3 FEB 2020 · Leah Merriman is a multi-media artist who may be the only encaustic painter in St. Louis — she paints with layers of wax. As she explains in the interview, it's a technique that dates back to antiquity (the word itself comes from the Greek enkaustikos; it was used in ancient Egypt for mummy portraits). Bauhaus artist Fritz Faiss revived encaustic painting in the 20th century, but it's still far from common. Leah often paints urban St. Louis landscapes: Art Hill, the Donut Drive-Thru on Chippewa, the riverfront, the bandstand in Tower Grove Park. In addition to encaustic, her body of work includes sculpture, prints, paintings and illustrations. She talks about apprenticing to sculptor Rudolph Torrini, staying in St. Louis, balancing art and motherhood, and how a trip to the Grand Canyon lead her to start doing encaustics. Leah's website http://stlwaxworks.com Leah's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/leahmerrimanart/ Green Door Art Gallery https://www.greendoorartgallery.com/leah-merriman.html "Familiar Layers: Encaustic Scenes of St. Louis, Part 1," at Third Degree Glass Factory https://thirddegreeglassfactory.com/now-on-display-familiar-layers-encaustic-scenes-of-st-louis-part-1-by-leah-merriman/

24 DEC 2019

24 DEC 2019

20 DEC 2019 · Dr. Andrew Hurley, professor of history at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, has written extensively about the environmental history of the St. Louis region. In this episode, he talks about his love of cities; how technology can help historians reach new audiences; and how he's helping communities build their resilience in the face of the droughts, floods, and heat waves that are accompanying climate change. Faculty Page https://www.umsl.edu/~umslhistory/Faculty/hurley.html Ask an Expert: Andrew Hurley examines history of climate and its impact on St. Louis https://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2018/08/27/ask-expert-hurley/ Common Fields: An Environmental History of St. Louis https://www.worldcat.org/title/common-fields-an-environmental-history-of-st-louis/oclc/36024068 Virtual City Project http://vcities.ite-stl.org Missouri Place Stories: Missouri EPSCoR https://placestories.missouriepscor.org

16 DEC 2019 · David Lobbig, Curator of Environmental Life at the Missouri History Museum and longtime board member at the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, talks all things Mississippi River — the Mississippian culture that once lived on its banks; how 19th-century riverboats not only impacted the river but contributed to climate change; flood plains; and "Mighty Mississippi," the exhibit he curated for MoHist that opened on November 23 and runs through April 2021. Cahokia Mounds https://cahokiamounds.org Grist: The Army Corps of Engineers and Mississippi River Management https://grist.org/series/the-corps-of-the-matter-on-the-army-corps-and-the-mississippi-river/ “Mighty Mississippi” at the Missouri History Museum https://mohistory.org/exhibits/the-mighty-mississippi/ Missouri Coalition for the Environment https://moenvironment.org Radical Cartography: Mississippi Meander Maps http://www.radicalcartography.net/index.html?fisk Scientific American: Mississippi River Flooding and Climate Change https://newrepublic.com/article/148352/can-rivers-people-too

9 DEC 2019 · Host Umar Lee talks by phone with "Mama Cat" a community activist and the official chef of the Ferguson movement. Mama Cat (Cathy Daniels) founded the group Pot Bangerz which has worked to feed, clothe and humanize those which society has chosen to make invisible, the unhoused. Potbangerz will be hosting their 3rd Annual Neighbors United Holiday Dinner on December 14th at Christ Church Cathedral (see their facebook group for more details).

22 NOV 2019 · Host Umar Lee talks with friend of the podcast, Richard Reilly. Richard talks about a range of topics with Umar including marijuana legalization, socially engaged art projects and photography--including his recent donation to the Missouri History Museum of thousands of his images taken during protest actions following the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson Missouri.

7 NOV 2019 · Writer, producer, comedian (and Donnybrook tweeter-in-chief) Yale Hollander sat down at Atomic Cowboy to talk to Stef Russell on the opening night of the Flyover Comedy Festival. Topics touched on: lawyers; the logistics of doing standup on the Loop Trolley; bringing comedy to other unexpected places; comedian Twitter; the mind-bending depth and breadth of the St. Louis comedy scene; and the night he channeled Lenny Bruce. yalehollander.weebly.com https://twitter.com/yalehollander http://stlouiscomedy.com https://twitter.com/stlcomedyscene https://www.facebook.com/STLComedy/ https://www.flyovercomedyfest.com

3 NOV 2019 · Host Umar Lee chats with Marissa and Brian Southards about everything from life after Ferguson to their family art studio, blending portrait photography and traditional graphic/hand drawn artwork.

21 OCT 2019 · Umar Lee chats with Francis Horton of Carondelet about growing up in north county, joining the military and seeing the world! Beyond cliche, the conversation is rich in discussion of foreign policy, how the military prepares troops for interactions with people of other cultures (they don't!) and what Francis' podcast, A Hell of A Way to Die, is all about.