St. Louis on the Air

St. Louis-based DJ Alexis Tucci is in high demand throughout the country, her house music DJing has drawn a strong fanbase in the LGBTQ community. Tucci, a mother of two, Tucci talks about her career of nearly three decades — and what keeps her in St. Louis.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, abortion rights organizers in St. Louis are working hard to disrupt the momentum of the anti-abortion movement. In this episode, Kennedy Moore from Pro-Choice Missouri and Brianna Chandler from WashU discuss how the reproductive freedom movement, abolition, climate justice, and trans rights are all enmeshed and how their work aims to empower people to take action.

Ten years after the first “Fluffy GRL summit,” Ebbi Nichole’s Fluffy GRL Movement continues to uplift body positivity... and having fun while doing it. Nichol discusses her founding of the movement, the rampant “miseducation” around body sizes, and next month’s “GRL Weekend” and pool party in St. Louis.

Tacos La Jefa is in St. Louis' Dutchtown neighborhood. The family restaurant was the subject of a recent episode of St. Louis Public Radio's podcast, "We Live Here Auténtico!" The podcast focuses on Latino culture and identity in St. Louis and beyond. This story begins with the matriarch of the Amezcua family, Heriberta Amezcua, also known as La Jefa, “the boss."

St. Louis was once home to two Major League Baseball teams. The St. Louis Browns signed Hank Thompson and Willard Brown in July 1947 making them the third and fourth Black American baseball players to cross the color barrier. This also made the St. Louis Browns the first MLB team to field two Black athletes. Historian and author Ed Wheatley joins St. Louis on the Air to share what this moment means to baseball history and the efforts to keep the history alive.

Delmar Divine is the brainchild of Build-A-Bear Workshop founder and philanthropist Maxine Clark. Occupying the site of the old St. Luke’s Hospital just north of Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis’ West End neighborhood, the project is Clark’s way to bridge the “Delmar Divide.” Delmar Divine Executive Director Jorge Riopedre and CEO/Founder of SoulFisher Ministries Shawntelle Fisher discuss how the effort is meeting the needs of local nonprofits and neighboring communities.

Like pollinators attracted to a flower, St. Louisans swarmed the Missouri Botanical Garden this week to smell "Luna," a 31-pound, six-foot corpse flower with a rare, rancid bloom. STLPR reporter Kate Grumpke was on the scene of the smells, and she reports what she experienced there.

SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital nurses say their departments are regularly understaffed and that hospital management has not done enough to address their concerns. National Nurses United union steward and SSM Health RN Sarah DeWilde and her recently retired colleague, RN Rita Reed, share how management can better support their work.

A serial sexual harasser spent five years preying on coworkers in the St. Louis County Jail before his firing earlier this year. That’s just one component of an ongoing investigation by Riverfront Times staff writer Ryan Krull, who discusses the overlapping scandals at the embattled jail.

From the dead of night to the early morning, Reverend Kenneth McKoy leads teams of pastors through dark St. Louis’ streets, seeking out people struggling with addiction, mental illness and homelessness. A new documentary, “Night Life,” tells his story. McKoy and the film's director, Seth Ferranti, discuss his ministry and the film before its July 17 premiere at the St. Louis International Film Festival.