Author: Dan Rodricks

Ed Goldstein, founding member and director of the Peabody Ragtime Ensemble and Baltimore’s annual Tuba Christmas, was a wonderful man and a great talent, a tubist and humorist. I was fortunate to be in his congenial company many times, usually on my radio shows and television show. He died the other day at age 68. … Continue reading Ed Goldstein, RIP

In the wee hours of Saturday, the wee Republicans finally voted in a way that the wee-est of them all, Kevin McCarthy, could become Speaker of the House. Having made extraordinary concessions to the crazies and government saboteurs on the extreme right, McCarthy got what he wanted on the 15th ballot after midnight. But McCarthy … Continue reading In the wee hours, the wee party elects a wee Speaker

Maryland's Andy Harris and other Republican members of the House Freedom Caucus are engrossed in an adolescent game in Washington, sabotaging Kevin McCarthy's quest to succeed Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House just for the hell of it. Watching Republicans in a silly schoolyard brawl would be amusing if not so bad for the … Continue reading Andy Harris and Half a House of Half-Adults

Here are the two Baltimores on display in the current editions of The Sun, as maddeningly stark as ever: Our reporters Cassidy Jensen, Darcy Costello and Alex Mann write about the despondency in the city’s deadliest neighborhood as Baltimore marks its eighth consecutive year of 300 or more homicides. Meanwhile, my colleague Jacques Kelly reports … Continue reading The two Baltimores

The photograph atop this post -- a Common tern in flight with food near Fort McHenry -- is one of many from the camera of Nico Sarbanes, the subject of my last column of 2022. I thought reporting on Nico's year of birding in five Baltimore parks -- he recorded more than 200 species -- … Continue reading A good year of birding in Baltimore parks

There’s a lot you could do. You could buy some blank stationery, or just get some good paper, and block out quiet time to sit at a table and write letters to 10 people you care about. Hand-written notes of encouragement, thanks or praise reach people in a profound way, and more than ever in … Continue reading There’s a lot you could do

George Santos, the New York Republican who was elected in November to Congress, has confirmed some of the key findings of a New York Times investigation that he lied about almost everything -- his education, his employment history, the sources of his income, his ethnic background -- but tried to downplay the misrepresentations and vowed to take … Continue reading George Santos: Whatever happened to shame?

My Christmas column in The Sun is a list of holiday wishes for anyone who reads it -- all friends, known and unknown. A college professor once told me that wishing was silly, even at Christmas, that you can’t wish away a difficult or bad situation or wish for the impossible. Of course, any rational … Continue reading Christmas wish: A room full of memories

Let me just say that, when it comes to the croissant, I have by now logged the requisite number of sampling hours to be a full-fledged expert. I have tasted croissants from numerous bakeries in the U.S. — those produced by Bonjour and Patisserie Poupon right here in Baltimore are excellent — as well as … Continue reading The humpback Croustille Croissant

Music Video: From the play, "Baltimore, You Have No Idea," first performed Dec. 2 and 3 in the city of its title, a new song by Mat Lane and Dan Rodricks. Listen via YouTube From the script: "The mayor, William Donald Schaefer, had quite a temper and he hated people who attacked his hometown. . … Continue reading Every city needs a song, so I’m told