Jessica Baran has been awarded an Andy Warhol arts writers grant to subsidize her ongoing “critical engagement with art, artists and exhibitions” in the Midwest. She explains what drives her criticism and how the St. Louis arts scene has changed.
A judge's decision could mean big changes for Missouri residents' abilities to referendum the decisions of the state legislature. ACLU Legal Director Tony Rothert explains why.
In the 20 years that NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson has covered the U.S. Department of Justice, she’s learned to expect changes with each administration. “But there have been seismic shifts in this DOJ under President Trump,” she says.
The expansion of absentee voting in Missouri is set to go away at the end of the year. Some election officials and lawmakers want to permanently change how Missourians can vote early.
Missouri’s fledgling medical marijuana program has approved nearly 70,000 patient and caregiver applications — so many, there is not yet enough legal cannabis in the state to serve them all. But people working in the industry say patience is necessary. The seeds of the solution to both problems are already in the ground.
St. Louis-based roots-rock band Brothers Lazaroff's 9th annual Hanukkah concert is going virtual, with guests including Tweedy, Ray Benson and Kinky Friedman himself. The brothers behind the band explain the event's unlikely origin story and how they're making it happen this year.
The St. Louis region lacks a cohesive approach to coronavirus restrictions. Area counties have different regulations to deal with the pandemic. Those differences are severe for businesses along country borders.
Just before the onslaught of the COVID-19 crisis, Taulby Roach told us that Metro Transit had identified security concerns as a key problem within the regional public transportation system — and was deploying a comprehensive strategy to improve community trust. Now, nine months later, the Bi-State Development CEO and local law enforcement leaders say real progress has been made. St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts and Roach talk with host Sarah Fenske and with callers.
Michael Shreves was a trailblazer for St. Louis’ LGBTQ community. Performing in drag as Michelle McCausland, he won a sexy legs contest aimed solely at women. He also led the charge to overturn St. Louis’ archaic laws banning drag performances — by fighting his own misdemeanor arrest. We’ll remember this remarkable man. He died last month of COVID-19.
Information from Johns Hopkins University shows the pace of coronavirus infections in the U.S. continues to increase. And as state health officials continue to battle the outbreak, the virus has claimed the life of a former Illinois state senator.
We meet University of Missouri-Columbia engineering student Maged Shoman, who dug deep into St. Louis-area bus data. He explains what he learned about bus routes in the pandemic.
St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s new production proves that all the world really is a stage — with actors and dancers bringing a hip-hop version of "A Christmas Carol" to Central West End storefronts. Host Sarah Fenske discusses this unique collaboration and explores some excerpts from the witty musical soundtrack for this reimagined holiday tale.
Eighteen-year-old Shelei Pan discusses how she started an effort to teach other teenagers sewing skills to make free masks for area children. Project Masked has donated more than 2,000 masks to local nonprofits so far, and more than 150 volunteers have lent a helping hand.
Those on the frontlines at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield have been working overtime for months to care for patients with the coronavirus. Nurses, therapists and others are trying to cope emotionally and physically while admitting more sick patients every day.
Thirty years ago, the late Iben Browning, a self-proclaimed climatologist, predicted that the St. Louis area was in for a major earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Zone. He forecast that it would happen right around Dec. 3, 1990, sparking a media frenzy in the small town of New Madrid, Missouri, and causing many to stock up on emergency supplies.
It might seem that restaurant owners Joe Jovanovich and Mohammed Qadadeh have enough on their plates just keeping their eateries open. They run the Pat Connolly Tavern and American Falafel, respectively, and are busy finding innovative ways to operate and pay their employees during the challenging year that is 2020. Yet they’ve also stepped up to address food insecurity among their neighbors in the midst of all that — as have many of their peers in St. Louis’ vibrant, and hard hit, restaurant industry.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson says the state has hired a private health care company to provide temporary workers and additional beds for hospitals overrun with coronavirus patients.
Commander of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, Dr. Alex Garza, provides clarity on some of the public health assertions made by Missouri Sen. Andrew Koenig on Tuesday when he introduced a proposal to limit the actions of local municipalities as it relates to the pandemic.
Over the weekend, the St. Louis region lost a beloved champion of its cultural institutions. Sarah Bryan Miller, 68, was the longtime classical music critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She died early Saturday morning after a long struggle with cancer, one that lasted about a decade. In this tribute segment, we talk with several of her friends and also share music performed by and for her.
Almost 20 years ago, the St. Louis Zoo and Missouri Department of Conversation set out to shore up critically endangered hellbender populations in Missouri. They explain how they worked to bring these aquatic salamanders back from the bring.