St. Louis on the Air

Metro Theater Company’s Julia Flood was looking for a classic holiday show this fall — one that would also speak to Metro’s mission as a theater company inspired by the intelligence and emotional wisdom of young people. Her colleague John Wolbers’ fresh take on the story of George Bailey and the town of Bedford Falls aspires to fit the bill. Set at a fictional St. Louis radio station 70 years ago and framed as a radio play within a play, the local playwright’s retelling of “It’s a Wonderful Life” aims to build a generational bridge. The 50-minute production opens this Sunday at the Grandel, with the cast introducing younger theatergoers — and audiences of all ages — to the golden age of radio as well as a long-beloved tale. In this segment, Wolbers joins host Sarah Fenske to talk about his adaptation ahead of its opening matinee (performances run Nov. 17 through Dec. 15). Also joining the broadcast are cast members Alicia Revé Like, Abraham Shaw and Chris E. Ware. The trio present a scene from the play during the show, complete with Foley sound artistry.

The weather outside may be frightful, but Patrick Horine, co-founder of the popular Tower Grove Farmers Market, isn’t exactly closing up shop for the colder months these days. As he looks toward the final market of the season this weekend in the south St. Louis park, he’s also gearing up for its wintry equivalent — which is growing. Initially launched in 2007 as a monthly affair, the Winter Market this year will take place weekly beginning Dec. 7. And it’s moving to the spacious Koken Art Factory in St. Louis’ Fox Park neighborhood to accommodate dozens of local vendors. In this segment, Horine joins Sarah Fenske for a sneak peek at the wintry offerings, which also will feature a holiday theme the first three Saturdays of the season. He also discusses farmers market trends in the region as a whole.

In 2012, Rita Csapo-Sweet and her husband, the late Frederick Sweet, jointly published a paper on the ghastly but little-known legacy of Carl Clauberg, a German physician who conducted mass sterilization experiments at Auschwitz during World War II. Clauberg would use his work in the concentration camp to develop a pioneering fertility test. “Clauberg’s name needs to be placed next to [Josef] Mengele’s in its rightful place in infamy,” the two scholars concluded, emphasizing that Clauberg’s medical crimes against humanity “must be disclosed whenever the test bearing his name appears” in modern biomedical texts. As Csapo-Sweet and Sweet dug into their research, filmmakers Sylvia Nagel and Sonya Winterberg also began a documentary about Clauberg — and the St. Louis-based couple’s academic article filled in key gaps in the filmmakers’ story. Nagel and Winterberg reached out to Csapo-Sweet in 2015, and she joined the documentary as its American producer. Now complete, “Made in Auschwitz: The Untold Story of Block 10” will be screened this weekend as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. In this episode of St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske talks with Csapo-Sweet about the film and the history of genocidal collaboration by medical professionals, both during the Holocaust and more recently. Csapo-Sweet is an associate professor of media studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Bush honeysuckle isn't native to Missouri, but the species is flourishing in the state. In an effort to upset honeysuckle infestation, the Missouri Botanical Garden has organized public events and volunteer removal days to raise public awareness about the need for bush honeysuckle removal and the benefits of replacing it with native plants. Host Sarah Fenske talks with the garden’s restoration outreach coordinator, Ali Brown, about the organization’s Honeysuckle Sweep Month, the impacts of honeysuckle and other invasive plants in Missouri and what can be done to combat their disruptions.

In 2009, New York Post reporter Susannah Cahalan suddenly experienced hallucinations, paranoia, seizures and catatonia. She was misdiagnosed for a month before she was finally treated for a rare autoimmune disease that can attack the brain, anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. She investigated her experience and published the details in her 2012 book, “Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness.” Led by a concern that others suffering from this condition were being mistreated in psychiatric hospitals, she began looking into an influential 1973 study titled "On Being Sane in Insane Places" by psychologist David Rosenhan. The details of her investigation are found in her latest book, “The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness.”

For nearly three decades, the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis has bestowed its World Ecology Award on prominent biodiversity-minded individuals ranging from John Denver to E.O. Wilson. But this year the center is instead honoring a pair of world-class local institutions — the Missouri Botanical Garden and the St. Louis Zoo — for their critical research and conservation work in Madagascar. In this episode, Sarah Fenske talks with the center’s interim director, Patty Parker, and with a Malagasy scientist, Fidisoa Rasambainarivo, who is in St. Louis to speak at an upcoming gala where the zoo and garden are being honored. The conversation also includes comments from zoo and garden staff.

Last night, a meteor shower caused a bright flash in the night sky that many home security cameras in the St. Louis area captured. The annual Taurid meteor shower, which is known to burn more brightly than other meteor events, hit its peak on Monday evening. In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks about the science behind Monday's meteor with Will Snyder, manager of the James S. McDonnell Planetarium at the St. Louis Science Center.

In 2009, when Sheila McGlown began battling metastatic breast cancer at the age of 43, she was already a skilled fighter. She’d spent 25 years in the U.S. Air Force, a background she says gave her strength as well as a sense of defiance that would serve her well amid new challenges. Ten years later, McGlown is still undergoing cancer treatment — and still focused on the service to others that she cherished during her military career. The Swansea, Illinois, resident has found a new passion for advocacy around the inclusion of women of color in clinical trials. Meanwhile, she’s also 16 months into a clinical trial participation herself. In this episode of the talk show, in light of Veterans Day, McGlown joins Sarah Fenske to discuss her ongoing journey.

Parents and educators often look for various ways to engage kids in reading. While traditional novels are seen as the “ideal,” graphic novels can be just as effective. Similar to comic books, graphic novels tend to be in a longer format, and the narrative is largely self-contained. With the combination of text and pictures, graphic novels have complex plots, characters and conflicts. DC Comics recently introduced a line of superhero-based graphic novels aimed at middle-grade readers — kids between the ages of 8 and 12. Host Sarah Fenske talks with authors Ridley Pearson and Meg Cabot ahead of their St. Louis County Library appearance.

For months on end, consultants with an interest in privatizing St. Louis Lambert International Airport have billed tens of thousands of dollars while working to craft language underpinning an airport lease. Their chief antagonists have been working just as long — only they’re doing it without any hope of a payday. Calling themselves STL Not for Sale, the group of gadflies has been a familiar presence at public forums. They want to force a public vote on a deal that Mayor Lyda Krewson prefers to leave to the Board of Aldermen. In this segment, host Sarah Fenske talks with Josie Grillas and Chris Ottolino of STL Not for Sale about their efforts and the “town hall” they’re hosting on Nov. 14.

St. Louis’ relatively low cost of living is an oft-touted point of pride for the region. But a newly released report by the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council, or EHOC, suggests that life in the Gateway City isn’t so affordable for everyone — especially when it comes to paying rent. Compiled by the organization’s community engagement specialist, the report aims to fill an information gap when it comes to understanding local rent costs. And one of the key takeaways from Glenn Burleigh’s ZIP-code-level analysis is that perceptions of gentrification are rooted in reality: Across the city of St. Louis, rents are rising faster than in the metropolitan region as a whole, and twice as fast in the central corridor and south St. Louis. In this episode, Burleigh joins host Sarah Fenske to discuss the implications of EHOC’s recent findings as well as related topics.

The 28th St. Louis International Film Festival returns this week to offer local moviegoers the chance to view international films, documentaries, American indies and shorts over the course of 11 days. Host Sarah Fenske talks with Cinema St. Louis artistic director Chris Clark about some of this year’s highlights. Also joining the discussion are two film directors whose works take a look at issues pertaining to the region, albeit vastly different ones.

Nurses say that the threat of violence is increasingly part of their jobs, and both hospitals and college instructors are finding ways to help them maintain safety in the face of that danger. This troubling landscape is the focus of a new piece by "5 On Your Side" KSDK reporter Jenna Barnes.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with Mike Isaacson, artistic director and executive producer of the Muny. In addition to the 2020 season, they touch on the Muny’s $100 million capital campaign and recent renovations, as well as local and national musical theater trends.

Ten years ago, a trio of recent law school graduates formed a nonprofit law firm. They called it ArchCity Defenders. And they had a novel idea: wraparound services, not just legal representation, for the people who needed it most. As Michael-John Voss explains it, he and his co-founders, Thomas Harvey and John McAnnar, were inspired by the Jesuit tradition at St. Louis University School of Law. After taking classes in public interest law, they found themselves working on projects representing those too poor to afford lawyers. “We saw the fact that the existing entities that were supposed to serve the indigent population were overburdened and overworked,” he say. “And there was no communication between the civil and criminal organizations that are supposed to serve this population. We thought, ‘There’s got to be a better way to do this.’” In this episdoe, he and ArchCity Executive Director Blake Strode talk with host Sarah Fenske.

Most people are knowledgeable about the early accomplishments of Michelangelo, like his work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in his 30s. But the artist and architect worked well into his 80s, at a time when the average life expectancy was about 40 to 45 years. The latter part of Michelangelo’s career is the focus of a new book by Washington University Art History Professor William Wallace. It’s titled “Michelangelo, God's Architect: The Story of His Final Years and Greatest Masterpiece.”

Last month, Tom Townsend died at 60, just two weeks after being diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer. It was a devastating blow. Just one year before, Townsend had survived being shot in an attempted carjacking. And he was a much-loved figure in St. Louis. One big reason for that was the organization he founded: Pianos for People. A retired advertising executive, Townsend had devoted what would prove the final seven years of his life to helping underprivileged students access both free pianos and free lessons in playing them. But Pianos for People continues its work. And in this episode, we meet its new director and hear from some young pianists, too.

Most people are knowledgeable about the early accomplishments of Michelangelo, like his work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in his 30s. But the artist and architect worked well into his 80s, at a time when the average life expectancy was about 40 to 45 years. The latter part of Michelangelo’s career is the focus of a new book by Washington University art history professor, William Wallace. It’s titled “Michelangelo, God's Architect: The Story of His Final Years and Greatest Masterpiece.”

In three weeks, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency will formally break ground on Next NGA West, its long-anticipated new headquarters that will be located in north St. Louis. The $1.7 billion construction project is expected to last several years, with a goal of completing much of the campus in 2023. In this segment, Next NGA West Program Director Sue Pollmann joins host Sarah Fenske to give an update on the project and to discuss the spy agency’s hopes for the St. Louis region as a geospatial industry hub.

In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks with Harriet Tubman impersonator Glynis Brooks about her reaction to the new Tubman biopic and her role as a Tubman impersonator.

Peter Robinson had just turned 30 years old when, as Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter in 1987, he was tasked with crafting what would become one of the world’s most famous presidential speeches. “I spent six years in the Reagan White House and I wrote tens of thousands of words, and nobody remembers anything except six of them — and one of them is ‘mister,’” said Robinson, referring to the memorable “tear down this wall” line that Reagan directed at Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev before a crowd of thousands at the Berlin Wall. In this episode, Robinson joins host Sarah Fenske in light of the 30-year commemoration of the fall of that wall.

Saturday (Nov. 9) will mark 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall that divided Germany from 1961 to 1989. In this episode, we discuss a local dance production being staged this week by Modern American Dance Company, or MADCO, that explores the personal stories behind the Cold War politics of the time. The production, “WallSTORIES,” is choreographed by native Berliner Nejla Yatkin and is a collaboration between MADCO and the University of Missouri-St. Louis' German Culture Center.

Ron Calzone isn’t a paid lobbyist. He might be better described as an activist. He has strong opinions about politics -- conservative ones. And because of that, he spends a fair amount of time in Jefferson City at the Missouri Capitol, seeking to persuade lawmakers to come around to his point of view. Not everyone likes that, and in 2014, someone filed a complaint against Calzone with the Missouri Ethics Commission. They said he needed to file as a lobbyist and pay annual registration fees, and the commission agreed. But Calzone didn’t back down so quickly. He’s a guy with strong opinions, after all. And he believed that being treated as a lobbyist violated his First Amendment rights, so he sued. Last Friday, he won. A nine-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled a previous three-judge panel that had ruled against Calzone. In an 8-1 decision, the judges agreed that demanding Calzone register as a lobbyist violates his rights. In this segment, Calzone’s attorney, David Roland, talks with host Sarah Fenske.

The St. Louis comedy scene is a busy one. Just about any night of the week, you can catch local comedians honing their sets at open-mic night, improvising madly on stage with a troupe of their closest friends or battling each other with wit and good humor as local drunks cheer. For the past three years, a three-day comedy festival has brought those disparate elements together. The Flyover Comedy Festival launched in 2017 and returns to the city’s Grove neighborhood beginning this Thursday (Nov. 7). It’s a showcase for local talent in the scene and also a chance for big names to show off their best stuff. In this segment, St. Louis on the Air host Sarah Fenske and co-founder Zach Gzehoviak discuss the festival with local comedians Kenny Kinds and Tina Dybal.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann about why he supports the exploration of regional governance of St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

In this segment, we learn about the Excelsior Program, which aims to help kids overcome trauma by teaching them meditation, mindfulness, and martial arts.

The first-ever STL Startup Week begins November 1, celebrating a growing entrepreneurial scene in a city once better known for beer and brick. An integral part of St. Louis’ startup scene: women. Host Sarah Fenske discusses the startup culture in St. Louis and local efforts to support women and their businesses.

The holiday season often signals a time when people gather together and aim to impress their friends and loved ones with their cooking skills. And now, home chefs can try some recipes not found in the Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray cookbooks. R.J. Hartbeck and Mary von der Heydt have launched a series of short cookbooks titled “Small Circle,” each showcasing about 10 recipes from noted chefs around St. Louis. They talk about what inspired the cookbooks and how they’ve gone about curating the notebook-style publications with host Sarah Fenske.

Sarah Fenske talks with state Sen. Karla May (D-St. Louis) and state Rep. Justin Hill (R-Lake St. Louis) about the recent push for an online sales tax in Missouri and how the issue may be addressed in the upcoming legislative session, which begins Jan. 8.

Annie's Hope founder and executive director Becky Byrne joins host Sarah Fenske to discuss the organization’s work to help entire families in their mourning process. Joining the conversation are Riley Mitchell and his father, Brandon. Riley, 10, lost his mother suddenly as a young child and has participated in Annie’s Hope camps and other events.

Host Sarah Fenske will be joined by a panel of legal experts to discuss a variety of recent local and national stories pertaining to the law.

In this St. Louis on the Air episode, Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Public Radio correspondent Rachel Lippmann about recent complications in the Board of Freeholders process. We also meet Board of Freeholder member and local business owner Jason Wilson.

Golf carts have long been transcending the fairways, clubs and expensive sporting equipment they evoke. In St. Louis, they’re somewhat synonymous with Soulard, where many residents use the vehicles for everyday purposes around the neighborhood — and the carts have become a common sight in some other St. Louis areas as well.

Growing up in Mexico, Lizett Mata spent a lot of time in early November each year at her father’s grave. He died when she was just seven years old, and Mata and her family would annually bring some of his favorite things to the cemetery to celebrate his and other departed loved ones’ lives. They’d spend the whole day there.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Magazine writer Jeannette Cooperman, who is leaving for a job as a staff writer at the Common Reader, a journal of essays housed at Washington University.

In this conversation, St. Louis Public Radio correspondent Jason Rosenbaum talks with Sarah Fenske about how St. Louis County Executive Sam Page and several county council members are calling for an immediate change in police administration following a nearly $20 million verdict against the county in a discrimination lawsuit by a gay officer.

Parents of children with intellectual or developmental disabilities have additional things to consider when preparing for Halloween, particularly for children whose disabilities aren’t visible. To help ensure a successful holiday for children with disabilities, Jeanne Marshall and Melanie Mills of Easterseals Midwest join guest host Jeremy D. Goodwin to discuss what caretakers and neighbors can do to accommodate.

Only eleven months into its operating life, the Loop Trolley may not be long for this world. The Loop Trolley Company announced Oct. 12 that it needs an influx of $200,000 to continue running the trolley cars through the end of 2019 — and another $500,000 for next year. In this episode, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin goes behind the headlines with STLPR political correspondent Jason Rosenbaum for analysis of the latest developments surrounding the trolley. Years in the making, the Loop Trolley took $51 million to build, with the majority of the funding coming from a Federal Transit Administration grant.

Halloween-related celebrations are legion in St. Louis, with wide-ranging revelry options available each year for enthusiasts of every sort. At the Campbell House Museum — located downtown and at the less ghoulish end of the Halloween spectrum — the holiday observance typically involves a lot of history as well as a coffin, leeches and more. This month marks 140 years since the death of the fur trader Robert Campbell, one of early St. Louis’ most prominent citizens and the museum property’s former owner, and on Friday evening members of the Mourning Society of St. Louis will be on hand to oversee this year’s iteration of the Twilight Tours. Three members of the small but active society join St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin on this episode for a preview of the nearly sold-out event — and they talk about their historical reenactment work more broadly as well.

Host Sarah Fenske talks about Missouri's Council on American Islamic Relations' past and future with its new executive director Mojda Sidiqi and her predecessor Faizan Syed.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat, recipient of the 2019 St. Louis Literary Award given by the St. Louis University Library Associates.

Last week was a busy one for David Kvidahl, who covers high school sports for STLhighschoolsports.com and STLtoday.com. On Tuesday he was calling Cardinal Ritter College Prep to let school officials know he planned to publish a story about a football player at the Catholic school taking to the field while ineligible. The next day he was reporting that St. Louis Public Schools had terminated Roosevelt High School athletic director and head football coach Trey Porter. Then, on Friday, Cardinal Ritter announced that its entire football staff had been “permanently released” by the school. In this episode, Kvidahl joins host Sarah Fenske to go behind the headlines on the latest developments in both the Roosevelt and Cardinal Ritter stories. The conversation also includes comments from two Roosevelt football players who have come to Porter's defense and from St. Louis Alderwoman Christina Ingrassia (D-6th Ward).

Through a “learn and earn” method, the organization BWorks, helps hundreds of kids each year, having expanded to include instruction in creative writing and computers as well. The organization was recently awarded a Quality of Life award from St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s office.

Drives around the St. Louis area have so far been a little less colorful this fall. That’s mainly due to unusual daytime and nighttime temperatures that are preventing chlorophyll from breaking down. The breakdown in chlorophyll causes leaves to lose their green color.

Continuity’s executive director and co-founder, Dan Parris, joins host Sarah Fenske to talk about the organization’s efforts. They are also joined by YouTuber Letisha Wexstten and continuity graduate Erica Renee Walker

Host Sarah Fenske discusses how research has led some locals of African descent to a better understanding of their complicated American stories

Host Sarah Fenske discusses how research has led some locals of African descent to a better understanding of their complicated American stories

St. Louis on the Air's Sarah Fenske Talks With STLPR's Kae Petrin And Local Attorney Mary Anne Sedey Host Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Public Radio reporter Kae Petrin and with local attorney and employment law expert Mary Anne Sedey about new efforts to give workplace protections to LGBTQ workers in Missouri. The state civil rights law is silent. But that’s not stopping some gay, lesbian and transgender activists.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with dean of the University of Missouri St. Louis Andrew Kersten and Associate Professor of History Priscilla Dowden-White about how James Baldwin’s 1974 novel is resonating across campus and the broader St. Louis community, decades after it was written. The conversation will also include the perspectives of several UMSL students and faculty members.

Growing up in Singapore, Washington University undergraduate Luka Cai was closeted, finding little support there for members of the LGBTQ community. But even in their new home of St. Louis, where Cai openly identifies as a pansexual transmasculine queer person, they’ve observed a need for more peer-to-peer support. “When I came to St. Louis I felt very much more affirmed and accepted by the St. Louis queer community, and I saw the same needs around me,” Cai said, “of people feeling isolated, rejected, discriminated against — and that comes out in terms of housing insecurity and employment security as well.” This led Cai to the idea for SQSH, the St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline that they and a co-founder launched earlier this month. The all-volunteer effort aims to be “for the St. Louis LGBTQIA+ community, by the community,” inviting calls to 314-380-7774, with highly trained volunteers ready to provide support.