STL on the Air 📻

The longtime president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, Lewis Reed, is making his third run for mayor. He discusses his agenda.

Chemist Cynthia Chapple is the founder of Black Girls Do STEM, a local organization focused on the empowerment of Black girls in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. She explains how the organization is trying to combat barriers faced by women of color in the STEM fields.

Alderwoman Cara Spencer is making her first run for citywide office in the mayoral primary this March. She explains her vision for the city and why being an outsider might actually be a benefit.

St. Louis Treasurer Tishaura Jones almost won the 2017 mayor's race -- and is one of four candidates this spring. She explains her thoughts on public safety and what she'd do as mayor.

The rates of alcohol and drug abuse are higher within the food service industry than most other professions. And yet, restaurateur Katie Collier is a testament to the fact that you don’t need to leave the service industry to curb an addiction. After struggling with substance abuse for years, Collier is now celebrating a decade of sobriety.

Concerns about the rural-urban divide are a common refrain in 21st-century America. In his latest feature for St. Louis Public Radio, reporter Jonathan Ahl digs into one big idea for a solution to that issue and more: better rural internet access. He talks with host Sarah Fenske about the possibilities.

Mayoral candidate Andrew Jones is the only person in the race who’s never held elected office. He explains why voters should trust him with the city, and how his plan to get tough on crime is different than Mayor Krewson’s.

The biggest campaign on Kickstarter right now comes courtesy of a St. Louis dad who lost his job in the pandemic and decided to go all-in on a simple idea with big appeal: magnetic pillow forts. Conor B. Lewis explains his vision for Fort.

2020 Great Rivers Biennial Arts Award recipient Tim Portlock delves into his “Nickels from Heaven” exhibit. The St. Louis-based artist uses aesthetic conventions from 19th-century American landscape paintings to illustrate his themes about America’s identity.

The STORM Act, signed into law on Jan. 1 by then-President Donald Trump, authorizes FEMA to provide $200 million for a Resilience Revolving Loan fund and allows states to offer low-interest loans to counties and cities for disaster mitigation projects.

Legislative aides to Missouri Democrats are angry that they voted to censure state Rep. Wiley Price, not expel him. Price is accused of threatening an aide to cover up a sexual interaction with an intern. Jason Hancock of the Missouri Independent explains why staffers are so upset.

Democratic lawmakers want to commemorate a sordid chapter in St. Louis history at one of downtown's most visited sites — pens that held enslaved people in what's now the shadow of Busch Stadium. We discuss the new effort and the history behind it.

The ability to speak freely in 2021 is complicated in ways the framers of the U.S. Constitution never envisioned. In this episode, we discuss how the First Amendment applies in this brave new world and whether unpopular speech — be it a dissenting opinion, a false claim or outright hate speech — deserves protection not just from the government, but tech giants like Twitter, Facebook and Google.

Steve St. Pierre opened Have A Cow Cattle Company and Urban Farm Store, along Lafayette Avenue in the Gate District neighborhood, on Jan. 20. In addition to the restaurant's menu items and other products, the for-profit endeavor incorporates goals of service, loving one’s enemies and breaking down barriers.

Jacque Knight, chair of St. Louis' Community Mobility Committee, joins the talk show to share how the group is focusing its efforts and what local residents can do to amplify its work to improve road conditions for all users.

St. Louis on the Air's Legal Roundtable discusses a lawsuit attorney Mark McCloskey filed against a local Catholic school, an age discrimination claim against KMOV, St. Louis County's governance battle and more.

Washington University Sociology Professor David Cunningham shares what we can learn about right-wing, white nationalist groups today — and best practices for defeating them — by studying their mobilization during other moments in our nation's history.

Sarah Abbas and Grace Ruo, both 17, discuss Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem. They also share their hopes for bringing written and spoken words to bear on society, and read poems of their own.

Missouri Rep. LaKeySha Bosley discusses political journey and some of her initiatives tackling criminal justice reform, police brutality and the CROWN Act, which aims to address Black hair discrimination

Sylvester Brown’s new book, “White Castles with Jesus and Uncle Ray at the Used Tired Shop,” collects stories and essays the St. Louis native and longtime journalist wrote from 1995 to 2018. That period covers Brown’s years as the founder and publisher of upstart Take Five Magazine, his tenure as a columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and his many years of maintaining a blog.