Aaron Henkin’s voice might be better known than his bearded, bespectacled face, and it’s that familiar dulcet tone that is floating over the brick steps of Pigtown on this Wednesday afternoon as he interviews resident Judy Aleksalza for The Maryland Curiosity Bureau, his brand-new weekly WYPR podcast that asks listeners: “What are you curious about?” Then he dives in to find the answer.

Henkin is casually dressed—slim blue chinos, plaid cotton shirt—and the only thing that separates him from just making polite conversation with Aleksalza is the headphones, recording device, and small microphone that come from a tote bag connected to the station’s call signal.

“I wish this was on TV so you can see it,” says Aleksalza perched on her stoop and gesturing to her home, bought 45 years ago as part of the Dollar House program. That’s this episode’s question: Did the program work and could it be done again?

“It’s a podcast,” Henkin tells her. “We can paint a picture with words.”

And that’s exactly what Henkin has done these past 20 years since first landing at WYPR’s predecessor station, WJHU, in part because his gift is also in his silence. He’s a world-class listener with the ability to draw answers out of his subjects that are honest and nuanced. When he’s done interviewing Aleksalza, one of a handful of sources for this particular piece, he asks for 30 seconds of quiet to record the city sounds around him: cars driving by, leaves rustling, the whizz of bicycle wheels.

Baltimore has always been a welcome guest. First, with The Signal, a show devoted to exploring Maryland’s thriving artistic and cultural scene, and then again, with Out of the Blocks, which earned Henkin the national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2018 for a podcast dedicated to exploring the lives of complete strangers and sharing their stories of one city block. That series ended this past summer after nine years.

“What I loved most about Out of the Blocks was it was an excuse to just wander around Baltimore and encounter people I never otherwise would have met,” says Henkin. “The most challenging thing was that every conversation I went into with someone was from scratch, and I had no idea what kind of narrative arc would come out of that story—or if there would even be one.”

But with The Maryland Curiosity Bureau, Henkin gets the same high—the ability to traverse the town and meet random people—but “there’s a built-in narrative where every episode starts with a question, and it ends with an answer, or a failure to get an answer.” But even in the failure, “you’ll learn things that weren’t even suggested in the question, and it’ll still end up giving you a richer experience about life in Baltimore.”

Henkin has already delved into “where are Baltimore’s hidden streams” and in October, was lining up interviews for the charming question “is a city park a good place to meet someone and fall in love,” posed by a single woman whose grandparents met in Patterson Park.

One man told Henkin that he always drives by a sign that proclaims, “Baltimore is a nuclear-free zone” and always wondered what exactly that meant. Says Henkin, “People talk about the wisdom of the crowd—this is the curiosity of the crowd.”

It’s a bit of a gamble to put his show into his listener’s hands, but he has faith in his city.

“I had no idea about Baltimore when I moved here,” says Henkin, originally from the Midwest. “I’ve been here 20 years now, but I know I’ve heard more than 20 years’ worth of stories because I’ve been so lucky to do this work…It’s a front row seat into everything that’s interesting.”

Every fall, bibliophiles from all around Maryland flock to the Inner Harbor to experience the annual Baltimore Book Festival presented by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and Arts (BoPA). On September 28-30 there will be more than 100 exhibitors, local authors, and live music along the mile-long stretch of the Inner Harbor.

“We have a really amazing schedule this year,” said book festival organizer Kathy Hornig. “Some years you luck out and things come together in a really cool and special way, and I really think this is one of those years—people are just going to be blown away.”

It can be hard to get in everything in just one weekend, so here’s a list of the must-do and see things at this year’s festival:

The Storybook Parade kicks things off.
The festival wouldn’t be the same without its annual storybook parade. Beginning Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at Rash Field, the parade will feature attendees dressed up as their favorite storybook character marching to the World Trade Center in celebration of literacy. Actors from the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company will also be in attendance dressed as characters from famous plays written by The Bard.

April Ryan chats it up with Bill Whitaker from 60 Minutes.
The Baltimore-born White House correspondent has a unique story to tell as the only black, female reporter in her new book, Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House. She has also authored award-winning books The Presidency in Black and White and At Mama’s Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White. She will be joined by Bill Whitaker of 60 Minutes to discuss her recent book and the current atmosphere in the White House. “With all the beef and back and forth with Omarosa [Manigault Newman] this summer, it will definitely make for a lively conversation,” Hornig said.

Local chefs whip up dishes in the Food for Thought Demo Kitchen.
Each day of the festival will feature cooking demos from local chefs recreating some of their most popular dishes. On Saturday, chef and co-owner of Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen John Shields will be taking over the stage to debut his new cookbook, The New Chesapeake Kitchen while bringing along a few of his friends to perform some demos as well.

Hosts of Lit!Pop!Bang! record a live podcast.
The Baltimore-based podcast hosted by writers and educators Anthony Moll and CeCe will be recording live from the CityLit stage. The duo discusses everything from what they’re reading now to the latest in pop culture to what literary figure they would have dinner with. During the live episode, they will talk with 2018 Baltimore Youth Poet Laureate Maren Wright-Kerr and 2018 HyperBole Youth Poetry Slam champion Ailish Hopper about racism and intersectional identity.

There will be plenty of books to buy, of course.
With more than 100 exhibitor and author tents lining the promenade where festival-goers can buy any type of book imaginable, the festival’s selection is endless: romance, novels, biography, historical fiction, sci-fi, and more. “One thing that we’re really proud of here is that book festival is not one of those events where folks get to and go, ‘Where are the books?’” Hornig said.

Local food vendors provide day-of grub.
“We’re a literary feast with gourmet eats,” Hornig said of the book festival. Buying books can definitely work up an appetite, so pull up a seat and grab a bite while checking out your latest purchases. Vendors include Crepe, Ekiben, Smokin’ Joe’s, Farm To Face, and Zeke’s Coffee. Charm City Pops, a gourmet ice cream pop company, will also be there to provide the “fruit” for the new Baltimore Book Festival’s signature sangria. “The sales from the bar are one of the ways in which we earn revenue to keep the festival free and open to the public,” Hornig said. “You can enjoy a glass of sangria or a beer and be doing good at the same time.”

Get a birds-eye view atop the World Trade Center.
For the entire weekend, the Top of the World Observation level will be free and open to the public to take in the sweeping views of Downtown Baltimore. As part of this experience, Pets on Wheels will be providing therapy dogs and cats that will sit and listen to children reading them their favorite books.

Students from the University Writers’ Program read their work.
Now in its fourth year, the program features the next generation of poets, memoirists, and fiction writers from ten area schools—Coppin, Goucher, Johns Hopkins, Loyola, MICA, Morgan, Stevenson, Towson, the University of Baltimore, and UMBC—showcasing their talents in this creative writing program.

Hear about a compelling murder case from Tim Junkin.
Author and attorney Tim Junkin wrote a book, Bloodsworth, about the true story of Kirk Bloodsworth’s exoneration—based on DNA evidence—after being sentenced to the gas chamber and spending nine years on death row. Attendees will get a chance to be a part of the conversation between Junkin and the subject of his story in this unique event.

Listen to tunes at the Baltimore Book Festival Music Stage.
Not all who flock to the festival are avid readers so that’s where the music stage comes in handy. With lineups including Baltimore City Public School students, The Shrapnels, Joi Carter, Super City, and Outcalls, there’s something for everyone all weekend long.

Lit!Pop!Bang! is a Baltimore podcast that explores all things, well, lit, pop . . . and bang.

They chat about literature they’re reading, they banter about the latest in pop culture, and if you’re wondering what the “bang!” is in reference to, it’s that little something extra that gives listeners some insight into the personality of the host and guests, like asking what literary figure from the past they would most like to have dinner with.

The Baltimore podcast is hosted by writers and educators Anthony Moll and CeCe and produced by Mason Jar Press. It launched in December 2017 and has brought together area authors, poets, and other creatives for light conversations that sometimes integrate heavier topics and current issues. Without a designated studio, they’ve hosted Lit!Pop!Bang! at a number of unorthodox locations.

“We were once in an office closet,” CeCe says. “We’ve been everywhere from people’s bathrooms to—.” She cuts herself off and laughs. “I’m kidding. We have not recorded in a bathroom. But we’re very DIY.”

The upside of not having a studio is that it allows them to be very fluid.

Their second on-location podcast will be recorded live next weekend at the Baltimore Book Festival, where they’ll bring Maren Wright-Kerr, the Baltimore Youth Poet Laureate, and widely known poet, writer, and teacher Ailish Hopper to the CityLit Stage at 1 p.m. Sept. 30 to talk specifically about race in writing, publishing, and pop culture. The broader topic is about identity. They’ll ask things like who gets published? And why? And who are the gatekeepers?

“We want to have the conversations that can be hard to have,” Moll says. “We want to be our usual selves, too—from being very serious but also irreverent. We’re just putting on audio the conversations we’re already having.”

“We try to find out what’s ticking underneath the facade,” CeCe adds.

They also hope to include some audience participation in the form of a Q&A session, if time allows.

“The call-and-response is real, and it’s risky in that anything can happen,” says CityLit Project director Carla Du Pree, who organized a packed lineup over all three days of the CityLit Stage. “We applaud Lit!Pop!Bang! for standing up to this challenge and bringing it. I love it when people aren’t afraid to venture into new spaces.”

The Baltimore Book Festival, in its 23rd year, runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 28-30 at the Inner Harbor Promenade and is free and open to the public.

Moll, who holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts, is a longtime Book Fest goer, but this will be his first year presenting. CeCe has lived in Baltimore for about three years, and this is her third year being part of the festival. She’ll also be reading her own poetry.

“Baltimore Book Festival is a place where everybody can come—all ages, all races, all gender identities—and you can really find whatever it is you’re into,” CeCe says. “I’ve been to book fests across the country, and this is one of the best.”

In the first episode of The New York Times’ “The Daily” podcast entitled “Baltimore After Freddie Gray,” one would expect it to be another run-of-the-mill outsider point-of-view of 2015’s Uprising following Gray’s death while in police custody. But the Times isn’t your typical publication. Reporter Sabrina Tavernise takes a deeper dive into why instances of police corruption even happen in the first place.

Surprisingly, the episode doesn’t begin with the recounting of Gray’s death and arrest, but instead Tavernise begins explaining why Gray’s arrest served as the catalyst for the increase in homicides and violence in Baltimore. Through the lens of Toby Douglas and Davetta Parker, the mother and grandmother of Lavar “Nook” Douglas who was shot and killed by police in 2016, Tavernise tells the story of how Baltimore has landed in the national discussion of race and policing. The five-part series—that was released over five days beginning June 3—discusses everything from the spiking homicide rate to the investigation into the Gun Trace Task Force.

Lavar “Nook” Douglas’s case is the centerpiece of the series.
Very reminiscent of the popular Baltimore-based podcast “Serial” that followed the case of Adnan Syed whose case was reopened because of the media attention, Douglas’s family is hoping for similar results. Nook, who was 18 at the time, was killed by a Coppin State police officer near the campus after opening fire at a car in the middle of the street. Almost three years later, the family is still requesting that the BPD to identify the officer.

Tavernise and her producer, Lynsea Garrison, spent four months with his family to help them investigate the death in order to answer a deeper question about the violence in Baltimore: “How did things get like this?”

“The cops definitely pulled back,” retired Deputy Commissioner of Operations for BPD Tony Barksdale says. “Nobody wanted to be the next cop that makes an arrest and the arrest goes wrong.”

Former Police Commissioner Darryl De Sousa added: “Criminals got emboldened . . . they just tried to take advantage of a storm that was going on.”

Zero-tolerance policing is identified as one of the causes.
“What every black in Baltimore City knows is that the Baltimore City Police Department is the most racist and corrupt organization out here,” Sgt. Louis Hopson says. “You don’t get that way overnight. Freddie Gray was just a flash point, you see. And the problem is, no one trusts us now. How can you do your job if you don’t have the community’s trust.”

“The Daily” explores corrupt policing in Baltimore and points to the mayoral race of 1999 when Martin O’Malley introduced the idea of zero-tolerance policing in Baltimore that he’d witnessed in its infancy in New York City. The idea seemed like a good one at the time, but officers like Hopson disagreed with the new initiative.

“I appealed to Martin myself and said, ‘Martin, listen, if you bring zero tolerance here, in four or five years from now,’ I said, ‘It’s going to be so unbelievable,’” Hopson says. “‘You’re going to have corrupt police officers right and left. You can’t give this kind of authority to a police department and just say, ‘Look, you guys go do what you want’—not without some type of, you know, checks and balances on everything. Well, they did.”

The Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF) put the Baltimore Police Department in the hot seat. . . again.
The plain-clothes unit that was created at the peak of zero-tolerance policing has been under fire since it was discovered that the officers had been stealing from residents for years. Two of the eight officers—former Sgt. Wayne Jenkins and former detective Marcus Taylor—were sentenced to 25 years and 18 years, respectively, for a wide range of crimes including stealing drugs, money, and fabricating evidence. This has forced the city to re-examine nearly 1,700 cases involving the GTTF. “The Daily” includes audio from the body cameras of the GTTF officers as they are plotting to steal from a suspect they’ve apprehended.

“Everybody knew how corrupt the task force was,” Hopson says. “Any rotten fruit amongst good fruit, pretty soon all the fruit rots. That’s what you have here. I’d say 50 percent of them are bad and that’s no good.”

There is no given solution to the race and policing problems facing Baltimore.
While Tavernise spoke with everyone from gang members and drug dealers to former police officers and a grieving family, her exploration into Baltimore’s corrupt policing, past and present, provided nothing more than an analysis of the situation that residents are living every day. The general consensus of the those that were interviewed was that, in order to make Baltimore a better and safer city, the BPD needs to be completely wiped and revamped.

“We’ve got to understand that, while you can become a police officer at the age of 21, there’s no other position in the country that allows you to remove another human being from existence solely based on your title and training—not even the military has that power,” former FBI agent and advisor to BPD Tyrone Powers says. “We have to make sure they are doing this right. We have to get it right so there isn’t another situation like Freddie Gray. If we don’t get better, Baltimore will burn and so will other cities like it.”