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.
When war erupted in the Gaza Strip, Linda Badran decided it was time to co-found a local chapter of the non-profit aid group Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. She wants to rally fellow St. Louisans who want to see an end to the war and contribute to the healing, and recovery, of the thousands of children being harmed by violence.
In its 68th season, the St. Louis Chamber Chorus is taking a musical tour around the globe. This Sunday’s concert at the Second Presbyterian Church in the Central West End adds to that theme and will feature the premiere of “Seeking You,” a new Christmas song composed by Kerensa Briggs that uses text from a poem of the same name by Charles Anthony Silvestri. Briggs and St. Louis Chamber Chorus Artistic Director Philip Barnes join the show.
The new book “Black St. Louis” explores the life of Black people, from the founding of the city to the start of the 21st century. Through colorful imagery and detailed documentation, co-authors Calvin Riley and NiNi Harris tell the stories of enslaved people, night-club owners, soldiers and everyday Black St. Louisans.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis are using nature as inspiration to combat the growing problem of plastic pollution. In this encore episode, we learn how they’re using a $3.6 million grant to develop sustainably sourced plastics by mimicking natural materials like spider silk fibers.
In 2018, writer Robert Langellier and botanist Neal Humke cut down every tree across 19 acres in Pioneer Forest. Their aim was to restore one of the Ozarks' rarest ecosystems: a glade. While it may seem counterintuitive to cut down trees in a time of climate change, restoring glades helps ensure biodiversity. In this encore episode, Langellier talks about the conservation effort. Humke, land stewardship coordinator for the L-A-D Foundation (which privately owns the land in the Pioneer Forest) discusses the non-profits’ work there and the importance of glades.
Congress is poised to give final approval to the National Defense Authorization Act, a customarily popular and bipartisan bill. But, U.S. Senator Josh Hawley voted “no” and he’s accusing congressional leadership of abandoning St. Louis-area victims poisoned by nuclear contamination from the Manhattan Project. Hawley talks with STLPR senior environmental reporter Kate Grumke about his opposition to the bill.
December 8 was the last day for the staff of The Southern Illinoisan. Its new owner, Paxton Media Group, eliminated the entire staff of unionized workers. The decision blindsided its longtime workers, and marks the end of an era. Former editor-in-chief Jackson Brandhorst discusses what happened at The Southern, what's been lost, and where the paper's former journalists and staff go from here.
Hollywood film producer and director Reginald Hudlin is the mind and energy behind cult classics “House Party” and “Boomerang” as well as “Marshall,” starring the late Chadwick Boseman. He also has producing credits on the Quentin Taratino film “Django Unchained.” Hudlin credits his interests in the arts to his upbringing in East St. Louis, Illinois. STLPR arts and culture senior reporter Jeremy D. Goodwin sat down with Hudlin to talk about his childhood heroes, his take on how Hollywood’s reception of Black stories have evolved overtime, and his new movie “Candy Cane Lane,” starring Eddie Murphy.
Children of immigrants often face heritage language loss. St. Louis parents and community members are taking practical steps to maintain linguistic and cultural connection across generations.
Children of immigrants often face heritage language loss. St. Louis parents and community members are taking practical steps to maintain linguistic and cultural connection across generations.
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