St. Louis on the Air

With Sunday's big game looming, Jeremy Housewright and Kendel Beard join host Sarah Fenske to share their perceptions of Chiefs fandom growth in the St. Louis region and what sets the Kansas City team apart.

STLPR's Corinne Ruff gives us a closer look at the enormity of what the Missouri Department of Labor is demanding back from residents whom it mistakenly overpaid a collective total of $150 million in unemployment benefits — and how lawmakers are fighting against that demand.

Every year, Sauce Magazine profiles rising stars in the St. Louis restaurant industry in its "Ones to Watch" feature. We meet two of them: Juwan Rice and Justin McMillen.

The longtime president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, Lewis Reed, is making his third run for mayor. He discusses his agenda.

Chemist Cynthia Chapple is the founder of Black Girls Do STEM, a local organization focused on the empowerment of Black girls in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She explains how the organization is trying to combat barriers faced by women of color in the STEM fields.

Alderwoman Cara Spencer is making her first run for citywide office in the mayoral primary this March. She explains her vision for the city and why being an outsider might actually be a benefit.

St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones almost won the 2017 mayor's race -- and is one of four candidates this spring. She explains her thoughts on public safety and what she'd do as mayor.

The rates of alcohol and drug abuse are higher within the food service industry than most other professions. And yet, restaurateur Katie Collier is a testament to the fact that you don’t need to leave the service industry to curb an addiction. After struggling with substance abuse for years, Collier is now celebrating a decade of sobriety.

Concerns about the rural-urban divide are a common refrain in 21st-century America. In his latest feature for St. Louis Public Radio, reporter Jonathan Ahl digs into one big idea for a solution to that issue and more: better rural internet access. He talks with host Sarah Fenske about the possibilities.

Mayoral candidate Andrew Jones is the only person in the race who’s never held elected office. He explains why voters should trust him with the city, and how his plan to get tough on crime is different than Mayor Krewson’s.

The biggest campaign on Kickstarter right now comes courtesy of a St. Louis dad who lost his job in the pandemic and decided to go all-in on a simple idea with big appeal: magnetic pillow forts. Conor B. Lewis explains his vision for Fort.

2020 Great Rivers Biennial Arts Award recipient Tim Portlock delves into his “Nickels from Heaven” exhibit. The St. Louis-based artist uses aesthetic conventions from 19th-century American landscape paintings to illustrate his themes about America’s identity.

The STORM Act, signed into law on Jan. 1 by then-President Donald Trump, authorizes FEMA to provide $200 million for a Resilience Revolving Loan fund and allows states to offer low-interest loans to counties and cities for disaster mitigation projects.

Legislative aides to Missouri Democrats are angry that they voted to censure state Rep. Wiley Price, not expel him. Price is accused of threatening an aide to cover up a sexual interaction with an intern. Jason Hancock of the Missouri Independent explains why staffers are so upset.

Democratic lawmakers want to commemorate a sordid chapter in St. Louis history at one of downtown's most visited sites — pens that held enslaved people in what's now the shadow of Busch Stadium. We discuss the new effort and the history behind it.

The ability to speak freely in 2021 is complicated in ways the framers of the U.S. Constitution never envisioned. In this episode, we discuss how the First Amendment applies in this brave new world and whether unpopular speech — be it a dissenting opinion, a false claim or outright hate speech — deserves protection not just from the government, but tech giants like Twitter, Facebook and Google.

Steve St. Pierre opened Have A Cow Cattle Company and Urban Farm Store, along Lafayette Avenue in the Gate District neighborhood, on Jan. 20. In addition to the restaurant's menu items and other products, the for-profit endeavor incorporates goals of service, loving one’s enemies and breaking down barriers.

Jacque Knight, chair of St. Louis' Community Mobility Committee, joins the talk show to share how the group is focusing its efforts and what local residents can do to amplify its work to improve road conditions for all users.

St. Louis on the Air's Legal Roundtable discusses a lawsuit attorney Mark McCloskey filed against a local Catholic school, an age discrimination claim against KMOV, St. Louis County's governance battle and more.

Washington University Sociology Professor David Cunningham shares what we can learn about right-wing, white nationalist groups today — and best practices for defeating them — by studying their mobilization during other moments in our nation's history.

Sarah Abbas and Grace Ruo, both 17, discuss Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem. They also share their hopes for bringing written and spoken words to bear on society, and read poems of their own.

Missouri Rep. LaKeySha Bosley discusses political journey and some of her initiatives tackling criminal justice reform, police brutality and the CROWN Act, which aims to address Black hair discrimination

Sylvester Brown’s new book, “White Castles with Jesus and Uncle Ray at the Used Tired Shop,” collects stories and essays the St. Louis native and longtime journalist wrote from 1995 to 2018. That period covers Brown’s years as the founder and publisher of upstart Take Five Magazine, his tenure as a columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and his many years of maintaining a blog.

The Missouri Historical Society has a major project underway to document and preserve aspects of LGBTQ history in St. Louis. To help prepare for a special exhibition on the LGBTQ community that will open in 2024, the Missouri History Museum is first presenting a virtual exhibit, which launches Thursday, to kickstart the effort.

Host Sarah Fenske explores Metro Theater's "Jacked!" production, which incorporates storytelling, poetry and hip-hop to spread an age-appropriate message about substance abuse and its effects on the community.

A study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases finds that in addition to up to half of adults being wrongfully prescribed antibiotics in hospital settings, one in four children given antibiotics in children’s hospitals are prescribed the drugs inappropriately.

Last Friday, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen was prepared to vote on a plan that would have compelled the mayor’s office to contract with Persistent Surveillance Systems, an Ohio company that hopes to use planes equipped with high-resolution cameras to monitor the city in a bid to solve violent crimes. Alderwoman Annie Rice of the 8th Ward discusses what’s next for that proposal, as well as a plan she introduced that would provide some oversight to surveillance used by the city and its police department.

As a local union rep, Dan Thacker isn’t accustomed to dealing with unemployment processes. But when the COVID-19 crisis started hitting St. Louis hard 10 months ago, that changed. Thacker, the principal officer with Teamsters Local 610, encouraged the public-sector school bus drivers and monitors the union represents to apply for unemployment when schools shut down. They did so, and were approved. Now those same workers are receiving letters from the state demanding the money back.

Local filmmaker shares more about her latest endeavor to bring the international community art "Before I Die" project back to St. Louis in hopes of reinstilling hope and reminding people of all the good left to accomplish in this lifetime.

In this episode of "St. Louis on the Air," we talk with East St. Louis native Alex Fennoy who was recently recognized with the 2020 George Bailey Distinguished Service Award from the American Bankers Association for his work bringing banking services to underserved communities.

Community members share how their lives are beginning to change and what they’re looking forward to the most, now that they’ve received the vaccine. St. Louis Public Radio health reporter Sarah Fentem also fields questions about the vaccine rollout.

Rev. Derrick Perkins and Pastor Eric Stiller share the plans their St. Louis congregations and communities have for this weekend while reflecting on how Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy speaks to this current moment in American history.

Education reporter Ryan Delaney joins to discuss the move by St. Louis Public Schools to reduce the number of schools in the district — closing at least eight schools and giving three others a reprieve — in an effort to put more funding toward support services and academics, rather than facilities costs.

Leona Augustine wrote “I’m Dreaming of No One But You" in 1942 while missing her beau, who'd enlisted in the Army. It was published as sheet music. But it's only now being released as a single, all thanks to her grandson. He explains how the song became his pandemic project.

Ever since it opened in 1997, Cooper House has prided itself on offering a vibrant quality of life to people who are unable to live independently as a result of HIV/AIDS. The residential facility, located in St. Louis’ Central West End neighborhood, typically serves 36 individuals. But in 2020, that community dwindled to 27 people. We talk with Pat Plumley, chief program officer for Doorways, the nonprofit that oversees Cooper House, and medical director Dr. Jim Hinrichs, an infectious disease specialist.

Matthew Stock and Sid Sivakumar started out talking crossword puzzles and soon became fast friends. Now a puzzle they co-wrote has been published in the New York Times. They discuss the joy of puzzle making with host Sarah Fenske.

Carol Diaz-Granados and Jim Duncan have researched rock art — referred to as petroglyphs and pictographs — for more than 30 years in Missouri. They discuss how the petroglyphs and pictographs in Missouri came to be and what they tell us about the state's indigenous history.

NPR Illinois statehouse reporter Hannah Meisel gives a preview of this year's Illinois legislative session, where lawmakers are expected to address the state budget (which is $4 billion out of balance) and several proposals designed to narrow racial economic inequities.

Republicans (and former Republicans) formed the Lincoln Project to defeat Donald Trump. Now Sen. Josh Hawley is in their sights. Co-founder Reed Galen explains how they plan to get inside his head -- and what it will take to end their campaign against him.

Along with Alex and Carly Garcia, UMSL political scientist Adriano Udani and St. Louis-based attorney Javad Khazaeli, both sons of immigrants, discuss the changes they anticipate President Joe Biden's administration making when it comes to U.S. immigration policy and regulation — and what it all could mean for immigrants in the region.

Terri Krueger worked at KSDK for 41 years, and went from the lone female photographer in the TV market to one of many. She discusses her career and what changed in her four decades of journalism.

Singer Aloha Misho and rapper Rockwell Knuckles discuss their latest music projects as The Knuckles band. They describe their debut album’s vibe as joyous, aimed at combating the “spiritual lows” brought on in 2020. In addition to the “Good Timing” album, each artist has their own individual music projects planned for the year.

Author Tom Vanderbilt talks with host Sarah Fenske about his new book "Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning" which highlights his year-long experience tackling five new skills: chess, singing, surfing, drawing, and juggling.

St. Louis Public Radio reporter Jaclyn Driscoll joins Sarah Fenske to discuss the major issues likely to be debated this session at the Missouri Statehouse, including COVID-19 liability protection for businesses, Medicaid expansion and the state budget.

On Tuesday, the public safety committee of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen voted to endorse a controversial aerial surveillance program in hopes of solving violent crime. In this episode, we discuss the proposal with Missouri Independent reporter, Rebecca Rivas.

Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley was the first senator to announce his challenge to Congress’ certification of Joe Biden’s electoral college victory. Does he bear responsibility for the violent scene yesterday at the Capitol? Host Sarah Fenske explores that question with former Senator Claire McCaskill.

Thomas Park’s invention, the GenerIter, uses Python code to transform a series of sounds into a piece of music. Would-be composers can plug in short clips of their choosing and let the code do the rest. With it, he’s generated thousands of unique pieces in just a few minutes, and he hopes other musicians and music enthusiasts will join him in doing the same.

The mayor's race in the city of St. Louis is coming up fast, and with the recent passage of Proposition D plus Mayor Lyda Krewson's decision not to run for reelection, there are some big changes compared to the mayoral race four years ago. St. Louis Public Radio's Rachel Lippmann brings us up to speed.

Husband-and-wife co-founders Sara Baker and Anatolij Gelimson discuss their St. Louis-based startup Fast Democracy, which lets activists and professionals alike keep an eye on legislatures in all 50 states.

Missouri Botanical Garden President Peter Wyse Jackson and Senior Vice President of Science Jim Miller share examples of the center's new plant discoveries worldwide and talk about the overarching view and particularities of this work.