Podcasts

Introduction

CEM — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:39:49 -0500

When we heard that the second U.S. Social Forum was expected to drawthousands of progressive activists from across the country to Detroitfor days of workshops, skill sharing, and movement building, we knewwe had to go. One important goal of our trip was to bring back voicesof people from across the country who are struggling with the exactsame issues as our communities in Maryland.

And then there was alsothe larger question of the future of the progressive movement - withpolitical polarization mounting higher every day, and critics fromboth sides decrying a lack of unity among progressives, could thisgathering achieve its goals of building strength and re-energizingpeople to keep fighting injustice?

Over the course of four days we interviewed people from all over thecountry who are engaged in diverse struggles – everything frombuilding up the confidence of young women to fighting for human rightsfor immigrants in Arizona, from using hip hop as a form of protest totouring the country with Palestinian children, Iraqi citizens, andAmerican veterans, and much more.

Take a listen and see what you think about the state of progressiveaction in America, and hopefully some of the incredible energy andhope that participants there expressed to us will make its way fromDetroit to your community.

Representative Chris Van Hollen talks healthcare

CEM — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:38:30 -0500

Continuing our series discussing the healthcare reform bill with Maryland's Congressional Delegation, Marc sits down with Representative Chris Van Hollen, who is from Maryland's 8th Congressional District, and who also serves as Chairman of Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He talks about what's in the bill, what its passage means for the 2010 midterm elections, and where we go from here.

Talking About Sex with Deborah Roffman

CEM — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:23:07 -0500

Deborah Roffman has been teaching sex education at The Park School in Baltimore for about 35 years. She's reached an audience outside of the classroom, as well, with her two books, Sex and Sensibility: The Thinking Parent's Guide to Talking About Sex and But How Did I Get In There In the First Place? Listen to this podcast to hear her thoughts on how our sexual culture has changed, approaches parents take, or might take, in talking with their kids about sex, and more.

To see Marc's interview with Deborah in the July issue of Urbanite magazine, click here.

Introduction

CEM — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:51:03 -0500

The history books are full of civil rights heroes who were from Maryland. Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice, was from Maryland, as was Frederick Douglass.

But there were so many who were instrumental to the fight for equal rights who are lesser known. In a new feature series done in partnership with the Maryland Humanities Council, CEM will profile four of these unsung heroes. Our series will begin with Carl Murphy, the editor and publisher of the Afro American newspaper. We will then profile Juanita Jackson Mitchell, the first black woman to practice law in Maryland. Gloria Richardson, who was the leader of the civil rights movement in Cambridge, will be profiled as well as "Pip" Moyer and "Zastrow" Simms. The series will end on December 1st, the anniversary of Rosa Parks refusal to give up her bus seat, with a profile of the mother of the Civil Rights Movement.

To learn more about the Maryland Humanities Council's plans to honor the legacy of Rosa Parks, please visit www.mdhc.org.

The Marc Steiner Show

linda — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:43:46 -0500

Newest Programs

linda — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:13:39 -0500

Current Events & Forgotten Voices

The Center for Emerging Media is commited to bringing you thoughtful and provocative discussions on issues that matter. Whether we're looking at the issue of child marriage or exploring the life of a disabled Iraq War veteran while also hearing from Iraqi-Americans, our programs provide context and analysis to help you learn about the world. We'll bring you voices that are often ignored by traditional mainstream media and talk about the things that are important to you.

Introduction

admin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:30:21 -0500

Welcome to a special series of podcasts from the CEM

On Sunday March 9th, HBO aired the series finale of the hit television drama The Wire. The show, set in Baltimore Maryland, was an in depth look at the people who live in urban American centers. The show focused on port workers, politicians, journalists, drug dealers, drug addicts, and more, and presented these people and their struggles in all their honest complexity. The show became known for its refusal to submit to stereotype. Even the most murderous of characters ranged from the horrid, to the humble, to the honorable. Some, even admirable.

Here in Baltimore the show had some detractors, people who say that Baltimore was unfairly portrayed. But others said the show told the truth of how dysfunctional this city has become. It is emblematic of the condition of America, as seen through its urban core.

The series finale prompted us to ask, what does The Wire have to teach us about modern urban America? Does The Wire have a message for Baltimore? If so, is it a message of hope-or despair? Has The Wire changed the conversation taking place in Baltimore around issues of urban blight, the drug war, the homeless, the media, and the loss of blue collar jobs? What is the legacy of this show?

To find out more about this we sat down with writers, actors, producers and even the creator of the entire series in order to ask these questions.

Introduction

admin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:45:15 -0500

The journey to produce Shared Weight started back in 2004 when Marc Steiner realized that 2005 would be 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War split a generation and divided a nation. In the 30 years since the conflict ended, little open healing between those who were soldiers and those who resisted the war had taken place. Little acknowledgement had been paid to the effect the war had on Vietnamese society in the 30 years since. The six part documentary series Shared Weight is a response to that lack of healing and an attempt to begin a conversation between warriors, artists, war resisters, and Vietnamese people.

In 2005, the Center for Emerging Media secured funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Osprey Foundation and sent 8 people to Vietnam. Some were veterans, and some were draft resisters. The lives they lived and the stories they found in Vietnam are at the center of this documentary series. This six part series will take you into the conversation between five brothers as they discuss, for the first time, the Vietnam War and how it changed them. You will hear the story of how one man beat a court martial, and the story of how the people who traveled to Vietnam in 2005 found the journey to
change and affect them in ways they could never have predicted. You will hear the story of how Vietnam was the beginning of one man's descent into, and his eventual triumph over, addiction and alchoholism, as well as the story of one man who was haunted by the personal journals of the Viet Cong soldier he killed. Their stories, among others including Vietnamese people, demonstrate the lasting effects of this war which ended over three decades ago.

The series was finished in early 2006. It aired on public radio stations across the country, including WAMU in Washington, D.C., WYPR in Baltimore, WHYY in Philadelphia, KUOW in Seattle, WBEZ in Chicago, and KQED in San Francisco among dozens of others.

The Eight Who Went to Vietnam

Marc Steiner writes:

Eight of us went on this journey together. One of my friends, Wayne Karlin, a Marine combat Vietnam veterans and also a wonderful author and novelist, became one of the producers and creative minds behind this series. His story along with great Vietnam veteran novelist, Tim O'Brien, were the heart of the second production called Artist Born of War. Neelon Crawford, our recordist, was an old friend who had been in the movie business as a soundman and despite being nearly blind from macro degeneration was a world adventurer and an amazing photographer and painter. He was a resister during the war. We were also joined by Woody Curry, an old friend who grew up in the inner city streets of Baltimore and served with the Army in Vietnam at the beginning of the war. He was Vietnamese translator and, like Wayne Karlin, a helicopter gunner. We were also joined by Steve Elliot, another old friend. We went to high school together. Steve is an incredible wonderful composer and musician, cameraman and film editor. He served all those functions and more on this journey.

When we arrived back in the states, Steve became our postproduction producer. He edited Homer's story, chose all the music and oversaw editing of the entire series. Steve was a draft resister during the war. Two world renowned poets, George Evans and Daisy Zamora, also came on this journey. Both of them were veterans-he during the Vietnam War, during which he served as a US Air force medic and she as a former Sandinista guerilla. Daisy later became the Deputy Minister of Culture under the first post-Somoza government in Nicaragua. Daisy and George live between San Francisco and Managua, Nicaragua now. Daisy appears in our first story, Wandering Souls and George's story of beating his court martial in US Air Force is part of our fourth story called Mash 1969 – Visions of War, Dreams of Peace.

Finally, there was part of another couple on this journey, Valerie Williams. Valerie besides being my other half, was the lead producer of our madcap crew and production. She wrote the grants, ran the money, ran the schedule, organized the trip, kicked people's butts and kept all going. Her creative input at the back end of the project was immeasurable. No Valerie, no journey.

Then there is I, Marc Steiner. The final episode, Unpredictable Journey, was my story. Unpredictable it was, eye opening and life changing it was. I never expected how profoundly this journey would affect me.

A production of the Center for Emerging Media
Produced by Steve Elliot and Marc Steiner
Studio engineer and editor Andrew Eppig.
Through a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Osprey Foundation.
Hosted by Marc Steiner, Executive Producer.

Introduction

admin — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:52:00 -0500

The 2007 Peabody Award Winning Series

One voice not often heard on the airwaves, if at all, is that of the working poor. Hurricane Katrina brought the faces of America's poor into the living rooms of our nation. Americans were appalled as they watched the tragedy unfold on the evening news, with the poor bearing the brunt of the damage. The deep divide between those of means and those without was driven home, as the justice became no longer economic but a glaring matter of life and death. People who were previously invisible were rendered visible. Suddenly, all could see the glaring disparities and the human consequences of those disparities. Suddenly, it was front page news.

But for how long? How long did it take until those people were rendered invisible once more? How long until mainstream Americans turned their heads away? It was just a matter of weeks, of mere months until people chose not to care anymore. The news crews went home, but the problems remained.

Baltimore faces its own set of challenges around the issues of poverty and justice. So many groups within the city and the surrounding region have been marginalized. On the fringes, these groups compete for meager government resources and ever scarcer private charity money. Community activists and ex-convicts struggle to save their streets while also fighting to be recognized as legitimate by city and state government. People trying desperately to leave lives of crime behind are stmymied when confronted with a lack of opportunities. Low wage workers struggle to fight large corporations to get a wage that lets them live a decent life.

These experiences are important. These are the stories of human survival in our world. These are the people that would have been left behind during Hurricane Katrina.

Just Words exists to tell their stories.

Background

The initial incarnation of Just Words launched in 2003. It was supported by Open Society Institute-Baltimore, a leading force in the struggle to correct social disparity in the city. Just Words began as a series programs on the Marc Steiner Show on WYPR, combined with local news department stories that were aired during Morning Edition. Over a two years period, the series covered such important topics as day laborers, inner city public schools, prisoner reentry, prison conditions, addictions, and reforming poor communities. The voices of advocates from key local organizations such as the Public Justice Center, Homeless Person’s Representation Project, and Health care for the Homeless were heard, as well as those of the individuals whose lives were directly affected by the issues at hand. These individuals were given a forum where they could discuss their lives and struggles in their own words.

Next Step

The original Just Words series provided a much-needed glimpse into the struggles faced by Baltimore's inner city poor. To be a truly effective media presence, Just Words had to go beyond the original idea and platform. It had to travel outside of the studio and into the streets.

Just Words launched in December of 2006 as a year long weekly documentary features series. Made possible by a generous grant from OSI-Baltimore, it aired each Thursday during Morning Edition and All Things Considered. These four minute pieces were an honest examination of the life of all types of disenfranchised and marginalized people, such as gang members, ex-convicts, low wage workers, the mothers of murdered children, inner city children, daycare workers, waitresses and more. The subjects told their own stories, in their own words. They were asked to share their vision of how the world works, and to express the changes they wished to see take place. They shared their hopes, fears, and all emotions and thoughts in between. They opened their lives and showed what it means to be poor and nameless in America.

The effect of Just Words was both measurable and immeasurable. Measurable results included hundreds of thousands of dollars in public and private money being funneled towards the community programs and activists that were featured on Just Words . The immeasurable result is how many minds were changed. How many listeners heard Just Words and all of a sudden, saw the invisible people all around them? How many listeners changed the way they thought about young black men in Baltimore, or what should be done about the homeless? We can only begin to guess from the emails and comments were have received, but we are confident that Just Words opened many eyes and hearts.

The Future

The Center for Emerging Media's commitment to producing work that examines the experiences of marginalized people will continue far into the future. Whether through longer form documentaries, short features or a multi-media platform, we will continue to bring our audience the stories of people who are struggling to change their lives and their communities for the better. Just Words will continue, not only as a program produced by CEM in some fashion, but as a mission for CEM.