Dan Rodricks

Dates have been set for performances of two plays by Baltimore Sun columnist Dan Rodricks — a second run of “Baltimore, You Have No Idea” in December 2023 and a new play, “Baltimore Docket,” for February 2024. Both plays will be staged in the theater of the Baltimore Museum of Art. “Baltimore, You Have No … Continue reading Dates set for two plays by Dan Rodricks

Johnson My weekend column is about a young man named Ryan Johnson, formerly of Baltimore and pre-med studies at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the hit-and-run car crash that, for the time being, has left his dreams for a career in neurosurgery on hold. When he originally contacted me, it was to tell of the accident and … Continue reading Two men named Ryan relate their experiences with dangerous drivers and poor police response

From The Washington Post: On Jan. 27, 1973, with U.S. involvement in Vietnam over, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird declared the end of the military draft, after 25 uninterrupted years of conscription. “I wish to inform you,” Laird said, “that the Armed Forces henceforth will depend exclusively on volunteer soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.” The decision … Continue reading The draft ended 50 years ago. We need a new Selective Public Service.

Look at a map of the huge Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay and there are numerous places where you could make a crossing by boat in a reasonable amount of time. But since the 1950s, when the first Bay Bridge was completed — the second span opened in 1973 — we’ve been sending all … Continue reading Electric Ferries: Not the name of a rock band. A solution to Chesapeake Bay Bridge traffic.

In answering questions about his new book for my Sunday Sun column, Ben Jealous mentioned, as he has on occasion, that he was a stutterer. I remember him talking about this during his unsuccessful run for Maryland governor in 2018, after the incumbent, Republican Larry Hogan, released a negative campaign commercial mocking Jealous for speaking … Continue reading Overcoming a childhood stutter helped Ben Jealous write his new book about getting past racism

My two most recent columns for The Baltimore Sun are about boxing, and while reporting them — interviewing amateur welterweight Courtney Feldheim and her trainer, Warren Boardley — it occurred to me that I don’t follow the “sweet science” as much as I once did. I am not a sportswriter, but over 44 years of … Continue reading Watching people fight: From Brockton to Baltimore

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