Roughly Speaking

After the March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan, Tim Jorgensen suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a lot of emails and phone calls. People were frightened. People had questions. Jorgensen, a Johns Hopkins-trained radiation biologist based at Georgetown University, spent a good amount of time explaining radiation and the risks from exposure to an international news media. Since then, he’s written a history of radiation, telling fascinating stories of research and discovery, exploring controversies and offering an objective look at radiation’s benefits and risks. "Strange Glow: The Story of Radiation" is published by Princeton University Press. Jorgensen lives in Maryland. He is associate professor of radiation medicine and director of Georgetown’s graduate program in health physics and radiation protection. In addition, he is an associate in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

3:20: Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck talks about the Orioles, the team's recent injuries and the value of connective tissue.19:06: This Sunday, May 8, marks 50 years since Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, in his first season with the Orioles, hit the first-ever home run out of Memorial Stadium. Mark Melonas, an Orioles fan who lives near the site of the bygone stadium, talks about Robinson's feat and an event this weekend to mark its golden anniversary.

5:17: On May 1, 2015, after the long week of unrest and curfew, Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby stepped into War Memorial Plaza and announced charges against six Baltimore police officers in connection with the in-custody death of Freddie Gray. Since then, one of the officers, William Porter, stood trial; that trial ended in December with a hung jury. We get an update on the next step in the prosecution of the officers from the Sun’s criminal justice reporter, Justin Fenton.13:12: A year after the demonstrations and unrest, do people still want to move to Baltimore? How are city housing sales doing? The answer might surprise you. Dan speaks with Steve Gondol and Annie Milli about LiveBaltimore’s efforts to provide incentives — up to $5,000 each — to prospective home buyers, and what the past year in home sales looked like.27:22 Last year at this time, there was some question about whether the 17th annual Maryland Film Festival would happen. We’ll hear from Jed Dietz, founder and director of the festi

In this podcast:1:39: Republican analyst Richard Cross and Sun reporter Yvonne Wenger: Analysis of the U.S. Senate and presidential primaries in Maryland and of the Baltimore Democratic mayoral primary. Cross says Trump is now the Republicans' "de facto nominee" and looks ahead to a Trump vs. Clinton general election matchup. Wenger crunches some numbers in the mayor's race, noting that both winner Catherine Pugh and runner-up Sheila Dixon outperformed their percentages in the final Sun poll. 17:26: Rep. Chris Van Hollen victory speech clip: Upon winning the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Van Hollen pays respects to the longtime public servant he's nominated to replace, retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who refused to endorse Van Hollen or his opponent, Rep. Donna Edwards. 18:23: Goucher Poll director Mileah Kromer and Sun reporter Luke Broadwater: In addition to a new mayor, Baltimore is guaranteed significant turnover on the City Council. Kromer also remarks on what she sees as self-inflicted wounds by D

5:36: NPR's Cokie Roberts: The longtime political analyst and author has a new book, this one about women of Washington before, during and after the Civil War. Roberts shares a few tales from "Capital Dames," with some fascinating connections to Baltimore and Maryland, including the woman at the center of a deadly scandal involving the son of Francis Scott Key.1:57, 29:30: Two books reviews from Paula Gallagher: A memoir by David Kushner, a Rolling Stone contributor, about his brother, Jon, who was kidnapped and murdered in Florida in 1973; and a collection of essays called, "The Books That Changed My Life."32:59: The Reginald F. Lewis Museum on the anniversary of the Baltimore uprising: Charles Bethea, its new chief curator, talks about the Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture's look into issues about the American black male raised by the death of Freddie Gray.

A veteran and former Pentagon official, Maryland attorney Richard J. Douglas is making his second run for the Republican Senate nomination, hoping to become his party's nominee to replace Sen. Barbara Mikulski. Douglas, who lives in College Park, finished second in the 2012 GOP Senate primary to Dan Bongino. Douglas served as a deputy assistant Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration and spent five years on Capitol Hill as a staff attorney to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee. During the 1970s, he served aboard a Navy submarine and, in 2006, was recalled from reserve duty to serve in Iraq. Other major candidates for the nomination are Kathy Szeliga, a state delegate from of Baltimore County, and Chrys Kefalas, an executive at the Washington-based National Association of Manufacturing.

In this podcast:Sandtown-Winchester is the West Baltimore neighborhood where the late Freddie Gray was arrested last April, and it’s where he grew up. It's within District 7 of the Baltimore City Council, and that’s the focus of today’s show. The 7th District is central-west Baltimore City -- Sandtown, Hampden, Reservoir Hill, Matthew Henson, Walbrook, Druid Heights, Ashburton. Today, we offer interviews with six of the Democratic candidates campaigning to replace Nick Mosby, who decided to run for mayor this year instead of re-election to his council seat. 1:54: David McMillan is an official in emergency management for the city of Baltimore; he comes with an interesting family history and a desire to make the municipal government work better.21:31: Kerry Davidson is a Harvard-educated lawyer who turned a Penn North crack house into his home; he thinks the 7th District, like the city generally, is full of potential that’s being missed.44:55: Marshall Bell is a policy analyst for the City Council whose brother

We have a lot of ground to cover today. If you live in northwest Baltimore City, if you live in central and east Baltimore, we’re bringing you the candidates for City Council from your part of town. In this podcast:District 5 is northwest Baltimore -- that is, Pimlico, Howard Park, North Roland Park, Fallstaff, Cross County. Rochelle "Rikki" Spector has been the City Council member for that district since the 1970s. She’s retiring. A woman named Elizabeth Ryan Martinez and two men, Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer and Christopher Ervin, are hoping to replace her. There are other Democratic candidates in the District 5 primary, but they didn’t RSVP Roughly Speaking.2:08: Elizabeth Ryan Martinez is an attorney who works in the Baltimore City law department.17:18: Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer is a young entrepreneur and community association leader.36:37: Christopher Ervin is a 47-year-old former Marine who served time in prison on drug charges. Since his incarceration ended, he has worked in offender rights and restorative j

We have three more days of podcasts devoted to the candidates for Baltimore City Council in this month’s primary election. In this podcast:Today’s conversations are with candidates for District 4 in north-central Baltimore, stretching from Guilford to Govans, from Wilson Park to Woodbourne Heights, up and down York Road from Lake-Evesham to Penn Lucy. Bill Henry is the incumbent Democrat who has served two terms. His challengers are Rodney Burris, Francesco Legaluppi and Brian Hammock.1:39: Bill Henry is 47 years old, a resident of Radnor-Winston, and known as an independent thinker on the City Council.21:53: Rodney Burris is one of three political newcomers seeking the 4th District City Council. He is 34 years old, an entrepreneur and educator, father of five and a resident of Govans.39:43: Brian Hammock is an attorney and corporate executive, 35 years old, who lives in Homeland and who worked for former mayor and Gov. Martin O’Malley.1:05:02: Francesco Legaluppi is a business consultant and Homeland residen

We are just a week away now from the Maryland and Baltimore City primary elections, and all this week we are taking time to bring the people of Baltimore interviews with candidates for City Council. Today conversations with candidates for two City Council districts -- District 6 and District 8, both on the west side of town.In this podcast:1:28: First, District 6, which runs from Roland Park to Forest Park and includes Ashburton, Park Heights and Pimlico. The incumbent city council member, Sharon Green Middleton, never responded to our invitation to the podcast. So today we’ll hear from Mark Hughes, a career educator who challenged Middleton in 2011. He lost that election but is running again, he says, because little has improved in the 6th District over the last five years.Helen Holton represents Baltimore’s 8th District in City Council. But she decided not to seek re-election, so the race is wide open. District 8, on the west side of town, includes Edmondson Village, Allendale, Uplands and Irvington and sev

Continuing our conversations with candidates for Baltimore City Council, today we go to the 9th District, which is in west and southwest Baltimore, one of the poorest districts in the city, including neighborhoods such as Pigtown, Sowebo, Harlem Park, Rosemont and Franklintown Road. The city councilman there is Pete Welch, known as the council’s quietest member. He is seeking reelection. His mother, Agnes Welch, held the seat before he did. In this podcast:Today, you’ll hear from 9th District councilman Pete Welch and two challengers in the Democratic primary, John Bullock and Jerrell Bratcher. We will also hear from one of two candidates in the district’s Republican primary, Octavia Njuhigu.1:41: City Couuncilman William A. “Pete” Welch, Jr., accountant who was appointed to the council in 2011.21:59: Jerrell Bratcher, a passionate young man who until last year was the well regarded director of admissions for the Monarch School, a public charter school in Northeast Baltimore.41:29: John Bullock, a political s

Today we bring you conversations with candidates for Baltimore City Council in the 1st District. That is southeastern Baltimore City — Canton, Fells Point, Highlandtown, Greektown, Little Italy, Patterson Park, Little Italy, Butcher’s Hill and other neighborhoods. The City Council member who served that district for the last 12 years is not running for re-election, so this has opened up a very competitive race with strong candidates, Democrat and Republican.In this podcast:We will hear from five Democrats — Mark Parker, Mark Edelson, Scott Goldman, Zeke Cohen and Ed Marcinko — and three Republicans — Jennifer Dudley, Matthew McDaniel and Liz Copeland. Democrats2:30: Mark Parker19:42: Scott Goldman42:58: Mark Edleson1:07:38: Ed Marcinko1:27:59: Zeke Cohen Republicans1:47:09: Liz Copeland2:04:52: Matthew McDaniel2:24:58: Jennifer Dudley

In this podcast:District 3: Several Democrats are running to replace retiring City Councilman Robert W. Curran in Northeast Baltimore — Moravia, Loch Raven, Belair-Edison, Hamilton and other neighborhoods. Three of the candidates agreed to be interviewed for Roughly Speaking: Ryan Dorsey, Marques Dent and George Van Hook Sr1:18: Ryan Dorsey18:45: Marques Dent36:57: George Van Hook Sr.District 11: In one of council's most competitive races, Councilman Eric Costello faces Greg Sileo, Dea Thomas and Curtis Johnson to retain the District 11 seat to which he was appointed in October 2014. The process the council used to select Costello was criticized as lacking community involvement. The diverse district includes Federal Hill, Bolton Hill, Locust Point, Sharp-Leadenhall and parts of West Baltimore. Here is a list of District 11 neighborhoods.59:09: Eric Costello1:17:22: Dea Thomas1:32:39: Curtis Johnson1:53:16: Greg Sileo

Roughly Speaking's two-plus weeks of candidate interviews returns to the Baltimore mayor's race with talks with one Democrat and one Republican, both of whom worked in local media, the latter a familiar voice on WBAL Radio for a decade.In this podcast:1:40: Patrick Gutierrez worked briefly here at the Sun as an editorial assistant. Before that, he had a successful career in banking. Today, he tells us why he’s running for mayor and describes the event last spring, following the death of Freddie Gray, that convinced him to get into the race and share his many ideas for improving the quality of life in the city.31:23: A veteran broadcast journalist, Allen Walden joined WBAL Radio in 1988 as morning anchor. In addition to catching his rush hour news reports, listeners heard his daily commentary, “Walden Ponderings” for years. Allen Walden retired from WBAL in 1998, ending a career that spanned decades and took him to new York, Boston and Cleveland before he settled in Baltimore. He's now a Republican candidate f

Today you’ll hear two candidates for the 2nd District (find your district) of the Baltimore City Council. That district includes Harbel, Parkside, parts of Belair-Edison, Gardenville, Cedmont, Cedonia, Overlea, Frankford and other neighborhoods in the east/northeast part of the city. Our two guests are Brandon Scott (19:14), the incumbent city council member in the 2nd District, and one of his challengers, Tony Christian (1:25). We did not get a response to our invitation for an interview from another Democratic candidate, Melissa Bagley.Christian is a financial officer with a small business in the city. His main concern is getting crime under control. Scott is seeking a second term in City Council. Though he's the council's youngest member, he has emerged as one of the body's most vocal members, asking men to step up against violence, the Police Department to reform, and city government to become more transparent.

Today you’ll hear two candidates for the 14th District of the Baltimore City Council, representing neighborhoods that include Charles Village, Homewood, Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello, Waverly, and half of Hampden. Our guests are Mary Pat Clarke (1:15), the incumbent city council member in the 14th District, and her challenger, Terrell Williams (27:52), a 34-year-old regional cafeteria manager for Baltimore City public schools.

2:25: A conversation with Chris Van Hollen: The Democratic Congressman who is trying to win his party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate. His opponent is Donna Edwards, another member of the Maryland Congressional delegation. The Van Hollen-Edwards contest is one of the tightest Senate races in the country. Edwards has gone on the attack, accusing Van Hollen of being too willing to compromise with Republicans on key issues during his time in the House of Representatives. But, as you’ll hear, Van Hollen says Edwards been misleading voters about his record.27:05: Brilliance comes at a price: Our book critic Paula Gallagher is really excited about a new novel called “A Doubter’s Almanac.” She says it’s the best novel she’s read this year, literary fiction at its best.30:36: Coffee and conversation with David Zurawik: The Sun's overly caffeinated media critic makes his weekly visit to the show to talk about negative advertising in the Baltimore mayoral and Maryland Senate campaigns. We’ll be serving coffee freshly