Sheilah Kast

Baltimore

Host, On The Record at WYPR-FM (Baltimore, MD)

Host of @On the Record morning interview show on @WYPR 88.1 FM, Baltimore. Wrote 'Dracula Is Dead' with my husband, Jim Rosapepe.

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Articles

Author R. Eric Thomas embraces life's ups and downs with humor and candor

3 days ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast |Maureen Harvie

R. Eric Thomaswrites wry, perceptive essays about things that seem more amusing in his life than they do in yours. He grew up in West Baltimore -- but moving back after more than a decade away triggered stress and latent depression -- as well as some very funny episodes. We speak about his new book, "Congratulations, the Best is Over!"Asking Eric, a new syndicated advice column, is now in papers nationwide. You can send questions to On The Record WYPR ProgramsOn the Record
Civic Works' 'Baltimore Shines' makes futures brighter

1 week ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast |Melissa Gerr

Customers are paying a lot for electricity these days. Some are thinking how great it would be to take advantage of solar energy floating free from the sky. But would solar even work for their home? And what would it cost to install -- how long before they’d see any savings? For 170 families in the city of Baltimore, there’s good news in a program called “Baltimore Shines,” organized by the non-profit Civic Works. People with low and moderate incomes can have solar installed and connected free.
Looking into inequities of Maryland's incarceration rates

2 weeks ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast |Melissa Gerr

Ten years ago, when police chased Freddie Gray on the streets of Sandtown and arrested him, more people from his neighborhood were in state custody than from any other census tract in Maryland. That, according to data analyzed by the Justice Policy Institute and the Prison Policy Initiative. Their latest count shows things have changed only slightly: The Justice Policy Institute’s most recent data show Sandtown-Winchester and nearby Harlem Park rank no.
Maryland's strategy against opioid overdose

2 weeks ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast |Melissa Gerr

If you loved one of the 1,549 people who died in Maryland of an overdose in the past twelve months -- if you’re a brother, a parent, a daughter, a friend -- it may be small comfort that that number is 30 percent lower than the year before and has been trending downward since 2021. It’s still too high. Emily Keller, Maryland’s ‘Special Secretary of Overdose Response, is charged with leading Maryland’s fight against overdose deaths.
Intersection of Change in Sandtown-Winchester: Stay engaged now more than ever

2 weeks ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast |Melissa Gerr

The violence and uprising after Freddie Gray died in police custody ten years ago shook Baltimore to its core. We ask executive director Todd Marcus and Rikiesha Metzger, interim director of the Jubilee Arts program at Intersection of Change, a community center in Gray’s Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, what’s changed, and what hasn’t.
Stories from the Stoop: Glass half full!

2 weeks ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast |Melissa Gerr

Here's a Stoop Story from Jason Newton about seeing Baltimore through new eyes, the day after a fiery, violent night in Sandtown-Winchester in April, 2015. Freddie Gray died in police custody, April 19, 2015. His death ignited a range from peaceful protests to clashes with police in Baltimore. May his memory, and what it came to stand for, live as inspiration for solidarity and caring community. On The Record Freddie GrayOn the RecordWYPR ProgramsStoop Storytelling
"The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street"

4 weeks ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast

Climate change is so pervasive we often don’t connect the dots. For a year, climate activistMike Tidwell closely observed his own neighborhood in Takoma Park -- so many trees dying, floodwater racing down the street. We ask about his new book, "The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue."Tidwell will speak at Red Emma's on Wed. April 23, and at Ivy Bookshop on Thursday May 1. On The Record WYPR ProgramsOn the RecordClimate changeClimate Change In Your Backyardauthor interviewsMaryland authors
What does the future hold? Maryland's mandated student career counseling

1 month ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast

Tens of thousands of middle- and high-schoolers in Maryland are getting ideas about what their future could be — ideas that might not have occurred to them a few years ago. The same part of the state’s K-12 education reform effort--the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future -- that requires students be “college or career-ready” by tenth grade, calls for each student to get individualized career counseling. We hear from two advocates for workforce counseling: Democratic Sen. Cory McCray, representing Dist.
Ahead of his time? Who was Baltimore-bred journalist Murray Kempton?

1 month ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast |Melissa Gerr

After his childhood of “shabby gentility,” in Baltimore, Murray Kempton’s New York newspaper columns spanned the 20 century with clear insights about who America was leaving behind. We talk with Andrew Holter, the editor of a new collection of Kempton’s journalism. Holter will speak at Writer's LIVE at Enoch Pratt Library Tuesday April 15, and at the Union Market location of Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. on Thurs. May 8. On The Record WYPR ProgramsOn the Recordauthor interviews
How to give young men and boys the resources they need in Baltimore

1 month ago | wypr.org | Sheilah Kast

Laying out his plans for Maryland in a speech two months ago, Gov. Wes Moore called for more focus on what boys and young men are going through. This morning, we’ll try to understand what’s going on with men and boys, by talking with two men who spend a lot of time thinking about it, and trying to improve things.