St. Louis on the Air

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 discuss the importance of the website's upcoming show, auditions and company database, their vision for this new online theatre hub and what we can expect in the future.

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 St. Louis' largest park, how to “wrangle” a sample from them, and what the plastics in their bodies could tell us about how plastics are affecting humans, too.

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. Mecham and Vianello share the band's journey, wittiness, and pursuit finding the perfect voice to compliment their sound.

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 for the artists and their families by talking with Everett and his former attorney, Sharon Turlington, who organized the exhibition.

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 Rachel Wester talk about the continued need for innocence work, the 900 cases on its waiting list and notable MIP successes like those of Christopher Dunn, Kevin Strickland, and Lamar Johnson.

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 tornado deepened their connections to the community. They also talk about how screenings of the film are contributing to the ongoing work of recovery, rebuilding and resilience.

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 history, the need for awareness and empathy to address issues like homelessness and gun violence, and how writing about trauma has helped him navigate his own grief.

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 shapes power, privilege and perspective. In this encore presentation, we talk with McPherson about the book that's rooted in St. Louis and relays stories about the Mississippian people in present-day Collinsville and the aerial surveillance of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

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 the Air episode that first aired November 3, 2025. Also joining the conversation about St. Louis' key role in the story of coal in America is local historian Andrew Theising; he shares insights on Raymond Tucker, who led the city's "Smoke Elimination Committee." Tucker, who eventually became an influential St. Louis mayor, is the subject of Theising's 2024 book "Mid-Mod Mayor: How Raymond Tucker Shaped St. Louis."

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 of Honor in the fair's Palace of Varied Industries to an out-of-the-way antique store in Park Hills. Wilson also shares what he's learned about Gustav Lind, the man who created them.

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 Black women have a key role to play in building a more multiracial democracy and examines St. Louis' place in that story.

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 County Executive. On this special edition of “The Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air,” STLPR reporters Rachel Lippmann and Sarah Kellogg break down the results. We also hear from Secretary of State Denny Hoskins about his controversial rejection of a referendum aimed at overturning a 2025 redistricting plan aimed at ousting Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. Zimmerman and St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann join the program too.

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 consolidation.

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 (Baileys' concepts, Salt + Smoke, Syberg's on Market and Panera) — and mount a case for St. Louis to be the next city to host the James Beard Awards.

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 scenes negotiations over how the settlement money was allocated.

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 after they were arrested at a Wesley Bell town hall, a judge in hot water over his social media posts, and more.

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 perform with his band “The Oliver-Smith Incomparables” at the Aug. 3 event.

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 the book, “Faith, Family and Flag: Branson Entertainment and the Idea of America.” Her book explores how conservative values and politics have played out on Branson's stages and with audiences. She also describes what makes Branson an important site for the performing arts and how its presentation of American history, values and politics is far more complicated than its reputation suggests.

“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 Gombos and board president Maxi Glamour talk about the history of the group, the impact of mutual aid programs and why local and federal housing rules pose particular challenges to trans people. Gombos and Glamour share their insight from their years in housing advocacy and research, as well as their own personal experiences with losing and regaining stable housing.

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 showcase.

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, Bell and Bush face off in an intense joint appearance focused on the pair's Democratic credentials, campaign finances, and issues including tornado recovery, Medicare for All, federal immigration law, and military spending.

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 geneticist Christy Edwards also joins the discussion to share her passion for this work — exacting labor that comes with long, hot days navigating thorny brush in tick country.

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 revealed about the realities of working with AI. He also drew parallels between current debates over AI in filmmaking and resistance to the mid-2000's move away from 35mm film to digital.

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 language learner shapes his approach to teaching. He also discusses media's role in piquing public curiosity about Samoan culture and language, even in parts of the country with relatively small populations of people with direct connections to the Pacific Islands.

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 Fletcher Springfield, a rising Southeast Missouri State freshman, talk about how casual gamers can become esports athletes, and how esports helped them land education and career opportunities.

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 than 100 singers. Jonny Moroni also leads a special demonstration of how a championship-winning chorus “builds” a harmony, voice by voice.

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 for a quiz and conversation about the members of pop culture “royalty” with strong ties to the St. Louis region

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 brought 361 people to safety and hear from a 13-year-old who was airlifted out of Camp Taum Sauk by the National Guard.

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 equipment, and play full albums by Miles Davis, the Beatles, and the Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the St. Louis Science Center's 21+ event “Up Late: Experience Sound” on July 25. *This episode is best listened to with headphones or earbuds, or in a car with dual speakers.

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. STLPR audio engineer Aaron Doerr talked with Jean about his message to his fans, what it means to believe in yourself and all the things worth fighting for.

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 latest album “A Salute to Corn” was commissioned by Missouri Botanical Garden. Devine and his bandmate and wife, Kristina DeYong, share their creative process, the close relationships among the bandmates and the science behind their “corny” music.

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 University professor and criminologist, we discuss what the research says about their effectiveness, the psychology behind teen risk-taking, the city's decision and guidance for parents.

With recent warm temperatures, humidity, and high rainfall, mosquitoes are thriving in St. Louis. And these insects don't just cause itchy, annoying bites; they can also carry diseases like West Nile. To evaluate the effectiveness of various anti-mosquito tactics — from natural remedies to yard fogging — we talk with environmentalist Jean Ponzi of the Missouri Botanical Garden and Missouri Extension urban entomologist Emily Althoff.

In 2016, acclaimed Black American author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates entered the field of comic books with "Black Panther #1." It met with both fanfare and critique. In a new book, Howard Rambsy II argues that Coates' take on the superhero story raised the profile and understanding of comics as an art form and affected opportunity for other Black writers. Rambsy, a literature professor at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, also talks about the ways Coates' work illuminated the challenges of "attaining" representation in the comic book field.

Missourians will decide the fate of Amendment 4, which requires constitutional amendments put on the ballot through the initiative petition process to pass in eight out of eight congressional districts. We hear from both sides of the debate on the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air. Missouri Farm Bureau President Garrett Hawkins argues the pro side of Amendment 4, while Missourians for Fair Taxation's Scott Charton explains why it should fail.

Missourians will be deciding on a lot of high-stakes ballot initiatives on Aug. 4. Some of them are attracting passionate debate – and spurring high-dollar ad campaigns. That's not what's happening with Amendment 1. Thus far, there's no organized opposition for the reauthorization of a one-tenth of one percent sales tax that funds soil and water conservation projects and Missouri's state parks. Missouri Parks Association executive director Kendra Varns Wallis joins the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air to make the case to pass Amendment 1.