St. Louis on the Air

A new St. Louis Art Museum exhibit (opening March 15) is highlighting the museum’s world-class collection of German Expressionism paintings. It's not just the paintings in focus, but the process of conservation, and the scientific analyses that have uncovered hidden layers, doodles, and even full paintings unknown until now. The exhibit’s two curators Courtney Books, associate paintings conservator, and Melissa Venator, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator of Modern Art, discuss the exhibit, and how German Expressionism found a home in St. Louis after World War II.

St. Louis’ vast musical range includes reggae and native son Tevin Rice, aka the Gold Giraffe, is putting the genre’s sun-splashed vibes front and center just in time for 314 Day celebrations by hosting “If St. Louis Had A Beach” on March 15.

Peter Sagal is no stranger to St. Louis. The host of NPR’s “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me” has hosted the show here — and he’s also run through the streets of downtown St. Louis in his underwear and feathered wings while holding a bow and arrow. Sagal returns to St. Louis this Friday for a solo show at the Sheldon. In this episode, he discusses his experiences as the longtime host of “Wait Wait,” what his solo show entails and how he’s come to love St. Louis.

It's not a sign of a lavish lifestyle to have diapers and period products, but Missouri taxes those necessities at the same rate as jewelry and sports cars. The impact of that tax falls on the poorest families. St. Louis Diaper Bank executive director Muriel Smith discusses legislative efforts to lower the tax rate and how the Diaper Bank works with a coalition of partners across the state to help families and parents in need. We also get an update on efforts to combat period poverty.

Results from recent polling suggest that there’s enough political will to end the practice of switching between daylight saving time and standard time every spring and fall. But Americans remain divided on which schedule to stick with. Washington University biologist Erik Herzog believes that permanent standard time is more beneficial to human health. Alongside St. Louis University political scientist Steven Rogers, Herzog discusses the effects of the current system, the history of daylight saving time, and how the daylight saving time/standard time debate has the golf lobby and scientists at odds.

As Missouri Senate Majority Leader, Cindy O’Laughlin has a front row seat to the factionalism of the General Assembly’s upper chamber. During a wide-ranging interview on The Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air, O’Laughlin discusses the brunt of criticism from the Missouri Freedom Caucus, the need to reauthorize the Federal Reimbursement Allowance, initiative petition reform and more. St. Louis Public Radio’s statehouse reporter Sarah Kellogg also discusses what’s ahead in the second half of this year’s legislative session.

Last year, St. Louis Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier unveiled legislation known as an Unhoused Bill of Rights. The bill included a lot of different ideas — including the creation of intentional encampments and restrictions on when city officials can break up encampments. But the legislation faced a rash of criticism, including from St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. Sonnier shelved that legislation, and on The Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air discusses how she’s going back to the drawing board to overhaul how shelters are approved.

For many years, Washington University has portrayed one of its founders, William Greenleaf Eliot, as an abolitionist. But, in 2021, a group of students and faculty released findings that disproved that notion and even showed Eliot was vehemently opposed to abolitionism. Three years later, the university has now established a Naming Review Board that gives people the opportunity to challenge the names of buildings, professorships, and scholarships that are named after people with problematic legacies.

Metro East sound engineer Bob Heil built sound systems and equipment that influenced the development of live concert sound in the 1970s and ‘80s, and show up in music produced across genres through today. Heil died on February 28, 2024. We talk with Peter Palermo, executive director of the Sheldon Arts Foundation, about Heil’s legacy.

Only 10% of domestic violence victims report their abuser, and of those who do file for orders of protection, only 20-25% are granted the order. Mike Burton knows the real-life implications of these statistics well. As a St. Louis County Circuit Judge, he oversaw countless domestic violence cases — and in doing so, became aware of the many flaws in the system that lead to abusers not being held accountable. Alongside domestic abuse survivor Monique Green, Burton launched St. Louis Survivors Legal Support after retiring to help victims of domestic violence secure adequate legal representation.