St. Louis on the Air

Since 2007, the Muslim Community Services of St. Louis have annually put together a Memorial Day barbecue to serve patients and staff at the Jefferson Barracks Division of the VA Medical Center in south St. Louis County. They aim to create an environment where there is mutual learning and understanding in efforts to dispel potential misconceptions on both sides. Producer Lara Hamdan talks with some of the organizers and participants.

The 18th annual Green Living Festival returns to the Missouri Botanical Garden this weekend and offers patrons expertise on making links between sustainability and a healthy environment. Guest host Jim Kirchherr talks with Jean Ponzi, green resources manager at the Missouri Botanical Garden, to expand on the importance of sustainability and green living.

St. Louis Public Radio reporter Sarah Fentem joins "St. Louis on the Air" for analysis of the licensing situation at the state's only remaining abortion clinic and related topics.

Cancer in its many forms has plagued humanity for millennia, and it’s still taking a relentless toll in the 21st century. The hope that scientists will eventually find a cure can feel like a long shot. But one Washington University scholar is making the case that cancer researchers are on the cusp of a breakthrough. In his latest book, “The End of the Beginning: Cancer, Immunity, and the Future of a Cure,” Michael Kinch offers readers a history of cancer research and treatments, as well as a view toward what’s ahead in this rapidly evolving field.

May is Older Americans Month, and senior citizens currently make up the fastest-growing age group in the U.S. Expanding along with their numerical ranks is a movement among older adults committed to enabling people to age in place – in communities of their choosing. Producer Evie Hemphill talks with three St. Louisans who are deeply invested in efforts to help seniors thrive right where they are.

St. Louis Public Radio executive editor Shula Neuman discusses current issues pertaining to the law with a panel of legal experts. Topics include the recent wave of anti-abortion bills passed in Missouri, Alabama and other states; last week's espionage indictment of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange; and the legal implications involving the indictment of former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger.

Producer Lara Hamdan talks with Alyson Thompson, founder of the Mixed Feelings group dedicated to creating a community for multiracial people seeking community among other multiracial and multiethnic individuals. It relaunches in June and will include events that center on community building in various ways through private meetups, including themed discussions, low-key parties and film screenings, as well as informational talks for people who don’t identify as mixed-race but would like to learn more.

From French colonial architecture in Ste. Genevieve and “levee-high pie” in Kimmswick to Civil War history in Bonnots Mill, Missouri is home to plenty of fascinating travel destinations –many of them off the beaten path. Bill Hart gives readers a roadmap for exploring them in “Historic Missouri Roadsides.” He talks with St. Louis Public Radio editor Holly Edgell.

The 28th annual St. Louis African Arts Festival will return to the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park this weekend. Running Saturday through Monday, the festival aims to educate people in St. Louis about the wide ranges of cultures among African nations and the African diaspora. A couple of the festival’s organizers discuss what patrons can expect at the event, such as an African marketplace, movies, food, various cultural demonstrations, kids’ activities and more.

St. Louis Public Radio's Kae Petrin talks with guest host Sharon Stevens about the allegations of sexual misconduct involving the head of Webster University's game design program.

The 28th annual St. Louis African Arts Festival will return to the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park this weekend. Running Saturday through Monday, the festival aims to educate people in St. Louis about the wide ranges of cultures among African nations and the African diaspora. A couple of the festival’s organizers discuss what patrons can expect at the event, such as an African marketplace, movies, food, various cultural demonstrations, kids’ activities and more.

St. Louis resident Harold Crawford is among many local college graduates who are celebrating major academic milestones this spring. The path he traveled to get to his University of Missouri-St. Louis degree was an unusual one – and far from easy. Crawford lived through tough times to make ends meet and left a life of crime and gang involvement about a decade ago.

Poet and author Jason Reynolds talks with former “We Live Here” podcast co-host Kameel Stanley at an event at University City High School. Reynolds writes books for middle grade and young adult audiences.

St. Louis Public Radio reporter Rachel Lippmann talks with guest host Sharon Stevens as the St. Louis Blues head back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 49 years.

Guest host Sharon Stevens explores parts of the new “Flores Mexicanas: A Lindbergh Love Story” exhibit at the Missouri History Museum with the exhibit’s content lead and public historian Adam Kloppe. The exhibit illustrates the couple’s celebrity status as ambassadors for aviation and America.

English rock band The Who first released “Tommy,” the wildly successful rock opera, on May 23, 1969 – exactly 50 years ago this Thursday, when Missouri-based bluegrass band The HillBenders are set to open for The Who at Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. It might seem an unlikely concert pairing, except that The HillBenders’ 2015 album is a full-length Tommy tribute, bluegrass-opry style. "St. Louis on the Air" producer Evie Hemphill talks with Jim Rea, the group’s guitarist and musical director, as he and the rest of the HillBenders anticipate sharing a stage with The Who.

A three-day-long dance extravaganza gets underway later this week as Spring to Dance takes over the Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Considered to be Dance St. Louis’ signature festival of the year, this 12th annual event will feature everything from tap, ballet and clogging to hip-hop and aerial performances Thursday through Saturday.

Missouri is home to 22 of the 100 puppy mills on the Humane Society's most recent list of known problem dealers, topping the list for the seventh year in a row. Released last week, the “Horrible Hundred” report highlights animal-welfare issues including high puppy death rates, underweight dogs, neglected health needs and other problems. Guest host Sharon Stevens discusses the topic with Sarah Javier, president and executive director of the Animal Protective Association of Missouri, and John Goodwin, senior director of the Humane Society's Stop Puppy Mills Campaign.

In April, St. Louis lawyer Elizabeth “Liz” Heller took a break from the office and spent some time racing on a velodrome – an arena for track cycling – in Aguascalientes, Mexico. At the International Cyclists Union competition, she broke two world records: one in the women's over-50 category in the one-hour ride and the other in the individual two-kilometer pursuit. She joined guest host Sharon Stevens to talk about how she got hooked on the sport.

This month’s Sound Bites segment with Sauce Magazine features Nicola Macpherson of Ozark Forest Mushrooms, an immigrant from the UK who runs a mushroom farm and supplies many of the restaurants in the St. Louis area with mushrooms. Macpherson and Sauce's managing editor Catherine Klene expand on how people get their start in mushroom farming and what all goes into it.

St. Louis Public Radio's Rachel Lippmann and Jason Rosenbaum talk with guest host Sharon Stevens on the heels of Missouri's latest legislative session in Jefferson City.

Producer and director Michael Dalton-Smith’s early passion for volcanoes has followed him throughout his career. His film “Volcanoes: Fire of Creation” takes viewers on an IMAX adventure to the boiling lava lakes of the world, grasslands and the depths of the oceans, all where volcanoes help shape vibrant ecosystems. He delves his interest in volcanoes, the theory of how they developed billions of years ago and what it’s really like getting up close to a boiling lava lake.

St. Charles-based Lindenwood University made the decision that it will cease its daytime undergraduate academic programs at its Belleville campus following the 2019-2020 academic year. Belleville Mayor Mark Eckert talks about what the consolidation means for the community.

Doyle Murphy discusses his latest feature for the Riverfront Times, which digs into the question of what constitutes just punishment. In the piece, he juxtaposes the sentence a former Webster University administrator received after stealing about $375,000 from the institution with the sentences handed down in other specific crime cases in the region.

The Luminary Arts Center “Counterpublic” exhibition is scaled to a neighborhood “set to animate the everyday spaces of Cherokee Street” with expansive artist commissions, performances, processions and more. Local artists José Guadalupe Garza and Miriam Ruiz talk about why they installed a mobile library in El Chico Bakery, a family owned and operated Mexican bakery in south St. Louis. The Luminary’s Katherine Simóne Reynolds, one of the curators for the “Counterpublic” exhibit, also takes part in the conversation to expand on the project’s impact in the south-city neighborhood.

St. Louis-area residents Rachel Webb and Jossalyn Larson come from different walks of life, but they have at least one path in common: They’ve both in recent years developed breast cancer – and have chosen to open up online about their experiences living with it. While they now have intensive treatments and surgeries behind them, their respective journeys are far from over. The two women join guest host Ruth Ezell to discuss some of the surprises and challenges they’ve been encountering lately.

As the U.S. population grows more ethnically diverse, many historians and educators are becoming more aware of changing demographics and are keen on ensuring that diversity is reflected in the way the nation’s history is presented in classrooms. Guest host Ruth Ezell of the Nine Network delves into how educators are developing more well-rounded approaches to teaching history in an inclusive way.

After many months of planning and construction, the owners of a unique project in north St. Louis are now calling the completed space home. Gina and Travis Sheridan moved into their house, which is made out of nine steel shipping containers and located in the Old North neighborhood, several weeks ago. In this episode of "St. Louis on the Air," they discuss what went into the effort and share what they’re enjoying most about their distinctive new abode.

Like many urban and rural areas around the U.S., the St. Louis region has seen a shortage of veterinarians, and it's affecting clinic hours, staffing and wait times in some communities. Guest host Ruth Ezell talks with three people deeply invested in the profession and in seeing both veterinarians and the animals they care for thrive.

A little over a year ago, Benjamin Akande was tasked with a big job: strengthening and expanding Washington University’s efforts in Africa. He was appointed as director of the Africa Initiative, which aims to strategically enhance a wide range of institutional activities connected to the African continent. He gives an update on the initiative, offers his perspective on the demise of Better Together proposal that sought to consolidate St. Louis and St. Louis County and also addresses other topics.

Guest host Ruth Ezell of the Nine Network talks with St. Louis County Library Director Kristen Sorth about the final projects in the Your Library Renewed campaign, which includes the new library branch openings in the region, among other initiatives.

Residents of towns along the Mississippi River are all too familiar with the effects of flooding on their communities. The disasters happen again and again, and people are eager for a path forward – and for solutions that look beyond levees. Guest host Ruth Ezell talka with Jo Anne Smiley, the mayor of Clarksville, Missouri, and Phil Stang, the mayor of Kimmswick, Missouri, about their goals moving ahead. Colin Wellenkamp, executive director of the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative, also participates in the discussion.

CC Ice talks with producer Evie Hemphill about working on the Marvel movies, the intense and inherently risky nature of her chosen profession – and how growing up in Missouri has influenced her life and career.

This week marked the beginning of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Many Muslims locally and around the world are observing this holiday by daily fasting, increased religious observance and self-reflection. For the next few decades, the month will take place within the school year. The Missouri chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations released “An Educator’s Guide to Ramadan and Accommodating Muslim Students” to help schools better understand and accommodate Muslim students during this time.

As journalists who frequently produce stories focused on the environment, St. Louis Public Radio’s Eli Chen and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Bryce Gray are no strangers to the Mississippi River and its critical role in their city. Now they’ve traveled all 2,300-plus miles of it, following the Big Muddy from Minnesota to Louisiana and bringing home an even deeper understanding of the waterway. Chen and Gray returned earlier this month from a weeklong Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources trip along the Lower Mississippi. The experience was part of a fellowship that also included exploration of the Upper Mississippi in 2018.

The latest local reminder of an ongoing nationwide epidemic came over the weekend as at least 19 people were injured and two people killed in St. Louis during multiple incidents involving guns. Guest host Jim Kirchherr talks with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Stu Durando about his new book “Under the Gun: A children’s hospital on the front line of an American crisis.”

St. Louis-based author Terry Baker Mulligan, who wrote the award-winning memoir “Sugar Hill: Where the Sun Rose Over Harlem,” joins guest host Jim Kirchherr to discuss her new book “These Boys are Killing Me: Travels and Travails With Boys Who Take Risks,” and what lessons she’s learned from her experience as a mother.

It’s been about a year since New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive women around the country were busy taking on powerful Democratic incumbents during the 2018 midterms. St. Louisan Cori Bush was one of them, and her challenge of longtime Congressman Lacy Clay fell short in the primaries. But she and the three other candidates whose campaigns are featured in the new Netflix documentary “Knock Down The House” say 2018 was just the beginning. Bush and fellow progressive Amy Vilela, of Nevada, were both in St. Louis last week for the film’s premiere in select theaters including the Tivoli. In this episode of "St. Louis on the Air," they talk with producer Evie Hemphill.

Edwina Sandys, a sculptor and Winston Churchill's granddaughter, joins guest host Jim Kirchher to discus the sculpture she created in Fulton commemorating her grandfather's famous "Iron Curtain" speech, her artistic process and more.

Ahead of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s season finale, music director designate Stéphane Denève and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard recap Denève’s first season at Powell Hall as music director designate and what’s in store for next season.

The St. Louis Public Radio politics editor joins guest host Jim Kirchherr for an update on the news that broke this week about the ambitious plan that had aimed to consolidate St. Louis and St. Louis County governments.

Sauce Magazine managing editor Catherine Klene and staff writer Matt Sorrell talk up some of the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community.

The idea of autonomous vehicles, or AVs, used to seem rather futuristic. But if the latest technological advancements and general cultural buzz about self-driving cars are any indication, AVs are moving ever closer to becoming everyday transportation reality along U.S. roadways. What that shift could mean for all sorts of sectors and communities is on the minds of regional leaders who are gathering Tuesday for a town hall in St. Louis. The free event is aimed at fostering dialogue “about the full range of the impacts of AVs,” from workforce implications to environmental effects and more.

NPR political editor Domenico Montanaro joins St. Louis Public Radio’s Shahla Farzan to discuss some of the latest hot-button political issues, how he goes about covering politics in increasingly politically contentious times and how teaching high school English prepared him to go on air.

Free Comic Book Day dates back to 2002 and was started to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Local shops and libraries across the city and county will observe the event and offer visitors free comics. Apotheosis Comics & Lounge owner and resident comic book expert Martin Casas; Jim Mahfood, a St. Louis native who worked on “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”; and Maggie Thurston, an indie comic artist, talk about the celebration and comics in general

St. Louis Public Radio’s Shahla Farzan takes a closer look at the biggest regional story of the week: the indictment and resignation of former St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger. Joining the conversation is St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Jacob Barker, one of the journalists behind much of the reporting that detailed reasons why Stenger was indicted.

For native St. Louisan Bret Narayan, April was a big month. The first-term 24th Ward Alderman was sworn into office and is believed to be the first Asian Pacific American to serve on the city’s governing board. And with May being Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Narayan is partnering with the Office of the St. Louis City Recorder of Deeds to celebrate the contributions of some of his fellow citizens. He talks with guest host Sharon Stevens alongside Anna Crosslin, president and CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis, and Harold Law, who first came to the United States in 1956 as a Chinese refugee and has since played integral civic roles in the local Asian American community.

Seven-time Emmy winner Ed Asner and playwright Jeff Cohen discuss the play "The Soap Myth," a play about an elderly Holocaust survivor on a mission, with "St. Louis on the Air" guest host Sharon Stevens.

A new report by the St. Louis County Affordable Housing Trust Fund Task Force outlines various “place-based” and “mobility-based” strategies to create pathways for very low- and low-income families to move into neighborhoods with existing opportunity. Guest host Sharon Stevens discusses the report in depth with Chris Krehmeyer and Adrian Bracy, co-chairs of the task force. Chris Krehmeyer is the CEO of Beyond Housing and Adrian Bracy is the CEO of the YWCA of Metro St. Louis.

In the wide and varied world of entertainment, there are standup comedy shows, there are author readings – and then there’s the “literary reading comedy mashup.” That’s how the staff of the St. Louis-based literary magazine Boulevard is billing next week’s Three Writers and a Comedian shindig at the Schlafly Tap Room. Local writers Christopher Candice and Gabe Montesanti as well as Tina Dybal, the reigning champion of St. Louis’ Funniest Person Competition, discuss humor, writing and more ahead of the free event.