St. Louis on the Air

This edition of St. Louis on the Air features highlights from a live storytelling event with speakers whose lives changed drastically after Michael Brown Jr. was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson.

It’s been five years since Michael Brown was killed by a Ferguson police officer, setting off a protest movement that led to big changes here in St. Louis and throughout the world. Remembering those events, the St. Louis Public Radio newsroom interviewed nearly twenty people for its Living Ferguson project. By talking to people who lived the events in Ferguson, or are directly touched by the syste...

Last week, St. Louis attorney Michael Kahn won over a federal jury in a case looking at whether the Katy Perry song "Dark Horse" infringed on the copyright of a 2009 rap song “Joyful Noise” by St. Louis artist Marcus Gray, who is known as Flame. The jury decided that Katy Perry and Capitol Records must pay Gray $2.78 million in damages. In this segment, Sarah Fenske discusses the case with Kahn, a...

As the host of The Splendid Table, a cookbook editor and food journalist, Francis Lam has explored cuisines from all around the world. That may be one reason he’s not at all disconcerted by St. Louis’ method of slicing bagels as if they were loaves of bread.

The first few minutes of Tanner Craft’s new short film pair a seemingly everyday scene – a mother and her young son at a doctor’s office – with an unsettling soundtrack. There’s a looming, ongoing hum audible beneath the dialogue as the physician tells the mother that her son has autism spectrum disorder. “It’s a developmental disorder,” the doctor says, the mother appearing overwhelmed. “It impai...

Host Sarah Fenske delves into ways that St. Louis’ Latino community continues to grow and influence the city – artistically and otherwise. A local artist and podcast host share their experiences of navigating a bicultural life, the importance of representation in their fields of work and how the Latino arts scene is expanding in the region.

Host Sarah Fenske sits down with Anna Crosslin, CEO of the International Institute, and Nadya Kanim, a business specialist there, to discuss their weekly lunch, the institute’s efforts to support immigrants, and the bevy of cuisines on the menu.

Host Sarah Fenske sits down with Anna Crosslin, CEO of the International Institute, and Nadya Kanim, a business specialist there, to discuss their weekly lunch, the institute’s efforts to support immigrants, and the bevy of cuisines on the menu.

Young adults throughout the St. Louis area make up the artist collective, St. Louis Story Stitchers. They aim to showcase the region’s culture through performance art, and they work to curb gun violence, which many of its members have grown up with.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with our partners from Sauce Magazine about the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community. Joining her for the conversation were Catherine Klene and Matt Sorrell, managing editor and staff writer, respectively.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with Dr. Page for a look at what he’s accomplished in his first 100 days in office as St. Louis County Executive, and what he hopes to do in the weeks and months to come.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with longtime Quincy Senior High School music director Kathi Dooley about her experience on Netflix's "Queer Eye" makeover show, "Dooley-cizing," her future plans and more.

Host Sarah Fenske spoke with Amy Breihan, director of the MacArthur Justice Center, and Nicholas Phillips, a reporter at Missouri Lawyers Weekly, about developments in a case against the state of Missouri, for allegedly failing to provide “meaningful” legal representation for indigent defendants, as the U.S. Constitution requires. Because the public defenders’ office is overworked and underfunded,...

Paying for child care is one of the largest expenses per month for families. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of infant child care in Missouri is about $800 a month. At the same time, day care providers are tasked with more work for little pay. On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske hosts a discussion on the rising cost of child care, the impact on...

Paying for child care is one of the largest expenses per month for families. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the average annual cost of infant child care in Missouri is about $800 a month. At the same time, day care providers are tasked with more work for little pay. On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske hosts a discussion on the rising cost of child care, the impact on...

Host Sarah Fenske previews the latest Missouri History Museum exhibits: “Pulitzer Prize Photographs” and “In Focus: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Photographs.” The first is a traveling exhibit from the Newseum in Washington, displaying the most comprehensive collection of Pulitzer-winning photos ever assembled. The second provides a companion exhibit that shows off the work of local photojournalists.

A group of local teens made St. Louis proud earlier this month when they earned first place at the 2019 Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival in Las Vegas. Sarah Fenske talks with two members of the award-winning team: Zack Lesmeister, who is a graduate of Marquette High School, a freshman at Emerson College and a former St. Louis youth poet laureate, and Keana Fox, a graduate...

St. Louis County has significantly reduced its jail population over the past year, as Missouri Lawyers Weekly reported last month. Officials say the drop from an over-capacity total of 1,242 inmates in July 2018 down to 965 as of May 2019 has a lot to do with justice reform efforts that began in the wake of Ferguson protests. University of Missouri-St. Louis criminologist Beth Huebner has led rese...

"St. Louis on the Air" host Sarah Fenske talks with State Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. ahead of his resignation from the Missouri House on July 31, capping off an unlikely political tenure that placed the Ferguson activist and rapper firmly into the political spotlight.

Sarah Fenkse is among the notable media leaders of St. Louis. She’s served as the editor-in-chief of the Riverfront Times for the past four years, reporting on various topics such as breaking news, business, arts and culture. She’ll now be heard on the airwaves as the new official host of "St. Louis on the Air" at St. Louis Public Radio.

In the early 1990s, a man abducted and murdered at least three women from south St. Louis. This man is known as the package killer and the three murders remain cold cases nearly 30 years later. In this St. Louis on the Air segment, guest host Jonathan Ahl talks with Riverfront Times contributor Ryan Krull, who has investigated the details of these cold cases over the past year. Also joining the co...

"St. Louis on the Air’s" latest Sound Bites segment with Sauce Magazine explores how salads are indeed culinary staples that can withstand the vegan trends of 2019 and beyond. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin talks about how the magazine compiled its list of the 12 best salads foodies should try in the St. Louis area with Sauce’s art director, Meera Nagarajan, and Kevin Willman, chef and...

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled on the City of St. Louis’ motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. The decision went mostly in the reporter’s favor and allows the lawsuit to proceed. Now based in Washington state, journalist Mike Faulk filed the suit following a September 2017 protest related to the acquittal of former police officer Jason Stockley. Faulk wa...

From the announcement of MetroBus service shifts coming this fall, to record-setting MetroLink ridership the day of the St. Louis Blues parade last month, to security challenges, the past year and a half has proved to be a pivotal time for Metro Transit. The developments have daily implications for area residents who depend on public transportation. Metro Transit’s executive director, Jessica Meff...

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy D. Goodwin delves into a variety of recent local and national stories pertaining to the law.