Female Trouble

Esther Collinetti finds strength in vulnerability. She’s the co-owner of REV Cycle Studio, a spinning studio in McHenry Row, where she has offered high-energy, expletive-laden encouragement to spin clients since January 2014. Born in Nigeria to European parents, and raised in Chile, Esther has always felt like an outsider thanks to her unique accent and challenges in school. Before she ran a spin studio, Esther was a scientist at the Smithsonian Institution, and she talked about some of the experiences that inspired her to change course, including her father’s death, which had a profound effect on her. Esther talked about getting to the point where she could find power in that pain, and teaching her spin classes from a place of love rather than anger. Through teaching spin classes and goal coaching, Esther has found her passion in inspiring and motivating others.

Leading up to April, Rep. Donna Edwards of Prince George's County was engaged in one of the country’s most closely watched and competitive primaries, as she and Rep. Chris Van Hollen vied for the Senate seat that would be left open by Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s upcoming retirement. A close race until the final days, Edwards ultimately lost April’s primary race to Van Hollen, which Edwards described in an article on cosmopolitan.com as a case of a black woman hitting the glass ceiling with a "concussion-worthy crash." In a race in which both candidates had similar voting records, Edwards explained that claim. Edwards also spoke about an attack ad against Van Hollen that received pushback from Democratic leaders and the White House, which was run by super PAC Working for US, and to what extent she thought it negatively impacted her campaign. Edwards also discussed mentorship, being Maryland’s first black congresswoman, and how the state is poised to send an all-male delegation to Congress.

Regular listeners of 92Q, Baltimore’s hip hop and R----B radio station, know Angel Carpenter, better known as DJ AngelBaby, well. The on-air personality hosts "Rap Attack" on Sunday nights and keeps listeners live Monday through Friday on "The Late Show." In addition to on-air hosting, AngelBaby is also a Baltimore club DJ, and has released her free “Get Pumped” mixtapes for the past four years. Giving back to the community is fundamental to the East Baltimore native, who puts on a “Get Pumped” tour to uplift and motivate Baltimore City youth; she also founded Urban Artemis, a non-profit geared toward educating and mentoring young people in the city, girls specifically. Angel discussed about how she got her start in radio, and about some of the people who have motivated and educated her along the way, including legendary Baltimore club DJ K-Swift, who died in 2008. People are often quick to compare Angel and Swift, which Angel says is unwarranted. AngelBaby also talked about making a name for herself in a mal

Artists matter, collaboration is key and audience is everywhere. Those are the three guiding principals of The Contemporary, a nomadic, non-collecting art museum that commissions projects throughout Baltimore and implements educational programs. Deana Haggag, who received her MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, was appointed director of The Contemporary when she was 26 years old. Deana, a native of Brooklyn and New Jersey, talked about the challenges that came with earning that job at a young age, and also about the often frustrating ways people talk about young women, particularly young women of color, who find success when they're young. Though she didn't grow up going to museums, Deana explained how art has always been a part of her life, and about what she hopes to see in Baltimore's arts community. Deana has learned a lot in these three years directing The Contemporary, as she's facilitated a bigger staff and budget, and she discussed how some of her perception of Baltimore and its communities ha

Mary Pat Clarke represents Baltimore’s 14th district in the City Council, which includes about 46,000 residents in neighborhoods including Homewood, part of Charles Village, Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello, Waverly and half of Hampden. At a time when women were a minority in city politics, Mary Pat became the first woman elected president of the Baltimore City Council in 1987; she discussed how the council hasn't advanced much in terms of representation from women. Mary Pat spent nine years away from city politics after mounting an unsuccessful bid for the mayor’s seat in 1995, returning to teaching, but after Baltimore residents voted for single-member council districts, she ran for office once again in 2004 and has represented the 14th district since. In April, Mary Pat introduced a bill to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Last week, that bill failed to pass by the necessary votes, and it will be sent back to committee. Mary Pat, who will face Republican Thomas Boyce in November’s general elect

When Amy Callner came upon a group of tattooed women hitting each other on roller skates, she knew she’d found what she was looking for. Amy, otherwise known as Lady Quebeaum, found roller derby at a time in her life when she needed to work out aggression, test her limits and have a blast while doing so. She co-founded the Charm City Roller Girls, Baltimore’s only female flat track roller derby league. Eleven years later, she’s still going strong. Amy talked about the sport’s evolution past fishnet tights and tutus, and the increasing athleticism of roller derby players. She also discussed what pop culture depictions of roller derby get right and wrong about the sport, roller derby’s DIY roots and ethos, and raising a son who sees that it's normal for women to play contact sports. Ultimately, Amy finds power in knowing how hard she can hit. (Photo by Tyler Shaw)

Stacia Brown has been writing her whole life, and though she received an MFA in fiction, she’s developed her freelance career on the strength of her nonfiction work, most often in the form of commentary on race, current events and pop culture. In addition to writing a weekly column for The Washington Post’s Act Four blog, Stacia pens pieces for national outlets like The Atlantic, The Nation, Buzzfeed, Vulture and The New Republic. Stacia also hosts and produces a radio show/podcast which just wrapped up its first season, called Baltimore: The Rise of Charm City, in which both public figures and lesser-known residents weave oral histories of some of the city’s overlooked stories. Stacia talked about reacting, sometimes too quickly, in the aftermath of police shootings and tragedies, her responsibility to Baltimore when she writes for national outlets, feeling like an outsider, and stepping away from writing about her personal life.

In art school in the 1980s, graphic design was for the neat and tidy kids -- the ones who knew their way around a ruler and wouldn’t smudge the ink. Ellen Lupton was not one of those kids. A curator, educator, writer and critic, Ellen is the author of several books, one of which, "Thinking With Type," has become an invaluable and widely read industry resource. Ellen directs the graphic design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art, and in New York, she works as the curator of contemporary design at Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Despite being among the elite in her industry, Ellen champions do-it-yourself culture -- she has several books on the topic -- and considers it a personal mission to open people’s eyes to the design that exists all around them. (Photo by Michelle Qureshi)

When you hear a band name like War on Women, you don’t expect the music to appease you or make you comfortable -- and indeed, that's not the point. The Baltimore-based hardcore punk band, which is co-ed, is fronted by Shawna Potter, and puts issues like rape, abortion and street harassment front and center. War on Women’s self-titled debut LP came out last year, boasting battle cries with titles like "Meathead," "Roe V. World" and "YouTube Comments." In this episode of Female Trouble, Shawna talks about the person who made her realize girls could play in a band, discovering feminism, and getting over her hangups about being a frontwoman without a guitar.

In December 2014, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake appointed Dr. Leana Wen as Baltimore City Health Commissioner. In her first year on the job, Dr. Wen would encounter challenges she never could have anticipated -- including the arrest and death of Freddie Gray in police custody, the ensuing unrest in the city and the subsequent announcement that Rawlings-Blake would not seek re-election. In this episode of Female Trouble, a podcast spotlighting women in Baltimore, Dr. Wen speaks to Quinn about the challenges of overcoming stigmas in addiction and mental health treatment, the advice she's been told to follow as a woman, and how she stays optimistic and driven when faced with Baltimore's health disparities.

Lane Harlan opened her bar, W.C. Harlan, on an unassuming Remington corner in 2013, bucking convention with the confidence that people would flock to something different. It worked. Despite lacking a sign on the door, a website and a residence on a busy street, the bar drew patrons with its speakeasy-inspired interiors and craft cocktails. Lane followed W.C. Harlan with a Mexican-inspired restaurant, Clavel, that she opened down the street from the bar last year. On this episode of Female Trouble, a podcast spotlighting women in Baltimore, Lane talks to Quinn about how her corporate restaurant experience taught her what she didn't want to do, what authenticity means to her, and how she went from "busboy" to business owner.

In the second episode of Female Trouble, a podcast spotlighting women in Baltimore, Quinn talks to author Laura Lippman. Laura got her start as a reporter, spending 12 years working at The Baltimore Sun before transitioning to writing crime novels full-time. Laura has written stand-alone books and a series that follows reporter-turned-investigator Tess Monaghan. Her latest stand-alone, “Wilde Lake” (which is where Laura attended high school), follows a state’s attorney prosecuting a big case who is forced to confront her family’s past along the way. Laura discusses timelessness, endings in fiction, and what she’s tired of seeing in the genre.

In the first episode of Female Trouble, a podcast spotlighting women in Baltimore, Quinn talks to rapper TT The Artist. Raised in a strict household in Florida, TT came to Baltimore to attend MICA and soon after made waves in the city's hip-hop and club music scenes. TT discusses discovering rap in high school, making it on her own and waiting for the critics to catch up.