St. Louis on the Air

The U.S. birth rate has dropped to a historic low — and demographer Ness Sandoval warns St. Louis will be one of the first major cities to feel the economic and social fallout. He shares what needs to happen for St. Louis to avoid more loss and why the city should take cues from Detroit to incentivize young families to live and work in the region. Action St. Louis Executive Director Kayla Reed also joins the conversation to discuss the May 16 tornado’s displacement of north St. Louis residents and why temporary housing programs are so important to keep affected families as close to their homes and communities as possible.

When a murder is committed in the City of St. Louis, it usually doesn’t get solved. An investigation by St. Louis Public Radio, APM Reports and the Marshall Project found that detectives solved fewer than half of the nearly 2,000 homicides committed in the past decade. While these cases are unsolved, the victims of these crimes should not be forgotten. Ivy Scott, engagement reporter for The Marshall Project-St.Louis, discusses her findings from multiple interviews with the families of homicide victims. We also meet Erica Jones, mother of Whitney Brown, who was shot and killed on August 13, 2015 in an unsolved homicide.

Four members of the Missouri National Guard and twelve members of the Illinois National Guard are seeking voluntary separations from the military because they are transgender. Specialist Dahlia Dahl enlisted three years ago. She’s now one of thousands of troops who have to make the decision to leave or face the possibility of investigation and removal after the the Department of Defense ruled transgender people can no longer serve in the armed forces. On St. Louis on the Air, Dahl told her story of her gender journey and how that intertwined with her decision to enlist in the Illinois National Guard.

President Trump is pushing Republican-led states like Missouri and Texas to redraw their congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections to keep his party’s slim majority in the U.S. House. But Missouri Democratic state Sen. Patty Lewis of Kansas City says the plan could backfire, and she lays out why during an appearance on the Politically Speaking Hour on St. Louis on the Air.

Missouri voters have repeatedly approved ballot measures — from protecting abortion rights and expanding Medicaid to raising the minimum wage and legalizing marijuana. But lawmakers haven’t always honored those decisions, rolling back mandated paid sick leave and gutting a 2012 measure that gave St. Louis’ mayor control of the police. GOP political consultant David Barklage explains the Republican strategy, and STLPR statehouse and politics reporter Sarah Kellogg looks at what’s next for paid sick leave advocates.

The salary of many public sector employees in our region is just a click away. That includes mayors and judges, teachers, cops and professors. For nearly a decade, St. Louis Post-Dispatch data journalist Josh Renaud has worked to produce the paper’s massive, annual database of public salaries. The latest edition went live just a couple weeks ago. Renaud takes us inside the herculean effort of data-collection and how it impacts governments large and small. He also discusses the factors behind the City of St. Louis’ “glacial” 100 days to produce the records.

The salary of many public sector employees in our region is just a click away. That includes mayors and judges, teachers, cops and professors. For nearly a decade, St. Louis Post-Dispatch data journalist Josh Renaud has worked to produce the paper’s massive, annual database of public salaries. The latest edition went live just a couple weeks ago. Renaud takes us inside the herculean effort of data-collection and how it impacts governments large and small. He also discusses the factors behind the City of St. Louis’ “glacial” 100 days to produce the records.

Halloween is just around the corner, but for comic book and horror content fans the “spooky vibes” exist all year-round. St. Louis comic book artist Lorry Jamison joins “St. Louis on the Air” to discuss their new series the “Nightshade Anthology,” and how their love for horror media like “Goosebumps” and “Seed of Chucky” has influenced their storytelling by using monsters as a metaphor for battles fought in the LGBTQIA+ community. Through the use of color and creative storytelling Jamison blends genres with comedic moments, scary villains, and wholesome queer protagonists.

A growing and significant body of research suggests that students benefit from having a teacher of the same race or ethnicity. Yet most teachers in the U.S. are white women. St. Louis entrepreneur Angelica Harris founded Top Tutors for Us to pair Black high school students with tutors who look like them. In this encore episode, she shares how their services have led to improved test scores and higher college acceptance rates of their students.

About 15 years ago, Jason Cerrano was working for the Pattonville Fire Protection District when he conceptualized a way to make it more efficient for firefighters to put out fires. He wanted to automate how a fire truck selects its water source and pumps water, and allow pump operators to pay attention to other critical firefighting tasks. In this encore episode, Cerrano, a graduate of Missouri S&T, discusses how he invented the SAM Control System that more than 120 fire departments employ. We also hear from Chief Hans Mueller of the Freeburg Fire Protection District in Illinois about his department’s use of the technology.