St. Louis On The Air

Host Don Marsh talks about how users will experience new changes on Facebook and how media organizations such as St. Louis Public Radio and NPR are dealing with the changes.

Host Don Marsh talks about the role and future of organ playing in churches. 

Host Don Marsh talks to our monthly Legal Roundtable panelists about recent issues pertaining to the law. 

Producer Lara Hamdan talks to international journalist Robin Wright about her career, including what it's like covering the front lines with ISIS and interviewing former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. 

Host Don Marsh discusses the case of Alex Garcia, an undocumented Honduran immigrant facing deportation, and a local church providing him sanctuary. 

Host Don Marsh talked with the playwright and the director of "Faceless." The play is now showing at The Rep.

Host Don Marsh discussed why the flu is so prevalent in St. Louis and what can be done to prevent and treat it.

Producer Char Daston profiles Suleima and Rosa Rojas, police officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department

On Friday’s Behind the Headlines segment, St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh discussed Gov. Eric Greitens’ impact on governance after his admission to having an extramarital affair. Joining the discussion were St. Louis Public Radio politics editor Fred Ehrlich and reporter Jo Mannies. Ehrlich said he believes the scandal affected business in the Senate since the governor’s statewide tax-reform tour is on hold and proposed state budget has not been released. Various elected officials called on the governor to resign, but Ehrlich said he does not see that happening at the moment. “I think [Greitens is] going to try to move forward,” Ehrlich said. “Unlike a lot of political scandals where the official will go on a repentance tour, he’s not going to do that – even though the public wants it and he probably should.” Greitens’ has not appeared in the public since the news broke of his affair. Mannies said the governor is “missing his opportunity” to clear the air by staying quiet. “If he

Among the names of those who have been most involved in advancing civil rights in St. Louis, Frankie Muse Freeman’s is one of the most prominent. On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh discussed the life and legacy of the civil rights lawyer. Freeman died Jan. 12 at age 101. She worked to address and end cases of discrimination in St. Louis and nationally. Joining the discussion were community activist Percy Green, St. Louis City NAACP president Adolphus Pruitt II and James Buford, former president and CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. “What I think about when I see Frankie is stature, courage, power, carriage – the way I would want my kids, anybody I know, to carry themselves as a leader in the African-American community,” Buford said. “She was magnanimous. She was holistic.” While Green’s political approach differed from Freeman’s, he said Freeman was personable. Green said he disagreed with some of Freeman’s political decisions, like her support of former

On this month’s Sound Bites segment produced in partnership with Sauce Magazine , managing editor Catherine Klene gave an overview of the six up-and-comers the publication chose for its annual " Ones to Watch " feature. The article highlights local culinary talent to watch in 2018. On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh talked to Klene and featured chefs Bryan Russo and Evy Swoboda. “It’s definitely a chef year,” Klene said. “It speaks to the caliber of restaurants in St. Louis and the talent that these kitchens are incubating.” Klene said Sauce Magazine selected the professionals who not only cook well, but have potential to lead and partake in different culinary projects. “We want people with goals, who really want to grow in the St. Louis food scene; who are committed to this area and growing their careers and the culinary scene as a whole,” Klene said. For example, Russo experiments with bread and its various fermentations. He’s a chef at Público, a Latin-inspired

Twenty years ago, St. Louis filmmaker Geoff Story went to an estate sale on Lindell Boulevard. There he picked up two canisters of home movies, not knowing what were on them. What Story found shocked him – dozens of gay men at a pool party in a remote location in Hillsboro, Missouri in 1945. Check out Nancy Fowler’s story about the home movies revealing what is was like being gay in mid-century St. Louis. Story’s upcoming documentary, “ Gay Home Movie ,” will incorporate the home videos as well as interviews with the families and friends of the men in these films. On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh discussed what gay life was like during the 1940s and 50s in St. Louis. Joining the discussion was Nancy Fowler, arts and culture reporter at St. Louis Public Radio, Steven Brawley, author of "Gay and Lesbian St. Louis" and Miranda Rectenwald, curator of local history at Washington University. “[The videos are] a really wonderful glimpse. There is not a lot of visual

This year, the International Institute estimates the arrival of only 450 refugees arriving to St. Louis. That’s a sharp decline compared to the amount of refugee resettlement in previous years – 659 refugees in 2017 and 1135 refugees in 2016. On Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh addressed the decline of refugees arriving to St. Louis over the past couple of years. Joining him for the discussion was Betsy Cohen, executive director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project and Anna Crosslin, president and CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis. Crosslin said initiatives at the White House last year resulted in the sharp decline of refugees resettled nationally and in St. Louis. Refugees are part of a subset of immigrants arriving to the United States, who are admitted due to well-founded fears of persecution in their native countries. The president’s executive orders and various travel bans heavily impacted the International Institute’s refugee clients, where family

Author Daniel Pink researched the science of timing to see how time of day affects what we do and how we do it. On Wednesday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh talked to Pink about his latest book, “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing,” where the bestselling author drew on research from psychology, biology and economics to reveal how to live and work efficiently. Time of day influences our performance “Chronobiology” is the study of time in living organisms and their adaptation to solar and lunar-related rhythms. Understanding your “chronotype” (biological rhythm) is the first step to understanding what you should do, and the time of day to do it. Time of day explains 20 percent of the variants in human performance on brain power tasks at work. For example, handwashing in hospitals deteriorates significantly during the afternoon and physicians are more likely to prescribe necessary antibiotics in the afternoon and anesthesia errors are four times more likely to occur at

St. Louis native John McDaniel is a Grammy and Emmy award-winning musician. For years he performed as the band leader of The Rosie O’Donnell Show. Londoner Barb Jungr is known for her pop music, theater and cabaret performances. McDaniel and Jungr will perform together at Kranzberg Arts Center later this month. On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh talked with McDaniel and Jungr about their upcoming performance “Come Together,” which features music by the Beatles. Growing up not too far from Liverpool, the birthplace of the iconic band, Jungr had always avoided listening to their music until McDaniel arranged their song, “In My Life,” for her to perform. She loved the arrangement and the two decided to feature their take on the group’s music for their next album. The musical duo will give the familiar sound of the Beatles something new. They will take the music apart and reconstruct it to give the audience a different type of presentation. “We will take a song and have a

How can children learn to respect other people’s identities and differences in the world? On Tuesday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh talked about how parents, grandparents, other relatives and caregivers can help young children understand and appreciate differences in other human beings, families and communities. Joining the discussion were Tabari Coleman, project director of the Anti-Defamation League’s A World of Difference Institute, and Stephen Zwolak, CEO of LUME Institute and executive director of the University City Children’s Center. Zwolak said concepts of understanding start imbedding at infancy. Coleman said understanding doesn’t mean ignoring another’s differences, but rather recognizing and accepting them. “Be matter of fact with a child, [do not] avoid the situation,” Coleman said. “When we don’t have an honest conversation, what we do is we prepare them to avoid those conversations when they get older.” Zwolak said the role of schools is more influential than

The impact of Martin Luther King Jr. continues to influence various civil rights movements today. Washington University will commemorate the late civil rights leader at 7 p.m., Monday, in Graham Chapel. On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air, host Don Marsh talked to Vernon Mitchell Jr., curator of Popular American Arts and Culture in the Department of Special Collections at Washington University. Mitchell talked about his research and the message he plans to deliver as part of the university's commemoration. He studies the impact of African-American art and culture on movements and popular culture. In his speech, Mitchell wants to reclaim King. “What I try to do when I teach about Dr. King is I try to humanize him. I try to take him off of the pedestal,” Mitchell said. “Not in a way that is sensational. I try to understand him as a man, as a human being.” Mitchell said that allows students to resonate with the iconic leader. During the civil rights movement, King remained hopeful in spite

Should the news media have published a story about Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens’ extramarital affair and his alleged blackmail of a woman? On Friday’s Behind the Headlines segment, St. Louis on the Air host Don Marsh discussed journalism ethics and the process of reporting the affair with Lauren Trager, KMOV’s investigative reporter who broke the story , and with Shula Neuman, St. Louis Public Radio’s executive editor. The two journalists talked about their varying approaches. Neuman said St. Louis Public Radio decided not to go forward with a story on the affair, partly because the organization did not have on-the-record sources. “If the woman wasn’t willing to tell the story herself, then we didn’t think that it was appropriate to let somebody else tell the story for her ,” Neuman said. The unnamed woman made off-the-record remarks to Trager about the affair. KMOV also concealed the identity of the woman’s ex-husband to protect her identity. Trager said KMOV decided to publish its

As part of University of Missouri-St. Louis’ annual Martin Luther King Jr. observance, keynote speaker Freeman A. Hrabowski III will address the impact of the iconic civil rights activist over the last half century. The celebration is at 10 a.m. to noon on Jan. 15 at the Touhill Performing Arts Center. On Friday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh talked with Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) about his work in advocating for equal access to education for all. Hrabowski said he’ll draw on his experiences during the Civil Rights Movement and the ongoing fight for civil rights during his speech to look at the progression of education in American families. As a child in 1963, Hrabowski marched under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama. He said barriers to education for all races remain. ‘Race still matters’ “This has been a 50-year experiment. It’s only been in the past 50 years that we’ve been trying to bring more

On Thursday’s St. Louis on the Air , host Don Marsh analyzed the aftermath of Missouri Governor Eric Greitens' 2018 State of the State address. Joining the discussion were St. Louis Public Radio’s statehouse reporter Marshall Griffin, political reporter Jo Mannies and interim political editor Jason Rosenbaum. Hours after Greitens delivered his second State of the State address, he acknowledged his involvement in an extra-marital affair before he launched his campaign for governor in the fall of 2015. Greitens and his wife, Sheena Greitens, issued joint statements through their lawyer after St. Louis television station KMOV-TV (Channel 4) reported on the matter , denying any allegations of blackmail. “It’s as if the State of the State address didn’t happen last night,” Griffin said. “Everything that constitutes the business of government right now is focused on this story that broke last night.” The House convened for five minutes Thursday morning to adjourn the meeting until next week,