The Drama is a psychological horror film masquerading as a romcom. From the jump, something feels a little off about the “meet-cute.” At a coffee shop, Charlie (Robert Pattinson) sees Emma (Zendaya) reading a novel (The Damage by Harper Ellison, a truly excellent fake title and author). Taken with her, he does a quick google search of the book and approaches her.

“I love that book,” he says.

She ignores him. All of a sudden, he feels like all eyes in the coffee shop are on him, judging him for this hapless pick-up attempt. Time seems to freeze.

Finally, she removes her single earbud and looks at him. She explains that she’s deaf in one ear and had no idea he was even talking to her. They decide to have a do-over, a cute practice that is repeated throughout their romance. He sits back down and tries again.

Later, over dinner, he continues the ruse when she asks him for his thoughts on the ending of the novel.

“Is she dead?” Emma asks.

“Um, yeah, I think she’s dead,” Charlie says.

“And what about the mirrors?”

“Uh…the mirrors?…I think they’re, um, metaphors,” he sputters.

She stares at him, quizzically, until he finally comes clean: He hasn’t read the book. He just wanted to talk to her.

That lie, while seemingly innocent, was actually pretty dark: He wooed her under false pretenses, pretending to be something he wasn’t. Not necessarily a dealbreaker, but a red flag to be sure. What else would he lie about to get his way?

But here’s the thing: This film isn’t actually about Emma’s safety or whether or not Charlie can be trusted. It’s the opposite. You see, Charlie has told a tiny lie. Emma has been hiding a whopper.

 

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED COME BACK AND READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW AFTER YOU’VE SEEN THE FILM!

 

Okay, so Emma and Charlie get engaged. They’re in love—and they’re happily planning their wedding. Over a tasting dinner of mushroom risotto and too much wine with Charlie’s best man, Mike (Mamoudou Athie) and his wife, Emma’s maid of honor, Rachel (Alana Haim), they play an ill-advised game of “What is the worst thing you’ve ever done?” (I can’t emphasis enough how much you should never play this game.)

They go around the table, admitting some genuinely messed up things, until they get to Emma, who is quite drunk at this point.

“I planned a school shooting,” she says.

Charlie laughs nervously.

Then, with mounting horror, everyone around the table realizes she’s serious.

“I didn’t do it, of course,” Emma says quickly. But the damage has been done.

It’s Rachel, played with exquisite haughtiness by Haim, who storms away in disgust. As far as she’s concerned, Emma is canceled. The wedding is obviously off. And a freaked out Mike essentially agrees with her.

It’s up to Charlie to navigate his conflicting emotions. In the wedding speech he was writing, he extols Emma’s unimpeachable character, but now he thinks, does he ever know her? (There’s a wonderful scene where he begins editing out words like “kindness” and “empathy” in the speech.) He can’t reconcile the woman he thinks he is marrying with a person who would plan such an evil act.

So yes, The Drama is about the impossibility of really knowing someone. And I like the idea of a romcom morphing into a kind of “hell is other people” horror film.

But something about this film really put me off. It’s reminiscent of Tár, a film I actually loved that nonetheless had one glaring flaw. As we know, most so-called “geniuses” who get away with sexual predation are men, but Tár dared to ask the question: What if it was a woman? Flipping that paradigm seemed like provocativeness for its own sake.

It’s worse with The Drama, mostly because it’s not nearly the film Tár is. The majority of school shooters are boys. More specifically, white boys. Why on earth have a movie about a Black woman who considered such violence?

The answer is simple: It’s to center Charlie’s dilemma, his pain, his confusion. I knew without even checking that the film had been written by a man, writer/director Kristopher Borgli (Dream Scenario). The film is entirely from Charlie’s perspective as he drives himself slightly mad with uncertainty.

Pattinson, who burst on the scene playing a heartthrob vampire, has spent the rest of his career trying to undo that fact. He specializes in men on the verge of a nervous breakdown—I feel like I’ve almost never seen him in a film where he doesn’t twitch and sweat—so this is right in his wheelhouse. He’s good at playing Charlie’s increased agitation. Should he go through with the wedding or not?

The ever-captivating Zendaya has the trickier part because her inner life is intentionally opaque—that’s part of the puzzle of the film. We’re supposed to at least entertain the notion that Emma could actually be psychopath, not just a woman who had a troubled adolescence who briefly lost her way.

Zendaya does the best she can with this cryptic character, but I found the whole premise of The Drama off-putting.

Yes, the otherness of our lovers is rich material to mine. But the shock value of this film overpowered its ideas. (It’s like that old fashion insult: “You’re not wearing the jacket. The jacket is wearing you.”) By embracing an outlier and taking the premise to such an extreme, the film lost its grip—both on reality and my interest.

A sellout crowd. Sunny, 75-degree weather. Orange everywhere. The Oriole Bird bouncing around the seats.

Orioles season is so back, and courtesy of $135 million in public funds from the state, Oriole Park at Camden Yards has gotten some serious upgrades since the end of last season. Fans will notice the new amenities—look no further than the state-of-the-art scoreboard (more on that later)—but rest assured, the ballpark hasn’t lost its charm and character.

Of course, the roster got a refresh, too, with additions like veteran slugging first baseman Pete Alonso, who joins an O’s homegrown core intent on returning to the playoffs under first-year manager Craig Albernaz. 

On Thursday, with Orioles starting pitcher Trevor Rogers allowing only three hits over seven innings and new closer Ryan Helsey getting his first save, all the O’s needed from their offense to win was an RBI sacrifice fly from Colton Cowser and an RBI single from Blaze Alexander. 

After taking in the season opener from the field—as well as from the stands, Splash Zone, and the newly relocated Jim Henneman Press Box—we compiled five of our favorite new things at Camden Yards.

New Faces (and Walk-Up Songs) 
Upon signing a five-year, $155 million contract with the Orioles this winter—just the type of move fans have been longing for under Baltimore native David Rubenstein’s ownership—Alonso spent several weeks searching for a new walk-up song that would play before his at-bats at Camden Yards. 

In front of 42,134 fans on Thursday afternoon, we found out what he landed on—and it’s perfect.

Alonso walked to home plate to the crescendo of “Birds” by Baltimore’s own Grammy-award winning hardcore punk band, Turnstile. “It is perfect,” Alonso told us in the clubhouse after the game. 

Here’s how it came together: Alonso knows Turnstile guitarist Pat McCrory through mutual friends, and they met in December in Baltimore when Alonso visited town to take his physical and complete the O’s free-agent signing of him. An easygoing conversation in February, recorded by the O’s, hatched the idea to use “Birds.” 

“Turnstile is sick. They’re a great band,” Alonso said. “I know they’re a Baltimore band. Them winning a Grammy is big-time. I’m happy to represent.” 

The standing ovation that fans gave him before his first at-bat, as “Birds” played, was a “dream come true,” he said. “It’s such a blessing and I’m happy we got the win for them today. He added, “It felt like a movie today. There’s a lot of excitement with this group of guys and this team. You could really feel that from the fans. It was electric today.”

The good vibes didn’t quite carry into the batter’s box, though. At least not yet. 

Alonso struck out in his first two career Orioles plate appearances against Minnesota Twins starter Joe Ryan (and later flew out to the warning track in the eighth inning). But, hey, it’s early. The 31-year-old, who left the New York Mets, has a strong track record that suggests the hits will ramp up soon enough. 

The Scoreboard
Undeniably, the most noticeable difference at Camden Yards this season is the giant videoboard in center field. It’s two-and-a-half times larger than the previous scoreboard, which was the smallest in pro baseball. And it was dated. Even the eagle-ist of eyes could have trouble seeing the correct score in years past, especially during the day. But no problem anymore. 

Built by Daktronics, the board is now the 12th-largest in MLB, allowing fans at the park to easily view everything those at home might see on television, including the new ball-and-strikes challenge system. Plus it’s easier to see in-person exclusives, like a reimagined crab shuffle. (In related news, ICYMI, relish took the first live hot-dog race win of the year.) 

“The goal here wasn’t to go crazy or try to have the biggest in the country,” Orioles president of business operations Catie Griggs said of the scoreboard. “That’s not what Camden Yards is. We feel this is right sized for our ballpark.”  

Which still means big. For scale, it’s the equivalent size of 800 55-inch TVs. 

The Other Side of the Scoreboard
A giant image of a uniformed Gunnar Henderson at bat, part of a new multi-year sponsorship deal between the Orioles and Under Armour, now greets fans coming in off Gate H on Eutaw Street, with the tagline, “This is our yard.”  

Henderson saw it for the first time on Tuesday. “Pretty cool,” he said when we asked him about the signage, thanking both the Orioles and Under Armour. But is he comfortable with his sizeable stature—both real and symbolic—over the team (and fans) out in centerfield?

“Yeah,” he said, as if there was no question. “It’s really special.”

Now, for the next thing. A long-term contract between Henderson and the O’s…

A Lot of New TVs, and a Brand-New Sound System
No more squinting at the screens on the concourse for a peek of the action while you’re grabbing a dog or refilling your beer. There are now 600 modern TVs around the ballpark, programmable with on-demand video and other information (like what items are sold-out at concessions).  

And you can hear everything now, too. The stadium’s long-beleaguered sound system has finally been fully revamped with 900 new speakers. The radio broadcast piped in through the system—for example, on Thursday, the play-by-play voice of Brett Hollander—provides a great atmosphere while out of your seat. 

Something for Everyone, from Premium Club Access to Budget-Friendly Bites
Visuals and audio aside, many of the stadium upgrades appeal to higher-income clientele, most notably, the Truist Club. Replacing the old press box behind home plate, the ballpark’s first-ever premium club seats around 350 in an upscale restaurant-style setting. The price tag is around $15,000 for 40 games, according to O’s officials, which works out to around $375 per ticket. 

“We do want this to be a ballpark for everyone, we recognize there are people for whom this is the experience they wanted, and we weren’t able to offer it,” said Griggs, noting that Camden Yards was one of two MLB stadiums without a premium club previously. 

The club/suites level also got a refresh, most significantly with a pair of large bars overlooking the field at the end of the first and third baselines.

Throughout the stadium, new food items on deck include crab smash tacos; Yakamein (stir-fried udon noodles with grilled shrimp, onions, and hot dog slices in a soy sauce gravy); and a Japanese cheesesteak from Washington, D.C.-based chef Katsuya Fukushima, featuring a sweet soy broth and fresh toasted roll. (Highly recommend.) 

Thankfully, last season’s fan-favorite value menu is back, as well. Simple food and drink items (like the humble hot dog, peanuts, refillable soda cup, and 12-ounce domestic beer) are available for under $5. And many eats from local restaurants have returned for another year, as well, like Ekiben, Attman’s Deli, Stuggy’s, and, of course, Boog’s BBQ. 

A New Favorite Pre-Game Personality
We must mention one more favorite of the day—109-year-old Baltimorean Arthur Green, who tossed a ceremonial first pitch to a raucous ovation. Yes, 109. I chatted with him briefly before the game. He laughed with affirmation when I said he’s seen a lot of what’s happened in Baltimore.  

Green, a World War II and Korean War veteran, then ditched his walker to stroll onto the grass and effort a pitch toward Henderson at home plate. He was then greeted with more ovation by fans as he took his seat down the left field line. 

Yes, people, Birdland bliss is back at a refreshed Camden Yards. 

“The crowd was awesome,” Albernaz said after his first win as O’s manager, which really culminated afterward when players put him in a clubhouse cart and showered him with beer and soap. “The whole place was electric today. There was no down in the game. The whole day was awesome.” 

Once news hit that Herman’s Bakery would be closing its doors on March 31 after a 103-year run—due to its owners wanting to slow down and prioritize their health—customers formed lines out the door to stock up on their favorite fudge-topped cookies, strawberry shortcake, and German chocolate cake.

It’s no wonder why. Herman’s has been revered by Baltimore for generations. But for me, it’s a family legacy—all credited to the perseverance of a quiet but ambitious immigrant who found success despite minimal education.

The history of Herman’s begins with Harry’s Bakery in East Baltimore. It’s namesake, Harry Francis Herman, who we called “Grandpop,” was born in Russia in 1886 of Polish decent. He came to the United States “on the boat” when he was six years old, likely due to extenuating family circumstances. He was sent to Baltimore by his biological parents to live with a family he didn’t know.

His Polish name was Waclaw Grzeskowiak, and it’s still something of a family mystery as to why he changed it to Harry F. Herman. Grandpop’s naturalization papers were certified in 1918. He was described as “a short (5’5”) 32-year-old.” His indoctrination to the United States required him to denounce Czar Nicholas II of Russia.

In 1923, Grandpop opened Harry’s Bakery in a converted rowhouse on the corner of Fleet Street and Montford Avenue, on the fringe of Highlandtown and just a block south of Patterson Park. His family was growing, and he had to provide for them. He had apprenticed as a baker and knew the local clientele, so opening a bakery was an obvious choice.

It was a neighborhood where transplants from Poland, Lithuania, and Ukraine settled and united as a community. They loved Grandpop’s baked goods and fresh bread. Grandmoms in their babushkas would be greeted by my Aunt Dene with “Good Morning” or “Good Afternoon, Panie,” which means lady in Polish.

The year he achieved citizenship, Grandpop and his wife, Mary (age 28), already had four children. (Another was yet to be born). The youngest at the time was their son (my uncle), Harry James Herman, who was only three months old, but would ultimately become the heir apparent to the family business.

After working for his father for several years, my uncle realized that Dundalk was booming. It was the late ’50s, when big employers like Bethlehem Steel attracted a melting pot reminiscent of the East Baltimore neighborhood that had enabled Harry’s Bakery to thrive. In 1958, with his wife Sophia right by his side, Uncle Harry made the bold move to open Herman’s Bakery in Dundalk, ironically 40 years after his father became a U.S. citizen. Grandpop’s store, Harry’s, continued operating until 2003.

The façade of the new bakery on Holabird Avenue—with the business name spelled in block letters under retro-styled arches—became a local landmark. It started the expansion and contraction of the business, which at one time had locations in Baltimore-area malls including Golden Ring, Kenilworth, White Marsh, Hunt Valley, and Eastpoint. Compared to Harry’s little rowhouse cubical, which the family had to expand by taking out the first floor living room, the Dundalk store was huge. People came and went with regularity, and there rarely was a lull.

Uncle Harry’s children—Cassandra, Harry Jr., and Harriet—were a tad young to work in the bakery when it first opened, but that changed soon enough. Cassandra and Harry became fixtures, especially in the business’ heyday with its six locations. Eventually, so did their children, and their children. Four generations benefitted from the family affair. Customers were more like friends, and Herman’s products were in high demand for weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries.

Cassandra and Harry Jr. continued an active presence in recent years. But Cassandra’s daughter, Adrienne Porcella, has become the chief baker and “keeper of the formulas”—a term she uses to describe the time-honored recipes, some of which have been inspired by Old World techniques Uncle Harry picked up while in Europe.

I have many happy Herman family memories, including gathering around my grandparents’ kitchen every Saturday night for crabs and beer, and packaging fresh-baked cookies at Christmas time.

Through it all, Herman’s Bakery has been the thread that tied us together. But there would never have been a Herman’s without the vision of that young Polish immigrant Waclaw Grzeskowiak.

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Mary Jo Tarallo was Ski Editor for the Evening Sun during the 80s, and she worked for the ski industry for almost 30 years after leaving the paper. She also worked for several nonprofits in the Baltimore area including United Way of Central Maryland, where she won a Gold Award for a campaign television show that starred Oprah Winfrey and Richard Sher.

With their new restaurant on the corner of 36th Street and Elm Avenue in Hampden, Ben, Amy, and Jake Lefenfeld have headed east of their beloved Basque region to the Italian coast.

Starting on April 2, Seppia will be open for daily dinner service. The new 250-seat restaurant has been several years in the making and is one of the most eagerly anticipated openings of the year, especially since a January fire temporarily closed the Lefenfeld’s Basque-based La Cuchara in Hampden-Woodberry.

Seppia (pronounced sep-e-a), named for the cuttlefish commonly found in the Mediterranean Sea, is set inside the G.C. Murphy Five and Dime building. The historic 1901 structure was at one time a stable and last home to the Five & Dime Ale House.

“We decided to purchase the building after looking at it,” says Ben. “We love the neighborhood and have been right down the street for 11 years now at La Cuchara. We thought it was a great opportunity to expand and put down very long-term roots within the community.”

With the help of Charles Patterson, director of design at SM+P Architects, the space underwent a full renovation that included moving the staircase, demolishing a portion of the second floor to create a 50-foot high ceiling, and refurbishing an old elevator that will now serve as a dumbwaiter to ferry various items from the restaurant’s basement kitchen and a wine cave, which will double as a private dining space.

An original terra cotta wall has been restored and is now showcased behind the bar. And the restaurant’s interior is all aglow with its sea green, gold, and caramel color palette, plus warm chestnut wood and brass finishes.

The driving force for a second spot, says Ben, was to provide new opportunities for their team.

“We were losing talent, because they were outgrowing us,” says the chef. “We needed a place to allow for people to rise up in the company.”

“Pasta is something special—it’s not the kind of thing you bring home and reheat. It’s in the moment of the technique and the freshness of it—there’s something a little mystical about that.”

The bulk of the menu will focus predominantly on pasta, both hand-rolled and extruded.

“I’ve always loved Italian food and fresh pasta,” says Ben. “Pasta is something special—it’s not the kind of thing you bring home and reheat. It’s in the moment of the technique and the freshness of it—there’s something a little mystical about that.”

To that end, Ben is currently hard at work in the kitchen refining his recipes for crispy artichoke lasagna with spinach, béchamel, and sugo di Pomodoro; ruffled-edge mafaldine with squid ink; and casarecce pasta (short noodles with curled edges) with venison ragù.

Seafood dishes also abound, including acciughe al verde (that’s Spanish-cured anchovies soaked in a green sauce of lemon, toasted garlic, olive oil, and parsley); frito misto (a variety of fried shellfish including cuttlefish, calamari, shrimp, and zucchini); and tuna crudo with chile crunch, fermented chiles, and tangerines.

A clever Buffalo milk ricotta “palette” starter is a canvas for a variety of accompaniments such as pistachio pesto, confit tomato, roasted garlic, and roasted shallots.

For the chef, culinary inspiration comes from research, experimentation, and especially travel. In 2024 and 2025, Ben and his wife, Amy, taste-tested their way all over the Boot Country.

“We started in Venice, we went to Abruzzo all along the Amalfi coast, stopped in Genoa and Vernona,” he says. “We went to Bologna. So many of the ideas for this menu came from the Ligurian coast.”

The menu will also change with the seasons. “We’ll be focusing on dishes and inspirations from Northern Italy in the wintertime and going to the south in the summertime,” says Ben, “but we want to utilize the best ingredients possible, so we’re going to see where that takes us from the starting point that we have right now.”

Ben sees the cuttlefish as an apt symbol for Seppia. “It just evokes a feeling of freshness, of salinity, of the ocean. It defines what we are going after.”

The cocktail program will be equally innovative with some 330 wines, predominantly from Italy but also other Mediterranean countries including Spain, France, Portugal, and Croatia. (On Sundays, wines $100 or more will be half-priced, with featured wines 25 percent off Monday through Thursday.) A quintet of martinis, from dirty to dry, will round out the beverage side of the menu.

The restaurant is named after the cuttlefish—a cross between a squid and octopus hybrid—because of Ben’s fascination with the mystical marine animal.

“I’ve been snorkeling before in the Caribbean and seen them,” he says. “They change color so they can camouflage with the rocks and if you’re swimming with them, all the other fish will be swaying with the waves and moving with the current, but the cuttlefish stays in one spot. It’s extremely intelligent and has a vision spectral color range, that is more than any other species on Earth.”

Ben sees the cuttlefish as an apt symbol for Seppia. “It just evokes a feeling of freshness, of salinity, of the ocean. It defines what we are going after,” he says.

After the opening, Ben is looking forward to getting back to the kitchen at La Cuchara, as well, though there’s no timeline just yet for reopening.

“We’ve been cleared by the powers that be to start rebuilding,” he says. “We’ve cleaned up all the fire debris except for the hood [where the fire is believed to have started] that the insurance company wants to take another look at. And then we are waiting on quotes to put a new duct run in for the wood grill. Once we have that quote and get an okay from the landlord to do it, we’ll have a much better timeline in terms of reopening.”

A mere two weeks ago, the Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress were veritable locks.

Jessie Buckley was going to win for her earthy and primal depiction of Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet and Timothée Chalamet was assured a win for playing a live-wire ping pong hustler in Marty Supreme.

But it seems that being the frontrunner, with its attendant extreme scrutiny, is not the safest place these days.

In the past two weeks, Buckley’s The Bride opened to decidedly mixed reviews, with many critics calling her performance over-the-top and even a bit “cringe.” (I’ll believe it when I see it. She’s never given a bad performance in my estimation.)

Then, to add insult to injury, an interview with her resurfaced where she said that she forced her then boyfriend (now husband) to choose between her and his vindictive cat. (He chose her, smart man.) “I’m going to get canceled,” she said, prophetically. The claws came out, if you will. Hell hath no fury like a pissed off cat lover.

And then there’s Timmy. When Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor at “The Actor” (the annoying new name for the Screen Actors Guild award), a palpable sense of joy, even relief, filled the theater. The talented Jordan is universally beloved, an unproblematic king, as the kids say. Meanwhile, Chalamet has raised hackles by dating a Jenner and campaigning rather brazenly for the Oscar. Still, his work was undeniable in Marty Supreme. And for a while there, it did seem like the Oscar was his for the taking.

Then, in a conversation with Matthew McConaughey for Variety magazine, he said that ballet and opera are art forms “no one cares about” and that he much preferred to work in the medium of film.

Here’s my theory: The disappointment over his dating a Jenner and the disappointment over his remarks about these classical art forms are variations of the same thing. We want to see Chalamet as a sensitive artist, a Byronic poet, a deep thinker. We basically want him to be Elio in Call Me By Your Name.

Dating one of the world’s biggest influencers, a woman with 390 million Instagram followers, doesn’t quite jibe with that persona. The crack about no one caring about opera or ballet has a similar effect. Wait, isn’t Chalamet supposed to be the kind of soulful man who cries at the opera? (Elio would!)

I feel like people feel personally betrayed by Chalamet. But honestly, folks, he’s just a dude—and an undeniable product of the 21st century. He loves sports, hot women, video games, hip-hop and, yeah, he also happens to be a great actor. His off-hand joke about opera should not have set off an international crisis. But that’s what it did.

And the backlash to the remarks has had surprising legs—primarily because dance and opera performers and companies are seizing the moment to promote themselves. (Cleverly, the Seattle Opera offered a 14 percent discount to their production of Carmen with the code TIMOTHEE.)

Is this backlash enough to lose Chalamet and Buckley their Oscars? Well, it’s time to roll out my predictions of select categories.

BEST PICTURE
Who will win: One Battle After Another
Who might win: Sinners
Who should win: One Battle After Another
Anyone else have a shot? Hamnet has a very slim chance
Final thoughts: One Battle After Another and Sinners were my two favorite films of the year, so I’m good either way. Sinners is riding high on momentum after winning the Screen Actors Guild Award—ugh, I mean, “The Actor”—but it’s a genre film and those rarely take home the big prize.

Of course, it’s a sneaky genre film, a film about cultural vampirism masquerading as one about actual vampires, but still. In the end, I think the political urgency of One Battle After Another, coupled with the fact that people really like it (it’s great!), gives it the slight edge.

BEST ACTOR
Who will win: Michael B. Jordan
Who could win: Timothee Chalamet (It’s a very close race!)
Who should win: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Anyone else have a shot? Nah, it’s a two-man race unless Jordan and Chalamet cancel each other out, in which case I suppose Moura could slip in.
Final thoughts: Love me some Chalamet, but he has been VERY overexposed this year. Meanwhile, Jordan has kept his head down, done great work, and looked incredibly dashing while doing so. I think that The Actor win gave voters permission to choose Jordan.

BEST ACTRESS
Who will win: Jessie Buckley
Who could win: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Who should win: Buckley
Anyone else have a shot? Not really.
Final thoughts: I think Buckley was such a frontrunner her recent stumbles haven’t hurt her. Plus, lots of people secretly hate cats. (I kid, I kid…)

BEST DIRECTOR
Who will win: Paul Thomas Anderson
Who could win: Ryan Coogler
Who should win: PTA
Anyone else have a shot? Nope
Final thoughts: Much of Oscar night will basically come down to Sinners vs. One Battle After Another and Best Director is no different. Both these men are generational talents. It’s just that Paul Thomas Anderson is 55 and has never won an Oscar. Meanwhile, Coogler is 39 and, presumably, has many gold guys in his future.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Who will win: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Who could win: Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value
Who should win: The great Skarsgård gave the performance of a lifetime in Sentimental Value.
Anyone else have a shot? Honestly? Literally anyone but Jacob Elordi could win. I particularly think the beloved Delroy Lindo could ride the Sinners momentum all the way to gold. And Benicio del Toro almost stole the show in One Battle After Another with his particular brand of insouciant cool.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Who will win: Amy Madigan, Weapons
Who could win: Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
Who should win: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Anyone else have a shot? Teyana Taylor from One Battle After Another, for sure. It’s almost a three-woman race.
Final thoughts: I almost can’t believe that Madigan is the frontrunner. Like I said, the Academy hates genre films. But she’s a beloved longtime actress and gave a hilariously iconic performance in Weapons that will be imitated by drag queens for decades to come. And running onto the stage, arms outstretched, a la the zombified children in Weapons, when she won The Actor just might have sealed her the win.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Who will win: Sinners
Who might win: Sentimental Value
Who should win: Sinners
Anyone else have a shot? I doubt it. This is Sinners’ lock of the night.
Final thoughts: In every sense of the phrase, Ryan Coogler can’t miss.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Who will win: One Battle After Another
Who might win: Hamnet
Who should win: One Battle After Another
Anyone else have a shot? I don’t think so!
Final thoughts: Sorry, this is getting boring. But One Battle After Another and Sinners are going to be trading wins all night.

A FEW MORE PREDICTIONS:
Best Cinematography: Sinners
Best Casting (new category!): Sinners
Best Editing: One Battle After Another
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Frankenstein (huzzah, not Sinners or One Battle After Another)
Best Production Design: Frankenstein
Best Score: Sinners
Best Song: “Golden,” KPop Demon Hunters
Best Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters
Best Documentary Feature: The Perfect Neighbor
Best International Film: Sentimental Value

It’s officially time to break out your gold and green. Home to our deep-rooted Irish community—plus traditional pubs, live music venues, bar districts, and the first of only two Guinness breweries in the United States—Baltimore is as magical of a place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as any.

Whether you’re in the mood for a pint of beer, traditional Irish eats and treats, a live Celtic rock show, or family-friendly activities, the (Lucky) Charm City scene has something for everyone. 

Bar Blarney 

3/1-17: 17 Days of St. Patrick’s Sláinte Irish Pub
Per tradition, the Fells Point watering hole counts down to the big day (where it opens bright and early at 6 a.m. for an all-out party) with daily specials, tastings, trivia nights, movie nights, live music, and more fun. Keep up with happenings on Slainte’s social channels. 1700 Thames St.

3/7-8, 14-15, 17: The Irish Village at Guinness Open Gate Brewery 
What’s better than drinking a pint of Guinness? Sipping one straight from the source. Naturally, March at Guinness in Halethorpe means two full weekends of jam-packed programming. Grab a pint and stake out a spot on the front lawn for live music, Irish food stalls, vendors, and activities.

For those looking to level up their beer IQ, ticketed events include guided tastings, food and beer pairings, pint-pouring lessons, and a history session inside The Hidden Harp—a tiny countryside pub set up on the property. Of course, the village will be in full swing on March 17, as well. 5001 Washington Blvd, Halethorpe

3/14: Tenth Annual St. Paddy’s Day Block Party at Delia Foley’s
Delia Foley’s shuts down the block with its annual St. Patrick’s Day fest on South Charles Street in Federal Hill, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this March. Take advantage of four bars, Crush stations, food specials, corn hole, giveaways, and live music—both in the tents outside and upstairs on the second floor. 1439 S Charles St. $10 cash cover

3/14: Fed Hill Irish Stroll 
Who needs a green river when you can dive headfirst into a sea of green-clad revelers in Federal Hill? Perhaps the rowdiest area in town on St. Paddy’s weekend will once again host this self-guided stroll around the bars surrounding Cross Street Market.

Drink specials on deck this year are $4 Ultras, $5.00 Nutrls (lime, of course), and $6 Surfsides at all of the go-to bars, including The Perch, Crossbar, and One Star. (If you’re a fan of Wayward and Liv’s Tavern, check out a separate wristband deal, here.) Check in at 1113 S. Charles St. $16.65

3/14: St. Patrick’s Weekend at Pooles
If your St. Paddy’s plans call for craft beer over chaos, head to Pooles Island Brewing Company. The Middle River taproom is rolling out a fresh Irish stout, festive cocktails, live music, and enough boozy slushies to make you temporarily forget it’s still technically March. Pooles Island Brewing Company, 11695 Crossroads Circle, Middle River. 12-10 p.m.

3/17: St. Patrick’s Celebrations at Looney’s Pub
The homegrown pub chain operates four different venues in Maple Lawn, Perry Hall, Bel Air, and College Park, which are all gearing up for their own bar bashes complete with live music and specials. In Perry Hall, for example, patrons can order off of the Lucky Libations (Irish coffees and Leprechaun Crushes) menu leading up to the big day—which will kick off with a bacon and beer breakfast at 6 a.m. Multiple locations including 8706 Belair Rd. 

3/17: Shamrocked & Shenanigans St. Patrick’s Day at The Point
Clear your schedule for March 17—and maybe plan for a slow morning on the 18th—and head to The Point in Fells to party from dawn to dusk. Expect high-energy music and flowing pints against the backdrop of unbeatable waterfront views. The Point in Fells, 1738 Thames Street, 10 a.m.

Emerald Eats

3/10-17: Kelsy’s Restaurant
Get your shamrock on at this Ellicott City stalwart, which highlights daily events for the entire week leading up to St. Pat’s. A special family day on March 15 will offer balloon art and live music. On March 16, raise an early toast to St. Patrick’s Day on Irish time (7 p.m.) to get little ones (and yourselves) home at a reasonable hour. On the actual day, the pub will open at 8 a.m. for kegs and eggs, followed by bag pipers and a lineup of live bands. 8480 Baltimore National Pike.

3/15: Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub
On parade day, Mt. Vernon’s beloved neighborhood haunt opens all of its doors and windows, fires up its grill, and pours countless pints as the floats and marching bands pass by on North Charles Street. Stop by to enjoy classics like corned beef and cabbage, Shepherd’s pie, fish and chips, and beef stew. 328 N Charles St.

3/17: James Joyce Irish Pub
There’s no better time to pay a visit to this hallowed Harbor East pub, which will host a full rager on the big day. Fuel up with classics like bangers and mash and Guinness stew while you stomp your feet to the Richard Osban Group, Eagan & Hearn, the Baltimore City Pipe Band, and more. Keep your eyes peeled for Irish dance performances throughout the day from Teelin Irish Dance and the Loyola Maryland Irish Dance Team. 616 President St. 10 a.m.

Looking for a more classic Irish pub experience? Check out even more spots to hit, here.

Family-Friendly Fun

3/7: Irish Music Festival
The Baltimore County Department of Recreation & Parks is hosting this jam fest headlined by local Irish party band The ShamRogues. Bring the whole family to enjoy vendors, food trucks, and themed activities. 13401 Beaver Dam Road. 1-6 p.m. Free-$20

3/15: St. Patrick’s Day Parade
At Baltimore’s 64th-annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, thousands of spectators from the region will crowd the downtown streets and sidewalks to celebrate Irish culture, music, songs, and dance. The parade step off from the Washington Monument, proceeds south on Charles Street, and continues east toward the Inner Harbor. 2 p.m.

3/15: Crazy Mason Cookie Decorating Class
Bring the fam to frost your own sugar shamrocks—and sprinkle them with the requisite edible gold glitter—at the Crazy Mason Milkshake Bar in Ellicott City. While you’re there, sip a special Lucky Float topped with Lucky Charms, green whipped cream, and rainbow sour belts. 8225 Main St. Ellicott City. 2 p.m. $60. 

St. Paddy’s Performances

3/13: Saint Shrektrick’s Rave
House music fans will be happy to hear that Soundstage is hosting a heart-thumping party in honor of everyone’s favorite green ogre. Throw on your best Shrek-themed ‘fit for a romp in the swamp that will let your mind wander to a land far far away. 124 Market PI. 9 p.m. $25

3/13-14: Claddagh Pub’s Annual Meet in the Street
The countdown is on for the tented, two-day tradition on O’Donnell Square, which will feature nonstop live music by multiple groups including local faves Starcrush, Crushing Day, Bryan O’Boyle, and Swarm of Bees. 2918 O’Donnell St. 9 a.m. Free admission

3/17: Ye Olde Emerald Tavern
This historic tavern is as close as you can get to the Emerald Isle in Parkville. Like always, St. Patrick’s Day will offer drink deals, hearty food (think: bangers and mash, Irish potato soup, corned beef and cabbage with potatoes, and Guinness-glazed wings) and lots of live music. Get pumped for sets by Good Noizz and Alter Ego Band. 8300 Harford Road, Parkville.

3/20: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration 2026
Wrap up your St. Paddy’s week with an evening of traditional Irish music at the Creative Alliance. Local supergroup Celtic Corridor and duo Collins & Vocke will take the stage for a night of timeless tunes, lively fiddle, and rich Celtic harmonies that will have you toe-tapping long after the final set. Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave. 7:30 p.m. $18-$35

Blair Simms was first captivated by Baltimore Club music through the sounds he heard rumbling through his radio speakers in middle school. As time went on—from witnessing the iconic K-Swift live as a teen to being mentored by producer legends like KW Griff to hearing his own music being played at “shake off” dance parties on the underground Baltimore Club scene—Simms, aka S.DOT, always felt his path was destined for something bigger in this world of music.

Throughout the last 10 years of DJing and producing around Baltimore, the Louisiana-born, Baltimore-bred artist has cultivated his own sound by blending Baltimore Club with electronic genres like gqom and afro house. And that innovative sound has catapulted him beyond bedroom production and DJ sets to a worldwide fanbase. He has performed across the U.S., Canada, U.K., and South Africa. He has been commissioned for remixes with acclaimed artists, like serpentwithfeet, and captivated audiences with a set on the viral Lot Radio.

Now, he’s carrying on the legacy that got him started, and already well on his way to becoming a next-generation star of Baltimore Club. Catch him at his brand-new MAXXED OUT party at The Compound on March 14. With this curated event, S.DOT enters a new era.

What is your relationship with Baltimore Club music? What’s your earliest memory of first hearing it and what was your response to it?
I was about 11 or 12 when I first heard it. I used to listen to the radio at my grandmother’s house, out in Ashburton. I would just tune in and sit by the radio and listen to “The Takeover” with Squirrel Wide and K-Swift [on 92Q]. From there, I think the thing that changed me, that really made me say “I want to do this,” was all of the high-school parties. I was always at those Poly-Western parties. Like every single weekend. I actually met K-Swift there once. And I just really enjoyed being in the element of listening to club music, in the club. From there, I started going to The Paradox.

What was it about the sound that was so interesting to you?
For me, it was always the beat pattern. The beat pattern was so different from things that I had listened to before, but it actually made me want to move. I wasn’t really a dancer. I still wouldn’t say I am now, but I just really enjoyed the way that club music made me feel, the way that the breaks were syncopated. All of that just gave me life. It always felt like an out-of-body experience, listening to club music. And it was something that I really enjoyed just because it was so different from what the norm was.

Because before that, I was in Louisiana. I had some house music that I listened to from the U.K. and Chicago, but I’d never heard club music before. It charged me up differently…I also found it really neat, coming into the Baltimore-D.C. area [later], that where there were two distinct, very Black sounds. And I just fell in love with both club and go-go. They were so different, but still very, very Black. 

“Listening to club music always felt like an out-of-body experience.”

What is the biggest difference between being a DJ and being a producer?
Producing is cathartic to me. I love creating new things. It’s the way that I express myself, and I am blessed that other people enjoy the music that I create. But I do that to push all of my stress away. Whereas with DJing, you’re doing the same for other people. You’re creating your own world when you DJ—your set is a journey where you’re taking people through these different songs, and also trying to read the crowd to make sure that you keep people on the floor and keep their bodies moving, so that they can have release. For me, that’s the big difference. Doing both…it keeps you busy.

What does it mean to be a DJ-producer out in the world today—in 2026?
For me, in the grand scheme of just Baltimore Club, it’s an incredible opportunity to showcase this music that came out of Baltimore. Not only the older classics, but all the different eras, including everything from my era in the 2010s, which was a lot quieter, which was not on 92Q. It was more so a very underground, niche sound. So I’m able to kind of unearth those records and make them new for people that have never heard them before and bring them into my world.

I also think that it inspires new producers. I think Baltimore is really having a renaissance on with club music. People actually want to know where the music originated from, where it came from, and then try to go up the like family tree of like, how did this person get here? What does their music sound like? What is their style? And it’s nice to be able to showcase that. …I think Baltimore has a huge place in contemporary dance music right now. Being the birthplace of club music, you hear [its influence] all over the place.

“Baltimore has a huge place in contemporary dance music right now. Being the birthplace of club music, you hear [its influence] all over the place.”

You constantly collaborate with other DJs. What made you want to launch your own party, Maxxed Out, and what inspired the name?
The name came from just like blowing out speakers. [Laughs.] Like turning all the dials up as loud as they could go and putting all of the volume levels on red. But the idea around the party was a thank you to Baltimore. I’ve played so many parties around this city and Baltimore Club music is the reason why I’ve been blessed to be able to travel to London and to Johannesburg and play these shows that I’ve played.

The city’s always shown me so much love through every evolution of my music and even through my DJing. But I’ve never really had a party to help people actually release. That’s something I always wanted to do, but I wanted to make sure that the curation was perfect. I also wanted to make sure I was at a point where I knew I could do this, solo. I wanted to make this thing distinctly mine.

What do you want attendees to experience?
I want people to leave my party revitalized. I want it to be an escape, but I also want it to honor the fact that you’re still here and that you’re able to enjoy life. I want to bring back a lot of the feel of the Dox. I want to be able to marry the fact that this is a party, but you also have like the Baltimore dancers there. I think there has been this huge breakup, because the dancing has gone so underground. But they’re also very much part of the lifeblood of Baltimore Club music. I want to be able to actually have a party where all of the people come, including all of the people that shaped my life and allowed me to be in this position that I’m in now.

Any local cafe, restaurant, or bar that you step into this weekend will likely be acknowledging St. Patrick’s Day. After all, Baltimore’s food and drink scene is known for going all out with bar crawls, pints of green beer, and festive food specials (see: the green-and-orange swirled bagels at THB or the shimmery St. Patrick’s Day cupcakes at Cake by Jason) around the big day in mid-March. But if you’re looking to take a more authentic route, you can’t beat a barstool at one of the area’s Irish pubs.

At the welcoming watering holes that we round up below, you can grab a Guinness, listen to real-deal tunes, and fill up on everything from classic corned beef and cabbage to hearty Shepherd’s pie while toasting the Emerald Isle. 

An Poitin Stil: At this Timonium fixture, a jam-packed itinerary includes nightly food specials, drink deals, performances, and events leading up to the annual St. Patrick’s Day blowout. Starting at 9 a.m. on March 17, the pub will offer tons of specials and all-day live music. 2323 York Road, Timonium.

Claddagh Pub: Head to Canton for the annual Meet in the Street at this fan-favorite pub. The two-day celebration on O’Donnell Square will kick off on Friday, March 13, highlighting food and drink specials and four local bands—including Crushing Day and Starcrush.  2918 O’Donnell St.

Delia Foley’s: Throw on your green getup and a pair of sunnies for this annual block party in Federal Hill—where you can chow down on wings, grab a pint, and jam to nonstop live music both inside and outside March 14. 1439 S. Charles St. $10 cash cover. 

Guinness Open Gate Brewery: In true Guinness fashion, Halethorpe’s renowned beer behemoth is celebrating with all things brews and bagpipes this weekend. Guinness’s Irish Village will feature aptly themed food stalls, traditional music, trivia, and, of course, plenty o’ pints. There are also ticketed experiences on offer, including admission to the new Hidden Harp tiny pub on the grounds, as well as guided food and beer pairings.  5001 Washington Blvd.

James Joyce Irish Pub & Restaurant: Can’t make it across the pond? Just head to James Joyce in Harbor East. The fan-favorite fixture will be hosting a holiday extravaganza on the big day, with classic eats, live pipe bands, and Irish dance performances. 616 President St.

Kelsey’s Irish Pub: The shamrock shenanigans at this Ellicott City favorite just get better with age. A special family day on March 15 will offer balloon art and live music. On March 16, raise an early toast to St. Patrick’s Day on Irish time (7 p.m.) to get little ones (and yourselves) home at a reasonable hour. On the actual day, the pub will open at 8 a.m. for kegs and eggs, followed by bag pipers and a lineup of live bands. 8480 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City.

Looney’s Pub: All locations of this homegrown pub chain—which operates venues in Perry Hall, Bel Air, Maple Lawn, and College Park—have their own set of specials and performers booked for St. Pat’s weekend. Hit up your local Looney’s to jam to the live bands, plus look out for beat-the-clock deals (the earlier you arrive, the better), Irish brunch dishes, and more shenanigans. Locations vary. 

Mick O’Sheas: Visit this Mt. Vernon stalwart to get a front-row seat to the St Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday. As always, the team brings the same energy on parade day as it does on March 17, featuring live music, dance performances, and food specials all day long. (Choose from comforting bangers and mash, fish and chips, Shepherds pie, corned beef Reubens, and more.) 328 North Charles St.

Shannon’s Pub & Grille: At this festively decorated hangout near Lansdowne, come decked out in your green and gold to line your stomach with everything from Shepherd’s pie to wings to crab cakes before ordering a pint. This year, the spirited St. Patrick’s Day festivities will also feature live bag pipers and lots of corned beef and cabbage. 4401 Annapolis Rd. 

Slainte Irish Pub and Restaurant: Forever a favorite in Fells Point, this Irish pub and soccer fan headquarters offers traditional pub grub all the time. But the vibes are at an all-time high throughout March, when you can find rotating specials like Irish espresso martinis and Shepherd’s Pie empanadas. Swing by during St. Patrick’s Day weekend to dig into classics such as corned beef sandwiches, fish and chips, Dubliner mac and cheese, and the famous Irish bibimbap bowl. 1700 Thames St.

Ye Olde Emerald Tavern: Billed as “Baltimore’s St. Patrick’s Day headquarters,” this Parkville staple routinely hosts a multi-day bash featuring an outdoor live music tent and a ton of food specials. Come hungry to enjoy wings smothered in Guinness sauce, corned beef and cabbage with potatoes, Shepherd’s Pie, bangers and mash, and Irish potato soup. 8300 Harford Rd, Parkville.

Looking for a more comprehensive guide to St. Patrick’s Day bar crawls, concerts, and family-friendly events? We’ve got you covered, here.  

Every three years, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery hosts the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, considered one of the most prestigious of its kind in the United States.

Named after longtime docent Virginia Outwin Boochever, whose endowment funds the event, the competition reviews thousands of entries from both emerging and established artists, with finalists across multiple disciplines ultimately presenting a celebration of modern American portraiture—not to mention a visual representation of this country today.

This is the competition that helped launch the career of then-Baltimore-based painter Amy Sherald, who won first place in 2016. She would go on to create the official portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama—now on view in her American Sublime exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art through April 5, which was originally slated to be held at this very location.

Now, Baltimore is once again making its mark on the Outwin. Out of this year’s 34 finalists, three local artists are represented in the competition’s culminating exhibition, The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today, now on view through August 30 in Washington, D.C., plus one area teen has taken home a youth prize.

Learn a bit more about their talents, below, then hop on a quick train to the nation’s capital to experience their pieces for yourself.

J.M. Giordano
Local photojournalist J.M. Giordano was selected as an Outwin finalist for his 2023 portrait titled “Yvonne Freeman on Her Ancestral Ground.” Captured through a fading window frame, this powerful photograph was shot on assignment for Baltimore magazine, accompanying a story on the historic African-American “Hill” community on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

A former City Paper staffer, Giordano’s work—which ranges from city streetscapes and slice-of-life snapshots to documentary-style civic reporting—has been featured in the likes of NPR, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Rolling Stone. He has also published multiple books, such as We Used to Live At Night and Trumpland. His latest exhibition, The Secret City: New Works in Color Film, is currently on display at The Peale.

LaToya Hobbs
Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Hobbs is an artist and Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) educator who has been building her name on both the local and national arts scenes. Winner of the 2020 Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize, her work has been exhibited from City Hall is held in the private collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

She’s known for her large-scale paintings and prints of Black women, incorporating woodcut, collage, and rich patterns that make her subjects come to life on the canvas. Hobbs sees portraiture as a powerful tool of representation. Her Outwin selection is the sepia-hued “Erin and Anyah with Hydrangeas,” capturing the potent abundance of youth like a summer evening.

Katie O’Keefe
Not your standard portrait, “Entwined Repose” is a three-dimensional self-depiction of the artist herself in search of comfort. In shades of red and pink, the MICA fiber-arts graduate and Baker Artist Portfolios semifinalist tosses and turns in an internal struggle with the notion of rest in the face of a chronic Lyme disease diagnosis.

Created with both machine and hand embroidery on fabric in 2022, this “mending” also serves as a metaphor, with O’Keefe seeing her art as a form of healing. A New York native, her contemporary work has been exhibited at a variety of local spaces like School 33, Gallery CA, and the Baltimore Jewelry Center.

Matilda Myers
In addition to the main event, the top prize of the Outwin Teen Portrait Competition, for teen artists in the 13 to 15 age group, was awarded to “Tilly” Myers—a junior at George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, who happens to be the daughter of Baltimore contributing photographer Christopher Myers.

In her photograph, “Rest”—on view in a video presentation on the NPG’s second floor—a ballerina stretches in the shadows beside a pickaxe, juxtaposing the masculine and feminine, as well as shadows and light. “Tilly brings a great narrative to all her photographic work, especially her portraits,” said Carver instructor Sherry Insley, in a statement.

If you were to tell me that you watched Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights and found it to be overwrought, obvious, and absurdly heavy-handed, I would have no choice but to agree you. Also, I kinda loved it.

Fennell is the kind of director who takes big swings; she risks embarrassment—of herself and her actors (who could forget Barry Keoghan masturbating on a grave in Saltburn?)—and yields big emotions.

You could watch Wuthering Heights and laugh at how over-the-top it is, bordering on camp. Or you could give in to those big emotions and gorgeous, extravagant backdrops.

It’s safe to say that Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is a novel that lives in our collective imaginations. Even if you haven’t read it, you’ve probably seen one of the adaptations. And even if you’ve done neither, you understand the archetype of Heathcliff—powerful, masculine, smoldering, and untamed. What’s more, the book’s depiction of all-consuming love has created countless imitators (mostly to the detriment of young women, but I digress). Of course, there was much more to the novel than the love story—Brontë was making trenchant points about racism, classism, misogyny, and generational trauma. But that’s not what we all conjure when we think about Wuthering Heights. We see fog and rocks and fields of moorland grass; we see Cathy in tightly corseted dresses; we see Heathcliff atop a horse, with a billowing black cape. (Another thing we don’t see? The second half of the book, which has been all but ignored by the film and television adaptations.)

So Emerald Fennell has made it clear that is the Wuthering Heights of her imagination, the way she felt about the book when she first read it at the age of 14. That’s why she puts the title in quotes—it’s an interpretation, a sense-memory, a vibe. Her movie is much dirtier than the book—I don’t remember Healthcliff sucking on Cathy’s fingers after she masturbated in the novel—but not as dirty as some hoped/feared. Even if Fennell is too smart not to recognize that there’s something toxic and destructive about Cathy and Healthcliff’s all-consuming love, she is still trying to create a timeless romance, something 14-year-old Emerald would’ve swooned over. (The picture above is Cathy and Heathcliff after a funeral. He raises her black veil to kiss her, like she is some sort of cursed bride.)

A plot recap, if it’s been a while: Cathy (played by Charlotte Mellington as a girl) is a motherless child being raised in the moors by her alcoholic, gambling addict father (Martin Clunes, excellent). One night, he impulsively brings home an illiterate boy (Owen Cooper) who was being beaten on the street by his caregiver. The maids and cooks in the modest home are irritated by the foundling’s presence—one more mouth to feed—but Cathy is delighted. She immediately dubs him “Heathcliff”—she has essentially named and claimed him. “I’ll never leave you!” she says. They run in the moors, play on the rocks, and Heathcliff endures beatings to shield Cathy from her father’s rage. They grow into hot young adults, now played by Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, and soon their preternatural connection becomes an all-consuming sexual and romantic passion. “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same,” says Cathy. Then the obscenely wealthy Mr. Linton (Shazad Latif) moves in next door and Cathy, understanding that her father is destitute and there’s no future with Heathcliff, agrees to marry him. Heathcliff, taking this as a personal rebuke, rides away on horseback and returns five years later, a wealthy man. Their five years apart have only intensified their love.

Fennell directs Linton’s home with what can only be called Baz Luhrmann-esque fury. It’s a garish and grotesque display of wealth and Cathy is stuffed into bright red dresses, dripping with heavy jewels. The contrast between the gilded mansion and the wild, natural world of the moors is, well, one of those slightly embarrassing things I was talking about. It’s like, girl, we get it. Nonetheless, Fennell knows how to the direct the hell out of a shot, whether Cathy is standing next to the wallpaper Linton made to eerily emulate her flesh or sitting on the edge of a cliff, waiting for her beloved to return.

Let’s address the controversy over the casting. It’s quite clear, in my mind at least, that the Heathcliff of the novel is a POC. He’s literally described as a “dark-skinned gypsy” and a “little Lascar” (slang for sailors from the Indian subcontinent). And yet, in film and television he has been depicted by no less than Laurence Olivier, Ralph Fiennes, and Tom Hardy. Only director Andrea Arnold chose to cast a Black man as Heathcliff in her 2011 adaptation, and good for her, but it didn’t stick.

Fennell maintains that Elordi looks the Heathcliff from the cover of her worn paperback—and I can believe it. It says a lot about whose stories get told and passed on in our culture that most of us assumed Heathcliff was a dark-haired white man.

Putting the racial blunder aside, Elordi is, indeed, a magnificent Heathcliff. He’s a physical specimen—otherworldly handsome and brutish, even (or perhaps especially) with Heathcliff’s long hair and straggly beard. When he comes back from his self-imposed exile, his hair is short and his beard is shaved; he’s wearing fancy clothing (including a hoop earring and an anachronistic gold tooth), but he’s still something of a gorgeous brute. (Why do you think Guillermo Del Toro cast him as a hot Frankenstein’s monster?)

Some have suggested Margot Robbie, in her mid-30s, is too old to play Cathy, who is supposed to be a teenager. They downplay her age in the film, at one point calling her “nearly a spinster” (although, I imagine that would be, like, 21 in 1847) but it doesn’t really matter. Robbie, in fact, does have the kind of beauty men fight over, and she’s a great actress, expressive and keen. Crucially, Cathy and Heathcliff are both kind of dicks, so it’s important that they are played by charismatic movie stars, otherwise their love affair would be unwatchable. And the chemistry between them is, as the kids would say, straight fire.

So there you have it. Wuthering Heights is not faithful to the book, but it is faithful to what the film aroused in young Emerald Fennell’s imagination. It’s a remarkable thing to be able to evoke the passions of a young female bibliophile. The resulting film is a bit silly, very sexy, visually decadent, and, yes, wonderful.

Today, the venerable monks from Huong Dao Vipassana Bhavana Center in Fort Worth, Texas, arrived at the State House in Annapolis, carrying their messages of national unity, compassion, and inner peace. 

Arduous distance peace walks have long been a part of certain Buddhist traditions. This particular journey, aptly named Walk for Peace, began in October and has covered 2,300 miles. Although the walk officially ended in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 11, a final short walk—from Navy-Marine Corps Stadium to the State House in Annapolis—was later announced.

The monks have walked in all weather, including recent record-breaking cold, sometimes in bare feet, often with their rescue pup, Aloka. Two of the members were injured by a car accident, one so severely he had his leg amputated. Still, they walked.

Along the way they garnered innumerable followers—online and in-person—who found a balm in their humble walk and hope in their message of peace for all beings and the world.

Having been profoundly touched by following the journey on social media, the extended walk to Maryland felt like the universe sending me a message: Go. I was not the only one. Annapolis was in a state of complete gridlock as thousands crammed in the tiny state capitol. But everyone was in a joyful mood.

Then, there was a peek of saffron robes amongst the crowd as the monks finally appeared with their leader, the Venerable Bhikkhu Pannakara. You knew they had arrived by the silence.

An absolutely reverent quiet fell over everyone. Aside from the chirp of a police vehicle keeping the way clear, you could hear nothing but people quietly saying “thank you” and the shuffle of feet—that of the monks and the many people who fell in step behind them on their way to a final peace gathering at the State House. Once they arrived, they were welcomed by Governor Wes Moore, Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller, and other elected officials.

In a time when everything and everyone seems loud and angry, to bear witness to that brief moment of respectful quiet in community with so many others clearly craving inner and outer peace was deeply moving. I was brought to tears. 

Most Marylanders woke up this past Monday with a deep sigh of relief. In late January, a winter storm had whisked into the region, bringing snow and sleet, then a serious cold spell, suspending residents in an unusual tundra for the better part of the past two weeks. Just now, the ice is beginning to melt, and as the mercury inches back into the 40s, the common sentiment—seemingly everywhere—is “finally!”

Not everyone is celebrating, though. On the Eastern Shore, it’s a bittersweet moment for a few hardcore locals who spent most waking hours of the past 14 days outside, taking advantage of a rare phenomenon: a frozen solid Chesapeake Bay.

“There’s going to be a grieving period,” says Talbot County native Michael Keene, sitting on a wide but waning patch of ice in Claiborne, where he’s been serving as a sort of unofficial mayor since the blizzard rolled in that first weekend.

In the days immediately after the storm, once the accumulation settled and the roads started being cleared, the 61-year-old looked at the weather again. From his experience—as a longtime sailor, career boatbuilder, and log-canoe racer—it takes five nights of frigid temperatures to freeze the local shorelines. And this particular storm, with its northwest winds and lingering cold front, would surely pack his go-to cove in fast and tight. To confirm that hunch, he went down there and dug some holes into the ice.

“At four and a half inches thick, it was game on,” says Keene, who the next morning loaded up his small wooden boat and set out to quite literally skate across what he and his group of fellow adventure-seeking sailors call “hard water.” From here on out, for as long as he could, he’d be at that cove in Claiborne, experiencing the sheer thrill of iceboating.

In this tiny hamlet 20 minutes outside of Easton, old thick piers emerge from the shallows, telling of its early 20th-century heyday. Claiborne was then a bustling hub, its wide harbor filled with steamboats ferrying passengers back and forth from the western shore. After the Bay Bridge was built and automobiles became king, the community fell into a sort of slumber—mostly known by locals for its boat landing and sandy beach.

Without a doubt, the past few weeks have been the busiest it’s been in ages. Each day, the crowd grew larger, its usually sparse waterfront parking lot at times spilling out onto the street. After all, winters like this don’t happen every year. And it’d been decades, the old-timers say, since the ice has been this good.

“It’s no big science,” says Keene, surveying the simple lines of his fragile-looking iceboat. At 12 feet long, these miniature vessels are essentially sleds, their lightweight hulls fit with a lone sail and three skating blades, the one in the front attached to a tiller for steering. Bundled up in ski gear—often practical, sometimes fashionable—sailors lay down inside, and with a quick push, the canvas catches the wind, sending them soaring off on the ice like swallows, swooping in around the landscape’s curves, shooting out toward the jagged edges near open water.

The smoother the ice, the faster the sailing, and this year, the frozen water had an especially well-polished texture. With little friction, the boats simply glide across the surface, only needing the slightest breeze for speed. They move three and a half times faster than the wind, easily reaching 30, 40, 50 miles per hour.

“You get these bursts of excitement,” says Pete Lesher, historian at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in nearby St. Michaels, who sailed several days this season, including a few runs with his son. “In part because you can’t be out here that long—it’s bitter cold and the wind chill goes right through you. You go out and back, you scream around a few times, and then you say, ‘Okay, who’s next? I’ve got to go warm up.’”

Popularized along the Hudson Valley and Great Lakes, iceboating is at least a century-old tradition on the shores of the Chesapeake. “I have never known such ice as there is now … and we are sailing everywhere,” wrote one Talbot County boatbuilder in 1917. Other accounts date back more than a decade before that, with the first vessels likely brought down from the north.

Early on, the boats were homebuilt, but over time, they were replaced with a standard “DN class” model, named for The Detroit News—sponsor of ice boating’s North American World Championships.

In the winter of ’77, snowfall in Michigan sent the competition’s organizers in search of a new location. In a twist of fate, they landed on the Miles River, just around the bend from the Claiborne cove. That February, Maryland was in the midst of a historic freeze, lasting some 58 nights in a row. This would the first and only time the contest would ever take place south of the Mason-Dixon.

“They called it a perfect day. The wind‐chill factor was minus 15 degrees. Small‐craft warnings were posted. … On downwind tacks the [iceboats] were reaching speeds of 80 miles an hour,” wrote The New York Times. “Hardwater sailors are a closely‐knit fraternity. They spend winter weekends in search of good ice.”

Indeed that year, more than 50 iceboaters from around the world descended upon the Chesapeake, inspiring locals like beloved Carpenter Street Saloon owners John and Diana Mautz to build or find their own boats to race. Theirs would eventually make its way into Keene’s possession. He points out the original mahogany trim and his later repairs, tethering him to the region’s long lineage of maritime craftsmanship.

“My niece recently asked me a good question, though—is it truly a boat?” says Keene with a smile, having learned the hard way that the answer is “sort of.” He’s fallen through the ice before. And luckily, the vessel did float, bobbing just enough to keep his upper body dry until he could be rescued from those hypothermic waters.

Unsurprisingly, this fast-flying sport does come with its fair share of dangers. First and foremost, there’s falling in, and over the years, there have been close calls in deeper waters. Sailors also watch out for heavy gusts that can topple the boats and try their hardest to avoid splintering collisions. Precautions are implemented, such as sailing in shallow depths, on stable ice shelves, and never going out there alone. Flags are also planted to show the course’s guardrails. Most practiced participants wear helmets.

Jim Richardson is a veteran iceboater who took up the pastime in the early ’80s, not long after he moved to Claiborne—his home above the town’s old general store now serving as the de facto headquarters for homecooked meals between races. This year, he ran aground about a week in, coming into the cove a little too hot on a blustery day, breaking some bones in the process.

“Sometimes you’re like a leaf,” says the 78-year-old from the warmth of his living room, his right foot now strapped into an orthopedic boot. “I like the speed, and being on the edge a bit. I’m not sure iceboating is for anyone who always wants to be in control. And of course, the other day, I found out exactly what it means to not be.”

“No harm was done to the boat, at least,” says Keene, whose skillset made him the fleet’s go-to mechanic, addressing all the wear and tear that accumulated over two weeks of daily sailing. “Although another sailor took it out and wrecked it yesterday.”

He and Richardson are old friends, and together, they became ringleaders of the recent rip-roaring activities. That first weekend, they threw a party on the frozen cove, transforming its rock-hard shelf into a communal living room, equipped with benches, blankets, a floral carpet, and a wood-burning fire in a 50-gallon drum while a half-dozen ice boats crisscrossed against a blazing sunset.

After that, it didn’t take long for word to get out. More and more cars started flocking to Claiborne—from Annapolis, from Baltimore, even as far as Deep Creek and Washington, D.C. And the cove filled in with not only iceboaters but ice-skaters, ice-hockey players, one rogue bicycle, and countless wide-eyed spectators, some days as many as 100 people, all convening to bear witness to this fleeting spectacle.

And here’s the thing about iceboating: once you see it, you want to do it, and share it, too. The two men took a flurry of first-timers out for inaugural rides, including reporters from the local and national news. They also lent their boats to experienced sailors brave enough to navigate the cove on their own. A few even got so hooked, they went home and bought used vessels on the internet, willing to wait however long it might be until the next deep freeze.

“This doesn’t happen very often—maybe next year, who knows, or maybe not for another 50,” says Richardson. “These weeks have been very special.”

In truth, just standing on the frozen Chesapeake is a singular feeling. At first, for the uninitiated, there’s some fear, as if it all might melt beneath your feet in a moment’s notice. But before long, that trepidation shifts into a sense wonder, seeing the ice’s pluming patterns up close, its old cracks healing over, the new ripples forming from the slowly shifting tide.

This winter in Claiborne, even the most warm-blooded and risk-averse eventually stepped out onto that frozen water, with Keene and his welcoming crew encouraging a newfound appreciation for the cold.

“I’ve been thinking about what the ice does to us,” he says, recalling ice-skating with his family on Peachblossom Creek outside of Easton as one of his fondest childhood memories. “It’s this magical way to connect with nature. And to one another.”

On Monday afternoon, his was the only boat left on the Claiborne ice, soon to be named Diana-mite after its previous owner—who was, by all measures, a pistol. Keene whipped around the cove a few more times that morning, but now, the wind had dissipated, with barely a cloud on the horizon. By tomorrow, the temperatures would be well above freezing again, bringing with it that inevitable thaw.

A little later, Lesher appeared on the shoreline in a suit and tie, hoping to get a final glimpse of the frozen cove on his lunch break.

“So this is it—it’s over?” he called out to Keene, carefully traversing the metal ladder laid down over slushy puddles to reach the dwindling ice sheet.

“We’re sitting here ’til the wind comes up again,” the fellow sailor yelled back, a glimmer of melancholy in his voice, knowing there’d be nothing but calm air and warm days ahead.

That night, Keene would stay out there until just before sunset, ultimately breaking down his boat, pulling up the flags, and heading home. He’ll be back to Claiborne in no time, teaching yoga classes at the local village hall and hunting for arrowheads with his partner along this cove. Before spring arrives, he’ll bring out his stand-up paddleboard, and come summer, he’ll swim in the open water, where not that long ago, he was nearly flying.

Still, he’ll miss all the rush and ruckus.

“I also like the solitude,” says Keene. “The other morning, I texted my friend, Jack, and just said, ‘8:30?’ The two of us got here. We had the ice to ourselves. Perfect conditions. Good wind. Then I came out Friday, laced up my skates, and soaked it up, all by myself.”

Historically, Valentine’s Day got major eyerolls from anyone without a partner. But as Galentine’s Day has caught on as a tradition of its own throughout the years (thanks, Parks & Recreation), more people have come around to the season as a time to celebrate love and friendship in every way. Locally, there are tons of fun activities planned throughout February to help you spend time with your nearest and dearest—whether you want to catch up over drinks, shop, dance, or get creative with a craft or workshop. 

Here is just a fraction of what’s happening around the city to help you feel the love with your girl gang this month.

2/7-8: Galentine’s Day Brunch at Prima Dopo
While brunch is always a Galentine’s go-to, Prima Dopo is hosting more than just a mid-morning menu. Treat yourselves to permanent jewelry by Ava Waves & Co, a Champagne tower, a photo booth, and a DJ, all with an Espresso Martini in hand. Prima Dopo Cucina & Cocktail House, 1724 Thames St. 12-3 p.m.

2/9: Galentine’s Day Flamingle
Friends who flock together, stay together. On the Zoo’s historic Mansion House Porch, help yourself to an open bar while enjoying a one-of-a-kind drag brunch, zoo admission, crafts, a chance to have your fortune read, and so much more–including the famous flamingos. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, One Safari Pl. 12-4 p.m.

2/9: Blooms & Bubbles: A Floral Design Workshop at Cafe Luli
What’s better than getting flowers on Valentine’s Day? Designing your own arrangement—preferably with a glass of bubbly in hand. Join Brookfield Blooms at Stevenson’s Cafe Luli to nibble on appetizers and sweets as you learn the ins and outs of garden-inspired bouquets. Tickets include all supplies and entry with the chance to win a curated Galentine’s gift bag. 10423 Stevenson Rd. 6-8 p.m. $105.

2/10: Galentine’s Day Pizza Making Class at Verde
If you prefer carbs over chocolate, learn about the history of Neapolitan pizza while enjoying delicious house-made mozzarella, bread, two glasses of wine or beer, and a hands-on dough tutorial at Verde in Canton. Verde. 641 South Montford Ave. 6-9 p.m. $95.

2/12: Galentine’s Day Paint & Sip at Kneads
Grab your group and make your way to Harbor East to paint two of your own stemless wine glasses with an instructor while sampling appetizers, desserts, and two complimentary drinks. And be sure to stop by the flower bar for a free bouquet before you head home. Kneads Bakeshop & Cafe, 506 S Central Ave, 6:30-9:30 p.m., $44.

2/12: Sagamore Spirit Chocolate and Whiskey Pairings
Take regular boxed chocolate to the next level at Sagamore Spirit. After a guided a tour of the Baltimore Peninsula distillery, settle in for four different chocolates each paired with a unique whiskey. Sagamore Spirit Distillery, 321 E Cromwell St.

2/12: Brushes, Bubbles & Besties at Nick’s Fish House
In keeping with the name of the event, pals will enjoy the three b’s along the waterfront at Nick’s Fish House, sipping bubbly, snacking on charcuterie, and painting their own oyster shells. No artistic experience required. Nick’s Fish House, 2600 Insulator Dr, 7-9 p.m., $50.

2/13: Ammoora’s Galentine’s Celebration
Looking to play up the elegance? Then slip into your finest pink and red attire and find your way to Ammoora in the Inner Harbor. There, you and your crew will sip Champagne, snack on passed mezzes, groove to live tunes, and end the night with a round of Espresso Martinis, if you choose. Ammoora, 751 Key Hwy, 9-11:30 p.m. $50.

2/13: My Bloody Valentine’s Horror Market
Stop by Blue Pit BBQ for Bmore Horror Club’s second-annual Valentine’s market. Shop jewelry, art, tarot, and more from local businesses. You’ll have a scary good time picking out handcrafted horror Valentine’s cards, bath bombs, and other self-care products. Blue Pit BBQ & Whiskey Bar. 1601 Union Ave. 6-9 p.m.

2/13: Galentine’s Day at Golden West
The team at Golden West is hosting this special fundraiser for the Maryland SPCA. If you bring a new, unused food or toy donation ($35 value), you’ll get signed up for a free tattoo. The benefit bash will also highlight permanent jewelry, a photo booth, eats and drinks, and DJ AAVE’s FRIENDZY (7-9 p.m.)—which mimics speed dating, but for new best friends. Golden West Cafe, 1105 W. 36th St. 4-10 p.m.

2/13: Gal Pal Galentine’s Day Dance Party at Old Line 
This feel-good fête will offer eats from Fishnet, music from DJ Saucee, and the knowledge that your ticket supports Helping Up Mission. For every cocktail sold, Old Line Spirits in Highlandtown will donate $2 back to the cause— so drink up. Old Line Spirits, 200 S Janney St., 7-10 p.m., $25.

2/13: Just Like Frens Galentine’s Social at Vessel
Dress to the nines (pink and red encouraged) and head to Vessel at Baltimore Peninsula for eats, drinks, and live music spun by Ty Alexander and Coco Spinelle. Vessel Baltimore, 2460 Terrapin Wy, 6:30-10:30 p.m.

2/13: The Birds & The Bees R&B Party at Bar V
Classic and contemporary R&B will set the mood for this romantic rager at Bar V—which will highlight DJ P Drama and a live performance by Makenna. Bar V 2.0, 2424 Distillery St.

2/14: Cheers to The Girls: Galentine’s Day Bar Stroll
Branded swag and $2 Espresso Martinis, Crushes, mimosas, Surfsides, and craft beer? Sign us up. Throw on your most festive getup and stroll through Fells with stops at The Choptank and Waterfront Hotel. You’ll also get to enjoy exclusive brunch specials and live music from female artists. The Choptank, 1641 Aliceanna St., 12 p.m. $30.

2/14: Find Your Valentine Lock & Key Singles Party
Take the intimidation out of finding a Valentine by heading to Canton with your pals for this happy hour mixer. Singles ages 24-49 are invited to ditch the apps for the night and break the ice with games meant to eliminate the awkwardness of meeting new people. Even if you don’t meet the love of your life, you’ll get a great story out of it. The Greene Turtle, 3803 Boston St., 7 p.m. $16-32.

2/14: Cupid’s Takeover ft. Enslow
Say goodbye to gushy romance and hello to girl power at Angels Rock Bar, where Baltimore’s own pop princess Enslow will serenade the crowd. Shred a photo of your ex at the door for a free shot; take advantage of a one-hour open bar from 7-8 p.m.; and down discounted beer, bombs, and Surfsides the rest of the night. Angels Rock Bar, 10 Market Pl, 7 p.m., $15.

2/15: Girls Who Walk Baltimore: Galentine’s Walk
Bring your friends or just bring yourself for this themed stroll with Girls Who Walk Baltimore. Before you get some fresh air along the Jones Falls Trail, warm up with Moving History’s stepping workshop in honor of Black History Month. Jones Falls Trail North, 5051 Greenspring Ave., 8:30 a.m. Free.

2/21: Golden Girls Galentine’s Day Drag Brunch at The Brass Tap
The Golden Gays, the lauded group of Golden Girls drag devotees, is bringing this sidesplitting show to The Brass Tap in Bolton Hill. Enjoy brunch fare and celebrate love and friendship with perhaps the most notable girl group there ever was: Dorothy, Blanche, and Rose. The Brass Tap, 1205 West Mount Royal Avenue. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. $20.

2/22: Pretty, Paid, & Pouring: Pretty Girls Brunch at Avenue Kitchen
Gather the girlies in the heart of Hampden to party with DJ Hi Def. Dress code is red and pink attire, and signature cocktails, including “Main Character Energy” and “The Direct Deposit,” will be flowing throughout the meal. Avenue Kitchen & Bar, 911 W. 36th St. 12-5 p.m.

Ongoing: Dollars for Dung Fundraiser at the Maryland Zoo
Recently got dumped? Return the favor by naming a literal dump after your ex for a $5 donation to the Maryland Zoo. Not only will it hopefully bring a sense of closure, but you can also feel good about supporting animal care and global conservation efforts for endangered Panamanian golden frogs and African penguins. You’ll receive a PDF certificate to commemorate your charitable revenge. $5-20.

“SoundCloud producers, we up,” 33-year-old Baltimore native Donovan Knight—the DJ and producer more fondly known as D.K. The Punisher, who has worked with the likes of Jill Scott, Justin Bieber, and SiR—shared on Instagram earlier this week after a Grammy win for co-producing Kehlani’s hit single, “Folded.”

The song won Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance at the 68th annual ceremony on Feb. 1 in Los Angeles, where Knight has been based since 2017.

Back home, Baltimore’s close-knit DIY scene—including DJs, songwriters, party-goers, and other producers—lit up with joy, resharing the news and posting their own throwback photos celebrating Knight’s career, which began in the city’s many clubs and creative spaces.

Knight grew up in the Hillen community near Morgan State University, musically surrounded by church choirs and his father singing at weddings. As an adult, he became a regular DJ on hallowed dance floors like The Crown in Station North. He was also a key part of iconic local parties like Kahlon, Blush & Brews, and Big Vibe.

In the wake of all of the Grammy buzz, we caught up with Knight—just before he headed into a studio session—about the excitement of the win and the creative community that shaped him.

Set the scene at the Grammys for us a bit. What was your reaction when they announced “Folded” won Best R&B Song?
The experience was pretty surreal. There’s so much movement happening that it’s kind of hard to even have a moment to take in the fact that you’re at the Grammys. It was also my first time being in the room with all the other writers and producers on the song. Once we were seated, about 10 minutes passed before the Best R&B Performance win was announced. That was amazing and I was extremely grateful, but only the performing artist gets a trophy for performance categories, and I wanted the trophy.

I was pretty nervous after the fist win, because I was thinking we might only win one of the two categories. When we won Best R&B Song, I couldn’t believe it. Even walking to the stage, I was thinking “Wait, am I really walking up to accept a Grammy right now?” It was like all of the work I’d been putting in for the last 20 years was validated in that moment.

How do you first connect with the artists you end up working with? Is it getting a phone call, being in the right place at the right time, or something else? 
For me, it was more like monkey-branching from artists who I had relationships with. I met [Grammy-nominated R&B performer] SiR through these rappers I was working with. It started from them sending him my tracks and him sending them back to me with feedback. Just building that relationship, that trust, first between us as creatives. Then eventually being in person, going in the studio, and starting things from scratch—where I’m literally sitting at the keyboard and he’s writing words based on whatever emotion goes with what I’m playing.

We saw that SiR gave you a really personal Instagram shout out right after your Grammy win. How do moments like that feel?
It feels amazing, honestly, having been by his side through his whole ascent as an artist. I was working with him when he was just trying to write songs for other people and didn’t want to be in the spotlight at all. I remember back in the day when I was bubbling a little bit on SoundCloud. I’m telling him, “You gotta get to SoundCloud, you gotta post more.” And seeing him do that, and then just [having it] go crazy, it’s been amazing to watch. It’s beautiful that we’ve stuck together through all of this.

When you met Kehlani at a point where you’d both been in the industry for a while, what did that collaboration look like? How did the track come together?
When I first made that track last January, I liked it, but I didn’t really see who it could be for. I wasn’t really sending it to anybody. I may have played it for like one person, and then I played it for my mentor Andre Harris. He was supposed to get in the studio with Wale, and I think the Wale session ended up falling through. Maybe like three weeks later I get a text from him, like, “Yo, we got one with Kehlani.” I’m like, oh, this is crazy. And then later that day, she dropped the teaser for it.

Growing up, when me and my brothers were on punishment and couldn’t watch TV, we would make up songs. We would make up a song to sing to our parents to see if they would let us off punishment early.

Has R&B always been your thing? Or is it something in a tool belt of different genres for you as a producer?
My beginnings are hip-hop. I’ve always been around my parents who sang. I’d be in church choirs growing up and stuff. So I was always around vocalists. Hip-hop and R&B are two sides of the same coin in a lot of ways. So there’s always been that overlap. The first studio I was working at in Baltimore, I was working with this artist CR Da Show, and he kind of took me under his wing. He was an R&B artist, and that’s just the opportunity that presented itself. R&B just kind of embraced my work. It’s just been a really natural place to land.

Tell us more about your early music influences as a youngin’ in Baltimore. 
Music is something that’s always been around. Growing up, when me and my brothers were on punishment and couldn’t watch TV, we would make up songs. We were trying to make up a song to sing to our parents and see if they would let us off punishment early. We were always just doing creative stuff, not even thinking about it as trying to be creatives. Growing up, you’d hang out with your friends and we might start freestyling. The first time I wrote a rap, I was like, okay, I think I like this. I think I like this self-expression thing. Let me take this seriously.

What did taking it seriously look like for you?
I didn’t have any money to buy beats, and I think my older brother told me that you can make beats on a computer. Around that time, my mom had finally upgraded our house computer so we had internet and we could download some software. So it was perfect timing.

We helped each other, we booked each other on shows. We were all trying to elevate the scene and really create dope experiences for the people that came out. It didn’t feel like crabs in a bucket. It really felt like we were all in it for the same thing.

Fast-forward to your twenties, you were moving through Baltimore’s DIY and creative spaces like The Crown, which functioned as incubators for artists. How did being part of that moment shape your artistic development?
Oh man, it was beautiful actually. And it’s not even a hindsight thing. I knew it was amazing while we were living it, you know what I mean? I really appreciate, first of all, the camaraderie I saw. The artists coming together. I feel like that’s not the example we grew up with in Baltimore.

It was just amazing to see that amongst rappers pushing each other and making songs together, and being friends and not in competition with each other. We were a real community. We helped each other, we booked each other on shows. We were all trying to elevate the scene and really create dope experiences for the people that came out. It didn’t feel like crabs in a bucket. It really felt like we were all in it for the same thing.

Building on that moment in time, Baltimore musician, stylist, and curator Al Rogers Jr.—who has also since moved out to the West Coast—was prevalent in those same spaces. I saw that he styled you for The Grammys. Can you talk about why you chose him? 
I’ve always admired Al as a creator. From rapping to his music videos, which were always dope, to his style. He’s always been that guy and he’s always been pushing the envelope as an artist. And over the last few years he’s been killing it in the styling game. Everything I’ve seen him do has been amazing. So I was waiting for an opportunity to use him for something. This was perfect.

I don’t know if you can kill that [creative energy] in Baltimore to be honest. Like, we’re always gonna find a way.

Any upcoming work, shows or collaborations you want to highlight?
SiR’s [next] album is coming. I’m so excited about it. The music is really, really, good. I don’t want to speak too much on it, because I don’t want to hype people’s expectations too crazy. And I’ve been working with an artist named Gabriel Jacoby, who’s from Tampa.

What are your thoughts on the Baltimore music scene right now?
I’m gonna avoid the temptation of passing any type of judgment, because I’m not there to see it with my own eyes. I think I kind of romanticize the period that we came up in. You always kind of had to be there in Baltimore to actually witness and see things coming. So, I have high hopes. I feel like it is still a good incubator for creatives. I’m hoping that the loss of places like The Crown and The Bell Foundry doesn’t kill that [energy]. I don’t know if you can kill that in Baltimore to be honest. Like, we’re always gonna find a way.

Salted streets and crumbling mounds of icy snow leftover from last week’s storm made for a grimly metaphorical setting at Hopkins Plaza Friday, as hundreds of Baltimoreans gathered holding signs (“Melt ICE” and “ICE Out”) demanding Immigration and Customs Enforcement stand down and leave the city.

The demonstration was aligned with a National Shutdown that called for activists to boycott school, work, and shopping in objection to the Trump Administration’s ICE crackdowns happening across the country, especially in Minneapolis—where the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, among others, have rattled the nation.

While some local businesses and art galleries closed Friday to show their solidarity, others, like Chuck’s Trading Post in Hampden, demonstrated their support by offering free warm meals to protestors or donating a percentage of sales to organizations like CASA, which works to improve the quality of life for immigrant communities.

Similarly, Maillard Pastries in Hampden and Lauraville is donating 100 percent of hot drink sales to the Immigration Law Center of Minnesota this weekend. Throughout the past week, Greedy Reads in Remington and Fells Point has also been donating a portion of sales to the same organization. Other business owners have followed suit, as well.

Friday’s protest began at 2 p.m. and saw a procession march around the federal courthouse, where many detainees are currently being held. Below, contributing photojournalist J.M. Giordano captures the scene.