Metro Connection (Community)

It's International Cultural Appreciation Month in the nation's capital, so we get into the spirit by examining our city's global nature. We'll meet three Washingtonians who've spent most of their lives overseas and are working hard to make it in D.C. We'll find out how soccer really is the glue that binds people from the world over. And we'll follow the trek made by our trash as it moves from our rivers to the Atlantic Ocean.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis from Title Tracks]

We devote ourselves to the idea of "Commitment" on this week's show. We'll meet a woman whose environmental ardor is leading her to serve snakehead at her wedding this weekend. We'll go inside a hard-core exercise craze known by some as "The Cult of Crossfit." And we'll find out about an unusual strategy to bring money and attention to a nearly-forgotten island in the Anacostia River.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis from Title Tracks / "Promises, Promises" by Burt Bacharach...

We take a bit of a spring break and give a second listen to some of our favorites stories of recent months. We'll talk with longtime Washington residents about the city during the era of segregation, and we'll visit the high-tech "cold room" at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. We'll also meet a man who's pursuing a comedic career even as his eyesight fades, and play some tunes with the reigning world champion of old-time piano playing.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis from...

As tax day approaches, we bring you a show all about "Saving and Spending." We'll learn how much a plan to modernize D.C. taxis will cost riders, and go inside a debate over funding for the District's school librarians. Plus, a trip to Culpeper, Va., to visit the world's largest treasure trove of films, TV shows and sound recordings... and a group of D.C. kids with an unusual mission: to help Illinois schoolkids raise money to tour the nation's capital.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by...

We explore transformations of all kinds this week: personal, ecological, even musical.We'll visit a marsh scientists worry will disappear if we don't act soon. We'll meet a couple whose passion for squishing pennies has transformed their relationship, and hear from musicians with the National Symphony Orchestra about how they transform math in to music... and vice-versa.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis from Title Tracks]

This week we take a plunge, live on the edge and otherwise engage in risky business. We'll go inside a new tech "accelerator" where start-ups are hoping to strike on the next great innovation in Washington. We'll also explore the world of illegal drag racing, and consider just how risky it is to live near a dump recently declared a Superfund site by the federal government.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis from Title Tracks]

In honor of the cabin fever that seems to sweep through the region this time of year, we'll be "Playing Games" this week. We'll hear about a game of chicken in Virginia, where politicos are the players. We'll look in to a board game a Maryland woman created to teach her kids about Africa. And we'll hit the basketball court, to learn about a program that connects players in D.C. with children in Guatemala.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis from Title Tracks]

With that quadrennial oddity, Leap Year, upon us, today we're all about the weird, unusual and/or or seldom-seen people, places and things of the Washington region. We'll hear from a man on a mission to save a language that hasn't been spoken in years, and we'll meet a Salvadoran family seeking a rare golden ticket to permanent residency in the Unites States. Plus, we'll visit a Capitol Hill barber whose nine-to-five gig is unlike that of any other barber anywhere. And we'll hear about a...

It's a mixed bag of stories this week, from a 99-year-old piano genius to a professional dancer who nearly had to give up her dream. Plus, time-traveling to the Capitol Hill of the 1930s, and a gym in Virginia that caters to Muslim women.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis from Title Tracks]

We focus this week on a topic we tend to tiptoe around — race and ethnicity. We'll explore how color, culture and our perceptions of each other are entwined with Washington's past, present, and future. We'll go back to the 1850s, when a group of former slaves and free African Americans founded their own school in the nation's capital. We'll examine why one particular minority group is disproportionately involved in pedestrian deaths in the suburbs. And we'll visit a bustling Latino...

Old Man Winter tossed a few flakes our way this week, so even though winter hasn't quite arrived in the region, this week we're going "Out in the Cold." We meet NASA scientists working on a telescope chilled to nearly -400 degrees, and dive in to the debate over shelter for homeless women in D.C. Plus, we preview a world-premiere musical based on the classic children's book, The Snowy Day.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis from Title Tracks / "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" by...

Today we look back on some of the remarkable people and stories we've been lucky enough to share on this show. We'll talk with the woman who sorts and sifts through decades of artifacts for the U.S. House of Representatives, and hear about an ambitious project at George Mason University to archive accents from all over the world. We'll also meet a man who works as a town crier... go inside a local barbershop that's designed to keep D.C. teens off the street.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts"...

We pay homage to traditions and rituals of all kinds this week. We'll visit a park sacred to Native Americans, and talk with a local woman who's hoping to give the park new prominence. We'll swing by a Prince George's County church that's taking the concept of a Christmas pageant to a whole new level. And we'll go inside a weekly event known as the "Captain's Coffee," and hear how it's bringing together houseboat residents on the D.C. waterfront.[Music: "Every Little Bit Hurts" by John Davis...

This Week on Metro Connection: The Road Not Taken

This Week on Metro Connection: In The Trenches