Roughly Speaking

Baltimore has many traditions, and among them are annual church suppers. Some of the best known: The German sour beef-and-dumpling and beef rouladen dinners at Zion Church of the City of Baltimore, the weekly Lenten fish fries at Catholic parishes, the annual Polish festivals of Holy Rosary Church that require the production of up to 40,000 pierogies, and the ravioli dinners at St. Leo's in Little Italy. John Shields, a Baltimore native and proprietor of Gertrude's restaurant, calls these ----faith-based pop-up restaurants,---- dinners offered only once, sometimes twice, each year.If you have never been, this is the year to give one (or all) a try. In today's show, Dan and restaurateur John Shields speak with organizers of these events. It takes hundreds of volunteers to make all those pierogies, dumplings and crab cakes.Links: http://www.zionbaltimore.org/hospitality/sour-beef-dinnerhttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/4th-annual-beef-rouladen-dinner-benefits-the-zion-church-organ-fund-tickets-42339080329https://www

The Maryland prison system has had a long run of corruption, with dozens of correctional officers and others accused of helping incarcerated gang members continue their criminal enterprises behind the walls. From the Baltimore City Detention Center in 2013 to the Eastern Correctional Institution in 2016 and the prison in Jessup last year, investigations of those facilities have resulted in dozens of indictments, convictions and prison sentences. The scandal involving the Black Guerilla Family at the BCDC was so bad that it led in part to the shuttering of the old jail in 2015. In the Jessup case, a state corrections sergeant is accused of doubling as an officer in the Crips gang.Federal authorities have led most of these investigations. On today's show, Robert Harding, an assistant U.S. Attorney who supervises the Baltimore office's criminal division, talks about how the feds first learned about the widespread corruption in state prisons. It was the activities of a violent, made-in-Maryland gang, Dead Man Inc

Critics Linda DeLibero and Christopher Llewellyn Reed give their takes on the 90th Academy Awards, the first in the post-Harvey Weinstein era. Will #MeToo plus #TimesUp plus #OscarsSoWhite lead to a power shift and lasting diversity in Hollywood?Reed is professor and chair in film and moving image at Stevenson University. DeLibero is director of the program in film and media studies at Johns Hopkins University.

Once upon a time, Chesapeake oysters were good as gold — so plentiful and so valuable that men fought bloody battles over them. Greg Bartles, historian of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, tells of the bay's deadly oyster wars of the 19th Century, as local watermen put down their tongs and picked up guns to fight each other and invading ----drudgers----over access to oyster beds. This month marks 150 years since the establishment of Maryland's ----oyster navy,---- a forerunner of the Natural Resources Police.Links:http://dnr.maryland.gov/Pages/md-conservation-history/Oyster-Cannon-State-House.aspx

Ben Jealous, the former national president of the NAACP, says Gov. Larry Hogan holds Baltimore in contempt and has done too little to help the city through its crisis in crime and police misconduct. On Wednesday, Jealous, seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Hogan's bid for re-election, proposed a set of reforms for Baltimore police and police across Maryland, including the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of misconduct.This is another in a series of interviews with candidates for office in 2018. To listen to earlier conversations with gubernatorial candidates, visit this Roughly Speaking archives page.Also today: Book critic Paula Gallagher returns to the lineup, recommending a novel, ----The Driest Season,---- by Meghan Kenny, a former Tickner Writing Fellow at the Gilman School in Baltimore.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-pugh-police-discipline-20180222-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-goucher-pol

A visit to the wholesale fish market in Jessup, Maryland, with a chef who still does what a lot of chefs used to do: He gets up early in the morning to see what looks fresh enough to cook for his customers for dinner. And, while we’re shopping for seafood with Chef Michel Tersiguel, we’ll meet a man named Andy Foehrkolb, a cutter for Reliant Fish Co., who displays a fine hand at an old craft -- filleting one of the boniest of fish, the shad, a seasonal, but fading, tradition of the Chesapeake dinner table. Bonus: A visit to Tersiguel's kitchen in Ellicott City for a quick brunch.Links:http://www.reliantfish.com/history.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/bs-md-rodricks-0227-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bs-md-rodricks-blog-0228-story.html

Republican Rep. Andy Harris, one of the most conservative members of Congress, is seeking a fifth term representing Maryland's First District, which runs from Carroll County, through Harford and Baltimore counties, across the Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore. Voters in the First went for Donald J. Trump in 2016 by a margin of 29 percentage points over Hillary Clinton.Can a Democrat flip the Big Red One?Until recently, no one considered the district a battleground, and many political analysts still consider it solidly red for Harris.But two weeks ago, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee moved Maryland's First into ----battleground---- status, declaring it in play with nearly 100 other House seats it will try to flip in the mid-term elections in November. That decision seems to be based largely on the fund-raising success of Jesse Colvin, a 33-year-old Army veteran who is among Democratic candidates in Maryland's June primary.Colvin raised more campaign money than Harris in the last quarter of 20

The same day of a White House ----listening session---- on the mass shooting at a Florida high school, student protesters marched on the state capitol in Tallahassee to demand tougher gun control. On today's show, American culture commentator Sheri Parks talks about the remarkable and passionate student uprising that has occurred even in the midst of mourning and grief. Parks is associate dean in American studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, and a regular contributor to Roughly Speaking.

On today's show, two big stories, one local, one national: The $37 million jury award in the Baltimore County police shooting death of 23-year-old Korryn Gaines, and the Russian cyberwar against the U.S. and President Trump's unwillingness to fight back.Pamela Wood, staff reporter for The Baltimore Sun, reviews the Korryn Gaines case, from the August 2016 standoff with police that ended with her death to Friday's jury award of $37 million for her six-year-old son and other family members.Sean Gallagher, the Baltimore-based IT and national security editor of Ars Technica, the tech-news web site, talks about President Trump's unwillingness to counter the activities described in Friday's Russian indictments -- a misinformation campaign to interfere with the 2016 U.S. election, and ongoing threats to democratic institutions.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-gaines-verdict-analysis-20180216-story.htmlhttps://arstechnica.com/author/sean-gallagher/http://www.baltimoresun.com/n

After a week of more bad news for the nation — horrible violence in a Florida high school, failure in Washington to resolve the political stalemate over immigration — Dan shares some thoughts about the state of the union, and speaks with two guests:5:11: Leyla Moushabeck, editor of ----The Immigrant Cookbook,---- which is chock full of recipes from people who emigrated to the U.S. and brought great food traditions with them.15:13: Brendan Dorr, bartender at the B----O American Brasserie, who offers the secret recipe for a better Bloody Mary.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-nikolas-cruz-florida-school-shooting-suspect-20180215-story.htmlhttp://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-immigration-plan-20180215-story.htmlhttp://www.interlinkbooks.com/product_info.php?products_id=3472

The current flu season is the worst in a decade, overwhelming emergency rooms and causing one in 10 American deaths in recent weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today on the show, Dr. John Cmar, an infectious diseases specialist, talks about the flu in Maryland and across the U.S., and he explains why some people die from it.Also on the show:* The CDC is facing fiscal problems and plans to pull back on its interventions overseas, including in some countries that have been hotspots for infectious diseases.* Plus, a study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reveals a 40 percent drop in government-funded clinical trials in recent years. Dr. Cmar comments on both developments. He is based at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and comments about medical news from time to time.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-flu-season-20180126-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-child-flu-death-20180206-story.htmlhttps://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive

The Baltimore region's subway system had to be closed completely for repairs while the city's old municipal water and waste-water system continues to spring leaks and pollute local waters, prompting years of costly repairs and higher and higher water bills that fewer and fewer Baltimoreans can afford.1:38: Colin Campbell, who covers public transportation for The Sun, talks about the Metro closure and its effect on the thousands of commuters who use it each day.8:53: As Baltimore faces costly repairs to its water and waste-water system, residents are looking at higher bills that many of them are unable to pay. Dan speaks with Roger Colton, an economist whose 109-page report for Food ---- Water Watch concludes that Baltimore could find itself in a “downward spiral,” forced to impose larger and larger price increases to pay for court-ordered infrastructure upgrades.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-metro-subway-shutdown-20180212-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar

The Baltimore Sun reporters who were at the courthouse,\u160\uJustin Fenton and Jean Marbella, share their insights into the guilty verdicts in the Baltimore Police Gun Trace Task Force trial,\u160\uone of the biggest police corruption scandals in recent memory.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-gttf-verdict-20180208-story.html

Pitchers and catchers report to the Orioles' camp in Sarasota next week, with big questions looming about the starting rotation and at least one preseason analysis predicting no more than 70 wins for Buck Showalter's 2018 team. Today on the show: The Sunshine Boys, Sun sports columnist Peter Schmuck and sportswriters Eduardo Encina and Jon Meoli, size up the team and its pitching needs ahead of spring training.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-orioles-rotation-comparison-20180207-story.htmlhttp://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-orioles-pecota-2018-20180207-story.htmlhttps://twitter.com/eddieintheyardhttps://twitter.com/schmuckstophttps://twitter.com/jonmeoli

We have no photographs of Larry Hogan and Brian Frosh standing side by side, and that's no accident: Maryland's Republican governor and Democratic attorney general have a chilly history going back 15 years, says Erin Cox, the Sun's State House bureau chief. And that, in part, explains the tension between the two as Frosh sues the Trump administration on 18 fronts and the governor withholds support of the attorney general's challenges to White House policy. The Hogan administration left out of the state budget the $1 million and additional staff the General Assembly promised Frosh to sue the Trump administration.Erin Cox joins Dan to talk about the chill between Hogan and Frosh, the current session of the General Assembly and election-year politics.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-hogan-consumer-protection-trump-lawsuits-20180122-story.html

Almost wiped out centuries ago by fur trappers, beavers have made a comeback in North America, including the Mid-Atlantic and the Chesapeake Region. While many see them as a nuisance -- slayers of trees, builders of dams that flood roads and farm land -- biologists and natural resource managers see good in the beaver comeback. Their dams create rich habitat for other mammals and fish while filtering sediment and damaging nutrients from waters that flow to the Chesapeake Bay.On the show:- Frances Backhouse, a Canadian writer and author of, ----Once They Were Hats: In Search of the Mighty Beaver.----- Mike Callahan, founder of the Beaver Institute who has resolved more than 1400 conflicts between beavers and humans.- Scott McGill, founder and CEO of Ecotone, a Maryland-based ecological restoration company that is bullish on the beaver as a benefit to the environment. (Photo courtesy of NPS / Neal Herbert) Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/harford/aberdeen-havre-de-grace/ph-ag-beaver-dam-0406-20160

The trial of two Baltimore police detectives who were once part of the corrupt Gun Trace Task Force is gaining national, even international attention. More than two dozen witnesses have testified in the federal racketeering\u160\utrial of detectives Daniel Hersl and Marcus Taylor. Here to bring us up to date on the proceedings and their impact is reporter Justin Fenton.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md-ci-gun-trace-task-force-gttf-testimony-highlights-20180126-story.html

Two decades ago, says psychologist Brad Sachs, parents worried about Bart Simpson's ----malevolent influence on developing children.---- Now it's technology — and, specifically, smartphones — that has parents concerned. Sachs, based in Columbia, counsels families, and not surprisingly, the frequent, if not obsessive, use of smartphones is now a common source of tension between parents and their kids. But, if it's a problem, Sachs says, it's a manageable one.Brad Sachs specializes in clinical work with children, adolescents, couples and families. He is the founder and director of The Father Center, a program designed to meet the needs of new fathers. You can find Sachs and a list of the books he’s written on his website.Links: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-teens-phones-20161026-story.htmlhttp://www.drbradsachs.com

What's your favorite comfort food for a winter weekend? A lot of people would quickly mention mac-and-cheese. Others might favor a stew, soup or savory pasta dish. On this weekend episode: John Shields, of Gertrude's restaurant in Baltimore, offers a comforting potato dish from his ancestral home in Ireland, while Henry Hong, the Food Nerd, suggests a chicken casserole passed down from his wife's grandmother. Dan offers polenta and minestrone.Links:http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/dan-rodricks-blog/bs-md-rodricks-0126-story.html

----Political termites---- is a term from investigative reporter and best-selling author David Cay Johnston. It refers to what Johnston calls the serious damage being done to many aspects of the federal government in the Trump administration. From worker safety to water and air pollution, Johnston describes government in retreat on regulation of industry and co-opted by corporate interests.Johnston is a longtime journalist and a winner of the Pulitzer Prize who has covered Donald Trump since the late 1980s. In fact, he wrote a widely-published book about him, called ----The Making of Donald Trump.---- Johnston is a specialist in finance and tax issues. His DCReport is a nonprofit, online news service that “reports what the President and Congress DO, not what they SAY.”David Cay Johnston's new book is “It’s Even Worse Than You Think, What the Trump Administration is doing to America.”Links:https://www.dcreport.org/http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Its-Even-Worse-Than-You-Think/David-Cay-Johnston/9781501174