St. Louis on the Air

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl talks with St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell; Cristina Garmendia, author of St. Louis’ Equity Indicators Baseline Report as well as a staff member at Washington University’s Race and Opportunity Lab at the Brown School; and Wally Siewert, director of civic engagement and the Impact Fellows program for FOCUS St. Louis.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl talks with Washington University neurosurgeons Albert Kim and Eric Leuthardt about the particularities of the brain and their “BrainWorks” theater production that dramatizes real-life neurological cases to help explain the science behind brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, brain tumors and strokes.

After a very rainy spring and early summer that have included more than 80 days of flooding along rivers in the St. Louis region, many area residents are still feeling the effects. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl talks with guests from both Illinois and Missouri about the impacts they’ve been dealing with in their respective communities. Joining the discussion are Adam Jones, a fourth-genera...

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl discusses factors contributing to the country’s current political environment with Frank DiStefano, author of “The Next Realignment: Why America’s Parties Are Crumbling and What Happens Next."

St. Louis Public Radio’s Jonathan Ahl discusses factors contributing to the country’s current political environment with Frank DiStefano, author of “The Next Realignment: Why America’s Parties Are Crumbling and What Happens Next."

Several longstanding St. Louis traditions get underway this week, including Fair St. Louis and the VP Parade. Both events have connections to the Veiled Prophet Organization, which was founded in 1878 by white elites. The organization and its regular celebrations have been associated with civic pride and philanthropy – and at times with controversy, secretive rituals and protest. St. Louis Public...

St. Louis Public Radio’s executive editor Shula Neuman talks about the ongoing St. Louis Cardinals season and what’s ahead for the team as they go on break for the All-Star game with Rob Rains of STLSportsPage.com.

St. Louis Public Radio executive editor Shula Neuman explores how parents approach “the talk” with their children – which often varies widely across race, gender and cultural lines.

A year after being racially profiled along with fellow black college students in Clayton, Missouri, Teddy Washington and his mother, Denise Washington, talk with St. Louis Public Radio's Shula Neuman. Also joining the discussion is Richard Weiss, whose story about the 2018 incident will appear in this Sunday's edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His reporting is supported through a grant from...

Sauce Magazine art director Meera Nagarajan and staff writer Matt Sorrell talk up some of the latest additions to the St. Louis region’s food-and-beverage community.

Eric Schmid joined St. Louis Public Radio’s newsroom a few weeks ago as its Metro East reporter – a new role made possible through the Report for America initiative, which aims to fill important gaps in local journalism. Schmid talks with St. Louis Public Radio editors Shula Neuman and Maria Altman about what this means for the station’s news coverage and how he hopes to help boost people’s unders...

St. Louis Public Radio editor Maria Altman talks with reporters Sarah Fentem and Jason Rosenbaum about the legal and political drama surrounding the state's only remaining abortion clinic.

Earlier this week, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation that will soon make recreational marijuana legal in the state. The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2020, and makes Illinois the 11th state to allow recreational use. St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann goes behind the headlines on the news with Amanda Vinicky of Chicago public media outlet WTTW.

It’s been nearly eight decades since Illinois sailor William Klasing was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. His remains were just recently identified after a long process of identifying dozens of men who died on the USS Oklahoma. This weekend, members of his family from near and far are gathering in Trenton for a funeral procession and reburial in his honor.

During St. Louis’ Make Music Day last Friday, people gathered in places around the St. Louis area to do just that. And on what was meant to be the longest, sunniest day of the year, it began to rain. While it halted some outdoor performances, many, like those inside Evangeline’s Bistro and Music House, went on. St. Louis Public Radio's Alexis Moore takes in the scene.

Two and a half weeks ago, the St. Louis Blues made history with their first Stanley Cup, and the memories are still fresh for lifelong and recent fans alike. To help keep those memories alive for many years to come, St. Louis Public Library is encouraging people around the region to contribute Blues-related artifacts to the team’s official archive. St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann talks ab...

Dr. Ken Haller regularly finds himself assuring parents that childhood vaccines are safe. He tries to do so with empathy, because along with having confidence in vaccinations, he also believes parents genuinely want what’s best for their kids. The Saint Louis University associate professor of pediatrics talks with St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann about how he navigates those vaccine worrie...

Missouri Chief Justice Zel Fisher in January announced coming changes to the state’s pretrial rules, which govern bail, detention and other practices directly impacting citizens accused of a crime. The new rules, described by Fisher as “common-sense modifications” within a system that too often treats defendants according to their pocketbooks instead of the law, go into effect July 1. St. Louis Pu...

St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann delves into the Women’s World Cup and the state of women’s soccer with Lori Chalupny-Lawson: former U.S. Women’s National Team member, current Maryville University head coach and assistant club director of the newly formed all-girls soccer club Fire & Ice Soccer Academy. Olivia Silverman, assistant coach of the St. Louis Lions women’s team; was a goalkeeper...

St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann discusses the contention surrounding police presence at this year's PrideFest, and the broader status of the transgender community in St. Louis with Jordan Braxton, the director of diversity and inclusion for Pride St. Louis, and Sayer Johnson, the executive director of the Metro Trans Umbrella Group.

Left Bank Books is turning 50 this year. Co-owner Kris Kleindienst talks about the shop’s storied history with St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann. Located in St. Louis’ bustling Central West End neighborhood, the independent bookseller got its start in 1969 when a group of Washington University graduate students set out to create a place where one could find all kinds of literature. Left Ban...

Earlier this month, four St. Louis-area children died as a result of guns over the course of just five days. St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann discusses the ongoing violence and related trauma that many children in the region face – as well as resources and ideas for a way forward. Joining the conversation are Erica Jones, who has lost both a 7-year-old godson and an adult daughter to guns...

St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann delves into what the Missouri Coalition for the Environment's Known & Grown project entails, as well as its broader implications for growers and consumers, with the MCE’s food and farm director Melissa Vatterott and local food coordinator Rae Miller.

St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann talks trade and tariffs as they pertain to Missouri with David Meyer, senior lecturer in management in the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, in light of Gov. Mike Parson’s recent return from a trade trip in Europe.

Guest host Jim Kirchherr of the Nine Network goes behind the headlines with Brian Ellison, a host and contributor for NPR-member station KCUR in Kansas City, to discuss Kansas City's new mayor. Mayor-elect Quinton Lucas is a private attorney and alecturer at the University of Kansas School of Law, and he previously served on the city council.