WYPR Features

On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we feature two new novels that both have a distinctly Asian flavor.

It’s almost impossible to walk into a convenience store, pass a bus stop, or even to watch You Tube videos these days without being assaulted with ads for vaping or electronic cigarettes.

This online ad features a cool-looking young actor on the beach, with the surf crashing behind him.

 “Blue e-cigs,” the narrator says. “Blue lets me enjoy smoking without it affecting the people around me because it’s vapor, not tobacco smoke. That means there’s no ash. And best of all, no offensive odor.”

But is that really true – that vaping does not affect the people around you?  That it’s harmless, creating no indoor air pollution?

“No,” said Ana Maria Rule, assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “It is definitely not smoking, that’s a good distinction to make.  However, I don’t know where people get this idea that (vaping) is harmless because the chemicals that are being heated up from the liquid are not harmless chemicals.”

Sherry Fisher, a Kennedy Krieger Institute child life and therapeutic recreation special programs staff member, shares a special memory of how the affection and attention of a therapy dog made a long hospital stay better for a Native American boy far from home, and his family.

July 4th, our great national holiday when we do our level best to celebrate with gusto.  There's going to be a lot of grilling going on, and there is nobody better than Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School to give us a few shrewd hints on how to make the most of it.

The Transamerica Center for Health Studies has released a new "Healthier Traditions" cookbook. This year they've brought you healthy twists on classic soul food recipes.

Hector tells us about TCHS' partners, The Association of Black Women Physicians.

Gil remembers a complete surrender of the Orioles management to the neighborhood boys of Baltimore.

Anirban on a report that determines well-being, the end of the International Entrepreneur Rule and the impact of tariffs.

Did you know that the first American Saint lived in Maryland, where she opened the first free Catholic School for girls in the United States? Helen Jahn from The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton tells us more about the woman behind the sainthood.

Eric Orlinsky, co-founder of Treble, tells us why the city was the perfect place to launch his app.

In the summer of 1925, H. L. Mencken traveled to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, to cover the trial of John Scopes, who challenged the law against teaching evolution in schools.

The first weeks of spring are prime time for the onion family.  Green onions, spring onions, ramps and garlic are all coming in right now.  And so is an oft-overlooked member of the onion family, the leek.  And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino  of Schola Cooking School will confirm, this is actually a very good ingredient to work with.

Merlot's rep as a second class wine is totally undeserved. Click the links to purchase Al and Hugh's recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits.

On Sunday evening, another rainstorm drenched the Baltimore area, turning gutters into rivers and streams into muddy torrents.

A day earlier, heavy rainfall caused the worst flooding in two decades along the Rappahanock River in Virginia, inundating several homes.

And on May 27, flash floods devastated historic Ellicott City, Maryland, for the second time in as many years, flipping cars and killing a National Guard sergeant.

May turned out to be the third rainiest in Maryland history, with eight inches falling, more than twice the average for that month, according to National Weather Service monitoring at BWI airport. So far in June, almost 5 more inches of rain have fallen – about a third more than is normal for a June.

Last June, my son Jack and I were wandering through the fields behind our home, when Jack came bolting toward me with his latest nature find.

Atop his finger was a tiny, green, kneeling insect peering at me through large eyes on its triangular head. Its miniscule, yet still prominent, front legs were held together at an angle that nearly looked like they were in reverence to some greater power. I knew immediately what it was: a juvenile praying mantis.

The Amazon River Forest is one of the most biodiverse places on earth, home to thousands of species that appear almost nowhere else. Listen as National Aquarium experts discuss this remarkable place and what you can do to preserve it. 

Hector gives us the basics on Medicaid.

On this edition of The Weekly Reader, we bring you two additions to our growing list of summer reading recommendations.

Scientists are telling us that the blue crab population  remains modestly healthy and sustainable. Will Baker, President of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says we should celebrate this, but remember that blue crabs depend on a healthy bay and recovery can be fragile. 

Residents being priced out of the metropolitan housing market, America's pension crisis and rising compensation costs.

Toby Bozzuto, President and CEO of the Bozzuto Group tells us how his love of his hometown of Baltimore influences his company's work.

The story behind the hit song, first recorded by Willy May "Big Mama" Thornton, and then Elvis Presley, and written by Baltimore native Jerry Leiber and his partner Mike Stoller.

It's all about keeping an open mind when you look for value. Click the links to purchase Al and Hugh's recommendations at Kenilworth Wine & Spirits.

I don't know, but I've seen it in the movies: Italians will eat pasta all year long. Whether it's in the bleak mid-winter or al fresco on a sunny summer afternoon, pasta is always there.  And as Chef Jerry Pellegrino of Schola Cooking School will tell you, there seems to be quite a few pasta ideas that are appropriate for these warmer months.

Here's a few.

Baltimore, 1940: In the gym of the Jewel Box Girly Club on 'The Block,' a 'trainer' worked at his dream: teaching contenders how to box and making Baltimore a world-renowned center for boxing.