St. Louis on the Air

The Ferguson Uprising ushered in a new wave of young leaders looking to create systemic change in policing, education, and race relations. In the nine years since the killing of Michael Brown by now-ex-Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, several organizations have taken shape to address those very issues. David Dwight IV invested time and energy in one such organization — Forward Through Ferguson. Dwi...

For centuries history has primarily been told from the perspective of white men. What was traditionally considered a “reliable source” has not included the voices of Black people and other people of color. Over the last decade tables have started to turn, and more historians are recognizing there is a lot of work to be done in addressing the interpretation of Black history. Cicely Hunter of the Af...

German immigrants helped shape Missouri’s culture in myriad ways, as detailed in the book “Explore Missouri's German Heritage” and the documentary it inspired. Author W. Arthur Mehrhoff details the people, places and ideas that influenced the Show-Me State’s cultural heritage.

In 1955, a sign was erected in Clayton, Missouri. It recounted the history of the founding of St. Louis County. According to the sign, that history began when the county was “first visited by white colonists” in the early 1700s. Then, in November 2022, the sign was quietly removed — but Geoff Ward, a professor of African and African-American studies at Washington University, says the removal was a...

A Missouri Botanical Garden exhibition that examines the relationship between sound and plants will close at the end of March. Nezka Pfeifer, the curator of “Botanical Resonance: Plants and Sounds in the Garden,” discusses how the exhibition reveals important things about how we interact with our environment.

Illinois’ state museum system holds more than 7,000 burial remains taken from Native American mounds and other sites. Yet, despite a 1990 federal law that required museums start returning remains, Illinois did “close to nothing” for more than 20 years. That finding is among the takeaways from ProPublica reporter Logan Jaffe’s latest investigation. She discusses her findings on the Illinois State M...

Immigration stories told in the United States often center around people and families planting roots in the U.S. “This Is Not My Home” tells a different immigration story — that of someone emigrating from the U.S. — from a point of view that is often ignored, a child’s perspective. Author and illustrator duo Eugenia Yoh and Vivienne Chang share the inspiration behind the main character, Lily, and...

St. Louis’ best theater performances and productions of the year are being honored once again. St. Louis Theater Circle announced its award nominations Monday, covering approximately 90 shows from 2022. Calvin Wilson, theater critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Lynn Venhaus, writer and reviewer for PopLifeStL.com, discuss the nominations, and their observations on the state of St. Louis th...

Missouri greenlit several dispensaries to sell recreational cannabis last Friday. St. Louis Public Radio’s Metro East reporter Will Bauer shares what he heard from customers on that first day of recreational sales, the tax breakdown on both sides of the Mississippi River, and how Missouri and Illinois may be competing for consumers.

On January 20, Bob Kramer’s Marrionnettes went up in flames. The fire claimed the 125-seat theater, a workshop, gift shop and residence and, most significantly, Bob Kramer’s life. Firefighters rescued his longtime partner, Dug Feltch, who spent four days in the hospital unconscious. Dug Feltch joins the show to remember his partner and to listen back to an excerpt of a 2015 conversation with Krame...

Kate Grumke updates St. Louis on the Air about the newly appointed superintendent for St. Louis Public Schools: Keisha Scarlett from Seattle.

Felia Davenport’s new exhibition “Torn Mixology” addresses how motherhood changed her perspective on racism and generational trauma as a person of mixed-race. The exhibition tells her personal story through detailed hand-stitched clothing on life-sized mannequins.

Metro Theater Company’s latest production, “Spells of the Sea,” tells the story of a 15-year-old fisherwoman and a grumpy lighthouse keeper who encounter mermaids, monsters and pirates in their quest to find the elixir of life. Metro Theater Company Artistic Director Julia Flood and cast member and choreographer Tyler White preview the musical and its use of scent design.

Workplaces across many industries struggle to attract employees of color.. One solution is the practice of “cluster hiring,” in which companies hire groups of individuals with similar identities. In the documentary film “Clusterluck,” Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville professor and first time film producer Candace Hall chronicles her personal experience in a cluster hire in the universit...

Monster trucks roared and tumbled in St. Louis last month at Monster Jam, but, it turns out that the St. Louis region has a distinct connection to the culture of massive motocross vehicles. That connection includes Rich Inman and Concussion Motorsports, in Ellis Grove, Illinois, which manufactures monster trucks. Its work is stamped on some of the most famous monster trucks in the world, including...

Black maternal mortality rates in Missouri are among some of the highest in the United States. And with the near-total ban on abortions in Missouri, the demand for full spectrum doulas and midwives is increasing. STLPR reporter Andrea Henderson discusses how Black women are seeking out Black doulas to improve their birth outcomes.

Typically, bands and music groups make stars of the lead singer: the “front man” and spokesperson who gets all the eyes and attention. So most fans do not consider the team of people working behind the scenes to make the music radio-ready — especially those who produce, mix, and master the audio. Music producers are integral to the music-making process. Producer Miya Norfleet explores the Fresh Pr...

The events of September 17, 2017 were expensive for the city of St. Louis. In the years since police used a “kettle” to mass-arrest dozens of people downtown, the city has settled with protesters and bystanders caught in the cordon. Now, with the $4.9 million settlement reached this week in a class-action lawsuit, the bill has hit a total of roughly $10 million. Attorneys Bill Freivogel, Eric Bank...

Volunteers and advocates for people in St. Louis who are homeless say the city's failure to create a 24-hour shelter is "unacceptable" and endangering lives during frigid winter nights. Although a new 24-hour shelter has just opened, questions remain: Why did it take so long? And what of the millions of APRA dollars earmarked for homeless services that remain unspent? NPR Midwest Newsroom investig...

This past summer and fall, our team hosted a series of listening sessions to get a better sense of how we can best serve the communities in St. Louis Public Radio’s listening area. What kinds of stories should we focus on? What are we missing? Who should we have on the show? Producers Emily Woodbury and Miya Norfleet discuss how it all went down and how we will continue to engage moving forward.

Work: What does it mean, and how has the place, shape, and meaning of work changed over time? Carrie Lane, Professor and Acting Chair of American Studies at California State University Fullerton, provides an overview of the history work in the U.S.; and St. Louisan Amber Murphy adds personal, in-real-life perspective on navigating – and challenging – the binary that separates work and life.

A wide assortment of St. Louis bands, trios and DJs continue to depend on the living room stage. But even when those musicians move on to real clubs, networks of musicians continue to find themselves on unconventional stages to fill the gaps between club shows and traditional venues. This scene is alive and well in St. Louis. To talk about why these kinds of shows continue to thrive, we get to kno...

Featured on the Netflix show "I Am a Killer,” the 2013 murder of Chris Smith led the arrest and life sentence for his wife, Vicky Isaac. But Vicky’s sister, Betty Frizzell, a former Missouri police chief, is convinced that Vicky is covering for the true killer, Vicky’s adult son Kenny. Frizzell previously joined St. Louis on the Air in January last year to discuss her memoir, “If you can’t quit cr...

Reported cases of syphilis in St. Louis and St. Louis County are on the rise. STLPR health reporter Sarah Fentem and Washington University Associate Professor Dr. Hilary Reno discuss what the rates of transmission tell us about how these diseases are spreading and what it will take to get more people tested for STIs.

A facilities worker at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, was moving soil when he discovered a white object about 12 feet below the surface. Researchers confirmed that it’s an ancient tusk that belongs to either a mammoth or a mastodon. Professor Andrew Martin talks about the remarkable find and how he plans to use the excavation in his class this fall.