St. Louis on the Air

Proponents of a ballot initiative St. Louis voters are weighing this fall argue Proposition D would change municipal races for the better. They envision a nonpartisan system that puts the focus on local issues that matter most, fosters a more responsive government and addresses the vote-splitting associated with the heavily Democratic city’s current primary setup. But not everyone is on board.

“When I get in front of my audience,” Kim Massie once told St. Louis Public Radio’s Nick Garcia, “I don't care if I’m playing for free or if I’m playing for a million bucks. I’m going to give you the same show, because that could very well be my last show, and you’re only as good as your last performance. … So I give it my all, every time I sing.”

In the wake of stubbornly inaccurate mainstream coverage of protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Charles Klotzer launched what is now known as the Gateway Journalism Review. The first issue appeared in September 1970, and the now-quarterly publication is still going strong — even as its contemporaries have long since ceased operations.

This week, a pair of women from the Mehlville area of south St. Louis County got married just outside St. Louis City Hall. They were part of a much larger movement of pop-up weddings there within the past week — all designed to highlight concerns within the LGBTQ community related to the Supreme Court nomination of Amy Coney Barrett.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra returns to Powell Hall this week. Seven months after the coronavirus pandemic shut down events, the symphony kicks off a shortened season of “chamber orchestra concerts." Music director Stephane Deneve previews the season and its highlights.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis has some big news today: an acclaimed new playwright in residence. She’s a Golden Globe award winner and a two time Emmy nominee. And thanks to a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, she’ll be working in St. Louis for the next three years.

Tinus Le Roux, CEO of FanCam, and Sara Baker, policy director for the ACLU of Missouri discuss artificial intelligence’s potential for both good and evil. The issues they raise are currently getting a fuller airing at Prepare 2020, virtual month-long conference by Prepare.ai.

National politics might dominate the news right now, but Washington University professor Betsy Sinclair says there is a resurgence of political life at the local level — and technology can help with that. She co-founded Magnify Your Voice, a civic engagement app meant to help residents work together to tackle a project in their neighborhood.

H.W. Brands’ new book “The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and the Struggle for American Freedom” explores the run-up to slavery's abolition -- and choice to confront its "great evil" via politics or violence -- through the lives of two men: John Brown and Abraham Lincoln.

Whether it’s 20 tips for 20-somethings or 30 movers and shakers under the age of 30, there’s always a new list aimed at young professionals doing big things. And that makes sense — early adulthood, after all, is typically focused on forging a career path. But maybe there should also be some different lists. Say, 70 first-time novelists over the age of 70, or 80 up-and-coming small business owners in their 80s. St. Louisan Lynn Hamilton believes it's never too late to try something new.