Maryland Now

In this season finale "Roundtable" edition of Maryland Now, hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin are joined by two highly regarded Annapolis lawyers and lobbyists: Tiffany Harvey of Cornerstone Government Affairs and Sean Malone of the Harris, Jones & Malone firm.

Together, they break down the highs, lows, and unexpected tensions of the 2026 legislative session. The podcast explores the overarching "Protect Marylan...

In this "Roundtable" edition of Maryland Now, hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin dive into the quirky, surprising, and often controversial world of Maryland’s official state symbols. From the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to classroom lobbying efforts by elementary school students, the group explores how 26 different icons—ranging from the iconic blue crab to the prehistoric Astrodon johnstoni—became...

In this second "Roundtable" edition of Maryland Now, hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin are joined by two of the state’s most experienced political insiders: Don Mohler, former Baltimore County Executive, and Candace Dodson-Reed, Chief of Staff at the Maryland Economic Development Corporation.

This episode focuses on the critical battles for County Executive and County Council in Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel, an...

If your child brought home a report card with a C average, you’d likely be underwhelmed. But a C average is what the American Society of Civil Engineers gives Maryland’s infrastructure, and they have some suggestions for how to improve. Infrastructure is the "bread and butter" of government—covering everything from the water in your pipes to the bridges on your commute—but as construction costs rise and trad...

For decades, Marylanders have looked at maps of what could have been: a sprawling, interconnected rail network linking neighborhoods from Owings Mills to the Inner Harbor and beyond. While Washington, D.C. successfully colored in its transit lines, Baltimore was left with a "single metro line" and a light rail system described as "two systems flying in loose formation" that fail to feed each other. The dream of a comprehensive netw...

The Chesapeake Bay is more than just a body of water; it supports a $600 million seafood industry in Maryland; it's a $3.2 billion tourism engine for the state, and it's at the very heart of Maryland’s self-image. But for the other five states in the 64,000-square-mile watershed, the Bay is often an abstract concept, a distant destination. This geographic and emotional disconnect complicates the decades-long effort to restore...

The filing deadline has passed, and the board is finally set for Maryland’s 2026 elections. With a flurry of last-minute entries and some surprising absences, the stakes for the state’s political future have never been clearer. From a wide-open race in the 5th Congressional District to generational challenges in some state legislative seats, there’s plenty to watch in this election cycle.

In this episode, hosts Dor...

Maryland is in the middle of a full‑blown housing crisis — and the consequences are showing up everywhere. For 12 straight years, more Marylanders have left the state than moved in, and the trend is accelerating. As Comptroller Brooke Lierman explains, it’s not just retirees heading south. Younger residents and middle‑income families are leaving too, taking billions in economic activity with them. “I was particula...

The Maryland General Assembly is back in session — and the only thing lawmakers must do each year is pass a balanced budget. And this year, an election year, there is no way that policy makers are going to raise taxes. So to fill an unexpected $1.5 billion gap between revenues and expenditures, fueled by unintended costs in healthcare and rising costs in education, Gov. Wes Moore is looking at spending cuts and untapped pots ...

Maryland Now opens its debut season with a deep examination of how a single piece of legislation from 1999 reshaped Maryland’s electricity market and helped set the stage for some of the energy challenges the state faces today. Hosts Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin walk through the political forces, policy decisions, and long-term consequences that contribute to the high electric bills Marylanders are opening this wi...

Maryland Now is a new podcast from longtime Maryland journalists and public‑affairs veterans Dori Henry, Josh Kurtz, and David Nitkin — three people who’ve spent decades reporting on, working inside, and analyzing Maryland government and politics.

In this trailer, the hosts introduce themselves, share their backgrounds, and explain why this podcast fills a gap in Maryland’s media landscape. With more than 60 co...