St. Louis on the Air

As a tornado swept through St. Louis on Friday, traffic stood still on Interstate 170 near Berkeley after a handful of drivers parked underneath an overpass. Experts have long warned motorists not to do so during storms, but the idea that it’s a safe practice persists. National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Deitsch and AAA spokesperson Nick Chabarria bust — or validate — common storm and tornado myths and warnings, including: “Do tornadoes avoid cities and places with lots of concrete? Is it safe to take a shower during a thunderstorm?”

The tornado that tore a path through St Louis on May 16 has sparked ongoing community relief efforts on the city’s north and west sides. Three organizers of that effort, Kayla Reed, Aaron Williams and Ohun Ashe, share their experience and takeaways as they work with hundreds of volunteers to distribute aid, clear debris, and reach people who are still in crisis without basic services.

Local restaurants are working with World Central Kitchen to provide thousands of meals to people impacted by the EF3 tornado that hit the St. Louis area on Friday, May 16. Kate Dozier, a St. Louisan and member of the World Central Kitchen Chef Corps, shares how World Central Kitchen assembles and deploys its disaster response teams. Tom Schmidt, co-owner of Salt + Smoke; and Qui Tran, owner of Mai Lee and Nudo, talk about what’s motivating their partnership with World Central Kitchen – and how it reflects one way STL’s food and hospitality community is coming together to support disaster-impacted St. Louisans with nourishment.

When Ruby Leigh stepped onto “The Voice” stage in 2023, she got all four chairs to turn during her blind audition. Just 17 at the time, Leigh went on to finish as runner-up on the NBC singing competition. But her journey started long before reality TV, in the tiny town of Foley, Missouri, population 100. Leigh talks about her journey as a self-taught singer, her time on national TV, performing at the Grand Ole Opry, and what it was like sharing the stage with her favorite rock band, Green Day.

Gloria Nolan is counting her blessings after an EF3 grade tornado tore through her neighborhood near Fairgrounds Park in north St. Louis. She shares her family’s experience surviving the storm, assessing the damage and securing assistance for the long road to recovery.

During a state funeral at the Missouri State Capitol on Tuesday, former U.S. Senator and Governor Kit Bond was remembered as a dedicated public servant who forged bipartisan ties. Bond died last week at the age of 86. STLPR’s Jason Rosenbaum talked with people who worked closely with Bond over his more than four decade public service career.

A lawsuit that accused St. Louis running an “unspeakably hellish” jail has ended in a $4 million settlement. Pending a judge’s approval, the settlement would allow at least 16,000 people who were jailed in the now-demolished Workhouse jail to file a claim. ArchCity Defenders Executive Director Blake Strode and Inez Bordeaux, a former Workhouse detainee who became an organizer of the Close the Workhouse campaign, explore the eight-year path to the settlement, and the past and future of the Workhouse.

On Friday afternoon, an EF3 tornado with winds topping out at 152 mph inflicted serious damage on about 4,400 St. Louis-area buildings, including homes, businesses, churches and schools. Dozens of people sustained injuries and five people lost their lives. STLPR reporter Chad Davis shares what he's heard from officials, community leaders and residents about the damage caused by the tornado.

The 2025 session ended last week and lawmakers endorsed many of Gov. Mike Kehoe’s priorities. That included placing a state board in charge of the St. Louis Police Department and sending $50 million to help fund K-12 scholarships that could go toward private schools. The session also included the passing of contentious GOP-led efforts to repeal Proposition A’s paid sick leave requirements and to place an anti-Amendment 3 measure on the 2026 ballot. STLPR statehouse and politics reporter Sarah Kellogg discusses the highs and lows of the session, followed by a discussion with Reps. Ian Mackey, D-Clayton, and Jim Murphy, R-St. Louis County.

As a Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist for the last 25 years at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, David Carson knows what makes an excellent photograph. But AI is getting better and better at that, too. Carson, a 2025 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, has spent much of the past year on leave from the paper studying the collision of AI and photojournalism. He shares his insights on the challenges, complications and possible solutions for a world where, increasingly, what you see is different from what you get – and describes why he sees purported AI "learning" as just another word for theft.