St. Louis on the Air

Former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano delves into how American security policy has developed since 9/11, as well as the ways in which politicians have ignored significant threats like domestic extremism, cybersecurity and climate change.

Political reporter Jason Rosenbaum and politics editor Fred Ehrlich unpacked all of the recent news out of the St. Louis County executive office and its implications for the Better Together proposal.

Local journalist Dick Weiss has partnered with Mendel Rosenberg on his newly published memoir titled “Thriver: My Journey Through Holocaust Nightmare to American Dream.”

Joining this conversation with executive producer Alex Heuer is Rachelle L’Ecuyer, executive director of the Delmar Loop. The segment also includes pre-recorded comments from passersby, business owners, a Loop Trolley rider and St. Louis University's Bob Lewis, who is an assistant professor of urban planning and development.

Conservative commentator Bill Kristol and progressive journalist and writer Sarah Kendzior discuss how to move forward in the current divided American political landscape.

With items on display ranging from cuneiform to 3D printers, the new exhibit at St. Louis Public Library’s Central Library branch showcases the evolution of print over the course of two millennia. Titled “Print to Pixels,” it looks at how words have changed the world “in nearly every way possible,” as Waller McGuire puts it. He and Eric Woods, owner of the Firecracker Press, discuss it.

For 27 years, Karen Foss was a familiar face for many people in the St. Louis region. She worked as a TV anchorwoman for KSDK (Channel 5) from 1979 until her retirement in 2006. Host Don Marsh talks to her about her role in news coverage and her take on the industry today.

Host Don Marsh talks about artificial intelligence and big data tracking in light of growing privacy concerns, as well as the role of AI in the health-care industry.

It takes a village to raise a child, and it might take even more than that to care for the nearly 15,000 animals that call the St. Louis Zoo home. Jack Grisham and Eric Miller are two people who know this well. They are retiring from the St. Louis Zoo after a combined 66 years of work experience there.

Host Don Marsh talks with local members of the Muslim community about the aftermath of the terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Host Don Marsh talks to St. Louis County assessor Jake Zimmerman about the recent rise in property values in the county, and the potential impact on property taxes.

Host Don Marsh talks with science reporter Eli Chen in light of proposed changes to Missouri's regulations on coal ash contamination.

Many of St. Louis' known – and not-so-known – performers are included in a big pictorial history of St. Louis and its music, titled “St. Louis Sound: An Illustrated Timeline.” It also goes beyond the men and women who made and wrote the music; it includes the disc jockeys who promoted it, the record stores that sold it and the venues where musicians performed in. Host Don Marsh talks with the authors of the book, Steve Pick and Amanda Doyle.

The discussion touches on regional matters including pretrial detention at the St. Louis' medium-security Workhouse, the latest news surrounding the Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s office and the police department, and the proposed Missouri legislation that would change Title IX procedures at colleges and universities in the state, among other topics.

It’s been said that life is a cabaret. But what exactly is a cabaret? Ask storyteller and performer Beverly Buck Brennan, and she’ll list three key things: a singer, a piano and someone to play it. “Cabaret also, by definition, is about getting to know the performer personally,” the lifelong St. Louisan says. “It’s not like you’re in a musical or you’re playing a character – you’re just you up there, which I had to learn about … I had to really pull back [from musical-theater training] … and try to mellow out and be really in a conversation with the audience.”

Including Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, the Ozarks is a geographic region known for its mountainous topography, forests and tourism. The region also has a unique culinary history. Host Don Marsh talks to St. Louis native and chef Rob Connoley, the James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef Southwest who is planning to open a restaurant rooted in Ozark cuisine.

Alan Byrd, dean of enrollment at University of Missouri-St. Louis, and Debbie Greenberg, College Bound's director of college counseling, discuss longstanding disparities and ongoing challenges within the college-admissions industry.

The name Terence Blanchard is well known in the worlds of jazz and opera. Host Don Marsh talks with the Academy Award nominee and Grammy Award-winning composer/trumpeter about his latest OSTL commissioned production, “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” as well as his work on the recent Spike Lee film, "BlacKkKlansman."

Host Don Marsh explores alternative forms of voting with David Kimball, professor and Graduate Director of Political Science at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Some methods include ranked choice, proportional and cumulative voting.

Dogs are often regarded as “man’s best friend,” but to many, they can be so much more. “Superpower Dogs,” a new IMAX film which opens Friday and plays through July at the St. Louis Science Center, shows working dogs all over the world and the ways they are vital – from search and rescue to protecting endangered wildlife.

Host Don Marsh talks with political reporter Jason Rosenbaum in advance of legislators' spring break. Fights over abortion, transportation and finances lie ahead.

March 14 is celebrated nationally as Pi Day in honor of the mathematical constant π. But in St. Louis, the local community acknowledges another aspect of the 314 numerical value – the city itself. For years, locals – especially in the black community – have embraced showing pride for St. Louis through informal gatherings or St. Louis-themed parties and supporting local businesses.

To hear Kitty Ratcliffe tell it, the America’s Center Convention Center in downtown St. Louis has had a good run since it first opened in 1977 – and since it grew bigger with the addition of the Dome in 1995. But now, the president of Explore St. Louis says, the 42-year-old complex needs some major attention – to the tune of $175 million in upgrades and expansion.

Seven years ago, writer and community activist Sylvester Brown founded the Sweet Potato Project in north St. Louis to promote urban farming and provide entrepreneurial skills to underserved youth. Brown’s involvement in the project has now led to his newly released book “When We Listen: Recognizing The Potential of Urban Youth.” He talks with host Don Marsh about his vision for engaging area young people and their impact on the future.

When “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” opens its 2019 North American tour at the Fabulous Fox Theatre Tuesday evening , it will be a bit of a homecoming for stage producer Paul Blake. Blake, who joined host Don Marsh on Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air, spent 22 years as executive producer at the Muny.

A study released this week by the National Institutes of Health indicates that nearly one-third of Americans between the ages of 10 and 12 “screened positive for suicide risk in emergency department settings.” Meanwhile, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine have been studying even younger children who think and talk about suicide – and their most recent findings refute some conventional wisdom about children’s understanding of what it means to die.

Host Don Marsh discuses a variety of local efforts underway to attract and retain newcomers to the St. Louis region.

Even as an especially wintry winter continues to make itself known across the St. Louis region, spring is more and more on residents’ minds – and will finally be here, at least officially, in less than two weeks. Along with warmer temperatures the new season brings renewed focus on gardening and yardwork. Representatives from the St. Louis Audubon Society, Shaw Nature Reserve and the Missouri Department of Conservation discuss ideas for fostering native habitats and incorporating native plants as part of those efforts.

Host Don Marsh discusses local efforts underway to attract and retain newcomers to the region – and also delve into how transplants can take advantage of the innovation community in St. Louis.

Ninety years ago, daring air races across the U.S. routinely attracted crowds that would dwarf attendance at spectacles such as the Super Bowl today. “I’m talking about a half million people – paying customers – during the Great Depression coming out to watch races over the course of a weekend,” Keith O’Brien said during Friday’s St. Louis on the Air. “An additional half million would watch for free from the hoods of their automobiles parked on nearby highways … in this little window of time, air racing was one of the most popular sports in America.” The pilots vying for the prize were usually men, and the few women pilots were often ridiculed – until they combined forces to break down barriers and make aviation history.

Earlier this week, the local union representing educators who serve in St. Louis Public Schools began arbitration relating to its claims about pay discrepancy within the district. Host Don Marsh led a conversation in light of that news, touching on challenges surrounding teacher compensation as well as other matters.

Host Don Marsh talks with St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger about the state of the county and recent news concerning the region.

Retired astronaut and U.S. Air Force officer Catherine “Cady” Coleman is among very few people who have lived in space. But during a visit to St. Louis last month, she came across as equally excited about life on earth – especially because of her interactions with some accomplished high school students. Thursday’s "St. Louis on the Air" included a conversation with Coleman as well as comments from two Gold Award Girl Scouts, 17-year-old Molly Frei and 16-year-old Lilly Orskog, whom Coleman came to town to help celebrate alongside the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri.

A 2018 study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition showed that a St. Louisan who earns minimum wage would have to work 81 hours per week in order to afford a modest apartment. That reality is part of what Esther Shin describes as a "national affordable-housing challenge" stretching from San Francisco to New York City.

Host Don Marsh discusses the results of the St. Louis primary election in which race for president of the Board of Aldermen is the most high profile.

Roughly 850,000 people are facing food insecurity in the state of Missouri alone – and that includes about 220,000 kids. Representatives from Food Outreach, Operation Food Search and the St. Louis Area Foodbank discuss the issue and their distinctive efforts to address it.

Mardi Gras one of St. Louis’ biggest events, but it’s even bigger in cities across the county and world. The holiday dates back to the middle ages and has evolved over time. Host Don Marsh explores Mardi Gras festivities here in St. Louis and Brazil, where the holiday is referred to as Carnival.

Many average Americans aren’t seeing the kinds of refunds they expected in the wake of President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – instead, it’s wealthier people that are tending to see larger refunds. That’s according to Lance Weiss, a certified public accountant and partner with SFW Partners, LLC in St. Louis.

Host Don Marsh talks about some of the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community with Sauce Magazine managing editor Catherine Klene and staff writer Matt Sorrell.

At a United Methodist Church conference in St. Louis, delegates from around the world narrowly voted to uphold a ban on same-sex weddings and on ordaining LGBTQ clergy. We talk with STLPR reporter Shahla Farzan about the conference and with two Methodists about the decision.

Host Don Marsh talks with two St. Louisans directly impacted by adoption – and by the Missouri Adoptee Rights Act, which thousands of people have taken advantage of since the legislation passed in 2016. Patti Naumann is a lineal descendant of a deceased Missouri adoptee, and Jason Reckamp is an adoptee who recently connected with his birth parents after many years of searching.

<p>Taulby Roach, who started as CEO and president of Bi-State Development about two months ago, discusses the state of public transit in the St. Louis region.</p>

<p><em>St. Louis on the Air’s</em> latest Sound Bites segment with <a href="https://www.saucemagazine.com/">Sauce Magazine</a> explores how local chocolatiers create confections ranging from truffles and sauces to classic chocolate bars – and what makes them different from mass-produced chocolates from companies such as Mars and Hershey’s.</p> <p> </p>

<p>A new volume co-edited by Harris-Stowe State University's Mark Abbott and Washington University's Catalina Freixas features a variety of locally based conversations, as well as essays by current and former St. Louisans in response to those conversations, reflecting on the experience of segregation in America and ways to address it.</p>

<p>Locally based musicians Ms Hy-C and the Fresh Start band caught international attention when they won first place in the 2019 International Blues Challenge held in Memphis last month. Host Don Marsh talks with several of the band members: lead singer Jacinta Branch-Griffin – also known as Ms Hy-C – as well as guitar player Thomas “Tommie” Johnson and drummer Tyrone McCain.</p>

<p>Joining host Don Marsh for in-depth analysis in this segment are Mark Smith, J.D., associate vice chancellor of students at Washington University; William Freivogel, J.D., journalism professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale; and Donna Harper, J.D., partner at Sedey Harper Westhoff P.C.</p>

<p>The local sporting goods store Johnny Mac's announced it was being acquired by a Texas company and will close its retail locations. The company's president Bob McArthur joins host Don Marsh to discuss his memories from the store and the difficulties for local businesses competing with online retailers. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

<p>The local sporting goods store Johnny Mac's announced it was being acquired by a Texas company and will close its retail locations. The company's president Bob McArthur joins host Don Marsh to discuss his memories from the store and the difficulties for local businesses competing with online retailers. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>

<p>Our weekly Behind the Headlines segment is an update to a story we brought you Monday about civil asset forfeiture. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously on the matter earlier this week.</p>

<p>We listen to excerpts of a May 2, 2007 conversation with Ben Abell, a tongue-in-cheek pledge drive skit from decades ago and listener reflections.</p>