St. Louis on the Air

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.

Vocalist and songwriter Brianna Brown — known on stage as Be.Be the Neosoul, has performed on many St. Louis stages during her singing career. By day, she’s the artistic director at her alma mater Central Visual and Performing Arts High School. Next Tuesday, she’s hitting the stage at the Sheldon Concert Hall for something of a full circle moment. That’s when she and CVPA students will put on a benefit concert to raise money for the school’s arts departments. She shares what this moment means to her, what it’s like to hear her students perform her original music, and how it feels to perform beside them on stage.

Since 1975, the Focal Point has played a critical role in promoting and shaping St. Louis’ folk, roots, jazz, blues and world music scene. As the nonprofit celebrates its 50th anniversary with a year-long series of special concerts, we hear from musicians, volunteers and fans who have supported the organization from its humble beginnings — operating out of church basements and spare rooms — to its current, permanent home in downtown Maplewood.

Dilapidated and vacant buildings are more than eyesores for the community. They can lower property value and impact safety. But before starting up the bulldozers, Landmarks Illinois wants property owners and city governments to consider renovation and restoration. Their latest list of endangered historic places includes the Spivey Building in East St. Louis and various Meramec Caverns Barns including one in Madison County. Quinn Adamowski, regional manager of advocacy for Landmarks Illinois explains why renovation helps communities more than demolition and what successful rehabilitation looks like.

Just a year and a half after forming, the St. Louis-based improv team Some Black People took the championship belt in the Improv Shop’s 2024 Cagematch Tournament. Jessica Nicole, founder of Some Black People, shares what clinched it for them, and how far they’ve come in their goal to encourage more Black folks to get into improv as performers and fans.

In the new book “Play Harder: The Triumph of Black Baseball in America,” Washington University professor Gerald Early traces the powerful impact of Black Americans on the game from the post-Civil War era to today. Written in collaboration with the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the book highlights pivotal figures, defining moments, and the lasting influence of Black players.

The 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis highlighted the nation's triumphs but it also reveled in public exploitation of indigenous Filipinos, who were put on display to demonstrate the "savagery" of other cultures. In addition to the 47-acre "Philippine Village," the Philippine Constabulary Band was also a popular attraction. Piccolo player Pedro B. Navarro was a key member of the band. His great-granddaughter, Mary Lacanlale, an ethnomusicologist at California State University, shares insights about the band, the exploitation of Filipino people at the World's Fair and her ancestor's experience there. She also reflects on the recent dedication of a memorial to the Philippine Village in Clayton.

Robert Cohen recently retired after a 38-year career, the last 25 years spent at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Cohen was part of a team of Post photographers who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2015 for their work covering the Ferguson protests. Cohen reflects on his famous photo of Edward ‘Skeeda’ Crawford throwing a tear gas canister during the protests, and other moments from his career in journalism.

Essence Anthony’s passion for art started when she was a kid, but she stopped painting as she grew older. She was recently diagnosed with functional neurological disorder, which brought her back to her love of painting. She shares what it’s like to live with the disorder, how she navigates her challenges through a creative outlet and how she uses her art to raise awareness about the disorder.