Audio Features

Owners of music venues in St. Louis are discovering there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the financial straights brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. With stages dark and the immediate future of the business unclear, industry professionals have turned to federal aid programs but experienced mixed results.

Germany’s ability to combat extremism has been praised. But it's also being tested. Does it still offer lessons for the U.S. following the Capitol riot?

Black doctors in the St. Louis region are trying to debunk false information by talking about the vaccine with their African American patients and to Black organizations. Doctors fear that if not enough Black people take the vaccine, their communities will continue to suffer with more hospitalizations and deaths.

St. Louis Public Radio spoke with a dozen current and former employees who said lax enforcement of COVID-19 rules is putting their health at risk.

Weeks into Missouri's vaccine distribution, workers at independent clinics wonder where they fall in line. They describe having to broker their own deals with large hospitals and health departments to find doses, with little guidance from state officials.

Several first-year teachers are documenting the start of their career as educators in audio diaries for St. Louis Public Radio.

Black St. Louisans are appalled at what they saw at the U.S. Capitol last week, when a largely white mob forced its way past police to try to stop Congress from certifying the election of President-elect Joe Biden. They couldn't miss how police officers did not aggressively counter white rioters and how that contrasted with how officers treat Black people at demonstrations for Black lives.

Colleges and universities in the St. Louis area tried to adapt the college experience to make it resemble a normal school year during a pandemic. But not everything was easily replicated.

The past year's events redefined Missouri and St. Louis politics. And the COVID-19 pandemic and protests decrying police killing Black people played a huge role in shaping the biggest stories in the region and state.

Artists and performers have scrambled to make and share their work during the pandemic. They've also turned to the work of their peers to help get through a tough year. Here are some of the locally produced things that inspired St. Louis artists in 2020.