St. Louis on the Air creates a unique space where guests and listeners can share ideas and opinions with respect and honesty. Whether exploring issues and challenges confronting our region, discussing the latest innovations in science and technology, taking a closer look at our history or talking with authors, artists and musicians, St. Louis on the Air brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region.
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After the abysmal failure of two constitutional amendments on the August primary ballot, Missouri Republicans gathered at the Missouri State Fair this week and it marked the unofficial kickoff of the state’s general election season. STLPR’s Sarah Kellogg joins “The Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air” to talk about how the GOP plans to move forward, especially with a favorable…
Republicans and Democrats agree that the federal campaign finance system is a failure. The limits on contributions to candidates can be easily circumvented and it’s difficult to track how money is influencing politics. One of the Democrats who agrees with this assessment is U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat from Michigan, who was in St. Louis last week to talk about, among other things, a…
Missouri’s Children’s Division is on the verge of a major overhaul. Workers who look into alleged child abuse and neglect will transition into more specialized roles on Sept. 1 with the goal of reducing a traditionally high caseload. But the workload for investigators has risen, sparking concern among some who work for the agency. Reporter Steph Quinn with the Missouri Independent joins “The…
A single suicide can affect as many as 135 people. A new study on the construction industry, which sees disproportionately high rates of suicide, shows how employers and peers can play a powerful role in the aftermath of such a tragedy. The St. Louis advocate behind that research shares how its findings could improve on current practices. (Producer’s note: While we don’t go into graphic detail,…
Also known as the “mouth harp,” the harmonica has deep roots in St. Louis. Those roots run so deep that 40 years ago it inspired the creation of a harmonica review called “Harp Attack!” Jon “Johnny Diamond” Erblich talks about the event’s history, the connections between the harmonica and ST. Louis, and why the underrated, versatile instrument has persisted for so many years in jazz, blues and…
This Saturday, Aug. 22, marks the 150th anniversary of when St. Louis chose to split itself in two. The decision, now known as the Great Divorce, created an enduring divide that still shapes the region today. In this encore of the first episode of STLPR’s podcast, “Meet Me,” host Luis Antonio Perez visits a family whose home sits right on the city-county line and explores the origin of the split…
For international students heading to college this fall, the usual questions about housing, classes and finding community come with an added layer of uncertainty: changing federal immigration policies. New reporting from the Midwest Newsroom examines how those policies are affecting international enrollment — and the bottom line of colleges and universities across the region, including in…
The critically acclaimed 2025 box office hit “Sinners” continues to captivate cinephiles — and foodies. Tenacious Eats owner and executive chef Liz Schuster and Foodies Eat First Fest founder Braden Tewolde have curated a “Sinners” experience complete with themed dishes and a mojo bag crafting station. They share the motivations behind their collaboration, the chefs and plates attendees can…
St. Louis passed the Social Evil Ordinance in 1870, making it the first U.S. city to legally regulate and license sex work. Today, the region’s adult entertainment footprint is back in the spotlight thanks to “Double Lives of Suburban Wives,” a TLC reality series featuring St. Louis-area creators. We talk with cast member Tammy Thompson about her adult-content journey and the show. With Dr.…
The St. Louis theatre community is thriving with new companies, shows and events. But in the aftermath of local media closures like the Riverfront Times, the only thing that is missing is a place for both theatre lovers and artists alike to follow what’s happening. That is where the new website St. Louis On Stage comes in. Its founders Carmen Garcia, Julie George, and Troy Schnider join us to…
This summer, researchers from St. Louis Zoo spent hours in Forest Park studying what the turtles living there eat — and excrete. The work is part of a yearslong mission to understand how plastic affects the natural world. Dr. Sharon Deem, a veterinarian and director of the Institute for Conservation Medicine, talks about why she and her team are focusing on the snapping and box turtles living in…
In St. Louis, it’s common practice for bands to merge together and form new acts. The Grooveliner is no different. The nine-piece, powerfunk band — founded by Toby Mechem and Matt Vianello— released their latest album “Live From Your Mom’s House” earlier this year. The tongue-in-cheek title highlights the band’s sense of humor and the music exemplifies their immense talent and collaboration.…
St. Louis musicians share the power of being open and honest in this month's new music roundup. Darian Wigfall — also known as DJ Whiz — joins producer Miya Norfleet and host Elaine Cha to discuss their favorite recently released tracks, including punk, jazz, pop and atmospheric selections. Check out our new music roundup playlist .
For the past 13 years, Charles Everett has kept a routine in his prison dorm. He sits at a table in the common room and draws — creating large illustrations full of bold lines, bright, bold colors and tiny details. As time has gone by, others he is incarcerated with have joined him for a daily art class. The group’s work is now being showcased in a St. Louis art gallery. We hear what this means…
Last month, the Midwest Innocence Project alerted its supporters that it was on the brink of closure. The announcement came after the nonprofit had already cut its staff by 25%. The group now says it has raised $400,000 and is on firmer financial footing. Executive director Tahir Atwater said the crisis served as a "wake-up call" for the organization and its clients. Atwater and MIP legal director…
Three-time James Beard semifinalist chef Lona Luo has opened a second Lona’s Lil Eats location in Kirkwood. Known for her “Asian-soul food,” Luo draws inspiration from her childhood in a hill-tribe village in southwestern China. We talk with the chef about her culinary journey, the story behind her acclaimed restaurant in St. Louis’ Fox Park neighborhood and why she decided to expand to Kirkwood.
The short documentary film “Red Brick Blue Tarp” blends visual poetry and first-person interviews to explore the impact of the May 16, 2025 tornado. The storm tore a path of devastation through much of north St. Louis, an area marked by decades of disinvestment. Filmmaker Cami Thomas, producer and community organizer Jessica Wernli, and 314Oasis co-founder Stephanie Reynolds discuss how the…
Suffering, grief and death are inescapable components of human experience. Confronting such hardship, says poet Vincent Casaregola, can be a way to embrace life and find meaning. His 2025 collection, “Vital Signs,” explores the trauma that stems from illness, injury and violence. In this encore episode originally aired in Jan. 2026, Casaregola reflects on lessons from pandemics throughout human…
On September 10, 1910, Thomas Scott Baldwin flew over St. Louis, thrilling 200,000 onlookers along the Mississippi River. That moment of early flight — and many others — is at the heart of Edward McPherson’s 2025 book, “Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View.” The Washington University professor writes about aerial photography, long-distance mapping and how seeing from above…
The St. Louis sky was once dark one day out of every three. Sunlight was precious, and often disappeared behind blankets of smoke. The culprit was coal. The book “Black Gold: The Rise, Reign and Fall of American Coal" was inspired by journalist Bob Wyss' interest in how St. Louis became an early environmental success story when it cleared its sky in 1941. In this encore edition of a St. Louis on…
History professor Rodney Wilson recently discovered that two purported “bathtubs” dug up in Farmington in the 1970s are not bathtubs at all, but rare (and massive) bronze planters from the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. An instructor of history and political science at Mineral Area College, Wilson embarked on his own investigation to trace how these artifacts went from sitting in the German Court…
Atima Omara, a top Democratic Party strategist and media contributor, discusses her new book, “The Instigators: How Black Women Have Been Essential to American Democracy (And What We Can Learn from Them).” Omara explains why she embraces “instigator” as a badge of positive change and argues that Black women’s leadership and resilience have repeatedly strengthened American democracy. Omara believes…
Missouri voters sent clear messages in Tuesday’s primary election, rejecting a proposal to make it harder to amend the state constitution and one to phase out the income tax. Democratic voters also settled two closely watched races, with U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell defeating former Rep. Cori Bush in a rematch and Jake Zimmerman winning a three-way contest for the Democratic nomination for St. Louis…
Planned closures could affect more than a dozen public schools in St. Louis. It’s just one example of the pressures facing the region's school districts, parents and students. STLPR education reporter Hiba Ahmad takes us inside her recent coverage, from students staging a musical protest to save their school to a brand-new task force in St. Louis County that’s weighing the pros and cons of school…
Chilean empanadas, Greek coffee, luxe Italian desserts and Midwestern pork fritter sandwiches: that’s a sampling of items offered by new restaurants that opened in the St. Louis area in July. This month’s discussion of the St. Louis-area food scene delivers notes on these additions. STLPR’s Jessica Rogen and Abby Llorico also weigh in on locally-based chain restaurant closures and relocations…
The Rams left St. Louis in 2016 and ultimately paid hundreds of millions of dollars for it. Two residents — one who lives downtown and another whose neighborhood was hit by the 2025 tornado — make cases for how that money should be spent. In the newest episode of STLPR’s podcast, “Meet Me,” we hear their conversation, along with 14th Ward Alderman Rasheen Aldridge’s perspective on the behind the…
A battle of Dr. Browns is heating up in St. Louis, as the local baby bottle-manufacturer Dr. Brown’s is fighting in court against the New York-based manufacturer of Dr. Brown’s soda. The dispute is just one of the cases on this month’s edition of the Legal Roundtable on "St. Louis on the Air." Along with the fate of Dr. Brown’s trademark, our expert panelists discuss a lawsuit filed by protesters…
St. Louis is uniquely poised to be the hub for modern ragtime — and to learn about the music genre’s historical roots. That’s according to Ethan Leinwand, the co-founder of the St. Louis Ragtime Initiative. Leinwand joins us to talk about ragtime past and present ahead of the monthly Ragtime Rendezvous at the Scott Joplin House. Also joining the conversation is musician Colin Hancock, who will…
Each year, more than 10 million visitors make their way to Branson, Missouri. Over many decades, the once-small hillside town developed a reputation for being the U.S. capital for performances with overtly religious and patriotic themes, and sometimes, a Christian nationalist bent. We revisit a conversation with Joanna Dee Das, an associate professor of dance at Washington University and author of…
“St. Louis on the Air” executive producer Alex Heuer moderates Voter Guide Live, an in-person panel discussion featuring STLPR political reporters Jason Rosenbaum, Rachel Lippmann and Sarah Kellogg. In this uncut version of the July 14 event held in the station's Community Room, they explain and discuss local and statewide issues Missouri voters will see when they go to the polls on Aug. 4.
Missouri’s contentious primary season is barreling toward its conclusion. In this episode, the STLPR politics team breaks down congressional primaries, state legislative contests and high-level elections throughout St. Louis County. They also discuss why Republicans appear to be running away from an amendment aimed at eliminating the state’s income tax.
From changing federal laws to intolerant landlords, trans and gender-nonconfirming people in St. Louis are facing multiple challenges when it comes to housing. Since 2021, the Trans Housing Initiative St. Louis has helped individuals with direct assistance and education. The group says it distributed more than $8,000 this year in rental assistance to 19 people. THISTL executive director Beth…
St. Louis’ Canaan Wellspring Palestinian dance troupe will present a dabke performance on Saturday to raise funds for Autism Superhero Palestine, a nonprofit supporting autistic children in the West Bank. Coach Hanan Hamed and dancer Sarah Zakarneh discuss the group’s growth, cultural preservation, the need for autism support in conflict zones and what attendees can expect from the upcoming…
Missouri Congressman Wesley Bell is once again squaring off against fellow Democrat Cori Bush to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District. Bell is banking on St. Louis and St. Louis County voters appreciating how he’s stood up to President Donald Trump. Bush contends that she can provide a more assertive posture to combat Trump. With less than two weeks to go before the primary election,…
Less than 2% of native prairie remains today. That’s a problem for the endangered Mead’s milkweed, which is the main food source of monarch caterpillars. We talk with the creator of the new short film “Intervention,” which follows St. Louis-based scientists into some of the last remaining prairies in North America to undertake the painstaking work of hand-pollinating Mead's milkweed. Conservation…
Generative AI is just about everywhere. That includes this year’s St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase — in the form of a sci-fi short called “Anomaly” by writer and director Jack Snyder. Ahead of a ticketed July 25 town hall about Cinema St. Louis’s future festival policy regarding AI submissions, Snyder discusses what prompted him to experiment with artificial intelligence and what the experience…
Amid declining use of many Indigenous and Pacific Island languages, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville is helping preserve one of the world’s oldest living Polynesian languages with a Samoan language class. The course is one of just a few in the entire country based at a university. Instructor, Talofa Talk founder and SIUE graduate William Fanene shares how his experiences as a heritage…
The world of esports is growing rapidly. Video games have become a multibillion dollar industry in the United States, outpacing the music and film industries by hundreds of billions of dollars. In Missouri, more universities are embracing esports by offering scholarships to athletes for games like Valorant, Overwatch 2, and Super Smash Brothers. Rob Powell, founder and CEO of BGG Foundation, and…
Ambassadors of Harmony, a barbershop chorus from St. Charles, won its sixth national championship earlier this month at the International Chorus Contest. Brothers and performers Jonny and Blake Moroni share their reactions to the win and the collaborative effort that created the chorus' winning arrangement of "Muskrat Ramble," which adapted a jazz standard into a massive performance involving more…
The legendary Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 came through St. Louis this week, drawing big crowds along the route to see the world’s largest operating steam train. Aiden Drohr, a tour guide and train operator at the National Museum of Transportation, talks about the history of this massive train, why it’s gained such popularity and spending a day “chasing” the Big Boy across the region.
In conversation with STLPR's Abby Llorico, the outgoing director reflects on privatization efforts, hub dismantling and how the region began rethinking its airport.
The King of Ragtime, the Queen of Rock and Roll and the King of Cool all cut their teeth at clubs in St. Louis and East St. Louis. The Mother of Black Hollywood graduated from Webster University and the Father of Rock and Roll grew up in north St. Louis. Can you name them all? Lyah LeFlore-Ituen, director of the African American History Initiative at the Missouri Historical Society joins the show…
When a submerged power line became tangled in the motor of their rescue boat on the Black River last Friday, two Missouri state troopers found themselves on a stalled, and sinking, vessel. It was one harrowing experience among many that played out on July 10 in parts of southeast Missouri, where flash flooding stranded hundreds of people and killed a woman. We learn about the rescue effort that…
The advent of stereo dramatically changed our experience of sound. St. Louis audiophile David MacRunnel provides a primer on that audio development: how it works, why it took off in the U.S. in particular, and what makes stereo different from — not necessarily better than — monophonic sound. MacRunnel and his partner Katie Cahill will talk in-depth about stereophonic tech, show early-era…
Wyclef Jean’s three decades of contributions to the music industry are powerful and global. He first broke through as a founding member of the hip-hop group the Fugees. This weekend, Jean brings that background, and a message of resilience, to his fans in St. Louis as the closing-night headliner of the MATI festival, formerly Music at the Intersection, at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Fabulous Fox Theatre.…
In 2013, Shane Devine felt a creative itch that needed to be scratched. Initially, he just wanted to record some songs that bopped around in his head, but his first album was well received and performance opportunities came knocking. With that success, Devine formed the Opera Bell Band, a music and comedy group that embraces silly humor, catchy lyrics and, most recently, plant science. Their…
St. Louis artists flex their genre-blending muscles for this month’s new music round up. Pajmon Porshahidy, also known as Umami, joined producer Miya Norfleet and host Elaine Cha to talk about their local favorites for the month including the sounds of punk band Holofoil, R&B artist Rachel Bouzier, and more. Check out our new music roundup playlist .
Gen Z’s love affair with thrifting is real. We dive into the appeal of one-of-a-kind finds and the growing movement toward eco-friendly, secondhand style with the founders of the monthly vintage clothing market Drop Soda Vintage Market and a sustainability specialist at WashU.
Eight-time Grammy Award winner Jon Batiste can't be defined by one genre. The musician blends jazz, blues, gospel, soul, R&B and funk and more. Ahead of opening MATI — formerly known as Music at the Intersection — at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, Batiste joined STLPR arts and culture senior reporter Jeremy D. Goodwin for a conversation about his upcoming albums and his wide-ranging musical career.
The City of St. Louis implemented a targeted downtown juvenile curfew in effect now through Labor Day, adding a new layer to the city’s existing citywide restrictions. But do curfews actually work to curb violence? With Marvin Teer, Director of the Office of Violence Prevention, Ashley Wilkinson, Clinical Site Supervisor for Provident Behavioral Health, and Kenya Brumfield-Young, St. Louis…