While the sun’s rays were at full effect this August, the Missouri Botanical Garden launched its Grow Solar St. Louis program for St. Louis-area home and business owners. Property owners throughout the city and county can participate in this pilot program to help pool their buying power for discounts on solar panels. Host Sarah Fenske delves into why the initiative was started and how interested St. Louisans can use green energy to power their homes.
Only 10% of domestic violence shelters accept pets. That means many people fleeing abuse find themselves giving up animals with whom they’ve formed meaningful bonds.
Lydia’s House is a St. Louis shelter that houses battered women and their pets for up to two years. The pet-friendly amenities at Lydia’s House are the result of Purina’s Purple Leash Project and the work of Rescue Rebuild.
In this interview, Sarah Fenske talks about this ongoing effort with Purina president Nina Leigh Kruger and Karen Kirk, the executive director of Lydia’s House.
The late, great jazz composer and bandleader Duke Ellington once said, “Whether it be Shakespeare or jazz, the only thing that counts is the emotional effect on the listener.”
In the summer of 1956, Ellington found himself seriously digging the bard. Inspired by his encounters with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival while on tour in Stratford, Ontario, he composed a twelve-part suite titled “Such Sweet Thunder.”
This week, the critically acclaimed suite becomes the soundtrack for a new joint production from Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Nine Network of Public Media, Jazz St. Louis, and The Big Muddy Dance Company.
In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks about the production with Tom Ridgely, executive producer of Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, and Gene Dobbs Bradford, president and CEO of Jazz St. Louis.
Growing up in Great Britain, Susan Walker heard bits and pieces about her great-aunt Mary Ranken Jordan, who had immigrated to the U.S. from Northern Ireland in the late 19th century. But several years ago she became determined to learn more about this distinguished yet mysterious relative. She knew of her lasting impact in St. Louis, and now Walker’s research into Ranken Jordan’s life and legacy has her traveling overseas herself to the Gateway City. In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks with Walker about the children’s hospital Jordan founded in 1941, what she’s learning through her research — and about what she’s still hoping to discover about her great-aunt from others.
Lt. Darla Gray remembers being the last person to enter the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s cadet program before it was dissolved in 1981. Now Gray is helping to lead its return. The program started back up in 2018 and presently boasts 64 aspiring officers. “I was actually looking at retirement, and they told me they were starting the program back up and asked if I would like to help develop it,” explains Gray. “And I postponed my retirement to do it, because I believe in this program that much.” In this episode, host Sarah Fenske talks with several of the young people currently participating in the cadet program as well as with Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards.
Much of the conversation about contemporary American health care revolves around money more than actual medicine. But given the crushing costs associated with seemingly every aspect of the industry, that focus isn’t so surprising. As Dr. Marty Makary of Johns Hopkins University notes in his newly published book “The Price We Pay: What Broke American Healthcare — And How To Fix It,” one in five Americans currently has medical debt in collections. In this episode, Makary joins host Sarah Fenske to talk about his research into why costs are skyrocketing — and what can be done to redesign the broken U.S. health care system.
Among the local politicians with huge sway over the potential privatization of St. Louis Lambert International Airport is St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed. Host Sarah Fenske gets the politician's thoughts on the city’s exploration of a controversial experiment in privatization. Reed could ultimately prove the swing vote that determines whether an airport lease is approved.
Host Sarah Fenske talks with New York-based journalist Meaghan Winter about her book: “All Politics Is Local: Why Progressives Must Fight For The States.” It examines how Missouri, once a purple state, had become solidly red — with GOP representatives handily passing legislation that just years before might have felt too extreme.
In this segment, Sarah Fenske talks with Gena McClendon of Washington University about a study finding that on Election Day, voters encounter more obstacles in predominantly black and low-income neighborhoods. Local election board directors from the city and county, Gary Stoff and Eric Fey, also join the conversation.
Host Sarah Fenske takes a closer look at a St. Louis story, about a baby found in a freezer, that riveted the nation when it first broke. The family mystery behind the shocking headline is the focus of a new Riverfront Times feature.
The artistic path of Brian Owens has long charted both tribute territory and totally new ground, and Owens is known to navigate both well. The local singer-songwriter’s 2017 album “Soul of Cash” premiered via Rolling Stone, and that same year Owens released the song “For You,” showcasing the vocals of five-time Grammy winner Michael McDonald alongside his own. McDonald and Owens share a hometown — Ferguson, Missouri — and are collaborating musically again this Sunday during a benefit concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center celebrating McDonald’s legacy. Owens joins host Sarah Fenske to discuss the event, which is billed as “A Night for Life” and also features “The Voice” contestant Kennedy Holmes. Owens also discusses his journey as a musician and community activist.
The Missouri Botanical Garden's scientists are closely surveying Midwestern plant life. Host Sarah Fenske talks about climate change’s effects on them with Missouri Botanical Garden's assistant scientist, Adam Smith, and Daria McKevley, a supervisor of home gardening information and outreach at the center.
Host Sarah Fenske talks with St. Louis Public Radio reporter Corinne Ruff about Denver’s failed effort in airport privatization. Does it present a cautionary tale for St. Louis?
Attorney Javad Khazaeli discusses the many complaints about former officer Eddie Boyd’s behavior over the years — and the fact he was hired in Ferguson after complaints of misconduct as a St. Louis Metropolitan Police officer. He also reveals that Boyd has recently left the Ferguson Police Department. In addition to the conversation with Khazaeli, this segment includes an interview with Walter Rice, Khazaeli's client, who details for the first time the impact that his arrest, and that of his wife, has had on their family.
Sauce Magazine’s latest issue features local career servers at some of St. Louis’ oldest establishments, like Tony’s and Sidney Street Cafe. Host Sarah Fenske talked with two of them about why they love what they do, how they’ve made a living in a job so dependent on gratuity and why the job is something for others to consider.
Host Sarah Fenske discusses Empower Missouri’s latest SNAP Challenge, which invites state and federal legislators to participate and shop for a three-day supply of food for a family of four using only the amount of money available to families from the program.
She talked with Empower Missouri’s executive director, Jeanette Mott Oxford, and Shavanna Spratt, a stay-at-home mother who relies on SNAP benefits, and State Rep. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R-Arnold), who participated in the challenge and documented her experience on Twitter.
In this episode of St. Louis on the Air, Sarah Fenske talks with NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg. They discuss the rate at which the Trump administration has appointed federal appeals court judges and district court judge, the upcoming Supreme Court docket, and the loss of Nina's friend and colleague, Cokie Roberts.
Since 1999, Washington University’s Mini-Medical School has taught students everything from the basics of a checkup to how to repair nerves via microscopic surgery.
In this episode of St. Louis on the Air, host Sarah Fenske learns more about Mini-Medical School by chatting with its director, Dr. Cynthia Wichelman. One of the courses’ presenters, a physician who studies gastrointestinal diseases, also joins the conversation alongside her patient, who lives with a chronic, inflammatory bowel disease.
Several years ago, restaurant industry veteran Michael “Kup” Kupstas was happily enjoying retirement when the appeal of Lion’s Choice prompted a change of plans. He wound up reentering the workforce in 2017 as the regional fast-food chain’s president and CEO. “It was really the similarity of an experience I had early on [in a previous role] with Panera, to be honest,” Kupstas says in this episode, explaining what impressed him about Lion’s Choice. “I think what makes certain brands stand out is that they are able to differentiate dramatically in a really crowded field.” Kupstas tells host Sarah Fenske that he was also drawn to the “loyal, fanatic fans” and the employees of Lion’s Choice, which Food & Wine magazine recently deemed Missouri’s best fast food.
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