St. Louis on the Air

<p>Host Don Marsh talks up some of the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community. Joining Marsh for the Hit List segment are Sauce Magazine managing editor Heather Hughes and staff writer Adam Rothbarth.</p>

<p>In light of the controversy involving Virginia’s top leaders who recently admitted to appearing in blackface decades ago, longtime political reporter Jo Mannies joins host Don Marsh to reflect on her coverage of a similar case in Missouri in 1999, when a photo of then-Gov. Mel Carnahan in blackface – taken in 1960 – surfaced during Carnahan’s campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate.</p>

<p>The southern border of the U.S., along with the people who live somewhere beyond it, can seem far removed from the St. Louis region. But for local Rabbi Susan Talve, who recently returned from Guatemala, the difficult situations facing many of America’s southern neighbors feel more urgent than ever.</p>

<p>"Crucible," the latest release from best-selling author James Rollins, is billed as a book that wrestles with deep questions about the future of humanity – a subject Rollins himself finds particularly disconcerting. "Doing the research [for the book] frightened me," the St. Louis native says. "And as a novelist, that's one way I get to sort of work through some of my fears – put it down on paper, try to make sense of it, try if I can to craft a happy ending, find some path through what’s coming next."</p>

<p>The St. Louis Chess Club is currently hosting its first international all-female chess tournament in an effort to expand opportunities for women to enter the male-dominated sport. Jennifer Shahada, a two-time U.S. women's chess champion, commentator and analyst explains the excitement behind the Cairns Cup tournament to St. Louis Public Radio editor Holly Edgell. </p>

<p>Veterans Kim Chamberlain and 100-year-old Marshall J. Phillips share some of their experiences of African-Americans in the U.S. military. Marvin Alonso Greer, the education and visitor experience lead for Soldiers Memorial Military Museum, also talks to host Don Marsh about how a local event will showcase the contributions of African-American soldiers coming home from World War I in 1919 – and beyond.</p>

<p>St. Louis-based rapper pinkcaravan! and her frequent collaborator Namesake, a Kansas City-based producer, share their inspiration behind their "sad-happy" tunes — what Namesake describes as "colorful … vibrant … upbeat, fun. A hard-bop life.” </p> <p> </p>

<p>Want to check out a telescope – or maybe a fishing pole? To hear Steve Campbell tell it, the local library’s probably got you covered. The director of the Scenic Regional Library serving nine eastern Missouri communities joins the talk show alongside Ferguson Public Library's Steve Bonner and JEMA's John Mueller.</p>

<p>A newly published Sharing America series titled "Fixed Odds" explores the effects of problem gambling on diverse communities across the U.S. Joining this episode to talk about it are Holly Edgell, who is St. Louis Public Radio’s race, identity and culture editor, and Dr. Timothy Fong, professor of addiction psychiatry and co-director of UCLA's Gambling Studies Program.</p>

<p>When David Patterson Silver Wolf refers to the U.S. opioid epidemic as part of a “disease of despair” and “a tough disease to treat,” he’s speaking from experience both professional and personal. The Washington University faculty member experienced substance-use disorder firsthand after growing up in a troubled home that quickly led him toward drugs and alcohol. Now, years later, he finds himself heading up the Brown School’s Community Academic Partnership on Addiction– a new effort aimed at addressing substance-use disorder among those struggling with it today.</p>

<p>February is Heart Health Month, and heart expert Dr. Andrew Kates, professor of medicine and cardiologist with the Washington University Heart Care Institute at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, returns to <em>St. Louis on the Air</em> to help explain various matters of the heart.</p>

<p>Ashley Denmark is a family medicine physician with BJC Healthcare. She grew up in Jennings, Missouri and at an early point in her life, her ambition to become a doctor as a black woman from Jennings was very much challenged. The physician talks to host Don Marsh about to her road to success and why she returned to St. Louis in an effort to inspire minority children to follow their dream careers and “normalize success.”</p>

<p>STLPR education reporter Ryan Delaney talks about the just-released school report cards and standardized testing in Missouri.</p>

<p>We go behind the headlines with STLPR politics editor Fred Ehrlich to discuss the week's news involving controversies involving St. Louis police officers.</p>

<p>A few years ago, Steven Webster was working in Washington and frequently giving tours of the U.S. Capitol when one particular tour went rather south, to put it mildly – and also sparked his decision to study political science.</p>

<p>Host Don Marsh talks with local media professionals about how the industry covers African-American communities – what has changed over the years and what's stayed the same.</p>

<p>With a growing sector of America having left traditional religion in recent decades, speculation about the reasons for that exit is common, as are easy conclusions about what it all portends. But it's all a bit more complex. James Croft, outreach director for the Ethical Society of St. Louis, and Leigh Schmidt, the Edward C. Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor in the Humanities at Washington University, share their insights in this episode.</p>

<p>Kevin McKinney, executive director of SLACO – the St. Louis Association of Community Organizations, and local photojournalist Richard Reilly talk to host Don Marsh about how community organizing has evolved in the St. Louis region over the past 40 years.</p>

<p>STLPR reporter Chad Davis asks more listener questions about Better Together's proposal to representatives of the organization. The report was released on Monday.</p>

<p>Pat Kelly of the Municipal League of Metro St. Louis and Creve Coeur Mayor Barry Glantz outline why they are opposed to Better Together’s approach and suggest an alternative route to a potential shift in regional governance.</p>

<p>Host Don Marsh and St. Louis Public Radio listeners talk with two staff members from Better Together, the organization that earlier this week formally unveiled a much-anticipated proposal for a reunification of St. Louis and St. Louis County.</p>

<p>Sunday marked the international community’s commemoration of lives lost and tragedy caused during the Holocaust. Although it took place more than 70 years ago, its lessons continue to resonate today. Dan Reich, curator and director of education at the Holocaust Museum & Learning Center, survivor Rachel Miller join host Don Marsh to discuss how the younger generations will continue to tell the stories of those who experienced the Holocaust as survivors pass away. Miller, who now resides in Chesterfield, Missouri, also shares her own harrowing story of living through the Nazi occupation.</p>

<p>Evy Swoboda and Dakota Williams are both still in their 20s, yet they've already made big strides in the St. Louis restaurant scene. They join host Don Marsh and Sauce magazine's Heather Hughes for a conversation.</p>

<p>Although wintry skies in the St. Louis region didn’t make for ideal viewing conditions Sunday night as the sun, Earth and moon aligned for a total lunar eclipse, the anticipated celestial event still had many people looking skyward. It also sparked renewed interest in human understanding of the moon. In this segment, space journalist Rebecca Boyle, lunar scientist Brad Jolliff and St. Louis Public Radio’s own Eli Chen discuss the latest in moon research.</p>

<p>The St. Louis Theater Circle released its 2019 award nominees on Friday's <em>St. Louis on the Air</em> for locally produced professional theater in 2018. This is the seventh year of the awards. Judith Newmark, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s theater critic, and Mark Bretz, president of the St. Louis Theater Circle, join host Don Marsh to discuss the nominations and the upcoming award ceremony.</p>

<p>St. Louis Public Radio reporter Chad Davis talks with host Don Marsh about his recent coverage of how the partial government shutdown has been affecting a wide variety of St. Louis-area residents.</p>

<p>St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger talks with Don Marsh about his reporting series on debtors' prisons in rural Missouri – the practice of jailing people for not paying their court fines. </p>

<p>A recent report surveyed low-income women in St. Louis and found that nearly two-thirds of them can’t always afford pads or tampons – often resorting to rags, diapers or paper towels. Host Don Marsh delves deeper into the issue of period poverty with Anne Sebert Kuhlmann, associate professor of behavioral science and health education at St. Louis University, who led the study. Also joining the conversation are Angie Weisman, executive director of Dignity Period, and Jessica Adams, executive director of St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies and the St. Louis Area Diaper Bank.</p>

<p><em>St. Louis on the Air</em>’s first monthly Legal Roundtable of the year returns as host Don Marsh delves into a variety of recent local and national stories pertaining to the law, including: a federal judge's ruling that blocks the Trump administration's plan to add a controversial citizenship question to the 2020 census, a federal court ruling that deemed the Affordable Care Act health plans unconstitutional, the lawsuit against the Sunset Hills retirement community Friendship Village and the appointment of Circuit Judge Robin Ransom to the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District.</p>

<p>Arlene Zarembka, who is a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the case against Friendship Village, and Jeffrey Mittman, executive director of the ACLU of Missouri, discuss the context and implications of a circuit judge's recent dismissal of the suit.</p>

<p>Ken Page, whose career took him from The Muny to Broadway and the big screen, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the local Arts and Education Council. Host Don Marsh talks to Page about his expansive career, which ranges from creating the character of Old Deuteronomy in the Broadway debut of the iconic musical “Cats” to voicing Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton’s film “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”</p>

<p>Snow, ice, streets and St. Louis – it all tends to make for a tricky wintry mix, as was evident last weekend when a major snowstorm hit the region. With the potential for additional winter weather now imminent, this episode focuses on why some St. Louisans drive poorly in such conditions – and how residents can better prepare for and deal with future weather events. Joining the discussion are Kent Flake, commissioner of streets for the City of St. Louis, and Mike Right, vice president of public affairs for AAA of Missouri.</p>

<p>Despite a winter weather advisory, the <a href= "https://www.facebook.com/events/1157659197715720/" data-cke-saved-href= "https://www.facebook.com/events/1157659197715720/">St. Louis Women’s March</a> is still set to take place 10 a.m. Jan. 18 in downtown St. Louis. Host Don Marsh previews the march with two of this year’s local organizers and marchers: Lauren Kohn Davis and Heather Fleming. This year's event also includes an "action fair” that will house various organizations in the community helping women.</p>

<p>STLPR science reporter Eli Chen previews the total lunar eclipse.</p>

<p>St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson gives an update on the state of the city and her priorities for 2019. The first-ever woman to hold the post, she confirms that she does have plans to seek a second term.</p>

<p>A conversation with STLPR reporters Jason Rosenbaum and Rachel Lippmann about Gov. Mike Parson's State of the State Address.</p>

<p>St. Louis Public Radio's Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies join host Don Marsh during a live broadcast of Gov. Mike Parson's State of the State Address and the Democratic response from state Sen. Gina Walsh.</p>

<p>Last year, St. Louis native and comedian Greg Warren tried a new approach in his comedy career by adding an all-ages family show. He will do the same this year as he returns to St. Louis this week for his appearances at the Funny Bone comedy club in Maryland Heights. He talks with host Don Marsh about his comedic approach and upcoming shows.</p>

<p>Circus Harmony's new show “<a href= "https://circusharmony.org/accelerando/" data-cke-saved-href= "https://circusharmony.org/accelerando/">Accelerando</a>” is a circus spy thriller where the performers twirl and climb their way to finding a top-secret document gone missing. Jessica Hentoff, artistic and executive director of the organization, joins host Don Marsh to discuss the show and other programs the social circus is conducting.</p>

<p>Barricades and “park closed” signs weren’t quite the sort of sights Andy Magee anticipated photographing when he embarked a couple weeks ago on a 365-day tour of the National Park Service’s 418 units around the U.S. But so far, his "418 Parks" Facebook page is full of such photos – evidence of the ongoing partial shutdown of the federal government.</p>

<p>The first African-American to hold the post, Wesley Bell discusses his current focus on implementing the reforms he campaigned on during his recent race against longtime incumbent Bob McCulloch. Bell takes questions from host Don Marsh and from listeners on a range of topics.</p>

<p style="line-height: 21.0pt;"><span style= "letter-spacing: .05pt;">Illinois Public Radio statehouse reporter Brian Mackey joins host Don Marsh to discuss the inauguration of Illinois' new governor J.B. Pritzker. Mackey highlights key moments of Pritzker’s speech and touches on what’s ahead for the governor and the state.</span></p>

<p>“City of Ink,” set in early 18th-century Beijing, is Elsa Hart’s third novel. She’s currently at work on her fourth. Hart talks with host Don Marsh about her characters and settings, some of her influences and favorite authors, and how she goes about bringing a centuries-old world to life for her readers.</p>

<p>Later this month, baseball fans and writers will react to who is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. How is those players chosen? St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Derrick Goold details that process in conversation with host Don Marsh.</p>

<p>Host Don Marsh talks with St. Louis Public Radio's Shahla Farzan and Kae Petrin about their recent reporting on the number of scooter-related injuries that area emergency rooms are seeing.</p>

<p>Longtime St. Louis journalist Linda Lockhart retires this month after a media career spanning more than four decades. She talks with host Don Marsh about the changes she's seen in the industry over the years and highlights her favorite moments. </p>

<p>Terry Jones, who is a professor emeritus of political science at UMSL and the author of “Fragmented by Design: Why St. Louis Has So Many Governments," offers his take on the latest talk of a city-county merger.</p>

<p>STLPR political reporter Jo Mannies reflects on her career as a journalist and talks about the big and memorable stories she covered. Mannies is retiring but will work part time beginning in March.</p>

<p>Moonlighting, freelancing, working a second job, picking up a side hustle – all of these terms and cobbled-together career strategies have become common themes in an ever-changing 21st-century economy. And many people in the St. Louis region are among those who have adopted such an approach to making a living. Host Don Marsh leads a discussion about such labor trends, digging into the reasons behind them.</p>