On April 8, St. Louis Health Director Dr. Fred Echols brought attention to the fact that, at that point, all 12 people who died of COVID-19 in St. Louis were African American. This echoed what other cities have experienced in treating COVID-19 patients — there are racial disparities in who is more at risk of a COVID-19 diagnosis due to long-standing socioeconomic factors that have disproportionately affected black Americans. In this episode, guests discuss the inequalities brought into stark light by COVID-19. Joining the conversation: Washington University’s Dr. Laurie Punch, who is currently working in Christian Hospital Northeast’s ICU, and Michal Grinstein-Weiss, the director of Washington University’s Social Policy Institute and of the Centene Center for Health Transformation. Grinstein-Weiss recently looked into COVID-19 case counts in ZIP codes across the St. Louis region.
Musicians around the country are having to postpone concerts across various areas in the region due to the COVID-19 outbreak. "St. Louis on the Air" touched base with five area musicians to see how they’re experimenting with reaching audiences in different ways — from dropping new projects while self-isolating to putting on free virtual concerts.
While many are sheltering in place during the COVID-19 outbreak and looking for something to do, some are turning to gardening to pass the time. For National Gardening Day, Missouri Botanical Garden’s Daria Mckelvey joined host Sarah Fenske on Tuesday’s “St. Louis on the Air” to give advice to those wanting to get their start tending to plants.
More than 240-thousand Missouri residents have filed for unemployment benefits since the start of the pandemic. Many are very concerned about whether they'll ever be able to return to their jobs. Also, elected officials in St. Louis County and the city are suggesting an extension of social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home-orders.
On the latest edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis-based author Sarah Kendzior talks with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about her new book Hiding in Plain Sight — which chronicles President Donald Trump’s rise to power from the 1980s to present day.
Kendzior, who holds a doctorate in anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis, has become a nationally-known voice in opposing Trump’s presidency. Her last book, The View From Flyover Country, was a New York Times-best seller.
Kendzior’s episode is split into two parts. The first part features Kendzior talking about the key points of her book, as well as her experience living in St. Louis during the aftermath of Michael Brown’s shooting death in Ferguson.
On the latest edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis-based author Sarah Kendzior talks with St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum about her new book Hiding in Plain Sight — which chronicles President Donald Trump’s rise to power from the 1980s to present day.
The second part features Kendzior answering questions about Donald Trump, the 2020 presidential election, and the media.
Candidates Yinka Faleti and Michelle Sherod talked to host Sarah Fenske on Monday's "St. Louis on the Air" about the difficulties of campaigning online and bridging the gap regarding human interaction.
As many people are adjusting to working from home, host Sarah Fenske checked in with some who have long-nailed their at-home routines on Monday's "St. Louis on the Air." Fenske asked two guests about what advice they have for staying productive during this shift from office space to home space.
Heather Taylor with the Ethical Society of Police discussed with host Sarah Fenske on Monday's "St. Louis on the Air" her concerns about St. Louis’s unwillingness to report the number of COVID-19 cases that are first responders.
Also featured in the discussion were callers who expressed concerns about the subject of health and safety among St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says health care experts report the state could be at a peak in the fight against the coronavirus. Also, the pandemic has placed more focus on health disparities in the St. Louis region.
Learning Field Botany in Missouri's winter held little appeal for Dr. Kyra Krakos' classes at Maryville U. You just can't do your science easily. This was well before COVID-19 threw a curve into science and all human projects.
While Virtual rules almost everything for us humans right now, some on-site physical pleasures gnawingly persist. Maryville will soon host Virtual Goat Week, this year's edition of an ongoing Goat Lab study of invasive species removal methods, starring the super-chomping plant control power of Goats.
BIG THANKS to Earthworms engineering crew: Andy Coco, Andy Heaslet, Jon Valley.
Music: Mister Sun, performed live at KDHX by Hunter's Permit
Related Earthworms Conversations - Tech & Green Science
Roommates and musicians Benjamin Kosberg and Dominique Burton set out to entertain themselves by performing on the streets of Tower Grove South last week. They didn’t realize that their ensemble would become one of the most anticipated neighborhood shows, as well as a local hit online. Host Sarah Fenske talks to the two founding members of the Red and Black Brass Band about their efforts to entertain self-isolated residents.
SIUE East St. Louis Charter High School Director Gina Jeffries joined host Sarah Fenske on Friday’s “St. Louis on the Air” to discuss how the school is handling all-remote work during the COVID-19 outbreak. Also during the show were listeners' questions and concerns about teaching at home.
On Friday’s “St. Louis on the Air” we talked to Michelle P. King, director of inclusion at Netflix, and author of “The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers Holding Women Back at Work.” The challenges many women face are only exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. Also in the discussion was St. Louis Public Radio editor Maria Altman’s essay.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson says schools in the state will not reopen this academic year. He says online learning should continue as the state responds to the coronavirus. Also, small farmers are coming up with new ways to reach out to customers as farmers market openings are delayed due to the outbreak.
An FX on Hulu limited series focused on Phyllis Schlafly, "Mrs. America," debuts April 15. Schlafly's daughter, Anne Schlafly Cori, says the family was not consulted. She discusses with host Sarah Fenske the Phyllis Schlafly she knew, and her concerns that filmmakers portrayed her mother as a monster.
Host Sarah Fenske talks to "Mrs. America" showrunner Davi Waller on Thursday's "St. Louis on the Air" about the FX on Hulu drama miniseries, which tells the true story of the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and the unexpected backlash led by a conservative woman named Phyllis Schlafly, played by Cate Blanchett. The conversation also touches on the decades of political history Schlafly and her political adversaries helped shape — and how Waller went about bringing this story to the screen.
On Thursday's "St. Louis on the Air" host Sarah Fenske talked to The Collective Thread co-founder Terri Stipanovich and the nonprofit's goal to produce thousands of cloth masks, or personal protective equipment, for healthcare workers. During the show, Stipanovich discussed how the nonprofit is keeping its staff of primarily immigrant women working during the virus shutdown as it's their only source of income since spouses have been laid off.
St. Louis Health Director Dr. Fred Echols says COVID-19 is prevalent in the African American community. In an op-ed for the St. Louis American, he writes that the 12 patients in the city who have died of the disease were black. Also, Missouri is converting a Florissant hotel into a makeshift facility that could house patients if the region experiences a surge in cases.
Seventy-year-old Patty Prewitt has been busy making masks lately — like many citizen seamstresses working to help combat COVID-19. Prewitt, though, is sewing them for staff at the women’s prison in Vandalia, Missouri, where she’s serving a life sentence for her husband Bill’s 1984 murder. In the three and a half decades since that stormy and violent night in Holden, Missouri, Prewitt has consistently maintained that she is innocent, and that her husband’s death came at the hands of an intruder who also raped her. Prewitt’s case is getting some fresh attention thanks to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Aisha Sultan. She recently released the film “33 and Counting” via the newspaper’s website. The 38-minute documentary digs into the wildly contrasting accounts of the crime as well as what Prewitt and her children and grandchildren have endured — and been fighting for — since her 1985 conviction. In this segment of the talk show, Sultan joins host Sarah Fenske to discuss Prewitt’s story and its particular urgency during a pandemic.
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