{"id":594618,"date":"2026-09-09T04:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/594618\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T04:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T04:34:15","slug":"st-louis-public-radios-st-louis-on-the-air-talk-show-celebrates-30-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/594618\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Louis Public Radio\u2019s \u2018St. Louis on the Air\u2019 talk show celebrates 30 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

St. Louis Public Radio\u2019s flagship talk show \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d reached a milestone last week, celebrating 30 years of news and conversation in St. Louis with a benchmark episode of the show.<\/p>\n

Since its debut on Sept. 3, 1996, from the basement studios in Lucas Hall on the University of Missouri-St. Louis campus, \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d has evolved and grown, but not away from its original idea: to create a smart local hour of interviews that features stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve found new ways to tell stories, new platforms to reach listeners and new ways to bring more voices into the conversation,\u201d said host Elaine Cha during last Thursday\u2019s show. \u201cBut the fundamental idea behind \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d hasn’t changed: this is a show about St. Louis, made for and by the people who call this region home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kendall Bennett \/ St. Louis Public Radio<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

The \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d cake, just before the after-show party in the greenroom on Thursday, September 3.<\/p>\n

The \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d cake, just before the after-show party in the greenroom on Thursday, September 3.<\/p>\n

Humble beginnings<\/p>\n

During a greenroom party following last Thursday\u2019s show, former \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d Executive Producer Mary Edwards remembered working as part of a staff of two with original host Mark Mannelli \u2014 a recollection that produced groans of disbelief and amazement from current staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to keep a sleeping bag at the station,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n

Now, in addition to its radio broadcast, \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d is a podcast, a newsletter, and it has a social media presence, and a staff of seven. The show continues to find new ways to connect with its audience.<\/p>\n

That connection shines brightest when the community has needed it the most.<\/p>\n

During the Ferguson uprising in 2014 following the death of Michael Brown Jr., \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d hosted difficult conversations both on the radio and through in-person forums.<\/p>\n

Three years later, the show again became a place for respectful dialog when the Stockley decision was announced following the shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith. Then, the show\u2019s rebroadcast was at 10 p.m. With news breaking and few resources, the show\u2019s staff decided to mount a late-night, live edition of the program. \u201cI remember talking to people, activists who were at a protest but had taken a break and were talking to us from a car at the scene,\u201d said current Executive Producer Alex Heuer, who hosted that show. \u201cPeople were calling into the program at 10 o\u2019clock at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u201cSt.<\/p>\n

Kendall Bennett \/ St. Louis Public Radio<\/p>\n

\u201cSt. Louis on the Air’s\u201d former executive producer Mary Edwards with Senior Producer Emily Woodbury, Producer Miya Norfleet, and current Host and Producer Elaine Cha.<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s relationship with the community was evident once again during the COVID-19 pandemic, when St. Louisans downloaded the \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d podcast more than one million times in search of accurate health information and connection.<\/p>\n

Former producer Mary Edwards recalled another important health touchstone, when a \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d show on Fragile X syndrome and other orphan diseases reached a local mother desperate for a diagnosis at just the right moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought we made a difference,\u201d Edwards said of the show\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n

Staying power<\/p>\n

\u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d producers know that familiar voices mean a lot during moments of crisis. But they also know that the show plays an important role in highlighting the contributions of locals \u2014 introducing the authors and artists, scientists, entrepreneurs, and everyday people helping to shape the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you\u2019ve been with us since the beginning, or just a few years, or if this is your first day listening: thank you for being part of \u201cSt. Louis on the Air,\u201d Cha said during last week\u2019s broadcast.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Kendall Bennett \/ St. Louis Public Radio<\/p>\n

The current \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d staff and guest: From left: Danny Wicentowski, Alex Heuer, Aaron Doerr, Miya Norfleet, Managing Editor, Audience and Product Brian Heffernan, Elaine Cha and Emily Woodbury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"St. Louis Public Radio\u2019s flagship talk show \u201cSt. Louis on the Air\u201d reached a milestone last week, celebrating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[156,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-594618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}