPA the important role that states play in implementing the Clean Water Act and preventing another federal power grab.”

Dr. Jen Reesman from the Kennedy Krieger Deafness Evaluation and More clinic shares a story about Dr. Danielle Previ, a Kennedy Krieger trainee, PhD and graduate of Gallaudet University who is deaf and inspires patients who are also deaf or hard of hearing, and their families, by being a living example of all that can be accomplished.

Click the headline to read a transcript of the audio. 

On this episode of The Weekly Reader, Marion Winik has two new titles to recommend for your next book club selections.

It's the time of the year when our local markets are at their prettiest, with all sorts of fresh fruits and vegetables coming our way. Among the most eye-catching are Maryland peaches, in their soft yellow and orange splendor. And there are so many great ways to enjoy peaches.

The onset of football training camps serves as a reminder that there is no group of humans more inclined to obliviousness than college football coaches.

They consistently show an uncanny ability to tune the rest of the world out to focus on their team and their sport, often to their own embarrassment and the shame of the school.

We present, for your consideration, the recent contributions of leaders of two prominent programs to the assemblage of asinine utterings.

First up, North Carolina coach Larry Fedora, who told a gathering of media two weeks ago that it hadn’t been proven that football causes chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE.

Hector tells us about the Transamerica Center for Health Studies' recently-released mental health guide.

Its prime summer time and we are going to hear your favorite summer recipes. Tony and Chef Cindy also chat with a local coffee expert to give you some tips on making the best of your morning motivator.

A story about how Rivers Chambers and his band changed a country western lament to keep the party going. 

Anirban tells us about the conflict over H2B Visas, changing unemployment rates, inflationary pressures, national debt and wage differences in married couples. 

Did you know that bluegrass has origins outside of the United States? Pat Nordstrom from Mountainside Baroque, an early music collective based in Western Maryland and Maryland Humanities grantee, tells us more.

During the Civil War, Montgomery County, Maryland native Rose O'Neal Greenhow worked as a spy for the Confederacy, sharing important military intelligence with fellow Southern sympathizers in Washington, DC.

Get a taste of Portugal with these Cellar Notes selections. Click the links to purchase Al and Hugh's recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits. 

Anirban on Millenials' decision to hold off on parenthood, the fluctuating 'middle class,' sizing up the U.S. economy, tax cuts and economic growth, and Geneva's expensive food scene. 

According to the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, more than 40 percent of mammal species have experienced severe population declines over the last century, meaning that their range has shrunk more than 80 percent.

Almost 200 species of vertebrates have gone extinct over the last 100 years, a rate of about two extinctions per year. That’s 100 times the historic rate. Previous mass die-offs have been caused by asteroids, volcanos and other natural catastrophes. But this one has been triggered by human population growth, development, and climate change, scientists have concluded.

In the face of this rapid decline in biodiversity, a few things have worked to protect nonhuman life. Notably, in the U.S., the Endangered Species Act of 1973 has succeeded in saving several animals faced with elimination, including American alligators, whooping cranes, grizzly bears, peregrine falcons, California condors, the American gray wolf, and, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Delmarva fox squirrel.

On this episode of The Weekly Reader, we preview three Young Adult titles that are fun for slightly older fans as well as the teenagers in your house.

Summer is the season of the berry patch, the source of some of the most appealing fruit of the year. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, black raspberries... gooseberries! We could go on and on, and you can eat 'em right off the bush, or you can take 'em home for some real fun.

Dr. Redonda Miller, president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, tells us why it's important that health systems "think in nontraditional ways to create more value for patients" and what that means for Hopkins. 

My kids used to gather a bucket full of plants and twigs they foraged from our backyard and offer it to me and my wife as “soup.” While most of those ingredients were inedible, you’d be surprised how many were edible and rich in vitamins and minerals! Their favorite food to serve, and most easily harvested, was Dandelions. I can remember the shock on their faces when I put the whole thing, stem and flower, in my mouth, chewed and then swallowed.

If you’ve ever peered into a tide pool and glimpsed an exotic, pulsing flower-like creature, you’ve probably seen a sea anemone. Found across the globe, these diverse and beautiful creatures aren’t plants, they’re colonizing animals, and they occur in nearly every marine habitat—tropical, temperate, shallow or deep. And they’re even here in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Catherine tells us about the growing trend of older American entrepreneurs.

This week we’re turning the airwaves over to you to share your favorite food and travel stories. Tony and Chef Cindy take your calls and emails and share some of their favorite dining experiences while on the road.

2016 National Medal of Arts honoree, Jack Whitten, is best known for his paintings. This may be because his sculptures have never been visible to the public until now. The sculptures — inspired by the materials and traditions of Africa and ancient Greece — are now on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art in the exhibition Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture. Kevin Tervala, the museum’s Associate Curator of African Art, tells us more about the artist and the exhibition.

The good news for people who want to support organic farming and buy organic wines is that there's lots of choices out there. Click the links to purchase Al and Hugh's recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits.

I’ve spoken often about the impact that our ever-more-connected human world has on our native plant and animal species. In the case of invasive species, human efforts to connect to new lands and new people can result in the introduction of a plant, animal, or insect that can often produce devastating consequences for native species. The battle against invasive species is real, and environmental education organizations like Irvine Nature Center are on the front lines.

For some invasive plants in particular, the best way to beat them is to eat them. This is especially true for garlic mustard, an invasive plant that you can find throughout our area.