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A St. Louis seaplane pilot aims to be the first woman to circumnavigate Australia

11 hours 24 minutes ago
St. Louis resident and pilot Cathy Babis has been flying for more than 50 years. Starting this Saturday, sheā€™ll attempt to do something that no woman has done before ā€” circumnavigate mainland Australia in a seaplane. The journey marks the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Air Forceā€™s circumnavigation of the continent. Babis talks with producer Alex Heuer about the trip and its goals of encouraging people from diverse backgrounds in STEM fields and raising awareness around suicide prevention.

Police used an AirPod tracking app to find carjackers. It led them to an innocent family

1 day 9 hours ago
A St. Louis County SWAT team used a battering ram to burst into a home in Ferguson. Officers had used the Find My app to trace a pair of stolen AirPods linked to a carjacking to that address. The only problem? The AirPods had been tossed into the street. The family inside had nothing to do with the carjacking and never had the AirPods. This monthā€™s Legal Roundtable convenes to discuss the raid. Attorneys Eric Banks, Dave Roland and Nicole Gorovsky also discuss a white professor suing St. Louisā€™ historically Black university for racial discrimination, whether the Republican Party has a legal basis to stop an ā€œhonoraryā€ Ku Klux Klan member from running as a GOP candidate for governor, and more.

Like watching storms roll in? Consider volunteer storm spotting with the NWS

3 days 12 hours ago
Are you the sort of Midwesterner who goes outside when tornado sirens go off to watch Mother Nature get crazy? Then you might be exactly who the National Weather Service - St. Louis wants to train to be a storm spotter. Meteorologist Matt Beitcher shares details on upcoming classes and how storm spotters can help save lives by collecting and sharing real-time weather data.

Breaking down IL primary results: Bost holds off Bailey, Slusser emerges in Madison County

6 days 11 hours ago
U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, won the GOP nomination in Illinois' 12th Congressional District for a sixth time earlier this week, warding off a challenge by former Illinois legislator Darren Bailey, R-Xenia. In the Madison County Republican primary for board chairman, treasurer Chris Slusser defeated the embattled incumbent, Kurt Prenzler. STLPR journalists Will Bauer and Brian Munoz discuss the results on the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air.

SLU/YouGov poll shows room to grow for abortion legalization in Missouri

6 days 11 hours ago
Missouri isnā€™t the competitive swing state that it was during the 20th century ā€” or even in the 2000s and 2010s. But even though the stateā€™s voters may continue to back GOP candidates for governor and other statewide posts, they may be amenable to backing a ballot initiative that legalizes abortion. On the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, SLU associate political science professor Steve Rogers and STLPR senior political reporter Jo Mannies discuss what the SLU/YouGov poll results mean for the 2024 election.

A modern history of meth starts in Missouri

1 week ago
A new podcast is taking up the past and present of meth. "Home Cooked: A 50-Year History of Meth in Americaā€ begins with a Missouri-heavy exploration of meth use and manufacture as it grew in the 2000s. We talk with its host Olivia Weeks, and Prevent Ed executive director Nichole Dawsey, about how Missouri became known as the "meth capital of America,ā€ and how use of the drug has changed today.

Youā€™ve got (too much) email. Is it time to let it go?

1 week 1 day ago
Washington University Professor Ian Bogost says checking email is a source of daily torment. In this episode, he makes the case for why itā€™s time to give up on email entirely. He also digs into the history of email, its evolution, and how we can better use text communication tools in ways that benefit our lives.

Ethics are difficult on Earth. In outer space, the questions are even harder

1 week 2 days ago
Humans have gotten a lot wrong when it comes to living on Earth. And while it wouldnā€™t be possible to entirely leave earthly problems behind, when humans settle outer space there will be a host of ethical questions with which to grapple. At an event presented by Missouri Humanities and recorded at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium, Elaine Cha spoke with astrophysicist and author Erika Nesvold. Nesvold is the author of ā€œOff-Earth. Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space.ā€

The complicated, charitable life of Bryan Mullanphy, St. Louisā€™ 10th mayor

1 week 3 days ago
St. Louis streets transformed this weekend into a sea of green as thousands of revelers celebrated St. Patrickā€™s Day. The cityā€™s Irish community has a long history, which includes St. Louisā€™ 10th mayor, Bryan Mullanphy: Mullanphyā€™s contributions to the city go far beyond the street named for him. ā€œUnseen St. Louisā€ writer and history buff Jackie Dana shares her findings from researching Mullaphyā€™s life, including his then-scandalous decision to leave one-third of his estate to the City of St. Louis, specifically to help poor immigrants and travelers.

Prosecutors wield vast power in St. Louis. A coalition is putting them under scrutiny

1 week 3 days ago
A coalition of racial justice groups has released the first of a slew of reports aimed at holding prosecutors in St. Louis and St. Louis County accountable. The group is tackling big questions: What should a prosecutorā€™s office be doing? What would it mean for those policies to be progressive ā€” not just in name, but in reality? Mike Milton, founder and executive director of the Freedom Community Center in St. Louis, digs into the report and talks about the leadership of former St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, the promises of St. Louisā€™ new top prosecutor Gabe Gore, and the work of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell.

Eimear Arkins on connecting with your Irish heritage

1 week 6 days ago
While St. Louis doesnā€™t have as many first-generation Irish immigrants as it used to, there are still strong cultural ties in the city. Eimear Arkins, a St. Louis transplant from County Clare, Ireland, is working to strengthen those ties. In this encore episode, she shares her thoughts on local holiday customs and how Americans can engage with Irish culture in meaningful ways.

Showing love for the Lou means holding each other accountable for a better region

2 weeks ago
St. Louis on the Air celebrated 314 Day with recording artist and arts ambassador Muhammad ā€œMvstermindā€ Austin, For the Culture STLā€™s founder Ohun Ashe, and co-owner of Strange Donuts and Up Late Jason Bockman. The trio discussed all things 3-1-4 ā€” from St. Louisā€™ claim to have the best Chinese food in America to the steps towards progress since the Ferguson uprising nearly 10 years ago.

German paintings found an unlikely home in St. Louis. Science is revealing their secrets

2 weeks 1 day ago
A new St. Louis Art Museum exhibit (opening March 15) is highlighting the museumā€™s world-class collection of German Expressionism paintings. It's not just the paintings in focus, but the process of conservation, and the scientific analyses that have uncovered hidden layers, doodles, and even full paintings unknown until now. The exhibitā€™s two curators Courtney Books, associate paintings conservator, and Melissa Venator, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator of Modern Art, discuss the exhibit, and how German Expressionism found a home in St. Louis after World War II.

ā€˜Wait Waitā€¦Donā€™t Tell Meā€™ host Peter Sagal returns to St. Louis for solo show

2 weeks 2 days ago
Peter Sagal is no stranger to St. Louis. The host of NPRā€™s ā€œWait Waitā€¦Donā€™t Tell Meā€ has hosted the show here ā€” and heā€™s also run through the streets of downtown St. Louis in his underwear and feathered wings while holding a bow and arrow. Sagal returns to St. Louis this Friday for a solo show at the Sheldon. In this episode, he discusses his experiences as the longtime host of ā€œWait Wait,ā€ what his solo show entails and how heā€™s come to love St. Louis.