St. Louis on the Air

Among the 987 deaths last year, 128 were pedestrians, some of them struck on roadways after exiting their own vehicles in the wake of incidents.

Fewer than 20 American red wolves live in the wild throughout the U.S., all in a refuge in North Carolina. Two Missouri-born wolves were flown there last month to join the population, providing a critical source of new genetic diversity.

In this encore episode, we hear about Missouri History Museum's virtual "Gateway to Pride" exhibit. It delves into the many untold stories of St. Louis’ LGBTQ residents, and wants St. Louisans to contribute any stories and artifacts they have that can expand the narrative.

In this encore episode, we listen back to our conversation with Carolyn Cox. Her nonfiction book explores how the FBI was able to end the plague of kidnappings that terrorized St. Louis and the U.S. in the 1930s.

We'll listen back to how landscaper Susan Van de Riet designed a time and budget-friendly garden plan with plants native to St. Louis in this encore discussion.

Kim Rutledge of the Wildlife Rescue Center explains how the center handled its busiest year yet during the pandemic and details its work to assist turtles, deer, fox and even badgers in need.

Jean Ponzi of the Missouri Botanical Garden explains how fogging for mosquitoes has grave impacts on the ecosystem as a whole -- and how we can make ourselves less attractive to these pests without harming the environment.

We explore a promising clinical trial out of Washington University. Some lung cancer patients are seeing huge benefits from a new drug that just received FDA approval.

Peter Joy of Washington University School of Law says the current system is broken. He discussed possible solutions.

Mark Anthony Campbell died last month, three weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19. Sylvester Brown Jr. discusses why Campbell wouldn't get vaccinated and what we can learn from his tragic death

STI rates dropped in 2020 — but it’s not because people stopped having sex. Area sexual health centers aim to catch up after the pandemic hindered efforts to mitigate and treat sexually transmitted infections.

Hannibal native Melissa Scholes Young discusses her second novel, "The Hive," with host Sarah Fenske.

The Illinois legislature passed a number of animal welfare bills and while the trajectory of such legislation in Missouri is usually bleak, there was a bright spot there too.

The spring of 2021 has been a time of celebration for the Central Institute for the Deaf, which has served children for more than a century. Two weekends ago, 11 students graduated from the St. Louis-based school, each of them ready to attend neighborhood schools alongside their peers in the fall. And last week, the organization offered a tribute to its longtime executive director, who has seen deaf education change in remarkable ways over the course of her career.

William Potter will judge the terrier group when the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show returns this weekend. He explains what goes into a judge’s assessment, and how he really feels about “Best in Show”

While the former Illinois House speaker liked to play gatekeeper, and keep tight control of the agenda, his successor flung those gates open this year — for better or for worse.

Karen Aroesty left her job as regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Heartland on May 31. In this interview, she shares what she learned about fighting xenophobia during that time — and what gives her hope for the future.

In this episode, managers and employees alike join SLU's David Kaplan and STLPR host Sarah Fenske for a wide-ranging conversation about navigating shifts from remote work back to on-site expectations — and finding the best path forward.

Over the past two years, an area of Forest Park the size of more than 15 football fields has been transformed into the Anne O’C. Albrecht Nature Playscape. It opened to the public earlier this week, sporting a colorful range of native and diverse plant species — and curiosity-sparking play elements made out of everything from limestone to willow branches.

The Missouri Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling this week and struck down a 2018 law that sought to impose new restrictions on collective bargaining for public sector unions — while exempting public safety unions from the requirements.

The LA-based author discusses her new novel, "The Mysteries," which is set in 1973 St. Louis.

Homes in the St. Louis area continue to move quickly and they go under contract for more than what sellers ask. We talk about this trend with two real estate agents and hear home buying experiences.

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival's producing artistic director Tom Ridgely and Carl Cofield, who's directing "King Lear" with a cast and crew made up entirely of persons of color, join the show.

Jonathan Butterfield of Lutheran High School South shares his takeaways from an unusual school year. The Affton school was one of the few secondary schools in St. Louis to offer five-day-a-week in-person education to its students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Dec. 12, 2019, near the corner of Bates and Virginia in St. Louis’ Carondelet neighborhood, 24-year-old Cortez Bufford died after being shot multiple times by St. Louis police Officer Lucas Roethlisberger. The case, like that night, has remained shrouded in darkness, as investigative journalists Alison Flowers and Sam Stecklow detail in their newly published deep dive.

Andrew Wyatt of the Missouri Botanical Garden discusses what garden researchers know about the Karomia gigas tree species, and the garden’s efforts to prevent its extinction.

Hundreds of Livingston County residents, alongside environmental and farming advocacy groups, recently voiced opposition to a proposed concentrated animal feeding operation coming to the county. The proposal was since rescinded, but some believe the debate over CAFOs in Missouri is just getting started.

An ongoing effort to renew and maintain vacant spaces in several north St. Louis neighborhoods just got a big boost, with the St. Louis Development Corporation last week formalizing a collaboration that will create the St. Louis Community Land Trust.

Our friends at Sauce Magazine explain where you should be dining this month — especially if you’re feeling a bit crabby.

A series of disturbances at the St. Louis City Justice Center earlier this year brought attention to conditions inside the downtown jail. Now, a new lawsuit accuses jail staffers of routinely using chemical agents to punish and harm detainees. And, it says, as punishment, they turn off the water — depriving detainees of both hydration and the ability to flush toilets, sometimes for days.

New research out of Washington University upends the conventional wisdom about immune responses to COVID-19 infections. Its author explains how a previous study misinterpreted key data — and what we can learn from his findings instead.

Ferguson native Keyon Harrold discusses his new role as the creative advisor at Jazz St. Louis, previously known as Jazz at the Bistro, and why jazz purists need to open their eyes to other music genres.

The Legal Roundtable digs into new evidence against former St. Louis police officers charged with beating an undercover colleague, misconduct charges against the St. Louis circuit attorney and more. (Editor's note: During the conversation, we cite a KMOV report that incorrectly states that a judge granted prosecutors the right to call Ashley Marie Ditto to testify. The judge's ruling did not address that.)

In addition to providing underrepresented founders with equity-free funding, the eight-week-long business development program through the University of Missouri-St. Louis connects participants with educational resources and with successful entrepreneurs for mentoring sessions.

A World War II unit that tricked the Nazis with inflatable tanks and elaborate sound effects is being honored in Missouri -- an effort supporters hope will lead to Congressional action. Filmmaker Rick Beyer and soldier's daughter Carolyn Spence Cagle discuss the Ghost Army's legacy.

Valerie Battle Kienzle joins host Sarah Fenske to discuss her fascinating and colorful new book “Ready to Wear: A History of the Footwear and Garment Industries in St. Louis,” recently released by Reedy Press.

Ever since launching the program at Missouri Eastern Correctional Center in Pacific in 2014, Rob Henke and Barbara Baumgartner have been passionate leaders of the Washington University Prison Education Project. Dozens of individuals have taken the program’s Wash U-taught courses while incarcerated, and in the past two years, those efforts have started to pay off in the form of earned college degrees.

St. Louis-based art collector Robert Powell discusses his new curated art show in Quincy surveying contemporary Black artists.

“Heartbroken” is the word Missouri state Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch used to sum up what she’s feeling in the wake of the 2021 legislative session. On Tuesday, the Republican from Hallsville learned that legislation she’d hoped would soon open doors for certain nonviolent drug offenders serving decades-long, no-parole terms didn’t make it into the final version of Senate Bill 26.

“Lake Loch Pond Monster,” the creation of independent filmmaker Carolina Diz and actress and creator Brittany Zeinstra, is the winner of this year’s biennial Cinema at Citygarden film competition.

Susan Polgar, the first woman to earn the Chess Grandmaster title by norm and rating, will soon retire from Webster University. She discusses nature vs. nurture, women and chess and her future plans for the championship program she built from scratch

The IpsiHand Upper Extremity Rehabilitation System recently received market authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. The device has stroke patients utilize a robotic exoskeleton on their hand and wrist, allowing them to open and close their hand using their minds.

Mike Milton’s new organization will offer diversion from the criminal justice system for an intensive process including both victim and defendant. He and UMSL’s John Nanney explain what inspired it, and how it will work

The “Second Amendment Preservation Act” could cause serious problems for law enforcement, says St. Louis Interim Public Safety Director Dan Isom. He explains his concerns, which include costly fines for police departments that seek to enforce gun laws

Florissant-based novelist Lyndsey Ellis discusses the 16-year journey to bring her novel to publication, and the St. Louis history that provides a backdrop to its plot.

For nearly a decade, the local band FIRE DOG has been writing songs about endangered species. It even released a concept album. Now band leader Mark Pagano has enlisted area elementary school kids to help the band in its fixation — and the kids have crafted some great lyrics. We play some highlights.

Fifty-four years ago this month, three boys went missing in Hannibal, Missouri, and were never seen again. The cold case, situated as it is in the boyhood home of Mark Twain and beloved fictional characters like Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher, has been the subject of attention and speculation by everyone from authors to armchair detectives in the decades since.

In this episode, we discuss the science behind Missouri’s many sinkholes and learn how the city of St. Louis was developed upon porous and uncertain terrain.

Sylvester Brown grapples with race and humanity in his new story collection. In this episode, we listen back to his January 2021 conversation about it with host Sarah Fenske.

LynnMarie Alexander’s new book, “The Hill: St. Louis’s Italian American Neighborhood,” is a coffee table-ready compilation of the neighborhood’s history and highlights. We listen back to our conversation with her in this encore episode.