I invented a one-pot, sweet and spicey pasta dish during the recent winter hibernation. It’s called Rigatoni dolci e piccanti. You need a big pot, olive oil, two onions, four cloves of garlic, four red bell peppers, four cups of chicken or vegetable stock (heated or at room temperature), a half-pound of rigatoni and two cups … Continue reading Recipe: Rigatoni dolci e piccanti
How to warm up the house: Make minestrone
If you want to take the chill off the house on a winter morning like this one -- if you want to take the chill off your body — get up early and make minestrone. Make a big pot so you can share some with a deserving friend, neighbor, relative or conscientious citizen. (Please don't … Continue reading How to warm up the house: Make minestrone
Photos: Chesapeake Bay freeze, Eastern Shore workboats on ice
My friend Kurt Kolaja, videographer and filmmaker, traveled a bit on Maryland's Eastern Shore on Jan. 30, capturing these scenes from Kent Narrows, Turner's Creek and Chestertown. The last time the Chesapeake saw extensive ice -- so thick in some places that you could drive a car onto it -- was the winter of 1976-1977. … Continue reading Photos: Chesapeake Bay freeze, Eastern Shore workboats on ice
Writing letters to Congress: If you want to get their attention, go old school.
In the 1939 Frank Capra film, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” letters from citizens to Congress play a pivotal role in the story — they symbolize the voices of young people crying out for honest representation and government for the greater good. The letters arrive in stark contrast to a media campaign manufactured by a … Continue reading Writing letters to Congress: If you want to get their attention, go old school.
At long last, an Emmy for Trump
Kolaja Emmy shipped to White House Back when he was just a con man with a TV show, Trump frequently complained that the Emmy Awards were crooked and rigged against him. Why else would the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the International Academy of Television … Continue reading At long last, an Emmy for Trump
Women’s hockey: A full house in DC; please bring these touring teams to Baltimore
You would not know it from reading today's Washington Post, but a record-breaking crowd of 17,228 watched a women's professional hockey game at Capitol One Arena in DC on Sunday afternoon, an impressive development in the growth of the Professional Women's Hockey League. Behind stellar defense and the goal-tending of Kayle Osborne, the New York … Continue reading Women’s hockey: A full house in DC; please bring these touring teams to Baltimore
Free student matinee for ‘No Mean City: Baltimore 1966’ is booked
The run of my next play, "No Mean City: Baltimore 1966," will include a free student matinee on Wednesday, March 11 at noon. I am happy and excited to report that 350 middle and high school students from Baltimore City and Baltimore County will attend the performance at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Several sponsors … Continue reading Free student matinee for ‘No Mean City: Baltimore 1966’ is booked
Get 10 cents for every empty bottle or can. It’s one of many ways to resist Trump’s attack on the environment
It's cool that Baltimore's Mr. Trash Wheel, the trash interceptor based in the city's Inner Harbor, is a worldwide celebrity. He's had some viral moments and enjoyed lots of attention for several years now. But so has all the trash that floats with every rain into the Inner Harbor, a chronic and depressing phenomenon. It … Continue reading Get 10 cents for every empty bottle or can. It’s one of many ways to resist Trump’s attack on the environment
Two essays: Dreading the juveniles in Trump’s government, saluting an actual adult who stood up for decency
Essays in contrast: One dreads the juvenility of the Trump regime, the other salutes a true adult who took a stand for decency.
A crime statistic worthy of its own headline
The fact that Baltimore's chronic problem with violent crime is finally being abated by smart law enforcement strategies and social science gets the big year-end headline: Homicides at historic lows. Here's my take on that very positive development, published on Substack, and, for more background, here's my recent interview and data dive with Ivan Bates, … Continue reading A crime statistic worthy of its own headline
Dan Rodricks 