Leslie Streeter

Baltimore

Columnist, @BaltimoreBanner. Author “Black Widow,” Little, Brown. Holds fake PhD in GenX pop culture. Judging your crab cake. Repped by Glass Literary. She/Her.

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Articles

The hardest part about a staycation? Acting like you’re on vacation.

1 week ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

Usually if I take an entire week off work it’s to go somewhere, whether by train, plane or just walking down the street to a hotel that is not my house. This is partially because I love traveling, but if I’m honest, it’s also because it’s hard to vacation at my house when my non-vacation life is there. As a classic Type A, workaholic, multitasking kind of gal, this is a problem. Since I’ll be on vacation this week, I have one goal: to actually relax.
It’s OK to pay someone to clean your house. Really.

2 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

Growing up watching TV and movies, it was easyto assume that hiring help around the house was either for rich people like the Carringtons of “Dynasty” and the Ewings of “Dallas” or successful-enough families like “The Brady Bunch” who had, well, a bunch of kids. Then there were the strong societal messages of “the 24-hour woman,” as the jingle went in those slinky Enjoli perfume ads.
‘The White Lotus’: What makes a villain?

2 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

WARNING: This column contains big spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “The White Lotus,” which aired Sunday night on Max. Pop quiz: Which of these fictional characters is the real villain? A) The filthy-rich finance guy considering killing most of his family with poisonous piña coladas so they don’t find out he lost all their money and is probably going to jail.
Oprah’s menopause special: Hot people talking about hot flashes

2 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

Each year, millions of women worldwide experience menopause — more than 1 million in the U.S. alone. Growing up, though, the word was barely uttered around many women, like me, who is currently combating this often years-long stage during which hormones change, periods stop and we can no longer get pregnant. So the newest crusade from Baltimore-adjacent media mogul Oprah Winfrey, 71, is to “stop the stereotypes and change this conversation.”Her secret weapon? Hot people.
Paula Poundstone on Baltimore birds, going viral and honing your funny

3 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

I staunchly believe that almost everybody has a Baltimore story, whether it happened to you, your brother, your boss’s wife or that girl you went to college with who played a waitress on “The Wire” that time. So when I spoke to Paula Poundstone recently, I asked if she had any fun memories of the area, a question I pose to most of the celebrities I chat with. I figured she’d tell me about long-ago evenings in some gritty club on the circuit when she was coming up in the comedy game.
The duo keeping the sound of Baltimore alive, one photo at a time

3 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

A decade ago, Micah E. Wood set out with a camera and a deep love of music to follow the beat of the Baltimore scene, wherever he might find it. And it was everywhere — in darkened clubs in the city’s Station North district, posed dramatically in parking garages, perched in trees and staring pensively through windows. The result of his passionate exploration of this place he calls home is now a book, “Scene Seen: Baltimore Band Portraits 2016-2024,” in which he chronicles 85 different local acts.
In 'The Trouble of Color,' historian Martha Jones explores race by digging into her own ancestry

3 weeks ago | hub.jhu.edu | Leslie Streeter

Historian Martha S. Jones has won accolades for her wide-ranging examinations of the lives of African American women and how they've fought for and won a distinctive place in the country's history. For her latest work, she set out to discover the intricacies of a very specific past: her own.
The government wants to erase the history of Black vets like my Granddaddy. Not on my watch.

4 weeks ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

It’s important that I tell you about my Grandaddy’s medal, because I won’t let them erase him. The “them” I’m referring to? The staff of the U.S. Defense Department, who recently egregiously purged references to the achievements of Black, Native, Asian, female and other nonwhite or non-male American military veterans. The official explanation is compliance with the elimination of DEI, or diversity, equity and inclusion measures. But it’s simpler than that.
They packed on the pounds postelection. Here’s how they’re stopping the spread.

1 month ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

Ah, gummy bears. So adorable with their colorful smiley faces. Have one or two and they’re a sweet little treat. But that’s not how Dylan Allen was eating them. “I was consuming a bag a day,” admits the lawyer and Elkridge resident. The catalyst for her excessive gummy-ing? The results of the 2024 presidential election and the general economic and cultural upheaval that have followed. “It’s driven me to distraction with worry.
‘It’s OK not to be OK’: Local support for single moms doing it all by themselves

1 month ago | thebaltimorebanner.com | Leslie Streeter

National Single Parent Day has been an official observance since President Ronald Reagan signed it into existence in 1984. As a solo mother myself, I had absolutely no idea this was a thing until a conversation with Danielle Staton, executive director of the Baltimore chapter of the Jeremiah Project. Staton herself had never heard of the day until last year, but considers it a timeless idea.