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Baltimore has always had a reputation as one of America’s toughest cities — a place shaped by poverty, violence, addiction, and survival. In this episode, Johnny travels through Baltimore to see how the city has changed since The Wire, how the drug trade has evolved from heroin to fentanyl, and why homicides have recently dropped despite open-air dealing still being visible across the city.
With help from Baltimore Carl of Baltimore Recovery Alliance, we visit Lexington Market, South Baltimore, East Baltimore, and O’Donnell Heights to hear directly from people who lived the streets, worked the corners, battled addiction, and are now trying to save lives through recovery and community intervention.
This episode looks at Baltimore’s past, present, and future — from kingpins and corner crews to fentanyl, treatment centers, credible messengers, gentrification, and the people fighting to bring hope back to the city.
Special thanks to Baltimore Carl and Baltimore Recovery Alliance. If you're in the Baltimore area and are seeking help to get clean from addiction check out https://baltimorerecoveryalliance.com/
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00:00 Baltimore, The Wire, and the city’s violent history
02:07 Why Baltimore has such a high murder rate
05:55 Historic drop in homicides
07:08 Community intervention and peace teams
09:44 Heroin, fentanyl, and the changing drug economy
13:51 Lexington Market and open-air drug use
16:10 Baltimore’s addiction and treatment industry
20:22 South Baltimore drug corners
25:53 O’Donnell Heights and East Baltimore
29:41 Youth programs and signs of hope
30:12 Brandon Novak on addiction and recovery
34:33 Why Baltimore is worth saving Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
