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Researchers at the University of Illinois are figuring out how to expand a new saliva-based COVID-19 test to other colleges and universities throughout the state. The Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization to the technology developed on the Urbana campus.

For 20 years, Donna Lochman has driven the streets and alleyways of St. Louis, looking for stray dogs — and sometimes a cat — to rescue from harm's way. On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, we ride along with Lochman to learn more about her work as a rescuer for Stray Rescue of St. Louis.

Growing up, Vic Svec of Belleville, Illinois, knew his father’s origin story as a ripped-from-the-headlines mystery — one that would probably never be solved. But 86 years later, thanks to DNA and online sleuthing, he and his family cracked the case. He explains how.

The school year is starting remotely for many students after pushback from parents and teachers. Online learning during the pandemic could be a different experience now, compared to the spring.

Mvstermind — the performing name of St. Louis native Muhammad Austin — talks about how he lyrically skates past personal anxieties and overcoming universal troubles in "GEMS." He discusses the trajectory of his artistry and what it’s like pulling together projects when a pandemic halts production.

A new study published in the Nature Connections journal looks at the particular phenomenon of brood parasites. These are birds that try to trick other birds into raising their eggs. They parasitize other nests by “squatting and dropping” their eggs there instead of using their own. Washington University assistant professor in biology Carlos Botero explains why birds do this in the first place and how it impacts Missouri’s ecology.

August is Black Business Month, and for Delmar Loop-based bakeshop owner Stephanie White, the 31 days of attention to small businesses like hers are a particularly welcome event this year. White, who opened Sugar Momma’s at 6016 Delmar Blvd. in 2016, hasn’t seen as much foot traffic as she’d hoped for the past few years. And once COVID-19 entered the mix, the challenges escalated. But Sugar Momma's is still hanging on.

MBz Live has been blending rapping and melody to make party music for years. But the south St. Louis rapper’s latest work is focused on police brutality. He says living in a region plagued by inequality and racial divisions has inspired his new music.

Senator Kamala Harris' acceptance of the Democratic Party’s vice presidential nomination marked the culmination of one of the longest and most critical vice presidential searches in the nation’s history. Host Sarah Fenske talks about the selections Joel Goldstein. He is a professor of law emeritus at St. Louis University School of Law and the author of “The White House Vice Presidency: The Path to Significance, Mondale to Biden.”

As a young man in the early 1980s, Wiley Price was spending many hours a day in the darkroom at the University of Missouri-St. Louis — and freelancing for local newspapers as well as the Associated Press. As he honed his craft, he also noticed something lacking in the industry. “I wanted to start seeing our people in the news,” Price, who is Black, explains. Four decades later, the 64-year-old is still “documenting Black St. Louis history in real time,” as a recent St. Louis American profile of him puts it, even amid a pandemic.

State Sen. Bob Onder returns to Politically Speaking to talk to St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jaclyn Driscoll about the stalled special session on violent crime and the future of the Conservative Caucus in the Missouri legislature. Onder has represented the 2nd Senate District since 2015. The district covers the western part of St. Charles County, including Lake Saint Louis, O’Fallon and Wentzville.

There is confusion among many Missouri voters about mail-in and absentee voting. That includes how to make sure those votes will count in November's election.

Comedian Alonzo Bodden of “Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!” fame and host of the podcast “Who’s Paying Attention?” will be performing in St. Louis this week at Helium Comedy Club. In this interview, host Sarah Fenske talks with Bodden about how the pandemic has impacted his work as a panelist on “Wait Wait” and as a comic.

Of the many industries decimated by the coronavirus, the arts may have been hit the hardest. Host Sarah Fenske discusses the arts and culture climate in St. Louis, and hear from an artist about her hardships throughout the pandemic and how she’s remained busy.

Earlier this summer, Missouri paleontologist David Schmidt and a small team unearthed a rare triceratops skull in the South Dakota Badlands. Schmidt describes what the excavation process was like and what he and his fellow researchers hope to learn from the bones of the dinosaur they named “Shady.”

A public art installation in St. Louis is raising awareness about the needs of those with cancer. Painters have decorated "42 doors of hope" to offer inspirational messages to patients and their loved ones.

Earlier this month, when Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton announced a plan to overhaul the state’s juvenile justice system, she repeatedly used a word that stood out to ProPublica reporter Duaa Eldeib: "love." In this interview, Eldeib talks about her reporting on Illinois’ plan and how it may have been influenced by what’s known as the “Missouri Model.”

Researchers at Washington University's Institute for Informatics are using Facebook’s Social Connectedness Index to study the potential impact of students and faculty returning to various counties within Missouri. Can Facebook connections predict the spread of COVID-19?

Unlike most area high schools, Lutheran High School South in Affton will be open for in-person instruction five days a week. Principal Jonathan Butterfield explains how, and why his own children will be among those returning to class this week.

Illinois has been selling legal marijuana for more than six months and the industry is flourishing. The pandemic is delaying the next round of cannabis-related licenses. There is also a question about the social equity portion of the regulations designed to bring minorities into a business dominated by white men.