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Podcast Description: Jay Ashcroft has been on an electoral winning streak since he rolled to victory in a contentious primary for Missouri secretary of state in 2016 and now he’s hoping to extend it in the GOP primary for governor. The statewide official faces stiff competition from Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe and state Sen. Bill Eigel. On the latest episode of the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, Ashcroft said neither of his opponents could bring about the type of policy change Republicans want. STLPR statehouse and politics reporter Sarah Kellogg also joins the show for analysis.

Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville hosts about 350,000 visitors each year. Much less well-known are the sites where 27 monuments once stood in St. Louis. The mounds, carefully constructed and engineered by Indigenous people between 800-1350 CE, were destroyed by white settlers to make way for urban development during the 19th century. In her new book “Mound City,” historian Patricia Cleary details the history of those mounds, the strange paradox of local settlers claiming the moniker of “Mound City” while destroying them, and their contribution to the cultural identity of St. Louisans and Americans across the country today.

The City of St. Louis faces a lawsuit over its universal basic income program. The program gives $500 a month to lower-income families chosen by a lottery, but lawyers with the Holy Joe Society argue that violates the state constitution's requirement that public funds can’t go to private individuals. This month’s Legal Roundtable convenes to analyze the merits of the lawsuit. Attorneys Susan McGraugh, Arindam Kar and Dave Roland also discuss a lawsuit brought by the owners of Bar:PM after police crashed an SUV into their bar, why the Supreme Court rejected Missouri’s case alleging government officials pressured social media companies, and more.

Recognition and acceptance is hard to come by for many marginalized groups. Yet, when such groups reach a certain degree of visibility, they often face another challenge: being viewed as a monolith. Queer Writes aims to push against preconceptions by celebrating the diversity of LBGTQ+ writers in St. Louis. Program creator Joan Lipkin and actor Michael Kearns talk about the program and preview an upcoming Queer Writes event at the Missouri History Museum.

Since wheelchair rugby’s debut in the 1996 Paralympics, Team USA has only had male players — until now. At this summer’s competition in Paris, the American team’s roster will include its very first female player: St. Louis University Assistant Professor Sarah Adam. Adam shares how she’s training for intense competition at the Paralympics this summer and what it means to represent her country, and women, as an elite athlete.

In 2014, video of police violence in New York and of protests in Ferguson changed what we see in mainstream media. Eric Deggans, NPR TV critic and media analyst, discusses the effects footage of the Ferguson Uprising had on what makes the news, and people’s expectations — as consumers, contributors and creators — of various media forms.

When Wil Pinkney took the helm of the newly formed Office of Violence Prevention for the City of St. Louis, he recognized that addressing crime requires a holistic, community-based approach. By fostering relationships with neighborhoods and community organizations that are already connected to young people, Pinkney believes the city can better address the root causes of violence. He shares the summer programming his office has been able to support and lessons they’ve learned along the way.

NPR political correspondent Sarah McCammon grew up in a deeply evangelical family near Kansas City in the ‘80s and ‘90s. Later on, when she was assigned to cover Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, her life experiences helped inform her professional career. In conversation before a live audience in STLPR’s Community Room, Jason Rosenbaum talks with McCammon about her new book, "The Exvangelicals: Loving, Living, and Leaving the White Evangelical Church."

Fifty years after his death, Bruce Lee’s status as one of the world’s most influential martial artists endures through his work as an actor and his philosophical teachings. In her 2020 book “Be Water, My Friend,” Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee speaks to principles that guided her father’s life as well as her own. She joined host Elaine Cha for a conversation before a live audience, taped in March 2024 at the Duane Reed Gallery in St. Louis.

Black American activists have expressed solidarity with Palestinian activists in the months since the war in Gaza began in October of 2023. In St. Louis, the relationship between Black and Palestinian American activists strengthened notably in 2014, after Michael Brown, Jr. — a Black teenager — was fatally shot in Ferguson, Missouri by then-Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. But the connection between the two marginalized groups started well before then — and has evolved over the decades. St. Louis University Professor Chris Tinson shares the long history of Black and Palestinian solidarity alongside St. Louis activists Ohun Ashe and Omar Badran.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, women ventured to Egypt’s deserts as writers, excavators and collectors. They were foundational to the study of ancient Egypt, but their contributions were intentionally marginalized. Missouri S&T historian Kathleen Sheppard uplifts the women who shaped the field in her forthcoming book “Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age.”

Dive into a good beach read this summer with recommendations from St. Louis librarians Tammy Albohaire and Ted Reidy.

When House Minority Leader Crystal Quade first won election to her Springfield-based seat in 2016, her fellow Democrats suffered catastrophic losses for state legislative and statewide posts. After eight years of near total GOP control of Missouri state government, Quade believes the state’s voters are ready to move on and place Democrats like her in the governor’s mansion. She joins the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air to discuss her candidacy ahead of the Aug. 6 primary.

Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe has worn a lot of different hats over the years: That includes car dealer, highways and transportation commissioner, state senator, and lieutenant governor. As one of three main GOP candidates seeking his party’s gubernatorial nomination on Aug. 6, Kehoe brushed aside the idea that he’s part of the Jefferson City establishment and explained why he thinks he’s the best choice for Missouri.

Missouri is going through what some are calling a "shroom boom." We talk to Missouri Mycological Society’s Mike Snyder about why there's so much fungi interest, his journey to loving mushrooms, and how Missourians can help document -- and even discover -- species of fungi through DNA samples. We also meet Indiana mushroom researcher Steve Russell, founder of Mycota Lab. The lab is trying to document all macrofungi in participating states, including a recent expansion to Missouri.

Food and fashion are common ways people begin acquainting with new cultures. In St. Louis, Adjo Honsou, chef and owner of the food truck Fufu n Sauce, makes both to introduce West African cuisine and her Togolese culture to locals. In just two years, Honsou has garnered a faithful following with traditional homemade meals and handmade clothing. On June 17th, her culinary reach will broaden with the Season 3 premiere of PBS’ reality cooking show “The Great American Recipe.” That same day, she’ll launch her line of spices and curries in collaboration with the St. Louis-based McCarthy Spice & Blends.

Spanning more than 2,300 miles, the Mississippi is one of the longest rivers in the world. The waterway has the distinction of being both a significant ecosystem and a commercial navigation route, which often leads to tension and competing visions for its future. In his new book “The Great River: The Making & Unmaking of the Mississippi” journalist Boyce Upholt traces the history of the river and presents deep questions about the consequences of infrastructure and where the boundaries of nature lie.

While grieving can get easier over time, it is a lifelong process. St. Louis-based content creator Kait Granger aims to illuminate that truth in her TikTok series, “Let’s Not Rot.” The series was born out of her need for vulnerability and connection after experiencing the traumatic loss of her mother. Granger talks about her journey with loss, misconceptions about grief and how showing up for small, everyday tasks can lead to bigger breakthroughs.

For over a century, numbers for baseball in America were missing a huge piece of history because of racial segregation. That changed when Major League Baseball announced the incorporation of Negro Leagues Baseball statistics into the official MLB record book in May. Ed Wheatley, baseball historian and author, talks about the St. Louis Giants and St. Louis Stars players now included in the statistical database and why recognizing the accomplishments of Negro Leagues players is important on a local and national level.

Timothy Nordmann, owner of Mr. Meowski's Bakery in St. Charles, knows a thing or two about a good loaf of sourdough. Behind each loaf, however, is a story of determination in moments of uncertainty. Nordmann shares his experiences as a bakery owner – and what it took to get there – on social media. One video in particular went viral back in May and has been viewed over one million times. The comment section of the video is filled with sentiments from thousands of viewers who resonate with Nordmann’s story, some of which were compelled to share their own difficult road to achieving their goals. Nordmann talks about how business has grown since and why he decided to share his stories in the first place