Lynne Jackson sometimes struggles to find her great-great-grandfather’s grave. Located in north St. Louis’ sprawling and historic Calvary Cemetery, the headstone is just two and a half feet high. A cemetery map helps, and on it, his grave is indicated in the key, with the number 19 beside his name: Dred Scott. It’s a modest memorial, and it’s also “the most asked-for grave out there,” according to Jackson, who last week launched a fundraiser in hopes of creating a nine-foot-tall educational memorial at the spot.
This month, the pop-up soup dinner that provides funding for good causes returns to St. Louis after a five-year hiatus. Anne McCullough explains what led her to bring back STL Sloup.
The new archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis shares his thoughts on racism, sexual abuse, and calls from activists to remove the statue of St. Louis the King atop of Art Hill.
We explore the latest Great Rivers Biennial exhibit at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis with Misa Jeffereis, the assistant curator at CAM who organized the show, and Rachel Youn, whose "Gather” gallery on display blends the lines between dance and worship.
Holden Thorp, who is now the editor-in-chief of Science, has found it necessary to speak out in recent months about what he terms “an extreme attack on science that’s acute and forceful and very much in the news.” He doesn't mince words in his latest editorial for the magazine.
Some companies are welcoming workers back to the office. That comes with risks because of the coronavirus pandemic but we talk with employers who are trying to do it the right way and making necessary accommodations. Architect Megan Ridgeway of Arcturis also explains how she's working with companies to accomplish these goals.
Benson Hill is considered a rising star in the ag-tech space. The company was established in 2012 and has garnered about $133 million in funding, including from the investor arm of Google, GV. Co-founder and CEO Matt Crisp joins the show to talk about creating better tasting and more sustainable food. He also explains why the company chose St. Louis to open a new $53 million headquarters.
Brock Seals talks about his “artivism,” a term coined to describe the intersection between art and activism, and his upcoming project called “The Artivist.”
Persistence Surveillance Systems originally developed its technology for military use and now hopes to bring it to St. Louis to lower the city's crime rate. The company has been running a pilot program in the city of Baltimore — in conjunction with the city's police department — since April. Baltimore journalist Joanne Cavanaugh Simpson discusses the results of the trial run and how residents feel about the new technology.
Some St. Louis residents have expressed concerns after demolition permits were issued for a group of historic buildings along the 1900 block of Olive Boulevard. The fate of another building, at 201 S. Jefferson, also has people speaking up. To city resident Catherine Hamacher, who works as an urban planner, both cases are a reminder that, oftentimes, “people have a hard time seeing the ‘what could be.’”
St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Fentem discusses finding safe ways to connect in yet another unprecedented season, what to keep in mind about the likelihood of significantly more indoor time, and how to approach the prospect of, well, being a bit cold at times in exchange for safer interactions.
In August, Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z released their music video “Entrepreneur” which features Black entrepreneurs from across the country. The video inspired St. Louis’ Jason Wilson, owner and CEO of Northwest Coffee Roasting Company, who collaborated with local director David Kirkman to create an edition of “Entrepreneur” that highlights Black-owned businesses in St. Louis.
Wellston's Trojan Park was recently named one of two winners of 2020's Urban Open Space Award. Landscape architect Chip Crawford joins us to discuss the park's surprising origin story and what makes a great park.
William H. Danforth II died on Wednesday. The former chancellor of Washington University transformed the institution into a top-tier school, and he was the founding chairman of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. We listen back to excerpts from his appearance on the show from February 2008.
“Crime Beat Girl” tells the story of Debbie Bradley, who leaves her journalism job in Washington, D.C., to be closer to family in her native St. Louis. Author Geri L. Dreiling joins us to discuss her new novel.
The co-director of St. Louis County’s public health department, Spring Schmidt, joins to talk about kids and COVID-19, youth sports restrictions, Halloween during a pandemic and the importance of flu shots.
We talk with St. Louis author Vivian Gibson. Her debut book written at the age of 71 is a memoir about growing up in St. Louis neighborhood that no longer exists, “The Last Children of Mill Creek.” This is an encore of an interview that aired in April 2020.
Defunding police departments is a major goal for many Black Lives Matter protesters. But for others, it’s a scary idea — and that’s true for many St. Louis residents. In this episode, we explore what it means to defund the police in a city that struggles with high rates of violent crime. University of Missouri-St. Louis criminologist Richard Rosenfeld joins the discussion. This is an encore of an interview that aired in July 2020.
As many athletes have returned to fields, courts and arenas during the coronavirus pandemic, so have sports protests. More and more professional athletes are kneeling during the national anthem, displaying Black Lives Matter messages on their gametime attire, and speaking out publicly about police brutality and systemic racism. “But there’s at least one place where protesting is still not allowed,” an op-ed piece in the New York Times featuring St. Louis-area native Gwen Berry noted earlier this month: an Olympic podium.
The Grand Avenue Water Tower has been a familiar sight for Brandon Bosley ever since he moved to St. Louis’ College Hill neighborhood at age 7 — until this past weekend, that is. Now the 3rd Ward alderman will need to get used to the tower’s bright new facade. On Saturday, a whole host of volunteers helped give the 149-year-old tower a long-overdue fresh coat of paint as part of the St. Louis community’s latest Operation Clean Sweep.
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