A SquashWise team member returns a drop shot on-court at Meadow Mill Athletic Club

Matt Gilman can ride his customized trials bike over just about any obstacle in front of him… (he also happens to be blind)

***THE SIGNAL AIRS FRIDAYS AT NOON & 7 P.M. ON 88.1 WYPR***

(Click here for mp3’s of some recent stories from the show. And PODCASTERS, click here for a link to subscribe to The Signal’s weekly podcast.)

In this edition of The Signal: a special two-hour collection of favorite recent stories from the show…

• A reality series to redefine the genre: Hometown Baghdad profiles the friendships and struggles of three college students trying their best to live normal lives in the midst of a war-torn city. We talk about the pioneering documentary project with its director, Iraqi refugee Ziad Jazzaa.
• Anne Watts of the neo-cabaret noise ensemble Boister reflects on 13 years of making music and memories with her band.
• Christine Ferrera has found the perfect pen-pal. It’s someone she knows she’ll never meet, someone she can entrust with her deepest thoughts, and someone who never judges her harshly. It just happens to be a global coffee corporation. The Starbucks comment card said: “We’d love to hear your thoughts.” And so she obliged, every day, for the next five years.
• We hit the courts with Baltimore’s first urban squash team, a group of middle school students who’ve dedicated themselves to a new program called SquashWise. In addition to honing their backhands, these young athletes are taking on extra academics and competing at tournaments up and down the East Coast.
• Horror movie maven and self-proclaimed “zombie expert” Davida Breier stops by to preview Rigor Mortis, a new zine that celebrates the horror genre and offers some practical survival tips to use in the event of a “zombie outbreak.”
• Plus: a profile of mountain bike trials rider Matt Gilman, who conquers some seriously precarious terrain – all without the benefit of eyesight.

HELPFUL LINKS:

Here’s where you can check out episodes from the “Hometown Baghdad” series: http://chattheplanet.com/index.php?page=videos&v=38

Check out Boister at: www.boister.net

Christine Fererra told her Starbucks diary story at the Baltimore storytelling series, The Stoop. Here’s a link: www.stoopstorytelling.com

Learn more about SquashWise at: www.baltimoresquashwise.org

Curious about the finer points of zombie-ology? Check out: www.livingdeadzine.blogspot.com

Find out more about Matt Gilman and see some incredible videos of his riding at: www.blindbiketrials.com

“I have been shoved, pushed, bitten, spat on, not to mention having profanity that you could not imagine hurled at me by young people. But what is the main goal here?”
-Koli Tengela

Koli Tengella teaches theatre arts at Collington Square School of the Arts. He shares his experiences and insights on this week’s edition of The Signal

***THE SIGNAL AIRS FRIDAYS AT NOON & 7 P.M. ON 88.1 WYPR***

(Click here for mp3’s of some recent stories from the show. And PODCASTERS, click here for a link to subscribe to The Signal’s weekly podcast.)

• Nine years of teaching theatre arts in the Baltimore Public School System has given Koli Tengella plenty to ponder. He’s studied the kids, their parents, his fellow teachers, and himself, and he talks with us about what he’s discovered along the way – that real, meaningful educational breakthroughs can’t necessarily be measured by test scores.
• Author Janie Suss has spent her life living on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. We talk with her about her new book, Oscar and Olive Osprey : A Family Takes Flight, a story in which she explores the pleasures of watching a young couple build a nest and a family on her backyard pier.
• And writer Geoffrey Becker discusses his new novel, Hot Springs, the story of a child, her adoptive parents, her birth mother, and a kidnapping that turns their lives upside down.

HELPFUL LINKS:

Koli Tengella’s story is part of a special series called Ear to the Ground, a yearlong documentary project made possible by Open Society Institute-Baltimore. You can hear the rest of the stories in the series by clicking here.

Here’s a link to more about Janie Suss’ book, Oscar and Olive Osprey : A Family Takes Flight

And here’s a link to more info about Geoffrey Becker’s new novel, Hot Springs, a book that earned high praise form the New York Times Book Review