What’s got you curious about Baltimore, the region, and its people? Is there a local mystery that’s always left you scratching your head? Veteran WYPR journalist Aaron Henkin is reporting to a new assignment editor: You. And together, you’ll find some answers, or at least learn something new along the way.
Latest episodes
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19 min
What’s Happening With Community Schools in Maryland?
What exactly are community schools? How are they funded? How are they different? And how well do they work? Maryland is spending almost 4 billion dollars a year to convert public s…
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23 min
Remembering Theo Hill
Theo Hill hosted a series of intimate and honest conversations with people battling addiction on his WYPR podcast, One Day at a Time. His producer, Aaron Henkin, takes some time th…
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23 min
Why Is There An Abandoned Streetcar In The Woods?
It’s down in a gully near Bunker Hill Road in Hereford. Peer through the trees and you’ll see it, a vintage Baltimore streetcar, forgotten and rusting away in the forest. Hiker (an…
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31 min
Why Don’t Baltimore City Schools Have School Buses?
Ask MTA administrators and transit activists, and you’ll get the same answer: No idea. It’s just been that way forever. This episode, we find a fifty-year-old archival newspaper ar…
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24 min
Why Is Baltimore’s Bus System Such A Mess?
When Charlie moved to Baltimore, her goal was to commute to work on a bus. It seemed like a reasonable plan. But it’s turned into a logistical nightmare. For Charlie, the bus syste…
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25 min
Are Speed Cameras Actually Calming Traffic On The JFX?
Six months ago, Baltimore installed speed cameras on The Jones Falls Expressway, on a stretch of the highway where unsafe driving and traffic accidents have been a problem for year…
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21 min
Why Do I Get Called For Jury Duty So Often?
It’s a civic duty. It’s a triumph of democracy. And if you live in Baltimore, it can feel like a hassle. Locals say they get summons letters from the city courthouse almost every y…
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19 min
What’s With Those “Greatest City In America” Benches?
The paint is worn thin, but the message is still there, a puzzling declaration from a foggy past. At some point in history, someone decided to emblazon the city’s public benches wi…
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19 min
Why Is Lacrosse Such A Big Deal In Maryland?
In the world of competitive lacrosse, Maryland is a powerhouse. It’s home to NCAA championship teams, national tournaments, the USA Lacrosse headquarters, and the National Lacrosse…
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29 min
Who Will Play My Piano?
The neighborhood post reads like the opening lines of a short story. “Although I love music, I don’t play, and my Steinway is silent. If by chance anyone knows of a good pianist wh…
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19 min
Who Removes The Graffiti In Baltimore?
They’re a tiny team. But they’re undaunted by the magnitude of the task at hand. Eric Ford and Tony Clark have been working together for more than twenty years on Baltimore’s graff…
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19 min
What's The History Of Rheb's Candies?
A ton of sugar a week. That's what it takes to fuel this longtime Baltimore family business. Rheb's Candies has been crafting homemade chocolates for four generations. During the h…
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21 min
Who Was Myrtle Hazard, And Why Is There A Ship Named After Her?
This episode takes on a question from a far-from-home listener. Robert Cusworth is from Maryland, he’s in the US Coast Guard, and he’s currently stationed in Guam. He noticed that…
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30 min
What’s The Controversy With The Roland Water Tower In Hoes Heights?
Have you seen that Rapunzel-looking brick tower next to the Hoes Heights neighborhood in North Baltimore? It just got restored, and everyone agrees it looks beautiful. That’s prett…
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23 min
Who Are The Marching Ravens?
It’s a not-so-secret weapon that gives The Ravens their home field advantage: Baltimore’s Marching Ravens are a massive musical hype machine that brings hometown crowds to their fe…
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17 min
Why Are There So Many Deer Everywhere?
They’re wandering through yards, snacking on gardens. They’re hanging out in neighborhood parks. They’re strolling down the middle of the streets. Deer are everywhere. Or at least…
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23 min
What’s With The Abandoned Coffin Of Mathilda Lorenz?
It just appeared one day, inexplicably. An empty coffin, nestled in the woods on the bank of Stony Run Creek in Wyman Park. An engraved nameplate read, “Mathilda Lorenz, died July…
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32 min
What’s The Story With Fort Armistead Park?
It’s covered in graffiti, overgrown by the forest, and neglected by the city, but Fort Armistead was once a state-of-the-art coastal defense installation. Why was this place built?…
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26 min
How Did Jousting Become Maryland’s Official State Sport?
Our quest takes us to a ring-jousting event hosted by the Maryland Jousting Tournament Association. Then we venture into a forest to find the ruins of a Gothic mansion where the st…
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26 min
What's The Deal With Pit Beef?
This week’s listener grew up in Maryland, and he always just assumed there were roadside pit beef stands across the whole country. Not so! Pit beef is a hyper-regional food traditi…