Roughly Speaking

When they were boys, Ken Bancroft and John Bruce were warned to never cross the bridges over the Jones Falls. Bancroft, who is white, grew up in Remington and was told he would be attacked by blacks who lived on the western side of the 28th and 29th street bridges. Bruce, who is black, lived in Gilmor Homes and was told that members of the Ku Klux Klan resided on the eastern side of the bridges. Fifty years later, the two men serve as local leaders of a faith-based group, Be The Bridge, that encourages conversations toward racial understanding and reconciliation, a challenging but important — and timely — project. Bancroft and Bruce crossed a once-forbidden bridge and now want others to do the same. Links:https://beabridgebuilder.com/

At the B----O American Brasserie in Baltimore, bartender and cocktail historian Brendan Dorr pulls out bottles of rum for a world-class tutorial and taste test.Rum has many uses in refreshing cocktails, but, as Dan discovers, some of the aged brands are best sipped neat.Also on this show, Brendan Dorr talks about — and offers us a taste of — the South American cousin of rum, cacha\u231\ua, the basis of Brazil's national drink, the Caipirinha.

In the late summer of 1859, the fierce abolitionist John Brown assembled a small army in a farmhouse in rural Maryland and prepared to raid the federal arsenal across the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry. Brown hoped to inspire a rebellion and establish a government of liberated slaves in the Appalachian Mountains. Among Brown's band of raiders were five African-American men, one of them an escaped slave, who have been largely overlooked by historians — John Copeland, Shields Green, Dangerfield Newby, Lewis Leary and Osborne Perry Anderson. Their stories are now told in ----Five For Freedom,---- a new book by longtime journalist Eugene Meyer, a former reporter and editor of the Washington Post. In this episode: A visit to the Kennedy farm where Brown's army stayed in the weeks before the raid and a conversation with Gene Meyer about Brown and the five African-American raiders who joined his cause.Eugene Meyer is scheduled to speak at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 6:30 pm. Ph

In Part II of A Film Critic’s Favorite Films, we hear about some of Linda DeLibero’s favorites: Three Westerns (----The Searchers,---- ----The Wild Bunch,---- ----McCabe and Mrs. Miller----), one Hitchcock (----Shadow of a Doubt----), one Kubrick (----Barry Lyndon----), one film directed by Orson Welles and starring his voice (----The Magnificent Ambersons----), one Coppola (----The Conversation----), a film directed by Terence Malick (----Badlands----), one directed by Kenneth Lonergan (----Margaret----) and one film directed by someone you probably never heard of (----Killer of Sheep----).Linda DeLibero is director of film and media studies at Johns Hopkins University. You can hear Part I of A Film Critic's Favorite Films in episode 421, with Christopher Llewellyn Reed of Stevenson University.Links:https://krieger.jhu.edu/film-media/directory/linda-delibero/

Christopher Llewellyn Reed teaches filmmaking at Stevenson University, has worked on films, writes weekly reviews and monthly joins our other critic, Linda DeLibero, to talk about either classic movies or the current cinema. Today you’ll hear Chris talk about 10 of his favorites, from Spike Lee’s ----Do The Right Thing---- to ----The Godfather---- to ----The Piano---- and the 2005 film, ----Nine Lives,---- directed by Rodrigo Garcia. He even throws in a musical and a science fiction comedy. Chris starts us in the 1940s, after World War II, with ----The Best Years of Our Lives,---- directed by William Wyler, and a film you’re sure to recognize, directed by Frank Capra.Christopher Llewelyn Reed is professor and chair of the film and moving image department at Stevenson University. He is a regular contributor to Roughly Speaking. Linda DeLibero will be with us next week to list some of her top choices, Part II of A Film Critic’s Favorite Films.

In a second conversation with historian Peter Levy, we hear about The Great Uprising, some 750 urban riots -- more than most Americans might imagine -- that erupted in the 1960s, from Newark to Los Angeles, from Detroit to Baltimore. According to Levy’s new history, upwards of 525 cities were affected. The two largest waves of unrest and violence came in 1967 and during the spring of 1968, after the assassination in Memphis of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. In those two years alone, 25 people were killed and nearly 7,000 injured. Law enforcement officers made 45,000 arrests, and property damage reached what today would be close to a billion dollars.Peter Levy argues that, regarded collectively, the Great Uprising was, like the Great War and the Great Depression, one of the central events that defined he United States in the 20th Century. Levy's book examines the conditions that led to the riots, and he speaks with Dan about race relations in the U.S. today.Levy, a professor of history at York College, lives

Come along for a visit to Dan's kitchen and a tutorial on how to make a traditional peppers-and-eggs sandwich, declared by our columnist as the official sandwich of Labor Day weekend.----It’s a modest but delicious shift-worker’s lunch. So it’s a tribute to workers. And it’s made with a fresh ingredient from the late-summer garden. So it has the seasonal thing going for it, too. What's not to like?----Labor Day Peppers-and-Eggs SandwichIngredients4-5 sweet green peppers (cubanelles, if available, but bell peppers will do)4 eggsTBS grated Parmseanpinch garlic powderItalian bread or rollsMethod- Remove stems and seeds from peppers. Rinse peppers, then cut into quarter-inch slices.- Heat olive oil in cast-iron skillet; add peppers just before the oil starts to smoke.- Reduce heat and cook peppers for a few minutes, until they become soft, but not mushy. - Beat eggs and pour them over the peppers. Cook for 30 seconds, then flip with a spatula.- Sprinkle with salt and grated Parmsean, and a pinch of garlic powder.

In his new history of the hundreds of race riots that erupted across the country in the 1960s, historian Peter B. Levy offers a gripping look at the violence in York, Pa. in the summers of 1968 and 1969, resulting in the deaths of a white police officer and a black woman from South Carolina. The deaths of Officer Henry Schaad and Lillie Belle Allen went unsolved until the daily newspapers in York published 30-year retrospectives on the riots. Those reports led to new investigations that pinned Allen's death on members of white gangs and complicit police officers, including one, Charlie Robertson, who went on to become York's mayor. Two black men were charged in Officer Schaad's death. Levy, a professor of history at York College, lives in Towson. He is the author of, ----The Great Uprising: Race Riots in Urban America during the 1960s,---- published by Cambridge University Press. Levy will be a guest on an upcoming episode to talk more about the uprisings of the 1960s, including those in Baltimore and Cambrid

Long before the 1954 Supreme Court case that found ----separate but equal---- unconstitutional, black parents across the country tried to enroll their children in all-white public schools. In researching girlhood and race in the decades before the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, historian Rachel Devlin discovered numerous stories about grassroots efforts to desegregate schools in the South, Midwest and in the District of Columbia. In most cases, the children who crossed the color line for the first time were girls or young women. In this episode of Roughly Speaking, Devlin talks about the brave girls who were in the vanguard of school integration after World War II. Devlin is an assistant professor of history at Rutgers University and author of, ----A Girl Stands At The Door: The Generation of Young Women Who Desegregated America's Schools,---- published earlier this year by Basic Books.Links:https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/rachel-devlin/a-girl-stands-at-the-door/9781541616653/(Image: AP Photo/No

Dan hits the Waverly farmer's market in Baltimore with restaurateur and Chesapeake cookbook author John Shields. The market, on 32d Street, is open every Saturday of the year, and Shields has been a shopper -- for his Gertrude's restaurant and for his kitchen at home -- for more than two decades. In this episode: Joan Norman of One Straw Farm, talks about the affect of all the spring and summer rain on the 2018 growing season; street performer Merdalf sings, ----The Wind Cries Mary,---- Len and Kelsey Louthan, father-and-daughter distillers, offer a sample of their Montebello Bourbon; and Purslane, the edible and super-nutriotius weed that grows everywhere, from city sidewalks to farm fields, makes a surprise appearance next to the Russian kale and Swiss chard.

Dr. Peter Beilenson was an innovative health commissioner for Baltimore and health officer for Howard County over two decades before establishing Evergreen Health, one of 23 non-profit insurers created under the Affordable Care Act. Beilenson left his mark on the city with aggressive responses to AIDS, the crack epidemic and gun violence against youth. In the county, he found a way to provide health care to families that could not afford it. And that was before the ACA.In this episode: Beilenson talks about the problems facing Baltimore, why they persist, and what's needed to significantly reduce violence, drug addiction and poverty in a sustaining way.Before leaving Maryland to take a public health job in his native California, Beilenson talks about the promise, early success and ultimate failure of Evergreen, and his frustration with the Obama administration over the co-op's demise.

Up first: Dr. John Cmar of Sinai Hospital, an infectious disease expert, talks about mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. Mosquitos are reported to have tripled in number with the wet spring and summer on the East Coast. In mid-July, Maryland health officials reported the first case of West Nile virus; it occurred in the Baltimore area. There is still a chance of more problems, with the mosquito numbers way up, and with Maryland’s mosquito season usually lasting until October. Dr. John Cmar is on the staff at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, where he directs the Division of Infectious Diseases. This segment was recorded before the state reported the West Nile case.The approval of eight new medical marijuana dispensaries increased the size of Maryland’s retail market to 65 stores, with dozens more in the pipeline. Meanwhile, Ben Jealous, the Democratic candidate for governor, says it’s time to legalize pot completely, and he’s not alone. Some believe it’s just a matter of time before we see pot for sale for per

In the midst of a historically bad season, the Orioles have decided to tear down the house and rebuild, trading popular players for an infusion of youthful talent. It marks a fresh start, but it comes with risks, as Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck explains. Still, breaking from the status quo, scrapping what wasn’t working, investing in youth, and working patiently and deliberately toward a better future -- the Orioles are doing what the whole city of Baltimore needs to do.

With climate change, population growth and an insatiable global demand for seafood, how can we continue to harvest fish without destroying the fragile ecosystems of the oceans and bays? And should Americans eat more fish and shellfish for the sake of their health and the environment?In this episode of Roughly Speaking: An update on the status of the Chesapeake blue crab, a deep dive into the Omega-3 industry and the merits of seafood, and a look at effect of warming waters on Maine’s lobster harvest.Paul Greenberg, a best-selling author of books on fish and the seafood industry, talks about the demand for menhaden, the most heavily harvested fish on the East Coast, and the multi-billion industry connected to the Omega-3 fatty acids that come from the oily fish. Greenberg’s new book, “The Omega Principle,” argues that Americans could have healthier, eco-friendly diets by eating more seafood, and, he says, there’s a way to increase fish consumption without destroying the oceans.Christopher White grew up in the

In the last of a five-part series of conversations with accomplished Baltimore principals, Dan speaks with Marc Martin about turning around a failing school with falling enrollment. Eight years ago, Martin took over Commodore Rodgers, replaced most of the staff, enrolled his own children and generally raised expectations. His approach has guided the school on an impressive turnaround in academic performance and enrollment, and Martin now mentors leaders of other troubled city schools.Also in the series:-Part One, Episode 408: Matthew Hornbeck, Hampstead Hill Academy-Part Two, Episode 409: Kimberly Hill-Miller, Lockerman Bundy Elementary School-Part Three, Episode 410: Emily Hunter, Arlington Elementary/Middle School-Part Four, Episode 411: Cindy Harcum, Baltimore City College High School

In the fourth of a five-part series of conversations with award-winning Baltimore principals, Dan’s guest is Cindy Harcum of City College. With all of her students focused on getting to college, Harcum implemented a student-to-student tutoring program while making college-level courses the norm. City’s senior class set a local record for International Baccalaureate diplomas. Harcum also talks about having to deal this spring with the violent death of one of the school's most promising student-athletes, Ray Antwone Glasgow III.Also in the series:-Part One, Episode 408: Matthew Hornbeck, Hampstead Hill Academy-Part Two, Episode 409: Kimberly Hill-Miller, Lockerman Bundy Elementary School-Part Three, Episode 410: Emily Hunter, Arlington Elementary/Middle School-Part Five, Episode 412: Marc Martin, Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School

In the third of a five-part series of conversations with accomplished Baltimore principals, Dan speaks with Emily Hunter, principal at Arlington Elementary-Middle School in northwest Baltimore. The daughter of a former Baltimore schools superintendent, Hunter created a wellness center and a series of monthly events to encourage students to stay focused on studies while engaging their parents in the life of the school and in preparing their children for it. Arlington has made steady academic progress but still faces challenges in student achievement. Also in the series:Part One, Episode 408: Matthew Hornbeck, Hampstead Hill AcademyPart Two, Episode 409: Kimberly Hill-Miller, Lockerman Bundy Elementary SchoolPart Four, Episode 411: Cindy Harcum, Baltimore City College High School Part Five, Episode 412: Marc Martin, Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School

In the second of a five-part series of conversations with accomplished Baltimore principals, Dan’s guest is Kimberly Hill-Miller, who wrote and produced a music video to help her students prepare for the iReady assessments in math and language arts. Students duct-taped Hill-Miller to a wall in March as their reward for making gains in their reading and math scores. Her goal and reward-oriented motivation techniques are designed to make learning fun and inspire her students.Also in the series:-Part One, Episode 408: Matthew Hornbeck, Hampstead Hill Academy-Part Three, Episode 410: Emily Hunter, Arlington Elementary/Middle School-Part Four, Episode 411: Cindy Harcum, Baltimore City College High School -Part Five, Episode 412: Marc Martin, Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School

In the first of a five-part series of conversations with accomplished Baltimore principals, Dan speaks with Matthew Hornbeck, now in his 15th year at Hampstead Hill Academy, a strong and diverse public charter school in southeast Baltimore. Hornbeck, from a family of educators, talks about the challenges of running a city school in the face of budget cuts, and he has a lot to say about Maryland's commitment to funding education.In the series:-Part Two, Episode 409: Kimberly Hill-Miller, Lockerman Bundy Elementary School-Part Three, Episode 410: Emily Hunter, Arlington Elementary/Middle School-Part Four, Episode 411: Cindy Harcum, Baltimore City College High School -Part Five, Episode 412: Marc Martin, Commodore John Rodgers Elementary/Middle School

Martha Jones, a professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, has performed a great service -- dusting off records and throwing open the windows of the old Baltimore courthouse to show how, in the decades before the Civil War, free blacks used the law to gain a foothold as citizens. By the 1830s, Baltimore was home to the nation’s largest free-black community. While some 25,000 former slaves and free-born blacks lived and worked in the city, their rights were greatly restricted by so-called “black laws.” So they studied the laws, hired white attorneys to help them, and presented their everyday legal matters -- contract disputes, permit requests -- to judges. They found in the courthouse a way to conduct themselves as citizens and exercise fundamental rights. Extracting stories from 19th Century court records in the Maryland State Archives, Jones shows how, in the face of the 1857 Dred Scott decision, free blacks continued to assert what they saw as their birthright, the first steps on the way to the Fourt