St. Louis on the Air

The Latino community is leading Missouri in vaccination rates — thanks to a local volunteer group connecting local Spanish speakers with both resources to navigate the pandemic and health professionals.

Comedian Nikki Glaser recently started taking voice lessons. In this bonus podcast episode, she explains how she has a new job in mind.

“USS St. Louis: Centuries of Service” highlights the first USS St. Louis’ role fighting piracy and the slave trade, “Lucky Lou’s” escape from Pearl Harbor, and the current crew’s reflections on their vessel and the city she honors. The documentary is produced, written and narrated by St. Louisan Kara Vaninger.

Born in Afghanistan, Qais Meraj has made a life in St. Louis. He discusses his work as an interpreter for the U.S. military, his family’s journey and his fears for loved ones left behind.

Comedian Nikki Glaser talks about reacquainting herself with her hometown after moving back to St. Louis in 2020, what her hit HBO Max show “FBoy Island” taught her about love and more.

Atlantic staff writer Adam Harris discusses his new book “The State Must Provide,” which explores the long history of inequality in higher education, and offers a provocative remedy for the funding woes of historically Black colleges.

Leonard Slatkin, conductor laureate of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, discusses his new book and what it will take for classical music to thrive again.

Grammy-nominated jazz singer Somi Kakoma has spent almost seven years turning the story of South African singer Miriam Makeba into a musical. She discusses its world premiere in St. Louis — and plans for Off Broadway.

Downtown St. Louis has been hard-hit during the pandemic, with office workers replaced by troublemakers on many evenings. Aldermen Jack Coatar and James Page discuss the issues facing the neighborhood and Mayor Tishaura Jones’ plan to tackle them.

In her timely essay for Washington University’s Common Reader, longtime St. Louis journalist Jeannette Cooperman explores the often surreal contrasts between “our quiet, lamp-lit private life” and “the shadows outside our window” in the contemporary world. She shares excerpts and reflections with producer Evie Hemphill in this episode.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis DEI Accelerator program wrapped up its inaugural cohort earlier this year. In this encore from May, we listen to two participants who thrived as part of the program.

During WWII, 1,100 men formed the "Ghost Army." Their job was to deceive enemy troops — and they did. We listen to this encore from May 2021. The effort is now just 15 U.S. senators away from approval.

Sports writer Joan Niesen goes deep on baseball’s steroid era in her podcast, Crushed.” Her conversation with Sarah Fenske originally aired on April 9, 2021.

In this encore episode, the chef and co-owner of Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria reflects on a decade of sobriety and what it took to achieve that milestone.

In this encore presentation, author Tom Vanderbilt talks about his new book, "Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning," which highlights his year-long experience tackling new skills.

The acclaimed comic joins us to discuss his return to touring and the ongoing enthusiasm for his groundbreaking podcast.

Ever wonder what drives vaccine hesitancy? Fred Scott got his vaccine this morning and explains why. We also talk with James Clark of the Urban League about the organization’s efforts to get more shots in arms.

The manufacturing of every Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine dose produced to-date has started in Chesterfield, Missouri. The company also tests every batch. Justin Sperry, head of R&D at the site, explains how and what it took to develop the vaccine.

The original Paul Artspace is located just over a mile from a busy thoroughfare in north St. Louis County. While founder Mike Behle says the group will still host bonfires and other occasional events on the property, the actual artist residencies will take place elsewhere moving forward.

In defending claims of police abuse, St. Louis officials have generally prioritized protecting taxpayers over making victims whole. That strategy will change with a new city counselor, journalist Bill Freivogel explains

Kara Yannon delves into her her music journey, and preview tracks from her first album “Cohesion," ahead of its debut on Oct. 3.

In 2015, Jeff Harris and his sister Leigh Harris founded the nonprofit with a goal to turn 10% of city parks into native prairie restorations within the next 10 to 20 years.

Christy Ferguson started the Mensi Project in 2018 at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville to donate unneeded menstrual products to someone who could use them. Now the university is funding the effort.

Jacob Kirn of the St. Louis Business Journal discusses his reporting on the Dome, which faces big maintenance needs even as it's set to soon lose funding for them. Locals' lawsuit against the NFL could change the equation.

Twenty years later, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the response to the attack still define America in many ways — and continue to shape the world far beyond U.S. borders. St. Louisans share their reflections in this episode.

Soul-jazz pianist Dave Grelle takes the stage this weekend at the inaugural Music at the Intersection festival with his band Playadors and Funky Butt Brass Band.

Carol Diaz-Granados, along with her husband James Duncan, have devoted years of time and anthropological research to Picture Cave, and are appalled by the prospect of its auction. They would like to see the property in the care of the Osage Nation. In this episode, we hear from the couple as well as Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers.

Post-Dispatch columnist Benjamin Hochman discusses the Cardinals' triumph in the 2011 World Series in this encore epsiode. Listeners also share their stories about Game 6, Hochman's pick for the greatest game in World Series history.

Edison Agrosciences is the St. Louis based agricultural biotechnology company working to develop alternative rubber crops. In this encore episode, here why it believes sunflowers can become a source of homegrown rubber.

Author and punk musician G'Ra Asim discusses his new book in this encore episode, and how he feels about moving back to St. Louis, the city he left as a 10-year-old.

Hampton, a formerly four-lane thoroughfare, now limits traffic to one lane in each direction, with the addition of a center turning lane plus wider parking lanes on the sides. The city has plans for a somewhat similar transformation along Lindell Boulevard by Forest Park.

Rising star Washington University neuroscientist Rebecca Schwarzlose discusses her new book "Brainscapes," and what scientists have learned about the maps in our brains

Listen to reporter Jonathan Ahl and feral hog trapper Kevin Crider discuss Missouri's success in culling the feral hogs wreaking havoc in rural areas. bit.ly/2YqmEtp

St. Louis Public Radio will soon have a veteran public radio journalist and station leader as its new CEO. Tina Pamintuan joins STLPR on December 1.

This show is celebrating its silver anniversary. We listen back to the beginning of the very first episode in 1996, hear staff reflections and some favorite excerpts.

Sri Chellappa, co-founder and president of Engagedly, discusses the company's meteoric growth, move from a downtown incubator to Maplewood and the St. Louis area's startup scene, as well as his own new role as the owner of a recording studio

Acclaimed musician Kishi Bashi previews his multimedia performance of "Improvisations on EO9066" by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. It explores Japanese internment during WWII.

Local historian Mark Sundlov discusses the "Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II" exhibit at Soldiers Memorial Military Museum.

Two years ago, Hogan Haake of Webster Groves decided to embark with his son on a quest: to unicycle in all 48 continental states before the teen graduated high school.

Jessica Bueler details what led her to found <a href="https://welcomeneighborstl.org/">Welcome Neighbor STL</a> in 2016, and how it continues to help. Syrian refugee Mawda Altayan joins the conversation.

St. Louis has long thought of itself as a Black and white city. Now U.S. Census Bureau numbers show the region’s composition changing, with increases in Asian, Latino and multiracial residents.

More than 300 artifacts and artworks comprise the current exhibition at the Mercantile, which is the oldest extant library west of the Mississippi River.

Sharon Smith of the Missouri Historical Society joins us to discuss the bridge’s history. We also hear from Great Rivers Greenway about some big plans for the site going forward.

Liberty Vittert, a professor at Washington University who serves on the North American arm of the UN Refugee Agency, discusses its work in Kabul and how you can best help Afghan refugees

The Field House Museum boasts a wide collection of quilts on display, ranging from 19th-century creations to more modern quilts. Now one final quilt completes the collection: the MO Bicentennial Quilt. He hear about how its pieces came together.

This weekend’s event is the fourth iteration of the natural hair and beauty celebration that St. Louisan Leslie Hughes first launched in 2017.

On the first day of the semester, as Maria Ellis waits to meet her students and kick off a brand-new arts and activism focus at the recently saved school, Chuck Berry tunes played quietly through a speaker. St. Louis stops by to document the anticipated rehearsal.

Marian O'Shea Wernicke's novel "Toward That Which Is Beautiful" draws on her time as a nun in Peru. She explains why she entered the convent as a St. Louis teen and why she left 11 years later

Jennings Superintendent Paula Knight shares how educators are rethinking back-to-school this year. Like others across the region, the district plans to proceed with in-person classes Monday through Friday, even with the threat of the Delta variant.

The Missouri History Museum's new exhibit was designed like an album, with both the greatest hits of St. Louis music and some deep cuts from more obscure favorites. The museum's Andrew Wanko discusses the region's impact on popular music