STL on the Air 📻

When you’re out on the town, it can be fun to try a couple different spots. What isn’t fun, though, is driving from one spot to another, or having to seek out parking in one packed neighborhood after another. Fortunately, our friends at Sauce magazine have addressed this problem in their most recent issue. They’ve outlined a three-stop nightlife tour in eight St. Louis-area neighborhoods in their “Night Moves” feature. Meera Nagarajan, art director of Sauce, and Heather Hughes Huff, Sauce’s managing editor, join host Sarah Fenske to explore the highlights the region has to offer for date nights.

David Murphy prides himself on being a “goal-setting” type-of-guy. Every year, he sets out different goals for himself — whether they’re physical, spiritual or work-related. And hitting those targets isn’t necessarily the intention. For Murphy, it’s more about the journey. And so for his 50th birthday last year, he wanted to go on a quest: One that turns a seemingly doable thing (say, going to Mass) into something grand — like visiting every active Catholic church in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Inspired by his love for his Catholic faith and its deep history in the region, Murphy set out to visit each of the 190 active churches in the archdiocese, which covers ten counties and the city of St. Louis. He joins host Sarah Fenske to share what he learned — and which local churches made his “epic list.”

Following months of crowds and fanfare, most of the infrastructure associated with the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair was demolished soon after the festivities ended. That included George Ferris Jr.’s giant wheel, which had first debuted in Chicago in 1893 and boasted 36 observation cars — “each the size of a Bi-State bus,” as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch later described them. But Ferris’ legacy survived the dynamite and has seen something of a resurgence locally since the opening of the 200-foot-tall St. Louis Wheel at Union Station last fall. And last Friday, wheel-goers found a special celebration underway there: a very Valentine’s Day-themed observance of National Ferris Wheel Day. St. Louis on the Air producers stop by to take in the scene and talk with first-time riders. And host Sarah Fenske leads a discussion about St. Louis observation wheels past and present with Jody Sowell and Karyn Wilder.

The 18th Amendment of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of alcohol in the U.S. Enforcement of the new law started on January 17, 1920. In this episode, our panelists dive into St. Louis' rich Prohibition-era history. They describe the time robbers siphoned off 3,000 barrels of whiskey from the Jack Daniels distillery, how Anheuser-Busch survived more than a decade of a nationwide ban on alcoholic beverages, and they recall the tale of a 1922 New Year’s Eve party at the Chase Hotel when an enforcement raid led to plates being thrown, shots being fired and pandemonium spilling out onto Lindell Boulevard.

Better Family Life’s 24/7 hotline helps callers facing the possibility of gun violence connect with people trained in de-escalation and mediation techniques. They also offer assistance with seeking counseling and medical supplies. In this episode, host Sarah Fenske talks with several mothers who called the hotline on behalf of their sons, and we learn how the Better Family Life de-escalation team is tackling one of the most complicated pieces of the gun violence epidemic.

Host Sarah Fenske discusses the highlights of St. Louis County Police Department Lieutenant Keith Wildhaber's first interview talking about his $10.25 million settlement case against St. Louis County. The gay police sergeant talked to St Louis Public Radio reporter Julie O’Donoghue, and said going forward, he’s intent on leading the department's newly formed Diversity and Inclusion Unit.

Composer Tobias Picker has five operas to his credit, with commissions from the LA Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, among others, and serious acclaim. But his sixth opera, which makes its world premiere at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis this June, will have particular personal resonance. The librettist writing the words to go with Picker’s music is his husband, Dr. Aryeh Lev Stollman. And while Stollman has written three novels, this is his first time writing an opera libretto. Still, he brings a particular expertise to the show, which is an adaptation of Dr. Oliver Sacks’ nonfiction medical drama “Awakenings.” Like Sacks, Stollman is a physician who studies the nervous system (Stollman is a neuroradiologist; Sacks was a neurologist).

Increasingly more companies, organizations and governmental entities are establishing formal units focused on diversity and inclusion — the St. Louis County Police Department is one recent example in the bi-state region. But even as awareness of the importance of diversity and inclusion grows, it can sometimes seem like something that all too often gets stuck at the level of lip service rather than leading to real change. Webster University is aiming to move the needle “From Conversation to Action” over the course of its four-day Diversity & Inclusion Conference set for Feb. 24 to 27. All of the sessions are free and open to the public, with journalist and former NPR host Michele Norris, founder of The Race Card Project, giving the keynote address.

For about a year, Darwin Aquino has been serving as conductor of the orchestras at both the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Washington University. And on Tuesday evening, the two groups under his direction rehearsed together for the first time ever. Final preparations are underway for their distinctive concert this Sunday, where they’ll combine musical forces to present music from several popular video games, films and more. “It’s the music that we hear every day, and especially our young people,” he said during Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air. “They are hearing that music while they play the video games or they see a movie. So that’s why we decided for this very special event [to] put two university orchestras together … playing the music of today.” From “World of Warcraft” and “Zelda” to “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings,” Sunday’s program promises a wide range of beloved scores. There will also be visual highlights on a big screen accompanying each piece. The free performance at the 560 Music Center is billed as a family-friendly affair highlighting the talents of more than 100 young musicians.

Author Candacy Taylor’s stepfather grew up in the Jim Crow South. But it wasn’t until she began researching her new book, “Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America,” that she started to understand what he’d endured. Black travelers in the 20th-century U.S. might be stopped by police on any pretext — and face serious harassment. They might be turned away by hostile hoteliers or gas station attendants. And that’s not even mentioning “Sundown Towns,” all-white towns which sometimes even featured signs warning black people to stay out in the harshest of terms. Missouri and Illinois were among the five states having the most Sundown Towns, Taylor writes. And so black men like Taylor’s stepfather turned to the “Green Book.” Victor Green’s book highlighted businesses from coast to coast where black travelers could count on friendly reception — a respite from the racism and uncertainty that marred other spots on the roadways.

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the Arch grounds aren’t getting the kinds of projected visitation numbers calculated before the $380 million redevelopment that wrapped up in 2018. It was projected that there would be a 25% to 33% increase in visitors to the monument in the first two years after completion. Host Sarah Fenske delves into reasons why that hasn’t been the case and what new initiatives are in store to help bring those visitation numbers up. Joining the discussion are Jacob Kirn, St. Louis Business Journal economic development editor, and Mike Ward, superintendent of the Gateway Arch National Park.

On Monday, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar, announced plans to retire from the department this spring. Within hours, more department-related news broke: St. Louis County has reached a $10.25 million settlement with county police Lt. Keith Wildhaber, who sued the county and was awarded a nearly $20 million in October after a jury agreed he had been passed over for promotions because of his sexual orientation.

In Missouri’s history, the state has seen more than 7,000 state legislators. Fewer than 140 of those have been black. Since 1989, the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus has helped African American lawmakers work together as a minority in the state capitol. In this interview, Sarah Fenske talks with State Representative Steve Roberts Jr. about the priorities of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus this year.

What would it take for you to be happy? Tim Bono has written a book on the subject. It’s called Happiness 101, and draws on what he’s learned in his nine years teaching The Science of Happiness course at Washington University. And he might suggest you’re asking the wrong question. It’s not about being happy. It’s about being happier. He explains the reasons for that shift in thinking to host Sarah Fenske.

Host Sarah Fenske talks with classical music critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller. Several of the city’s music organizations came together to commission a major composer to write a piece in her honor.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is in the midst of its first season with music director Stéphane Denève at the helm, but the organization is already looking ahead. Earlier this week, the symphony announced the lineup for Denève’s second season. It begins this fall, and it focuses on the theme of “music inspired by and written by women.”

Opera Theatre of St. Louis just got the biggest gift in the organization’s history -- $45 million. In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks about this very nice surprise with the general director of Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Andrew Jorgensen.

Every year, the St. Louis Theater Circle honors the best of local professional theater, voted on by local critics. In this segment, Calvin Wilson, theater critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Tina Farmer, theater reviewer for KDHX, join host Sarah Fenske to release the 2020 award nominees and discuss some of the highlights. St. Louis Theater Circle asserts that this year's nominations represent the most competitive field in the eight years of the awards.

Artists are no strangers to political activism. Through captivating installations, they’re able to visualize complex themes that resonate with movements and social causes. A new exhibit at the Luminary Center for the Arts, “America’s Mythic Time,” takes it to the next level with an unusual partner — ArchCity Defenders. But the collaboration isn’t really that far-out. The two organizations have worked together closely for years, co-sharing spaces and political expertise. Host Sarah Fenske discusses how social justice issues such as mass incarceration and debtors’ prisons and initiatives like Close the Workhouse can be translated in a way that reaches gallery visitors. Z Gorley, ArchCity Defenders’ communications director, joins the conversation, as well as Kevin McCoy, one of the featured artists in the exhibit.

News crews haven’t had a monopoly on live footage of breaking news and emergency situations in quite some time. Among other innovations, the proliferation of cellphone video — especially video taken by bystanders during first-responder interactions with citizens — has been a game changer in recent years for the public’s understanding of such events. Production companies including Big Fish Entertainment have also turned their cameras toward the real-life drama. And in “Live Rescue,” a Big Fish show currently airing on the A&E Network, St. Louisans are finding themselves in the spotlight. Last April, the St. Louis Fire Department entered into an agreement with Big Fish to allow the company access to record the activity that surrounds calls for help and various crises that department personnel respond to on an everyday basis. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Erin Heffernan reported earlier this week, the department does not receive any money in exchange. But Captain Garon Mosby, public information officer for the department, is deeply involved with the production of “Live Rescue,” regularly traveling to New York City on Big Fish’s dime to help produce the Monday evening broadcast. In this segment, Mosby and St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson offer a closer look at the collaboration.