The Wire

podcasts/the-wire

June 20, 2017

The Wire: Interview with Writer & Co-Producer Ed Burns

June 20, 2017 - Segment 2 - We hosted a special interview I conducted around the popular and powerful television series The Wire.We then listened to a conversation I had with Ed Burns, a writer and co-producer of The Wire.  Burns is a former Baltimore City Cop and Baltimore City public school teacher.
June 20, 2017

The Wire: Interview with Detective Lester Freamon

June 20, 2017 - Segment 1 - We hosted two special archived interviews I conducted around the popular television series The Wire. We listened back to my interview with Clarke Peters, who played Detective Lester Freamon on the show and then to a conversation I had with Ed Burns, a writer and co-producer of The Wire. 
October 26, 2015

The Wind in the Reeds: A Storm, A Play, and the City that Would Not be Broken, the latest offering from author Wendell Pierce

October 23, 2015 - Segment 1 - We start todays show by revisiting Marc's recent interview with author and Tony Award Winning Producer, Wendell Pierce, who joined us to talk about his new book (written with Rod Dreher) on New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
January 17, 2014

Remembering Robert Chew

January 17, 2014 - Segment 2 - We remember the life of Robert Chew, the Baltimore native who has portrayed the east Baltimore drug lord Proposition Joe on the hit HBO series The Wire. Prop Joe, as he came to be known, was an iconic figure that represented a time in Baltimore where the drug trade was less violent and bloody, when word was bond, and “The Game” was something very different than what it is today. Robert Chew died a year ago today.
May 2, 2008

“The Wire” Panel Discussion at Baltimore Museum of Industry

Here's a podcast of a panel discussion between four people who played integral, yet completely different, roles in creating the world of The Wire.  Listen to writer Bill Zorzi, executive producer Nina Noble, actor Chad Coleman, who played "Cutty," the gangster turned boxing coach/youth mentor/ladies' man, and Clark Johnson.  Clark played the city editor Gus in the last season, and directed a few episodes of The Wire, including the pilot and the finale.  The conversation, hosted by Marc Steiner, took place in front of a few hundred people at the Baltimore Museum of Industry on April 30, 2008 at the opening of their new exhibit "Local Scenes on the Silver Screen: featuring The Wire."

Don't have time to listen to the podcast right now?  Click here to read the transcript.

BMI panel

From Left: Bill Zorzi, Chad Coleman, Marc Steiner, Nina Noble, and Clark Johnson.  Photo credit: mojo40Design of Precise Management Company.

March 20, 2008

Nina Noble, Executive Producer

Nina Noble, Executive Producer for The Wire, spent the past several years doing all the behind the scenes work that is required for a successful show. She joined Marc to share her stories and experiences from the past few years.
March 7, 2008

Clarke Peters, “Detective Lester Freamon”

We stopped by Clarke's Charles Village rowhome one recent morning to tape this interview.  By interview, I mean a laid back conversation around the dining room table, talking about all sorts of things: Baltimore, theater, race, politics, culture, Europe, America, and of course, The Wire and his character, Detective Lester Freamon.  Oh, have you heard there are discussions of a Wire movie?  Clarke brings it up near the end of the interview.  So, sit back, relax, and listen.
March 6, 2008

Andre Royo, the Character “Bubbles”

Bubbles is my favorite character on The Wire. I remember hearing an interview with David Simon before the fifth season premiered in which he promised that at least one character would experience a happy ending and total redemption by the end of the series. I immediately forget all about how much I cared about Dukie, Randy, and all the other kids on the show and found myself hopin' and prayin' for Bubbles to be the one with the happy ending.
March 6, 2008

A Visit to Viva House Soup Kitchen

I have a lot of friends from out of town who love The Wire. I always kind of feel sorry for them because I feel like they aren’t getting the whole picture. Only someone really familiar with Baltimore can get all the inside jokes, references, and cameos that pepper the series. But sometimes the reference is arcane enough that not even Baltimoreans quite get what they are looking at. For example, how many people know that the soup kitchen Bubbles worked at in season five is a real place?
March 5, 2008

Robert Chew, the Character “Proposition Joe”

Last week Marc sat down with Robert Chew, the Baltimore native who has portrayed the east Baltimore drug lord Proposition Joe for the past several years on the hit HBO series The Wire. Prop Joe, as he came to be known, was an iconic figure that represented a time in Baltimore where the drug trade was less violent and bloody, when word was bond, and “The Game” was something very different than what it is today.
March 4, 2008

David Simon, Series Creator

Our Wire podcast series continues with a forty minute interview with David Simon!  Sunday is getting closer.  In the meantime, hear what The Wire's creator has to say about the show.
March 3, 2008

Ed Burns, Writer and Producer

As we promised last week, this week we are bringing you a series of interviews with folks from the hit HBO series The Wire.  The series finale of this show is airing on March 9, 2008.  Marc is a huge fan of the program, and we know a lot of you are as well.   So for our first podcast series we decided to concentrate on this television show and talk to writers, producers, actors, security guards and crew to ask them about their experiences in making The Wire.  We wanted to find out what they think the message of the show is.  What does it have to teach us about urban America?  What lessons can we learn from the five seasons?