St. Louis on the Air

A new invasive tick species was recently found in St. Louis County, with more sightings expected this spring and summer. St. Louis senior scientist Solny Adalsteinsson shares how the longhorned tick may affect our already tick-riddled ecosystems, how to avoid tick bites, and what to do if you’ve been bitten.

As Jurassic beasts roamed the earth, a little weasel-like animal called Morganucodon was making an evolutionary breakthrough in parenting — producing milk to feed her young. Author Cat Bohannon calls this creature Morgie in her 2023 book “Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution.” Bohannon discusses the book, and insights from the evolution of Morgie, ahead of an author event in St. Louis County.

314 Day gets bigger each year in the St. Louis region. While there’s a lot to celebrate and several options of where to party, 2025 also brings a lot of serious matters to the fore. For this 314 day, hip-hop artist and community advocate Kayla “KVTheWriter” Thompson, “Overarching” podcast host and realtor David Lemon, and host of “Voice of the Streets” Dsmoovee Shabazz share what they love about St. Louis, what worries or frustrates them the most about the region, and their ideas of how to make their hometown a better place to work and live.

At four years old, Susan Polgar was already playing chess — and winning. At 15, in the mid-1980s, she was already the top-ranked woman in the world. By 1991, she’d become a grandmaster. The former Webster University chess coach discusses her new memoir, “Rebel Queen: The Cold War, Misogyny, and the Making of a Grandmaster.”

The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday challenging the constitutionality of Proposition A, the minimum wage and sick leave law that voters passed with 58% support last November. In this episode, Fran Marion, a longtime fast food restaurant worker, details her support for the measure. Buddy Lahl, CEO of the Missouri Restaurant Association, explains his opposition. This story was originally featured as part of KCUR’s talk show, Up to Date.

In the 19 years St. Louis naturalist Mark H.X. Glenshaw has studied Charles the great horned owl, Charles has fathered 27 owlets with seven mates. This year, Glenshaw was waiting to see if Charles would mate with the new lady owl in Forest Park: a one-year-old owl that Glenshaw named May. He shares what Charles and May have been up to and why their “May-December romance” hasn’t yet come to fruition.

From tools and materials to varieties of edible and decorative plants, this home gardening conversation offers growers tips for making the most of their yards – and porches and window sills – this spring planting season. Daria McKelvey, home gardening information and outreach supervisor at Missouri Botanical Garden; and Megan Moncure, engagement director for Seed St. Louis, join the show to share advice and respond to listener calls.

When organizers of the annual Annie Malone May Day parade in St. Louis announced its cancellation this year, many people — especially in the Black community — were disappointed. Funds for the parade were redirected to support clients who needed shelter and food. But, the outpouring of community support means the parade can forward as planned. The attention also reignited a passion and interest in the woman for whom the parade is named: Annie Malone. Linda Nance, who founded the Annie Malone Historical Society in 2013, discusses Malone’s legacy and why it’s more than “just a parade.”

Even after Christopher Dunn won his release from prison in July, Missouri's Attorney General is still trying to put him back. It's just one of the consequences of the unique way Missouri law treats claims of "actual innocence.” We discuss the state of Missouri's innocence laws with Saint Louis University criminologist Kenya Brumfield-Young, as well as attorney Charlie Weiss, who has represented five people who were released from prison after being found innocent. Weiss and Brumfield-Young also share their insights into a proposed bill that would expand the scope of who can make a claim of “actual innocence” under current Missouri law.

Less than a week after President Donald Trump promised to crack down on student protests at colleges and universities, he’s pulled funding to Columbia University in New York City — where students engaged in pro-Palestinian protests against the war in Gaza — and praised U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents for arresting a graduate student who is a permanent U.S. resident for his role in those protests. We hear from St. Louis college student activists who are focused on building community and protections for actions to come, and discuss the implications of the president’s proposal with St. Louis University history professor and chair of African American Studies Chris Tinson.