While the U.S. was on the brink of Civil War, a secret organization of Black men convened in St. Louis to plot an insurrection. We take a look at that clandestine plan and how an insubordinate war hero ticked off President Lincoln with his antics to free enslaved Missourians with Cicely Hunter of the Missouri Historical Society and Cathy Hart from the Friends of Father Dickson Cemetery.
Music therapy can reduce stress and anxiety, improve memory, elevate mood, and contribute to pain management and physical rehabilitation. For kids who live with life-altering medical conditions, and find themselves in and out of the hospital for procedures and treatments, music therapy might be one of the only places they can truly let loose to speak, or sing, their truth. The St. Louis nonprofit the Song Society facilitates songwriting sessions, as well as recording and performance opportunities, to offer outlet to such kids, teens and their families.
It seems that, nowadays, you can’t open a social media app without seeing zodiac content about specific sun signs or having folks worried about Mercury going into retrograde. But for millennia, the practice of astrology was more than pop culture fodder to consume. Astrologer Jade Moore tracks the cosmos personally and professionally at her store Sincerely, the Craft in Midtown. She joins the show to give a crash course on astrology’s history, culture and practice.
A newly unearthed ancient temple in Italy complicates the history of paganism and Christianity in the Roman Empire. Douglas Boin, a history professor at Saint Louis University, talks about his team’s discovery of an imperial cult temple that dates back to the fourth century.
Missouri lawmakers opened the 2024 session this week with GOP majority leaders of the House and Senate expressing optimism that they can accomplish major policy initiatives. That's despite election year pressures and a softening budgetary picture that may make it challenging to have a productive session. STLPR statehouse reporter Sarah Kellogg discusses what's ahead for this year's term in Jefferson City.
A recent vote by St. Louis Public Schools board members means fewer kids will have a St. Louis College Kids Savings account through the City of St. Louis’ College Kids program. Our guests dive into the origin of the program, and why it's drawn scrutiny from journalists and critics. They also explore how children’s savings accounts can help kids see higher education as an option, not just a possibility.
Since legal sales of medical marijuana started in Missouri in 2020 and adult recreational cannabis in 2023, business around all things marijuana has become a billion-dollar business. Missouri Independent journalist Rebecca Rivas talks about her recent coverage of Missouri’s cannabis industry, including a 60,000-product recall – and how lawsuits and politics could shape the industry in 2024.
In the fall of 2022, a Missouri law went into effect that opened school officials to possible criminal charges if they provide “explicit sexual content” to students. That has had a chilling effect on librarians, and it resulted in Missouri removing the third highest number of books from library shelves, following Florida and Texas. STLPR reporter Kate Grumke talks with Mernie Maestas, the lead librarian for the Wentzville School District in St. Charles County.
When Central Visual and Performing Arts High School student Ray Strickland performed his original song “Time for Change” at the St. Louis Teen Talent Competition in 2023, he sang in recognition of his cousin who he lost to gun violence, of George Floyd, who was murdered shortly after Strickland wrote the song, and in reflection of the mass shooting at his school months earlier. He shares what he is up to now and his belief in the power of the “universal language” of music.
D.B. Cooper’s 1971 airplane hijacking did more than just create an American crime legend: He inspired copycats, including in St. Louis in 1972. The St. Louis caper forms the core of University of Missouri history professor John Wigger's new book, “The Hijacking of American Flight 119: How D.B. Cooper Inspired a Skyjacking Craze and the FBI’s Battle to Stop It." Wigger interviewed McNally, who was released from federal prison in 2010, and more than a dozen retired FBI agents. Wigger spoke with St. Louis on the Air producer Danny Wicentowski.
Sam Goodwin was just thirteen countries away from reaching his goal of visiting every country when he traveled to Syria. His visit took a wrong turn when he was wrongfully accused of espionage and held in the country’s notorious prison system. Goodwin’s forthcoming book about his captivity shares the ways coincidence and connection led to his release.
50 years after the Endangered Species Act was passed, the Missouri Botanical Garden continues their plant conservation efforts within the garden grounds and in the wild. Matthew Albrecht, director of Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, and Becky Sucher, senior manager of the garden’s Living Collections share the successes in plant conservation and how the noticeably changing weather patterns affects their work at the garden and in the field.
2023 was a year of change in St. Louis politics as Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner resigned from an office in turmoil and the Board of Aldermen was cut in half. STLPR journalists Jason Rosenbaum, Brian Munoz, Will Bauer, Rachel Lippmann and Sarah Kellogg break down the top political stories of the year.
The St. Louis Board of Aldermen went through a major political and structural transformation in 2023. St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green discusses some of the highlights of the past year and what to expect from her aldermanic colleagues in 2024.
On Monday morning, a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer drove his SUV through the front wall of a local gay bar. The incident ended with Bar:PM co-owner Chad Morris in handcuffs, under arrest and charged with felony assault. Attorneys Mark Smith, Kalila Jackson and Dave Roland discuss this case, and others, in this Legal Roundtable episode.
Yes, radio stations have photojournalists — and they’re vital to the stories St. Louis Public Radio produces. Interim Digital Editor Brian Munoz and photojournalist Tristen Rouse have wrapped up collecting STLPR’s “Year in Photos.” They join the show to discuss what happens behind the lens, and how it’s led to some of their favorite images among the thousands they’ve captured in 2023.
In this encore, listen back to our September interview with columnist and commentator Michael Harriot. Harriot's debut book, “Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America,” offers a compelling retelling of American history. Harriot discusses why he tackled a sweeping retelling of American history, and also shares his experiences from covering protests in Ferguson in 2014 and St. Louis in 2017.
St. Louis-based dining critics & food writers dish on STL’s 2023 trends and highlights, and talk about what’s to come in 2024. Guests include Meera Nagarajan (Sauce Magazine), Ian Froeb (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), and Holly Fann (Eater, St. Louis Magazine).
On Oct. 25, more than a dozen of Fatima Elkabti’s family members were killed in Gaza City in a single Israeli airstrike. The war is taking a toll on the Palestinian American, wife and mother. And, it comes at a time when the Washington University creative writing grad is writing a book that’s preserving her family’s history of displacement — and drawing parallels to today.
In 2023, we said goodbye to a number of remarkable people who lived and worked in the St. Louis region. In this episode, we honor those we lost this year by listening back to conversations with them or by hearing from those who knew them well.
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