St. Louis on the Air

St. Louis Public Radio executive editor Shula Neuman explores how parents approach “the talk” with their children – which often varies widely across race, gender and cultural lines.

A year after being racially profiled along with fellow black college students in Clayton, Missouri, Teddy Washington and his mother, Denise Washington, talk with St. Louis Public Radio's Shula Neuman. Also joining the discussion is Richard Weiss, whose story about the 2018 incident will appear in this Sunday's edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His reporting is supported through a grant from the Pulitzer Center.

Sauce Magazine art director Meera Nagarajan and staff writer Matt Sorrell talk up some of the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community.

Eric Schmid joined St. Louis Public Radio’s newsroom a few weeks ago as its Metro East reporter – a new role made possible through the Report for America initiative, which aims to fill important gaps in local journalism. Schmid talks with St. Louis Public Radio editors Shula Neuman and Maria Altman about what this means for the station’s news coverage and how he hopes to help boost people’s understanding and knowledge of communities just across the river from St. Louis.

St. Louis Public Radio editor Maria Altman talks with reporters Sarah Fentem and Jason Rosenbaum about the legal and political drama surrounding the state's only remaining abortion clinic.

Earlier this week, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation that will soon make recreational marijuana legal in the state. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2020, and makes Illinois the 11th state to allow recreational use. St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann goes behind the headlines on the news with Amanda Vinicky of Chicago public media outlet WTTW.

It’s been nearly eight decades since Illinois sailor William Klasing was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. His remains were just recently identified after a long process of identifying dozens of men who died on the USS Oklahoma. This weekend, members of his family from near and far are gathering in Trenton for a funeral procession and reburial in his honor.

During St. Louis’ Make Music Day last Friday, people gathered in places around the St. Louis area to do just that. And on what was meant to be the longest, sunniest day of the year, it began to rain. While it halted some outdoor performances, many, like those inside Evangeline’s Bistro and Music House, went on. St. Louis Public Radio's Alexis Moore takes in the scene.

Two and a half weeks ago, the St. Louis Blues made history with their first Stanley Cup, and the memories are still fresh for lifelong and recent fans alike. To help keep those memories alive for many years to come, St. Louis Public Library is encouraging people around the region to contribute Blues-related artifacts to the team’s official archive. St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann talks about the archive and what sorts of materials the library is seeking to add to it with Amanda Bahr-Evola, manager of special collections and digital archives.

Dr. Ken Haller regularly finds himself assuring parents that childhood vaccines are safe. He tries to do so with empathy, because along with having confidence in vaccinations, he also believes parents genuinely want what’s best for their kids. The Saint Louis University associate professor of pediatrics talks with St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann about how he navigates those vaccine worries.

Missouri Chief Justice Zel Fisher in January announced coming changes to the state’s pretrial rules, which govern bail, detention and other practices directly impacting citizens accused of a crime. The new rules, described by Fisher as “common-sense modifications” within a system that too often treats defendants according to their pocketbooks instead of the law, go into effect July 1. St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann discusses the implications with a Washington University law professor and a representative from ArchCity Defenders.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann delves into the Women’s World Cup and the state of women’s soccer with Lori Chalupny-Lawson: former U.S. Women’s National Team member, current Maryville University head coach and assistant club director of the newly formed all-girls soccer club Fire & Ice Soccer Academy. Olivia Silverman, assistant coach of the St. Louis Lions women’s team; was a goalkeeper for Saint Louis University and played on three U.S. National youth teams, also joined the conversation.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann discusses the contention surrounding police presence at this year's PrideFest, and the broader status of the transgender community in St. Louis with Jordan Braxton, the director of diversity and inclusion for Pride St. Louis, and Sayer Johnson, the executive director of the Metro Trans Umbrella Group.

Left Bank Books is turning 50 this year. Co-owner Kris Kleindienst talks about the shop’s storied history with St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann. Located in St. Louis’ bustling Central West End neighborhood, the independent bookseller got its start in 1969 when a group of Washington University graduate students set out to create a place where one could find all kinds of literature. Left Bank will formally celebrate its 50-year milestone in October.

Earlier this month, four St. Louis-area children died as a result of guns over the course of just five days. St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann discusses the ongoing violence and related trauma that many children in the region face – as well as resources and ideas for a way forward. Joining the conversation are Erica Jones, who has lost both a 7-year-old godson and an adult daughter to guns in recent years; Dr. Brad W. Warner, the Jessie L. Ternberg MD PhD Distinguished Professor of Pediatric Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine and surgeon-in-chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital; and Dr. Nicole Wilson, pediatric surgery fellow at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann delves into what the Missouri Coalition for the Environment's Known & Grown project entails, as well as its broader implications for growers and consumers, with the MCE’s food and farm director Melissa Vatterott and local food coordinator Rae Miller.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann talks trade and tariffs as they pertain to Missouri with David Meyer, senior lecturer in management in the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, in light of Gov. Mike Parson’s recent return from a trade trip in Europe.

Guest host Jim Kirchherr of the Nine Network goes behind the headlines with Brian Ellison, a host and contributor for NPR-member station KCUR in Kansas City, to discuss Kansas City's new mayor. Mayor-elect Quinton Lucas is a private attorney and alecturer at the University of Kansas School of Law, and he previously served on the city council.

Guest host Jim Kirchherr of the Nine Network goes behind the headlines with Rachel Lippmann to discuss multiple top news stories of the week, including the Missouri’s health department decision to not renew Planned Parenthood of St. Louis' abortion license, and the indictment of the former FBI agent who was hired to help with the investigation into former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.

This year, Sugarfire Smoke House won three Sauce Magazine Readers’ Choice awards: Favorite Restaurant, Favorite Barbecue and Chef of the Year – which went to Matt Glickert, catering and events chef for Sugarfire 44 in Valley Park, Missouri. Glickert talks about his award, Sugarfire’s success, statistics on the thousands of pounds of meat the restaurant goes through each month and more. Sauce Magazine art director Meera Nagarajan also joins the conversation to talk about other notable winners from this year’s Readers’ Choice, and the magazine’s food tasting Saucy Soiree event at Union Station.

St. Louis’ biggest local music festival gets underway Friday evening and all day Saturday with a lineup that the Riverfront Times has billed as its best yet. Featuring more than 100 performances by St. Louis-based bands across 11 venues, ShowcaseSTL 2019 aims to match that quantity with quality, and organizers have taken a collaborative, input-heavy approach to planning. Guest host Jim Kirchherr of the Nine Network talks with RFT music editor Daniel Hill and with Joe Hess, who has spearheaded the curation of the lineup.

Many years ago, St. Louisan Chris Bolyard made the decision to switch careers and go from working in restaurants to becoming head butcher and owner of Bolyard’s Meat and Provisions located in Maplewood. Now the local face will soon be familiar to many across the nation after his appearance on a new History Channel television series called "The Butcher." The goal of the show is to help educate the public on the skills that it takes to butcher whole animals.

Poems about St. Louis’ vibrant Bosnian community. A story of racial segregation in 1907 St. Louis that still resonates. An ode to Imo’s. These are just a few of the nearly 70 locally focused writings that fill “The St. Louis Anthology,” a newly released 240-page book. Its editor, St. Louis native Ryan Schuessler, talks about the project with St. Louis Public Radio's Shula Neuman.

The United States remains the only industrialized country that does not provide some form of universal paid family leave. Many American workers continue to have to choose between maintaining their livelihood and caring for loved ones. There is some momentum in Congress to potentially change that, and meanwhile policy varies widely at the state and employer levels. In the St. Louis region, some organizations are recognizing the positive impact that paid family leave can have, and that trend is the focus of a free Tuesday evening panel, The Future of Family Leave.

The 2019 Grand Center Theatre Crawl provides locals with the opportunity to explore new venues in St. Louis' Grand Center while enjoying short performances by over 20 local theater companies. St. Louis Public Radio’s Holly Edgell discussed what all the event will entail with Mark Abels, treasurer of West End Players Guild; Christopher Limber, artistic director of Prison Performing Arts; and Peggy Holly, event founder and lead volunteer organizer.

Marie-Christine Williams, a survivor of the 1994 Rwanda massacre, and Ron Klutho, refugee services coordinator for BIAS, talked with St. Louis Public Radio's Jonathan Ahl about the Triumph Over Darkness program commemorating the UN Day in Support of Victims of Torture on June 26.

A handful of leaders at St. Louis-area universities are each departing key roles this year. The most recent news of such shifts came last week as both Harris-Stowe State University President Dwaun Warmack and Washington University Provost Holden Thorp announced they are leaving their posts. In addition, Wash U Chancellor Mark Wrighton and University of Missouri-St. Louis Chancellor Tom George are retiring, while Lindenwood University President Michael Shonrock was let go earlier this year and McKendree University President James Dennis plans to retire after the 2019-2020 academic year. Joining St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl to help make sense of this trend and others within higher education are three guests who have been watching it all closely.

The librettist discusses her work on the opera, which opens this weekend at Opera Theater of St. Louis.

Palestinians are often portrayed in the media only when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict, but not much is discussed about the nuances of their culture, from the food they eat to the different identities that make up the culture. The Palestine Heritage Festival, organized by the Missouri chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, brings together all aspects of Palestinian life, such as music, dance and food to history and architecture.

On Tuesday a federal judge ruled that St. Louis jails cannot hold inmates simply because they cannot make bail. That decision came just one day before a press conference at City Hall, where Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, joined representatives of the Close the Workhouse campaign in urging city officials to shut down the Medium Security Institution, known as the workhouse. In this episode of "St. Louis on the Air," Cohen joins Inez Bordeaux, who spent about a month incarcerated in the workhouse in 2016, for a conversation with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl. Ahl also talks with the city’s public safety director, Jimmie Edwards, who gives his perspective on the condition of the workhouse, the cash bail system and related topics.

Activist, educator and writer Brittany Packnett returns this week to her hometown of St. Louis – the place where she participated in protests after the police shooting of Michael Brown and was appointed to the Ferguson commission in 2014. Now based in Washington, where she is Teach for America’s vice president of National Community Alliances, Packnett has been described by former President Barack Obama as a leader whose voice “is going to be making a difference for years to come.”

Hours after the St. Louis Blues brought home the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history, St. Louis Public Radio's Jonathan Ahl talks with superfan Dennis Minner and STLPR reporters Rachel Lippmann and Wayne Pratt about what just happened.

From the continuing drama surrounding abortion access in Missouri to the investigation of St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers whose racist Facebook posts have been in the spotlight, this month’s Legal Roundtable touches on a variety of the latest regional as well as national news stories that bring up questions related to sunshine law, the First Amendment and other legal matters.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl delves into changes that new County Executive Sam Page has made since being sworn in with reporters Chad Davis and Jason Rosenbaum and politics editor Fred Ehrlich.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl discusses what the legalization of medical marijuana means for Missouri and the process of how physicians prescribe it as dispensaries start opening up.

On Jan. 1, St. Louis resident Andy Magee embarked on an unusual adventure with a goal to visit all 418 National Park Service units around the U.S. within the course of a single year. He’s now five months into that journey – and back in St. Louis this week for a pit stop. He gives an update on his travels, which began during the federal government shutdown.

More and more people are experiencing the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The Alzheimer’s Association notes that one in three seniors die with dementia, and by 2050 nearly 14 million Americans are expected to be living with it. Those growing numbers are spurring innovative efforts to treat dementia, including Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, a non-drug treatment that is the focus of a conference taking place Monday and Tuesday at St. Louis University. John Morley and Martin Orrell are among CST’s proponents, and both doctors join St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl to talk about what they and their peers have described as a common-sense approach to treating dementia.

Communities along the Mississippi River are getting used to record flood levels lately. As the water creeps higher, residents and business owners are filling sandbags and holding their breath. Science reporter Eli Chen discussed what kind of impact the flooding has left on the region.

As Planned Parenthood awaits St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Michael Stelzer’s decision on whether the center is able to renew its abortion clinic license, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin went behind the headlines with health reporter Sarah Fentem to discuss developments in the case this week.

In the wee hours of a Saturday morning in the summer of 1969, nine New York City police officers entered Greenwich Village’s small Stonewall Inn. Police raids of gay bars were a frequent occurrence at the time, but this particular instance was different. This time, people around the Stonewall fought back, and the ensuing several days of confrontation between police and activists greatly accelerated the growth of the gay rights movement. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin talks with Steven Louis Brawley, Paul Thiel and Miranda Rectenwald, reflecting on the Stonewall uprising of 50 years ago and what was happening among the local LGBTQ community at that time.

Circus Flora is a longstanding tradition for many St. Louisans and is back in action this month for its 33rd season. This year’s show is bringing audiences to an unlikely place for an adventure – a grocery store. Schnucks, to be exact. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin delves into how “The Caper in Aisle 6” takes a usually mundane trip to the store and turns it into an exciting visual performance for circusgoers.

While traveling in Europe for events related to the 75th anniversary of the Allied forces' pivotal invasion of northern France during World War II, John McManus talks with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin, delving into what occurred on June 6, 1944, why it still resonates and what people today can learn from studying and reflecting on the tragedy of war.

There is a movement growing among health advocates to better understand how more nutritious food can help combat chronic illnesses and pharmaceutical drug dependency. Susan Benigas of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and the Plantrician Project and local nutritionist Ghaida Awwad of Nature’s Clinic, based in O’Fallon, Missouri, are among those advocates.

Before she became a celebrity, a war hero and civil rights activist, Josephine Baker was a girl growing up in early 20th-century St. Louis. Historical fiction writer Sherry Jones has a new book out inspired by Baker’s remarkable life and is headed to her late heroine’s hometown this week to discuss it at Left Bank Books. Jones talks about the book, “Josephine Baker’s Last Dance,” and the woman behind it, with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin.

Tussles over abortion rights are nothing new in the Show-Me State, and St. Louis Public Radio's Jo Mannies has observed many political and legal battles over the years since Roe v. Wade. She looks back with STLPR's Jeremy D. Goodwin.

For the 23rd year in a row, Twangfest is gathering musicians from around the country in St. Louis this week for a four-day-long celebration of Americana music. Described by its all-volunteer organizers as “the big top of a musical three-ring circus,” the nonprofit festival is this time around bringing in everyone from the Columbia, Missouri-based Burney Sisters and The Delines of Portland, Oregon, to the rock band Superchunk.

Tan France is best known for his role as fashion expert on the hit Netflix series “Queer Eye,” where he and the rest of “the Fab 5” transform people’s lives – and bridge social divides – with inspiring lifestyle makeovers. Now France has a brand-new memoir out titled “Naturally Tan.” St. Louis Public Radio’s Kae Petrin discusses it with France ahead of his sold-out event this weekend at St. Louis County Library headquarters.

Phish, the Vermont-spawned jamband will open its summer tour with two shows at Chaifetz Arena this month. For a band that’s one of the country’s top touring acts, Phish remains strangely misunderstood. St. Louis Public Radio reporter Jeremy D. Goodwin explores the popularity and nuances of Phish with musicologist Jake Cohen, who presented at the first-ever Phish Studies Conference at Oregon State University.

In conversation with executive producer Alex Heuer, Charles Glenn looks back on many fond memories singing the national anthem before St. Louis Blues home games.

Krister Ungerböck often works with high-profile CEOs, coaching them on best practices when it comes to leadership, communication and employee engagement. But his efforts to help people lead well extend beyond the upper echelons of organizational management and into everyday workplaces as well as family life. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin talks with Ungerböck ahead of his appearance at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.