OK .. I am back. There is so much going on..
First, let’s get to the WYPR stuff right away.
The board and management of the station keep saying that there are reasons they cannot divulge as to why they cancelled my show.
So, I am asking them now …. Freeing them up from any fears they may have …
DIVULGE!!!!
Tell everyone, the listeners, the press, why you did this.
Tell me, you have never told me. I and my friends and people who loved and listened to the show would love to hear your reasoning.
My guess: they don’t have one, other than the reality we have all witnessed over the last month.
Anyway, on to bigger and better things!
It is time to get back in the saddle, so we are going to be bringing you new interviews. Until we get our new website up, you can find them right here on our blog, ready to listen to or to podcast.
How many of you are fans of the WIRE? My guess is a lot of you are.
I love the WIRE. It is a show that speaks not only about life in the inner city neighborhoods of our land but about what they are emblematic of in America. It speaks to who we are becoming in America. The acting is just phenomenal and the writing is the best on television.
Over the course of the next few weeks, we will air interviews with actors, writers, producers, and others from the WIRE. We will start with creative partners Ed Burns and David Simon. This week you will hear actors Clarke Peters, who plays Lester Freamon, Andre Royo, who portrays Bubbles, and Robert Chew, playing the ill-fated kingpin Prop Joe. There will many more this week and in the coming weeks.
We won’t stop there. More interviews with authors, public figures, artists and just interesting folks coming your way. Many of them will be multiplatform stories, with pictures and more. Download the scripts, download the interviews. The Marc Steiner Show is back!
Let us know what is happening in your worlds and what you want to hear.
I will be writing more after the weekend, reflecting on what’s in the news, in our communities, in the arts.
Stay tuned… more exciting stuff coming our way.
Have a great weekend!
marc
The Official Blog of Marc Steiner 
The Wire – Yes! My favorite topic.
I eagerly await your interviews, but I have one request:
Don’t give away spoilers without fair warning!
It doesn’t matter to me, since I’ve seen everything including Ep. 9. But, you know…just saying.
Marc, I love your callers and emailers, you need to be on air.
There is this, however: some programs I liked very much were ones that elicited no or few phone calls or emails. I think of the interview with Stossel about his Sargent Shriver biography, an interview with Madison Smartt Bell about The Stone That the Builder Refused, and a long-ago interview with Gloria Naylor.
I would like to hear you engage Alice Walker, Isabel Allende, Louise Erdrich, Laura Lippman (and many other writers) about topics that interest them, not necessarily about the latest novel. Writers are generally careful observers, and thoughtful, so they make good interviews.
Would an interview with Ringo Starr be possible or desirable? I know nothing about him except that he is a former Beatle. What projects is he involved in now, what interests him? (I just heard Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on WTMD).
Looking forward to The Wire interviews. I’ve never seen it, not even on DVD.
Marc, I moved to the west coast last year but stayed connected to my home town by two things — your show, and The Wire! I’m only just getting caught up to the news of your departure from WYPR, but although I lack details (sounds like we all do!) I’m willing to call it a disgrace. Happy to hear the Wire folks are supporting you now as you move on to your next endevor! Your work continues to be very appreciated.
Best, David
Awesome…keep it coming…
Thanks again Marc!!
Marc — this is a great way to make your comeback. Am really looking forward to hearing these shows!
I hope you get a chance to discuss your situation some with David Simon. Am sure he’s got an interesting take on it.
I hope you can get some traction on promoting these interviews through venues like the HBO forums and also on places like Facebook. If I can offer any assistance with that please let me know.
Good luck and best wishes,
Dave
Ron, if you have never seen the Wire you are really missing out. I have to agree with Marc on this one.
The Wire is the only reason I have left to watch TV. Incredible, I repeat INCREDIBLE, writing and great acting. Every episode leaves me speechless.
After march 9 (season finale), I might just cancel my cable….
The YPR fund drive is now posted for April 2 through 8.
Marc, i’m glad you’ll be interviewing folks from the Wire. I have a question for David Simon. I think I know the answer as I attended College Park about the same time as Simon, but could you ask him how he (Simon), Ed Burns, and David Mills all began working together? And more importantly, do they have anything cooking now that this is the end of the Wire?
Oh and hey are any of the show’s podcasts still available? I have many old ones on my iPod, but wondered if the rest are still available somewhere?
Is the fund drive held at company headquarters or off-sight?
Great.!!! Glad to hear things are moving again….. I’m looking forward to hearing the Wire interviews…. and I’m excited about the new website….
April 2nd for the WYPR fundraising drive….. Maybe Marc should have his own fundraising drive that day for the Center For Emerging Media… The address for CEM donations is listed on their current website….
I’ve said this before but I’d like to see a donation drive to help support advertizing for his new stite…. Maybe even billboards (although I have no idea how much they cost)
I keep running into to people who in general like Marc and what he represents but just don’t listen to WYPR regularly…. alot of them weren’t even aware he was fired… So I think advetizing will be important… particularly for a multi-media website…. potentially Marc could reach much larger audience…. particuarly folks who aren’ table to listen to a traditionally schedule program for one reason or another. but people will need to know about it
So whether it is billboards, the City paper, or Baltimore Magazine…. all of that will take money
Andrea,
at headquarters.
Mr. Steiner, as much as I like Mr. Rodricks, I can’t help but feel this is yet another step in the “dumbing down” of the media. And, while I didn’t agree with you 100% of the time, yours was always a useful outlook to consider. I hope you find another position locally. Baltimore deserves it.
Speaking of billboards: The billboard at the corner of St.Paul and Mulberry continues to display the ad about the Martin Luther King event with Marc’s name in big print. I drive by this often and it’s a stab to the heart each time. I wonder how much this is costing?. I also wonder if it can be altered?I feel young and subversive again just thinking about climbing a tall ladder in the middle of the night… In a more serious voice, the idea of contributions for a big billboard seen off 95 is a great idea. Shall we organize?. Who knows someone in the business?. I will gladly investigate the possibility if there is interest.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that WMAL AM abruptly let go talk-show host Chris Core after his show on Friday. Owner Citadel Broadcasting let go about a dozen employees in a programming shake-up at its three D.C. area stations. The Post said Core started at WMAL in 1974 and was the longest-running radio personality in D.C.
The Post also said the radio industry has been in steady decline, due to competition from new media. I had known that the newspaper industry is in big trouble, but this was the first I heard about the radio industry. — Bernie
Hey Marc, glad to hear you are up to things and I look forward to listening/reading/participating. YPR has really slunk off my radar screen now as the content is diminished. Help me out here!
Hey Marc–Glad to hear you’ll be doing some interviews soon–I’ll be grabbing those podcasts for sure (it’ll help with this separation anxiety).
Looking forward to it!
Take care,
Scott
I have been trying unsuccessfully to add the following to one of the blogs from last week. Don’t know why I have been unsuccessful but it is a followup to a comment I made about the McCain FCC story.
The part of the McCain FCC story that seems pertinent to the WYPR story involves proposed license transfers. Pittsburgh public television station WQED would sell one of its two licenses to a second broadcaster who would then transfer it to a third broadcaster. Morning Edition had a story last Friday (storyID=87783425). Jerrold Starr, Director of Citizens For Independent Public Broadcasting, was a community activist who was concerned about this. I don’t know anything about Mr. Starr but he sounds like the sort of person who could have been a guest on Marc’s show. I also don’t know what Tony Brandon’s plans are for his three licenses. He hasn’t apparently been willing to disclose “the sequence of events that led to the sudden cancellation of Marc’s show”. Since Brandon isn’t talking, I am unwilling to assume that the sequence of events relates primarily to Marc and his show and may have a lot more to do with his plans for these licenses. I have heard that satellite radio wants part of the FM spectrum currently reserved for public radio to be reserved instead for its customers. This includes 88.1. This may be a rumor with no basis in fact but, if it isn’t, the loss of Marc’s show may be merely the tip of the iceburg.
Anita,
The same billboard still is up near the SuperFresh at west 41st St. and Falls Rd.
Link to WaPo article about Chris Core.
Stephen,
Your comments are up now on the thread from Feb 26. I suggest people read them.
Your comments didn’t appear right away because comments are scrutinized by a board moderator before being allowed through the screen. The blog pretty much shuts down at night and on weekends, and delays also occur during business hours because the producers are doing other business.
Not your fault.
Mark,
I miss your show, and I wish you well.
Fred