Ear to the Ground

Ear to the Ground is a yearlong radio conversation with six individuals navigating Baltimore's schools, addiction treatment centers, social services, and criminal justice system. The series can be heard on WYPR 88.1 FM's The Signal, Fridays from noon to 1 p.m., with a rebroadcast from 7 to 8 p.m. Aaron Henkin is the series producer and host. Ear to the Ground is supported by a grant from OSI-Baltimore.

Henkin approaches each radio story as an opportunity to share what is elemental and universal about the human experience. He allows each guest to tell his or her own story. According to Henkin, "My hope is to share some important life stories that might otherwise never get to be heard by the world."

Episode Two: Joyce Lewis was a career woman with a government job. She was the mother of a straight “A” student. And she was a Sunday school teacher. All the while, she was maintaining a secret crack cocaine habit. As her addiction grew, Joyce lost her job and eventually lost her family home. But even as her own life was spiraling out of control, her daughter’s life was flourishing. Joyce became a grandmother around the same time she became homeless, and she found herself in a precarious situation—taking up in a spare room at the home of her daughter and baby grandson. After lies, confrontations, and some serious soul-searching, Joyce came clean to her daughter. Then the other work began—getting clean from her addiction.

Episode One: The first installment is a profile of poet (and recovering addict) Clarence Brown. Clarence used heroin for 26 years. It cost him his home, his family, and his freedom. But now, he finds himself at a fragile crossroads. He's currently in a residential recovery program, with nine clean months under his belt. He says each new day is a struggle for mindfulness. He focuses on avoiding relapse, he studies the broken shards of his old life, and he concentrates on patience and humility as he looks ahead to the future. It's a long road, but Clarence has found a powerful ally along the way: pen and paper.