November, 2007

When someone broke into Sean Taylor's home in the middle of the night and killed him earlier this week, was it a case of some trouble from Sean's past catching up with him, or a random crime?  We don't know, yet, but if I had to guess, I would guess that he was targeted, given the past, public incidences of violence in his life.  And not everyday violence, but things like an assault charge for threatening people with a gun, and being on the receiving end of a hail of bullets in his SUV.

There's lots of other incidents around the NFL, and sportsworld in general, of players who've been dragged down by connections to their sometimes turbulent past.  Look at Michael Vick, Darrent Williams (Bronco's player killed in a drive-by last New Years Day,) or the jail time Jamal Lewis served while playing for The Ravens, and, of course, Ray Lewis, who was charged, along with 2 of his friends, with a double murder.  Lewis accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice, and his friends were acquitted.

The thing is, this isn't particular to proffesional athletes by any means.  Michael Wilbon said it better than I could in his column earlier this week.  Here's an excerpt:

The issue of separating yourself from a harmful environment is a recurring theme in the life of black men. It has nothing to do with football, or Sean Taylor or even sports. To frame it as a sports issue is as insulting as it is naive. Most of us, perhaps even the great majority of us who grew up in big urban communities, have to make a decision at some point to hang out or get out.

The kid who becomes a pharmaceutical rep has the same call to make as the lawyer or delivery guy or accountant or sportswriter or football player: Cut off anybody who might do harm, even those who have been friends from the sandbox, or go along to get along.

Mainstream folks -- and, yes, this is a code word for white folks -- see high-profile athletes dealing with this dilemma and think it's specific to them, while black folks know it's everyday stuff for everybody, for kids with aspirations of all kinds -- even for a middle-class kid with a police-chief father, such as Taylor -- from South Central to Southeast to the South Side. Some do, some don't. Some will, some won't. Some can, some cannot. Often it's gut-wrenching. Usually, it's necessary. For some, it takes a little bit too long.

That's a lot to think about.. join us at 1pm today, and leave your thoughts here, as well.

Also, check out the Sports Illustrated article that helped get us thinking about all of these things today.  It's called "The Road to Bad Newz" and written by one of today's guests, Farrell Evans, and George Dohrmann.

-Justin

"Prostitution is hilarious!"

I'm always shocked when I hear about some stupid group on a college campus having a Pimp's and Ho's party, or a "Ghetto" themed party where you are encouraged to bring 40's in brown paper bags and "wear your favorite gang colors!"  I mean, do these people really not get it?  Are they really unaware that someone is going to be offended by this?  Where is the motivation, anyway?  Why do people want to emulate ghetto stereotypes and celebrate the worst of human behavior?

These are the questions that Cora Daniels asks in her most recent book, Ghetto Nation: A Journey into the Land of Bling and the Home of the Shameless.  Why do people like Paris Hilton appropriate ghetto attitudes and style?  How can corporate America defend it's practices of making so much money off harmful ghetto stereotypes? Do we really live in a world where Pimp and Ho"  for children costumes are available?  Yes.  We sure do.

Let's discuss...at Noon...

-Jessica

In 2004, Joel Hafvenstein went to Afghanistan as part of an aid program to help Afghan opium farmers find alternative ways to make money.  Predictably, the program ran into resistance from the area's drug trafficking warlords, and responded with ambushes.  Within just a few months, nine of his colleagues were dead.

He's our guest today to talk about his time in Afghanistan, which is chronicled in the new book Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier. It's a really exciting account of his time there, and a quite educational story about the complexities of Afghan society and the larger issue of the problems present in U.S. attempts to bring aid to foreign countries.

So join us, to hear this fascinating story....

-Jessica

A socialist and a capitalist walk into a bar....

The beginning of a joke, right?  Not today.  Today we have a socialist (A. Robert Kaufman) and a capitalist (Okay, well not specifically a capitalist, but a business writer, so he writes about capitalism and for the most part we're all capitalists, after all....anyway it's Jay Hancock from the Baltimore Sun) and they are coming in together to talk about how they both came to this conclusion: the War on Drugs has failed and must be ended. 

Jay Hancock revealed this belief in a column on November 7th.  Kaufman has been advocating this for years.  They're going to talk about how they came to this conclusion from very different places.

Join us, to share your thoughts on the War on Drugs.

-Jessica

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If you listen to Morning Edition or All Things Considered on Thursdays, you may have heard a documentary feature series called Just Words.  It's a project that Marc and I have been working hard on for the past year.  It's purpose is to go into the worlds of marginalized disenfranchised people, from low-wage workers to recovering drug addicts to ex-cons--and to bring their stories back and share them with our audience.  It's a year long series that was generously funded by the Open Society Institute-Baltimore.  As the first year of our project winds down, we are bringing you a series of shows with people who have been featured on Just Words.

For our first show, which is today at One, we're going to talk with Walker Gladden of the Rose Street Community Center, Ray Cook of On Our Shoulders, and Dante Wilson of Reclaiming Our Children and Community Project.  Each of these men is deeply committed to changing the lives of young people in Baltimore.  They are the first line of defense between many kids and the seductive powers of the street life. They're really amazing people, and very inspiring, and have a lot to say, so I hope you will join us and hear them today. And bring YOUR questions and comments to the table.

To hear Walker speak as the everyman of the inner city of Baltimore, click here.

To hear Ray talk about issues of love in the inner city, click here.

To walk with Dante as he picks kids up from school for his afterschool program, click here.

To hear the thoughts of children in Dante's program, click here.

-Jessica 

Seems like this week's Middle East peace conference in Annapolis has come back from the dead.  Everyone was saying that the conference had become irrelevant--that no one was coming, it would only be one day, and it wouldn't make a dent in the enormous amount of work and negotiation that needs to occur between Palestine and Israel.

But things seem to be looking up.  As President Bush emphasizes his desire to make peace in the Middle East part of his legacy, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and other nations of the Arab League have agreed to attend. 

So looks like we're going to have a bona fide conference.  Today at Noon we're going to discuss what issues are going to be at the top of the heap.  What are the likely sticking points?  What is a reasonable set of things we can hope to see accomplished?

We'll talk with our friend Ali Zaghab, a Palestinian-born local businessman who has joined us many times in the past to discuss these issues, and Dr. Elli Lieberman, a retired Israeli Army major, a PhD in Middle East studies, and a local businessman.  We're also going to here an essay on peace and interfaith understanding and love from John Oliver Smith.

So join us.  What do you want to see accomplished?  Do you feel optimistic?

-Jessica

It's the busiest travel day of the year and before you head over the river and through the woods join us for an hour of open phones where your calls and comments determine the topics.

                                                                                                                                 -Marcus 

Today we present a special program titled Martin and Malcolm: One Vision - Two Voices. Produced, in cooperation with the Maryland Humanities Council, Marc moderated a discussion between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , portrayed by actor Bill Grimmette, and Malcolm X, portrayed by actor Charles Everett Pace. The program was recorded before a live audience at the Baltimore Museum of Art.

                                                                                                                              -Marcus

Today, local author, Goucher professor, and friend Madison Smartt Bell is joining us to discuss his new book Charm City: A Walk Through Baltimore.  The book is what it sounds like; the author takes us on a walk through Baltimore, pointing out the important cultural, historical, and social points of interest along the way.  He visits typical Baltimore tourist spots like the Inner Harbor and Fells Point, but also goes to places off the tourist track, like the vibrant Greenmount Avenue and Greenmount Cemetery. 

 Producer Justin went out with him last week and captured the sounds of some of these spots...we'll be playing those on the air today while we talk with Madison.  So join us with your comments, questions, and stories of your favorite parts of the city!

-Jessica

First, a disclosure.  Having become vegetarian and then learned to cook, in that order, I've never cooked a turkey.  Still, Thanksgiving is 3 days away, and at 1pm today we'll be talking about cooking all sorts of things, including turkey, I'm sure.  What are your favorite holiday recipes and family traditions, when it comes to eating?  Share them here and on the air today, and have a great holiday!

-Justin

The special session of the Maryland General Assembly came to a close early this morning at 2:30am. State legislators passed tax increases spending reductions to resolve Maryland's looming $1.7 billion deficit. Marc and his guests, Fraser Smith, WYPR senior news analyst and Sunday Sun columnist, Andy Green, Statehouse reporter for the Sun and Tom LoBianco, Annapolis reporter for the Washington Times will discuss the recent session, what it accomplished and what it means for state residents.

                                                                                                                                  -Marcus

Well, I hope if any of you aren't members, you will become one after today, because we're gonna be running up the phone bill here at WYPR!

 First--we're going to go to Iraq, to talk with Nancy Youssef of the McClatchy papers.  She's going to share her first-hand perspective of the political and security situation in that country.

Then, we're traveling to Pakistan.  We're going to talk to Shahan Mufti of the Christian Science Monitor, who is reporting from Pakistan.  We'll also talk to Washington College professor Tahir Shad, a Pakistani who is currently in Argentina.  And we'll talk with Kamran Asdar Ali, a Pakistani and professor of Anthropology at the University of Texas.

What do you want to know about the situation in Iraq and Pakistan?  Bring them to the show!

-Jessica

Currently on stage at Center Stage The play Hearts deals with the experiences of a Jewish - American soldier during WWII and how those experiences shape the rest of his life. These experiences are played out by a quartet of friends who meet for a weekly card game of hearts. Taking part in a discussion about the play are playwright Willy Holzman, his father Donald, on whom the play is based, director Tim Vasen and actor Jordan Charney who portrays Holzman in the play.

                                                                                                                                  -Marcus

It's not the usual group of workers you'd expect to go on strike, not the auto workers, or municipal workers in some far off part of South America or Europe.  Members of the Writers Guild of America, tv and film writers, walked out over a new contract dispute.  They want to update their residuals payments to reflect the increasingly popularity of tv shows being streamed online, often free of charge to the viewer.

Interesting, the intersection of technology, media, labor......

So, will the next season of your favorite show be on as expected?  How much longer will the strike last?  Will our tv's be sitting in the basement next to our old vcr's soon, as we watch everything on our computers?  Joining us to answer all of your questions will be Baltimore Sun tv critic David Zurawick, at 1pm.

-Justin

Baltimore's premier practictioner of the art of the human beatbox, Shodekeh, will be here at 1:30pm today.  If you're wondering what I'm talking about, check out www.beatboxing.com for some background on beatboxing.  Shodekeh has a page on there here that will tell you more about him.  And check out his myspace page, as well, for some live videos, including one performing with KRS-1, and a piece on Shodekeh done by WYPR's own Aaron Henkin for The Signal.

-Justin

Can I let you in on a little secret?  I am loving the housing slump.  It is my favorite thing in the world.  I hope it just keeps falling and falling.  I, of course, am a prospective buyer.  But you, the owner, are cursing me for celebrating the loss you are experiencing in your net worth!

The differences in our attitudes explains in part why it is so hard to come to a consensus about the economy and how it is doing.  In my eyes, the economy was flying so high that someone like me, young and without much money, couldn't really get my foot in the door and buy stocks or a house.  It was not an economy that was friendly to beginners. I felt priced out of that economy. But to someone whose foot was in the door already, the economy was perfect-great-never been better!

We're going to talk today with people who have different ideas about what the economy we have today means.  Does the housing slump portend a recession-or is the market just correcting itself?  Are oil prices rising higher and higher because of actual supply and demand issues, or is it market manipulation? Why does the Federal Reserve seem so optimistic? And what role do hedge funds play in alll this?

Join us...with your comments and questions...or offers to sell me your house at a reduced price!

-Jessica

Snoop is possibly the most terrifying character on The Wire.  She looks like she's about 12 years old, she's completely androgynous, she's got the strangest, almost alien-sounding voice, and she kills people in a completely matter of fact way like it's nothing.

Felicia Pearson drew on her own experiences, which she documents in her new memoir, Grace After Midnight, to create the character she plays.  Just how much of her own experiences?  Well, she grew up with a foster family in East Baltimore, got involved in the drug game, and wound up in prison for murder.  Her book is full of some real-life terrifying stories, like the first time she visited her real mom's house after being put into foster care.  Her mom screamed at her, maybe 8 years old, to take off all of her clothes and then locked her in a closet.  She cried until she passed out, and woke up to find out that her mom had taken her clothes and sold them for crack.

I'll leave the rest of the stories for her to tell today.  She'll be here for an hour at 1pm.. do not miss..

-Justin

What would you do if you realized your brother was the Unabomber?  Not a question most people have had to answer, but you can find out what it was like from someone who has at 12:30pm today.  After we check in on the goings on in Annapolis, as the special session heads toward a close as early as the end of the week, we'll be joined by David Kaczynski.

After the Unabomber's Manifesto was published in the NY Times and Washington Post, David recognized his brother's writing style and was faced with an agonizing decision, which would change the course of his life completely.  Join us to find out what happened, and about the work that David is currently doing as executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty.

-Justin

What does it mean to go to war?  How does a society decide to go to war?  Is there such thing as a good war?  How about a necessary war?  What is the cost of war to those who fight it, and those who survive it?  Is an end to war a realistic thing to hope for?

What have we learned from struggles to wage war, and struggles to wage peace, in the past?  What can we learn from today’s conflicts?

We'll be reflecting on these questions, and maybe a few others, with veterans of war and veterans of the peace movement, and at least one person who is both of those things.

-Justin