St. Louis on the Air

Lamar Johnson has been in prison for 24 years. A St. Louis jury found him guilty of murder in 1995 – and he’s been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole ever since. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner now says prosecutors in her office engaged in serious misconduct. Saying her Conviction Integrity Unit has found new evidence that Johnson is actually innocent, she sought a new trial. St. Louis Circuit Judge Elizabeth Hogan denied that request. She says Gardner’s motion came “approximately 24 years” past the deadline. Tricia Bushnell, director of the Midwest Innocence Project, isn’t buying it.

Fentanyl has become an international scourge. It’s been blamed for a spike in drug overdose deaths in Missouri as well as around the world. It’s both contaminated many recreational drugs and become a substitute for heroin in many American cities. And yet the Chinese factory responsible for manufacturing most of its precursors has received funding and lucrative tax breaks from the Chinese government. Through years of research, St. Louis journalist Ben Westhoff has become one of the foremost experts into the international fentanyl trade. In this episode, he discusses his new book, “Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic.” Westhoff talks about how his investigation followed the drug from its manufacture in China to the streets of St. Louis – and the terrible impact that synthetic, laboratory-made drugs are having on communities around the world.

As a St. Louis-based designer, burlesque performer, artist and more, Maxi Glamour’s personal and professional brand is a multifaceted one. But one particular title does stand out, and that’s Glamour’s drag performer identity as the “Demon Queen of Polka and Baklava.” That persona comes to life in a new way in the new season of the “Boulet Brothers’ Dragula” reality TV series, which features Glamour. The first episode premiered on Amazon Prime Video on Tuesday, and in this episode of the talk show, host Sarah Fenske talks with Glamour about their experience on “Dragula” as well as other topics. Glamour, who identifies as queer and non-binary, is believed to be the first drag performer from St. Louis to appear on a major televised drag competition. They became a fan of the show long before being cast in it.

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, is manufactured by Monsanto-Bayer. Depending on who you talk to, it’s either a safe, highly effective herbicide, or, it’s a dangerous substance linked to cancer cases from use by farmers and landscapers. In this interview, Sarah Fenske talks with journalist Carey Gillam, who is coming to St. Louis to talk about her investigations into the topic of agrochemical safety and corporate interests.

Despite its ever-present vastness along the Missouri-Illinois border, the Mississippi River is easy for locals to take for granted. And all too often, residents completely avoid the river. It’s one thing to drive above it on a highway or eat a meal at a restaurant overlooking the water; relatively few actually travel its meandering length. But the people behind Big Muddy Adventures are aiming to change that, one canoe trip at a time. Host Sarah Fenske talks with the company’s founder and lead guide, Mike Clark, who is better known as “Muddy Mike," and Roo Yawitz, general manager of Big Muddy Adventures. And, producer Evie Hemphill talks with some enthusiastic recent canoe passengers.

Every city has its nightmare intersections, and many residents could likely cite a personal nemesis or two. In the greater St. Louis area, the crossroads of North Grand Boulevard and Interstate 64 in Grand Center, and Eager and Hanley in Brentwood, may well come to mind among other notoriously tricky traffic spots. Frequently stressful for drivers and non-drivers alike, these sections of public infrastructure can seem like a permanent fixture of civic life, along with the honking, confusion and rage they trigger. But change can sometimes happen. In this episode, host Sarah Fenske takes a closer look at some of the region’s worst intersections – and discusses how planners work to address trouble spots in an age of crumbling infrastructure across the U.S. The conversation also touches on what residents can do to help address problematic roads and contribute to smoother, safer streets for all. Joining the discussion are Scott Ogilvie, who is a transportation policy planner for the City of St. Louis, and Kea Wilson, a St. Louis-based communications manager for Strong Towns.

On July 30, St. Louis gained a new resident — Tobias, the Somali wild ass. His birth is special, since he is part of a subspecies that is both critically endangered in the wild and underrepresented in zoos nationwide. In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks with Tim Thier, the acting curator of antelope at Saint Louis Zoo, about the Somali wild ass and the zoo's conservation efforts in the Horn of Africa.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with a local artist who takes a contemporary look at St. Louis athletes pursuing their dreams as fighters.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Public Radio reporter Andrea Henderson about how a group of local residents doing their part to remember the first slaves brought to the English colonies four hundred years ago this month.

Earlier this week, members of the Missouri Botanical Garden horticulture staff returned from a research trip in the Central Asia country of Kyrgyzstan. Host Sarah Fenske talks to Megan Engelhardt, manager of the Botanical Garden's Seed Bank, and horticulturist Dave Gunn, about how the staff went about bringing seeds back to add to the Botanical Garden’s seed bank to propagate.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with renowned St. Louis chef Gerard Craft about his battles with anxiety, and the way rankings and awards wreaked havoc with his well-being.

The XFL is a planned professional U.S. football league with the mission of reimagining America’s favorite sport. The league originally debuted in 2001, and only lasted one season. XFL games are set to begin again in February 2020. The St. Louis BattleHawks were one of the league’s eight teams announced this week. In this interview, Sarah Fenske learns about the XFL resurgence by talking with the BattleHawks team president, Kurt Hunzeker.

Thousands of people in the St. Louis region depend on Metro Transit’s 83 total MetroBus routes and 46 miles of MetroLink tracks to get where they need to go every day. But on Monday, many of those transit users were left waiting at their usual stops for many minutes, some even for hours, as expected public transportation vehicles did not arrive. The transit agency cited a driver shortage early Monday as the cause of the delays, putting out a statement that read, in part, “Due to an unusually high number of MetroBus operators already calling off work and declining to work extra assignments, we anticipate that we will not be in position to deliver the normally high quality service the region has come to expect every day.” In this episode, host Sarah Fenske hears from riders who ran into snafus on Monday – and also talks with Catina Wilson, vice president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 788, and St. Louis Public Radio digital reporter Kae Petrin.

For more than a year, city officials and an army of consultants have been exploring the possibility of leasing St. Louis Lambert International Airport to a private entity. Host Sarah Fenske explores where things stand with leasing the city’s largest public asset alongside St. Louis Public Radio reporter Corinne Ruff and Alderwoman Cara Spencer, D-20th Ward.

In this segment, we mark National Senior Citizens Day by talking with Vanessa Woods, who teaches ballet classes to seniors in assisted living facilities.

Last Friday, local theater veteran Linda Kennedy died after battling cancer. She was 68 years old. In this episode of the show, host Sarah Fenske talks with Ron Himes, founder and producing director of the Black Rep, where Kennedy performed many of her greatest roles.

Host Sarah Fenske delves into the latest news surrounding plans for a Major League Soccer team in St. Louis. Joining the discussion are Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia, whose 6th Ward encompasses the west downtown area where the proposed stadium would sit; “St. Louligan” Stu Hultgren, a south St. Louis resident and avid local soccer fan; and “Mr. Soccer” Bill McDermott, St. Louis University’s longtime men’s soccer game announcer. The conversation also includes questions from listeners and their wide-ranging opinions on what the new team ought to be named.

St. Louis’ literary community lost one of its most influential members, Lorin Cuoco, 64, earlier this month. The longtime editor and poet passed away at her University City home Aug. 8 after a long illness, as reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Cuoco is perhaps best known for her work alongside the late novelist William Gass, a dear friend and collaborator. Together they founded and oversaw Washington University’s International Writers Center (now the Center for the Humanities), and she edited multiple books with Gass. She was also a force for the St. Louis Poetry Center, the River Styx literary organization and other local efforts to raise the profile of St. Louis’ literary scene. On top of all that, she was an accomplished radio professional. In this episode, host Sarah Fenske discusses Cuoco’s life and legacy with two people who observed her influence firsthand: Mary Edwards and Joel Minor. Remembrances from multiple listeners are also included.

Host Sarah Fenske explored how and why people start their own pop-ups, and how patrons can find out about them for the latest Sound Bites segment with Sauce Magazine. Joining the program were Sauce managing editor Heather Hughes – and pop-up owners Chelsie Hellige of Spirit House and Steven Pursley of Ramen x Rui.

A U.S. District Court recently ruled that the Missouri Parole Board has been violating the U.S. and Missouri constitutions in its handling of cases involving juvenile offenders. In this interview, host Sarah Fenske talks with the director of the MacArthur Justice Center, Amy Breihan, about the ways Breihan feels the parole board has failed to comply with state and federal law in its handling of cases involving young people who were originally given mandatory life sentences without parole.

Legal experts Bill Freivogel, Mark Smith and Lisa Hoppenjans discuss topics including the sentence of former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger, a licensing dispute concerning a restaurant on The Hill and the case of a man wearing body armor and carrying a rifle who caused panic at a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri.

More than 430 inmates have overdosed in Missouri prisons since May 2017, and at least five of them have died after taking controlled substances such as heroin, fentanyl and synthetic cannabinoids. St. Louis Public Radio’s Shahla Farzan talks with host Sarah Fenske about her recent reporting on the situation.

From its early Lemp Brewery days to the Schlafly era and beyond, St. Louis has earned its reputation as a drinking town. But lately the city is also seeing a nightlife trend that doesn’t involve alcohol at all. Among other beverage and restaurant industry professionals, the people behind WellBeing Brewing, a locally based company that exclusively makes non-alcoholic craft beer, have helped to catalyze the movement. So has the Wellness Council of St. Louis, which is affiliated with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse and oversees Sans Bar STL. The inaugural Sans Bar STL event early this year drew about 300 people to Third Degree Glass Factory for a night of music, glass-blowing, tarot card readings and handcrafted alcohol-free drinks. Host Sarah Fenske discusses St. Louis’ growing sobriety scene with Genevieve Barlow, co-founder of WellBeing Brewing; restaurant industry veteran Tom Halaska; and Nichole Dawsey, executive director of NCADA.

St. Louis Public Schools has lost four children to gun violence over summer break, including the most recent death of Xavier Usanga, an incoming second-grader at Clay Elementary, who was shot and killed on Monday. In this St. Louis on the Air episode, host Sarah Fenske talks with school officials about the ways their districts are helping St. Louis kids cope with a long, violent summer.

The chancellor is the chief academic, administrative, and budgetary officer of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Tom George has held the post for the past 16 years. He is retiring Sept. 1. In this St. Louis on the Air segment, Sarah Fenske talks with George about his tenure, major trends in higher education and what he hopes to see in the university’s future.

In this St. Louis on the Air segment, guest host Jonathan Ahl talks with the new chancellor of Missouri University of Science and Technology.

"How has the death of Michael Brown Jr. impacted your life?" That's among the questions that the St. Louis Public Radio community and people throughout the region have been pondering in recent days in light of the five-year anniversary of the Ferguson protests. The answers are myriad, but Olajuwon Davis’ certainly stands out in the crowd: He’s spent most of his life since that time in prison. How and why Davis’ life changed so drastically in the wake of Brown’s death is the focus of a newly published report by the Riverfront Times’ Danny Wicentowski. In it, Wicentowski details everything from the moment Davis, then a member of the New Black Panther Party, first became active in Ferguson to his arrest and conviction in an FBI sting for “planning and conspiring to ignite explosive devices” among other charges. Prosecutors would allege he and his alleged co-conspirator Brandon Baldwin sought to blow up the Gateway Arch. Host Sarah Fenske discusses Davis’ prosecution with Wicentowski and with Trevor Aaronson, who is a contributor to The Intercept and the author of “The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism.”

Host Sarah Fenske explores what the busing experience has been like for students who participated in St. Louis' desegregation program – and if it’s really time to wind it down. Joining the conversation were former VICC students Maalik Shakoor and Hope Rias; and Veronica Johnson, a civil rights attorney in St. Louis who represented the NAACP and helped bring about the busing program by suing the St. Louis schools.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with artist Tonina Saputo, who is among the rising names in the local music scene, and whose reach is far and wide. The St. Louis-raised musician has made the world her stage, performing throughout Europe and singing in both English and Spanish. Former President Barack Obama is a fan himself and placed her song “Historia De un Amor” on his best-of-the-year roundup.

Last week, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch unveiled a new online comment system. Declaring its old Facebook-based model broken, the daily newspaper explained that community moderation and a scoring system for commenters would give greater prominence to readers who “consistently drive positive conversation.” The paper's reader engagement editor, Beth O’Malley, joins the show to discuss how the new system is working and the difficulties of keeping online conversation civil in an angry age. Lindsay Toler, digital engagement producer for St. Louis Public Radio, also participates in the discussion.

A few weeks ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released some positive statistics related to the ongoing opioid crisis. While drug overdose deaths in the U.S. had reached record levels in 2017, the nation saw an overall 4.2% decline in 2018. In Missouri, though, the 2018 outcomes were far less hopeful – despite an influx of $65 million in federal funds aimed at addressing the crisis over the past few years. Provisional data for the state indicates a 16% increase in drug overdose deaths over the course of last year. Host Sarah Fenske talks with two local experts about where Missouri should go from here in light of the discouraging statistics.

To describe the St. Lou Fringe Festival as a theater event is something of a misnomer. There are plenty of actors, playwrights and other theater professsionals involved in the annual six-day-long extravaganza that gets underway this Tuesday. But there are also poets, dancers, performance artists, sculptors, burlesque performers and improv acts. This year’s offerings also run the gamut with offerings by established and experienced playwrights as well as emerging artists and previously untested work. That’s by design, according to organizer Matthew Kerns. He and playwright Shannon Geier, whose local headline act “Check In” will help kick off the festival, talk with host Sarah Fenske.

This edition of St. Louis on the Air features highlights from a live storytelling event with speakers whose lives changed drastically after Michael Brown Jr. was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson.

It’s been five years since Michael Brown was killed by a Ferguson police officer, setting off a protest movement that led to big changes here in St. Louis and throughout the world. Remembering those events, the St. Louis Public Radio newsroom interviewed nearly twenty people for its Living Ferguson project. By talking to people who lived the events in Ferguson, or are directly touched by the systemic inequalities exposed in its wake, the reporters seek to illuminate what we remember, how we have changed, and what we hope for. Shula Neuman, executive editor of the St. Louis Public Radio, joins host Sarah Fenske to talk about the project.

Last week, St. Louis attorney Michael Kahn won over a federal jury in a case looking at whether the Katy Perry song "Dark Horse" infringed on the copyright of a 2009 rap song “Joyful Noise” by St. Louis artist Marcus Gray, who is known as Flame. The jury decided that Katy Perry and Capitol Records must pay Gray $2.78 million in damages. In this segment, Sarah Fenske discusses the case with Kahn, as well as copyright expert Micah Zeller of Washington University Libraries.

As the host of The Splendid Table, a cookbook editor and food journalist, Francis Lam has explored cuisines from all around the world. That may be one reason he’s not at all disconcerted by St. Louis’ method of slicing bagels as if they were loaves of bread.

The first few minutes of Tanner Craft’s new short film pair a seemingly everyday scene – a mother and her young son at a doctor’s office – with an unsettling soundtrack. There’s a looming, ongoing hum audible beneath the dialogue as the physician tells the mother that her son has autism spectrum disorder. “It’s a developmental disorder,” the doctor says, the mother appearing overwhelmed. “It impairs his ability to communicate and interact with others.” But “Diagnosis,” which Craft wrote, directed and produced, doesn’t stop there. The film goes on to highlight a mother-son journey from early diagnosis, to learning more about autism and existing resources, to finding new ways to connect with one another and thrive. On Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske talked with both Craft and his mother, Tanya Craft, about the film and about autism’s influence on their lives.

Host Sarah Fenske delves into ways that St. Louis’ Latino community continues to grow and influence the city – artistically and otherwise. A local artist and podcast host share their experiences of navigating a bicultural life, the importance of representation in their fields of work and how the Latino arts scene is expanding in the region.

Host Sarah Fenske sits down with Anna Crosslin, CEO of the International Institute, and Nadya Kanim, a business specialist there, to discuss their weekly lunch, the institute’s efforts to support immigrants, and the bevy of cuisines on the menu.

Host Sarah Fenske sits down with Anna Crosslin, CEO of the International Institute, and Nadya Kanim, a business specialist there, to discuss their weekly lunch, the institute’s efforts to support immigrants, and the bevy of cuisines on the menu.

Young adults throughout the St. Louis area make up the artist collective, St. Louis Story Stitchers. They aim to showcase the region’s culture through performance art, and they work to curb gun violence, which many of its members have grown up with.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with our partners from Sauce Magazine about the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community. Joining her for the conversation were Catherine Klene and Matt Sorrell, managing editor and staff writer, respectively.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with Dr. Page for a look at what he’s accomplished in his first 100 days in office as St. Louis County Executive, and what he hopes to do in the weeks and months to come.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with longtime Quincy Senior High School music director Kathi Dooley about her experience on Netflix's "Queer Eye" makeover show, "Dooley-cizing," her future plans and more.

Host Sarah Fenske spoke with Amy Breihan, director of the MacArthur Justice Center, and Nicholas Phillips, a reporter at Missouri Lawyers Weekly, about developments in a case against the state of Missouri, for allegedly failing to provide “meaningful” legal representation for indigent defendants, as the U.S. Constitution requires. Because the public defenders’ office is overworked and underfunded, the ACLU and the MacArthur Justice Center argued, poor people charged with a crime are denied their constitutional rights.

Paying for child care is one of the largest expenses per month for families. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of infant child care in Missouri is about $800 a month. At the same time, day care providers are tasked with more work for little pay. On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske hosts a discussion on the rising cost of child care, the impact on families, and the challenges facing child care center teachers.

Paying for child care is one of the largest expenses per month for families. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of infant child care in Missouri is about $800 a month. At the same time, day care providers are tasked with more work for little pay. On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske hosts a discussion on the rising cost of child care, the impact on families, and the challenges facing child care center teachers.

Host Sarah Fenske previews the latest Missouri History Museum exhibits: “Pulitzer Prize Photographs” and “In Focus: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Photographs.” The first is a traveling exhibit from the Newseum in Washington, displaying the most comprehensive collection of Pulitzer-winning photos ever assembled. The second provides a companion exhibit that shows off the work of local photojournalists.

A group of local teens made St. Louis proud earlier this month when they earned first place at the 2019 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival in Las Vegas. Sarah Fenske talks with two members of the award-winning team: Zack Lesmeister, who is a graduate of Marquette High School, a freshman at Emerson College and a former St. Louis youth poet laureate, and Keana Fox, a graduate of Collinsville High School who is headed to college in Indianapolis this fall. Also participating in the discussion is one of the team’s coaches, Sahara Sista SOLS.

St. Louis County has significantly reduced its jail population over the past year, as Missouri Lawyers Weekly reported last month. Officials say the drop from an over-capacity total of 1,242 inmates in July 2018 down to 965 as of May 2019 has a lot to do with justice reform efforts that began in the wake of Ferguson protests. University of Missouri-St. Louis criminologist Beth Huebner has led research in collaboration with the county, its circuit court and service providers – an effort fueled by $4.5 million in grant funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She talks with host Sarah Fenske about the progress she’s observed in the county system as well as aspects still in need of change.