Roughly Speaking

1:25: Book critic Paula Gallagher recommends a new title about a famous artist and a renowned art dealer, "Vincent and Theo," a biography by Deborah Heiligman based on more than 650 letters between the Van Gogh brothers.5:53: Baltimore bartender Brendan Dorr makes before-dinner cocktails every evening at the B----O American Brasserie in Baltimore. In this episode of the show, he offers his favorite uses for Campari, Aperol, Kina and Pimm's — drinks that make fine aperitifs to stimulate the appetite. Warning: In-studio taste test.Links:https://us.macmillan.com/vincentandtheo/deborahheiligman/9780805093391

1:51: Book critic Paula Gallagher recommends some futuristic science fiction with a love story at its center — a novel that was crowd-funded through InkShares: "The Punch Escrow," by Tal M. Klein. 6:54: We hear about an abandoned "castle" in Baltimore that, with a little love and a few million bucks, could probably become a coffee house, farmers market or concert venue. It’s this old Valve House in Clifton Park. The Sun's Jacques Kelly calls it "the little castle on St. Lo Drive," a stunning architectural tribute to public works. Nick Redding, executive director of Preservation Maryland, talks about the prospects for restoring the Valve House. Plus, we catch up on a battle to save an old mill-worker neighborhood from the wrecking ball in Cumberland, in western Maryland, and Preservation Maryland’s role in helping to restore Ellicott City after last summer’s flood.Links:https://www.inkshares.com/books/the-punch-escrowhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-valve-house-20161111-story.h

"In The Heat of the Night," "The Graduate" and "Cool Hand Luke" were some of the best movies of 1967, a year that many film historians consider ground-breaking, even revolutionary, as Hollywood finally appeared to respond to the youth movement and break from the old studio system. Film critics Linda DeLibero and Christopher Llewellyn Reed talk about the "new Hollywood" as reflected in the films of that year, including "Bonnie and Clyde," and "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner." Linda DeLibero is director of Film and Media Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Christopher Llewellyn Reed is chair and professor in the department of film and moving image at Stevenson University.Links:http://krieger.jhu.edu/film-media/https://web.stevenson.edu/chrisreed/

Michael Botticelli, who served as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Obama administration, says President Trump can't have it both ways — advocating more treatment for drug addiction while calling for repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The 2010 law defined addictions treatment as an “essential benefit” that must be covered through insurance policies. Not mentioning the effect ACA repeal would have on the nation’s response to the opioid crisis, Botticelli says, was a "glaring omission" of the Christie commission that called for a declaration of a national emergency.Botticelli now runs the Grayken Center for Addiction Medicine at Boston Medical Center. He is also now a distinguished policy scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.Links:President Trump can't have it both ways

Jim Shea, former chairman of the largest law firm in Maryland, says Gov. Larry Hogan is a "clever politician" who has talked a good game about helping Baltimore while delivering little help for the city. Shea, a Democratic candidate for governor in the 2018 primary, is the former chairman of Venable LLP, and a former chairman of the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents. He joins Dan for today's episode, the first in a series of interviews with candidates for governor. In this wide-ranging conversation, Shea talks about about public education, transportation, jobs and what he considers the Republican Hogan’s empty talk about supporting Baltimore through some really tough times.Links:https://www.jimshea.com/

0:46: Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck talks about the Orioles' moves at the midseason trade deadline and the controversy over the Ravens' consideration of former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick as a backup for Joe Flacco.22:40: Film critic Linda DeLibero remembers Sam Shepard, the Pulitzer-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated actor who died Monday at 73.Links: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-schmuck-column-0801-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bs-sp-ravens-colin-kaepernick-0731-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/ct-sam-shepard-dead-20170731-story.html

Forty-five percent of Republicans in a new YouGov poll think it would be a good idea to allow courts to shut down news media outlets for publishing or broadcasting stories that are biased or inaccurate. Sentiment of that level could be a payoff for President Trump’s “fake news” campaign, his war with the American news media. On today’s show, a look at Trump and the press, and the state of truth and knowledge, with culture critic Sheri Parks and veteran journalist Arnold “Skip” Isaacs.2:25: Sheri Parks is associate dean in American studies at the University of Maryland College Park and a regular contributor to Roughly Speaking.30:55: Arnold R. “Skip” Isaacs was a reporter, foreign and Washington correspondent, and editor for The Baltimore Sun. He was a correspondent for The Sun during the Vietnam War and is the author of two books about it. He will be back in September to talk about Vietnam, timed with the 18-hour Ken Burns documentary series on the war that premiers on PBS Sept. 17.Links:https://today.yougov.

Andrew Solomon, who wrote about families with children who discovered they are transgender in his 2012 best-seller "Far From the Tree," says President Trump’s announcement that the U.S. will no longer "accept or allow" transgender people in the military is "deeply horrifying," an action that "enshrines prejudice." Solomon's book, "Far From the Tree," now being issued in a young adult version, also examined families' experiences with dwarfism, Down syndrome, and severe disabilities and families with children who were prodigies. Solomon is a professor of psychology at Columbia University.Links: http://andrewsolomon.com/books/far-from-the-tree

2:13: Approaching 200 homicides in 2017 already, Baltimore remains one of the most violent cities per capita in the country. One of those pushing the mayor and police commissioner to do more — or at least explain what they’re doing to reduce violent crime — is City Councilman Brandon Scott, chair of the council’s public safety committee.25:22: Do guns make us safe? A new Stanford University study throws big doubt on a classic argument of the National Rifle Association: That states with right-to-carry laws are safer and have less crime. The Stanford study of data from 1977 to 2014 found just the opposite. The lead author of that study, Stanford law professor John Donohue, joins us, along with Firmin DeBrabander, MICA professor and the author of "Do Guns Make Us Free?"Links:https://law.stanford.edu/donohue/https://www.mica.edu/About_MICA/People/Faculty/Faculty_List_by_Last_Name/Firmin_DeBrabander.html

In part four of our four-part series on Baltimore’s political history with Matthew A. Crenson, we hear about the factions and prejudices that influenced municipal elections and public policy in the 20th Century. Crenson talks about the post-World War II mayoralties of Thomas J. D’Alesandro Jr., a master politician; that of his son, Thomas D’Alesandro III, who was mayor during the riots of 1968; and those of William Donald Schaefer and Kurt L. Schmoke. Matt Crenson is professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University. His book from Johns Hopkins University Press is “Baltimore: A Political History.” Its official release is set for August 8 at the Baltimore City Archives. He will also appear at the Ivy Bookshop in September.Links: https://www.amazon.com/Baltimore-Political-History-Matthew-Crenson/dp/1421422069https://www.facebook.com/events/696332980558435/https://baltimorecityhistory.net/http://www.theivybookshop.com/

Political historian Matt Crenson describes Baltimore in the decades after the Civil War — slowly building up its industrial base, paving streets, dealing with unsanitary conditions. The post-war period also saw the rise of the Gorman-Rasin political machine. After the Great Fire of 1904, city leaders rebuilt downtown Baltimore, adding a sewage system to the underlying infrastructure. They also made racial segregation official, forcing blacks and whites to live separately for decades to come. Matt Crenson is professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University. His book, "Baltimore: A Political History," will be published next month by the Johns Hopkins University Press.Links:https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/baltimore-0

In Part II of our series on Baltimore politics, Matt Crenson talks about the city in the middle of the 19th Century, when the Know-Nothings took over City Hall and, at the outbreak of the Civil War, a mob attacked Union troops on Pratt Street. To maintain peace and orderly commerce, President Lincoln dispatched Union troops to occupy Baltimore throughout the war. The war, says Crenson, reshaped the city's culture, economy and politics. Matthew A. Crenson is professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University. His book, "Baltimore: A Political History," is about to be released by the Johns Hopkins University Press.Links:https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/baltimore-0

Today we start a four-part series on Baltimore's political history with Matt Crenson, whose 514-page book on that subject is being published next month by the Johns Hopkins University Press. The book covers four centuries, from the development of Baltimore Town in colonial Maryland to its incorporation in 1796 to its time as an occupied city during the Civil War, through industrialization, segregation, and Baltimore's more recent history. Over the next four episodes of the show, we’ll hear about events that shaped Baltimore’s identity, the two major obstacles it faced in growing up, how it became known as Mobtown, and what of the past influences Baltimore today.Coming Wednesday: Part Two: Rise of the Know-Nothings and an occupied city during the Civil War.Links:https://jhupbooks.press.jhu.edu/content/baltimore-0

Trompe l’oeil is a French phrase meaning "a trick of the eye," or to "deceive the eye." It’s a style of painting in which objects are depicted with realistic detail and look deceivingly three dimensional — as if you could walk or drive right through them. Pardon our French, but the new term in American politics might very well be Trump L’oeil — that is, the unartful deceits of the president, his sons, his staff and his apologists. In Trump L’oeil, up is down and down is up, a man looks presidential only because he’s standing next to men and women who actually do. In Trump L’oeil, a meeting between the President’s son and a Russian lawyer was about international adoptions, not about getting political dirt on your political opponent from a foreign adversary. Trump L’oeil employs false equivalents, as if getting debate questions in advance compares with actually going to a meeting with a Russian tied to the Kremlin, knowing the Kremlin was trying to skew the U.S. election. In Trump L’oeil, a 36 percent approval

Our favorite foodies, John Shields and Henry Hong, share ideas with Dan about serving up a buffet of salads from the garden or from the farmers markets. This episode includes advice for making, among other things, an Italian carrot salad and marinated zucchini. Those recipes, along with John's Five-Spice Chicken Marinade, can be found at http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bal-your-guests-will-inhale-this-salad-and-ask-for-the-recipe-20170714-story.html.

This summer marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by the great novelist Gabriel Garc\u237\ua M\u225\urquez. Long before he was awarded a Nobel for literature, Garc\u237\ua M\u225\urquez started his writing career as a reporter in his native Colombia. In 1955, he caused a sensation by breaking a story about the ordeals of a sailor and corruption and incompetence in the Colombian Navy. The story, published as a series in a Bogota newspaper, revealed Garc\u237\ua M\u225\urquez's powerful gifts for storytelling and marked a turning point in his life as a writer.

Astrophysicist and author Mario Livio wonders what drives human curiosity, what makes everyone, from children to experienced scientists, ask, "Why?" That's the name of his new book, a survey of the science of curiosity. What parts of the human brain work toward solving mysteries and achieving a higher understanding of life on Earth and among the stars? Who among us are the most curious? Livio, who worked at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore from 1991 to 2015, is the author of five earlier books on science. He will discuss his latest, "Why? What Makes Us Curious," at the Ivy Bookshop on Thursday, July 13, at 7 p.m.Links:http://www.mariolivio.com/http://www.theivybookshop.com/upcomingevent/3359

Today's guest, Finn Murphy, thinks he has the best job in the world: He moves families long distances in an 18-wheeler, gets to know a lot of people (some of them truly weird) and sees some great sites as he drives from Florida to British Columbia, with many stops in-between. When it's time to rest, he sleeps in his cab on a bed with a feather duvet. Murphy is a long-time, long-haul driver, and he's written a memoir about his experiences, full of trucker jargon and amusing stories. "The Long Haul: A Trucker's Tale of Life on the Road" has just been published by W.W Norton ---- Company.Links:http://books.wwnorton.com/books/The-Long-Haul/

Drug overdoses now kill more Americans than car crashes and homicides. Hundreds of people die every week from overdoses of heroin, fentanyl and opioid painkillers. In Maryland last year, the number of people who died of overdoses surged 66 percent, and the 2,089 deaths represented an all-time high. Baltimore accounted for about a third of the overdose deaths in the state. Many of the people using opioids today were originally prescribed pain-killing medications by their doctors. Physicians once were reluctant to prescribe opioids, but the pharmaceutical industry convinced many that they were depriving their patients of relief. By last year, doctors had written some 289 million prescriptions for opioids such as Oxycontin. On today's show, Dr. John Cmar of Sinai Hospital talks about the opioid crisis and the challenges facing doctors who want to alleviate pain in their patients while reducing the frequency and amount of addictive pain-killers they prescribe for them.Links:https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/201

John Eisenberg, former Sun sports columnist and author, takes a deep dive into what might be baseball's most enduring record — Cal Ripken Jr.'s consecutive game streak of 2,632, surpassing on Sept. 6, 1995 at Oriole Park in Baltimore Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 that had stood for 56 years. Eisenberg not only compares Gehrig's streak with Ripken's, but surveys the entire history of the American game — back before accurate records were kept — to find other players who set impressive endurance marks. Eisenberg's book is, "The Streak: Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken Jr. and Baseball's Most Historic Record." Eisenberg will read from and discuss his book at The Ivy Bookshop on Monday, July 10 at 7 p.m.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bal-orioles-to-celebrate-20th-anniversary-of-cal-ripken-jrs-2131st-consecutive-game-20150709-story.htmlhttp://www.theivybookshop.com/upcomingevent/3343