St. Louis on the Air

In 1996, Molly Barker wanted to give girls the tools necessary to help them navigate through the challenges of adolescence and chart their course to healthy lives as adults.  She started with 13 girls in Charlotte, North Carolina using a curriculum in which the main tool was running.  The organization that resulted, Girls on the Run, now serves 120,000 girls a year in 170 branches all over the country.

In 1996, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, the same place where almost 50 years earlier, Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Iron Curtain” speech.  During her visit, Thatcher gave a speech that still has relevance today, especially in light of the continuing threat of nuclear weapons by North Korea.

In 1961, a parent of one of Charles Schweighauser’s students told him that a planetarium was being built in Forest Park and suggested that he apply for the job of director.  He figured that he was too young, but applied anyway.  Much to his surprise, he was hired the day before his 25th birthday.  Almost two years later, on April 16, 1963, the James S. McDonnell Planetarium opened its doors giving St. Louisans a state-of-the art way to view the universe in its star chamber.  The space race between the U.S.

Bobby McFerrin is a multi-faceted vocalist.  A 10-time Grammy winner, he has blurred the lines between pop music and fine art and has inspired a generation of a cappella singers.  He is best known for his hit, Don’t Worry, Be Happy, which explores the limits of the human voice.  But while he is certainly pleased with the song’s success, he does not want to be defined by it.

Stephen Prothero is a professor of religion at Boston University and senior fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.  In addition, he blogs for CNN’s Belief Blog and writes for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, USA Today  and The Washington Post.  He is also the author of several books.  His most recent one is The American Bible: How Our Words Unite, Divide and Define A Nation.