Local News in Baltimore

Baltimore filmmaker Marnie Ellen Hertzler previews her latest film ahead of the 2026 New/Next Film Festival

WYPR’s Taylor Holbrooks sat down with Marnie Ellen Hertzler, the director of New/Next Film Festival's 2026 opening night film.

Black Crossword: September 23, 2026

Photostory: Preserving ‘the sound and stories’ of Baltimore’s gospel tradition

Over 2,000 congregants and 500 gospel singers, musicians, and composers packed the New Psalmist Baptist Church for The Sound of Baltimore live recording, according to organizers. “The project is designed to preserve the sound and stories of a musical tradition that has been…

Best Beats Issue #088

Black Chakra — “HOPE HURT HALOS” 28 minutes. That’s how long it takes for award-winning spoken word and hip-hop artist Jacob Mayberry, aka Black Chakra, to exceed any expectations you might have for a spoken word album. “HOPE HURT HALOS” captures the veteran griot’s stage…

What’s Poppin’ #88

High Zero, The Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston Street. September 24 to 27, times vary. highzero.org Now in its 28th year, High Zero brings together musicians who have never played together before to improvise on a wide variety of instruments, ranging this year from mandolin to…

‘Beyond the Wire’ reframes Baltimore’s story

After my mother died in the early 2000s, I decided to backpack in Europe for a few weeks to process my loss. A week into my travels, in the wee hours of the morning, I stood on a train platform in Edinburgh, Scotland, on my way to London for a few days. A well-heeled middle-aged…

La Sonora bridges the worlds of Baltimore’s second generation of Latino immigrants

Last summer, among the usual sea of hardcore and punk fliers slapped onto windows and telephone poles, I started spotting posters for cumbia concerts and reggaeton nights all over the city. They stood out for their warm, saturated palette. But it wasn’t until I passed a few of…

The New/Next Film Festival is back again

The New/Next Film Festival returns next week for its fourth year with a diverse and exciting slate of features, documentaries, and shorts. Mixing Baltimore-bred selections with more international fare, the slate once again feels vital, like getting spoilers for where cinema as a…

Let Light In

I’m used to seeing different lights in my life.My aunt’s calm, blue light.My brother’s free spirit shining in bright green.My sister’s vibrant red light,capturing the chaos she brings, and my mother.Her soft pink glow shining with love. But now, there’s a new light.Purity,…

Decades-old, newly restored Smithsonian carousel reopens — to children’s delight

The carousel was first desegregated when part of Gwynn Oak Amusement Park outside Baltimore in 1963. It was moved to the National Mall after the park closed.