St. Louis on the Air

The Catholic Diocese of Belleville underreported the number of clergy who sexually abused children. That’s one of the findings of a 700-page report released by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. The report also details how the diocese enabled a pattern of abuse. STLPR Metro East reporter Will Bauer explains.

The countdown to Pride Month ends in just eight days. Soon there will be parades and parties to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities and commemorate the long, continuous fight for basic human rights for queer individuals. For Black queer people, creating space for joy in a time of persistent political and societal oppression is an everyday necessity. One example of that is ballroom culture, which was created and championed by Black members of the LGBTQ community across the nation — and right here in St. Louis.

Ninety years ago, on May 24, 1933, a strike led by Black women workers at a St. Louis nut factory made labor history. Devin Thomas O’Shea, who wrote about the strike in a lengthy feature story in Jacobin, discusses the dramatic events leading up to the strike, including how an 18-year-old ringleader led her co-workers to the streets “with a Bible in one hand and a brick in the other.”

For lovers of theater, a St. Louis summer doesn’t truly start until Shakespeare is being performed. That moment comes next week, on May 31, as the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival opens its annual free performances in Forest Park. Tom Ridgley, the festival’s producing artistic director, breaks down this season’s unique take on “Twelfth Night,” set in Miami, and previews the other performances to come, including “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and an original production that combines Shakespeare and soccer.

John Gaal witnessed naloxone’s ability to save lives when he stepped in to administer the overdose reversal medication to a fellow passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight in 2022. He shares why he’s pushing for greater access to the drug, including its inclusion in medical kits on all airline providers.

VibeSzn began as an online business in 2017 and now has a retail location at City Foundry in Midtown St. Louis and has amassed nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram. Co-owner Omar Badran discusses his homegrown business and his family’s journey to St. Louis.

St. Louis is littered with ‘tangled titles.’ The term describes what happens when a person dies without leaving a will or estate plan to define the ownership of their home. St. Louis Magazine senior editor Nick Phillips investigated how tangled titles became common, how they affect Black neighborhoods, block the transfer of intergenerational wealth, and lead to vacancy.

St. Louis singer Neil Salsich gained national fame over the past several months as a participant on "The Voice." Salsich talks about his time on the NBC reality singing show and as a founding member of the St. Louis-based band, the Mighty Pines.

On average a total solar eclipse occurs once every 400 years in the same location on earth. In 2017 the St. Louis region was within the path of totality for the first time since 1869. This coming April millions of residents in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois will find themselves within a two-hour drive of another total solar eclipse. Author and eclipse chaser David Baron joins the show.

For five years, St. Louis’ Black Tulip Chorale has fused queer history, music and inclusivity. The group celebrates the milestone May 21 with a special show “Shining Through,” that pairs each song with a moment from LGBTQ history. Founding member Dr. Ken Haller explains the group’s origin story, and how its approach to a mixed voice “all-expression, all-gender, ​all-identity” chorus has attracted more than 40 singers to its ranks.