St. Louis on the Air

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra begins its 144th season this week with one big change — the orchestra is not performing in Powell Hall. SLSO Music Director Stéphane Denève and President and CEO Marie-Hélène Bernard discuss the ongoing renovation and expansion of Powell Hall and the highlights of the upcoming 2023-24 season.

Columnist and commentator Michael Harriot’s debut book, “Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America,” offers a compelling retelling of American history. Harriot discusses how his upbringing in the “middle room” of his grandfather’s home in South Carolina informed his self-education. He also talks about his experience covering protests in Ferguson in 2014 and St. Louis in 2017.

Charles the great horned owl lost both his mate and their eggs in December. It was tough news for Mark H. X. Glenshaw, the naturalist who has documented Charles’ life for 17 years. However, things are now looking up for Charles. Glenshaw shares the details in this encore “owl prowl” edition of the show.

Each September, hundreds of professional artists participate in Paint Louis. The annual music and graffiti festival brings people to the riverfront to pick and paint a two-mile section of the downtown St. Louis floodwall — also known as the Mural Mile. Part of the Paint Louis festival is “Paint Littles,” an area expressly for kids where they get to spray their masterpieces on the walls of an abandoned weigh station building. STLPR audio engineer Aaron Doerr brings us the scene.

Food pantries at local St. Louis Colleges are reporting an increase in student visits. Shannon Quinn, case manager at UMSL's Advocacy and Care Center, and Jo Britt-Rankin discuss changes to federal food assistance programs and how University Missouri campuses are helping students secure their basic needs.

The fate of two buildings along the Mill Creek Valley footprint — the historic, predominantly Black neighborhood that was raised in 1959 to make way for “urban renewal” in downtown St. Louis — has sparked calls for protest this week after t St. Louis University submitted a proposal for demolition to the city of St. Louis. Vivian Gibson, author of “The Last Children of Mill Creek, shares her thoughts and experiences with attempts to preserve and honor her childhood neighborhood.

In his new book, "Changing Models for Journalism: Reinventing the Newsroom," Global Investigative Journalism Network co-founder Brant Houston explores the deep transformation that journalism has undergone in the last decade, including the decimation of traditional newsrooms, changing revenue streams, corporate ownership and investors, and the surge in nonprofit newsrooms and collaborations.

Visit any grocery store and you can expect that the produce, meat and other products that line the shelves are not contaminated. But sometimes that’s not the case. STLPR economic development reporter Eric Schmid discusses how locally-based researchers are part of a team developing ways to more quickly identify salmonella in the chicken supply chain. Salmonella is one of the top pathogens that cause foodborne illness.

Washington University has unveiled a new policy that removes federal student loans from their undergraduate financial aid packages. The policy takes effect fall 2024, but it has already garnered attention across the nation as a way to make a path to higher education less burdensome. Ronné Turner, Wash U’s vice provost for admissions and financial aid, shares the benefits for students and how the no-loan policy can impact generational wealth.

12,000 people gathered in Grand Center this past weekend for the 3rd annual Music at the Intersection festival. The lineup included big names like Herbie Hancock, Smino, Taj Mahal, and Thundercat, as well as local talents like Sir Eddie C, Renee Smith, and the Marquise Knox Band featuring the Funky Butt Horns. Producers Miya Norfleet and Emily Woodbury spoke with festival-goers about why they came out — and what they think of St. Louis’ music scene.