Ashley Sterner

Please, I beg you, no headlines that tell us what politicians "claim," with the facts in the article. Just say it's a lie.

Wow

Nobody listened (except me when I was charting my coverage map). But I loved it.

I played songs (recorded on cassette from the real radio), did some talky talk, aired fake commercials.
I taped my show so I could broadcast it and wander around listening. I remember exactly how far the signal reached. Probably less than the equivalent of a city block.

I had my first radio show when I was 9 years old.
My parents had a baby monitor for my baby sister, and I randomly discovered that you could hear it on an FM radio (at 94.1) (I spent a lot of time fiddling with radios as a kid).

Thank you so much for listening! I was in tears myself! 💖

'On the Record' signs off with reminisces and thanks After more than nine years, On the Record signs off. Thank you to our listeners, and to everyone who trusted us with your ideas, stories and to amplify the work you do for Maryland, and for Baltimore.

Today's the day. The final broadcast of 'On The Record' at WYPR. It has been an indescribable honor to co-host this radio show. Thank you so much for listening! 💖

A gray bowl filled with little teddy bear-shaped cereal pieces, floating in milk, with a metal spoon

Teddy Grahams Breakfast Bears (1990-1992): Essentially a lower-sugar version of Teddy Grahams cookies (which had only debuted 2 years earlier) reformulated as a breakfast cereal. Nabisco promised that this cereal would stay crunchy in milk, and was bursting with "wholesome graham flavor." Here's a 🧵

no they didn’t, that isn’t true

After Declining to Give Trump a Sword for King Charles, a Museum Leader Is Out

I mean come the hell on…

The request for a gift for King Charles came from a State Department liaison who used the email address “giftgirl2025” and initially told the museum that they were looking for “like a sword or something,”

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/a...

Another fun conversation from the penultimate episode of On The Record on WYPR: animal mummies at the Walters! This topic was so much fun to explore & share. The exhibit just opened, so I haven't seen it in person yet... but I'll be stopping by soon. Maybe I'll see you there!

'Beyond Baltimore Street' celebrates Lumbee elders legacy Lumbee tribal member and folklorist Ashley Minner Jones talks about her photo and oral history exhibit: 'Beyond Baltimore Street: Living Lumbee Legacies.'

On the radio today: two of my final interviews for On The Record. In this one, a look at an upcoming exhibit celebrating the legacy of Lumbee elders in Baltimore, through photographs and oral histories. I think it's also the first time I've interviewed another person named Ashley!

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

WHITE winged dove!

I was today years old when I learned it wasn't "one winged dove".

A dead crab on a pebble beach. The crab's eyes are wide, staring glassily ahead.

This crab had seen some things.

Des Moines has you all beat

I love unnecessarily sexy statues. My favorite being Thirst Trap Lincoln from the LA County Superior Courthouse.

The Baltimorons was a damn delight, not least because name
checks of Orioles Magic and Lamar deliver two of the biggest laughs

The geography is an absolute disaster but it’s in the service of showing all your favorite landmarks so I’m not going to be a pedant about it

Kamala Harris cites concerns about trans athletes in her book The Trump campaign attacked Harris over her positions on transgender rights. She says they were misconstrued.

Jesus christ. It angers me deeply how not a single damn person in power who wants to at least pretend like they give a shit shout trans people will read even one damn book about the history of sex segregation in sports, cause you’d see how it’s all just sexist bs. www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

YouTube video by IFC Films The Baltimorons - Official Trailer | HD | IFC Films

Saw The Baltimorons today, which was very sweet and funny, but let me tell you: when watching a movie filmed in your city, just ignore the driving scenes because none of the roads connect right and nothing in the movie will make geographical sense to you

Trans People and Sports: Everything You Need to Know I have been writing about transgender people and issues for over twenty years now. For most of that time, I never felt the need to pen a…

...dear Dem politicians & pundits, 1) the sports debate was never a serious issue, it was merely a wedge to launder in anti-trans policies (see: juliaserano.medium.com/trans-people...), 2) they are now going after trans ppl's *rights to exist* – that's where the battle is now! take a side in that!

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

This is insane.

Never gonna watch The Summer I Turned Pretty, because the premise makes no sense.

It wouldn't take a whole summer to turn Pretty, it would take like an hour tops. You bite Pretty and drain her blood to the point of death, then feed her your blood. Boom. DONE.

Sick of TV shows that drag things out.

I've seen trans ppl promoting this piece several times today, but I haven't seen a single cis person linking or praising it.

It's the same old thing, an article is written FOR cis ppl but ABOUT trans ppl and yet for some reason the cis folks to whom it's addressed seem to not notice the piece.

Two men (Ira Glass & David Simon) on stage, seated, in front of microphones.

Ira Glass & David Simon on stage!

It's funny to think about how when podcasts started out, it was like "Hey cool, I'm going to be able to listen to new versions of This American Life forever" and instead failed comedians used them to ruin society

Three smiling radio hosts! Ira Glass of "This American Life", flanked by Ashley Sterner and Sheilah Kast of "On The Record".

A gathering of radio hosts!
Me, Ira Glass, and Sheilah Kast!

National park to remove photo of enslaved man’s scars The Trump administration is ordering the removal of information on slavery at multiple national parks in an effort to scrub them of “corrosive ideology.”

donald trump and the white nationalists that run his government want you to think that slavery was just fine www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...