Food insecurity has long been a problem facing people across the country and for many children, not knowing where their next meal is coming from or only eating food that lacks nutrition devastates their ability to focus, learn, and stay healthy. More recently in St. Louis black-led efforts like STL Lunch and the Hands Up United Books and Breakfast program have recognized that food access is a racial equity issue and the need that arises especially when school is out of session for summer. Now wi...
May 01, 2020•17 min•Season 6Ep. 6
The response to COVID-19 has varied across the country and across the globe. By now the especially devastating toll on black Americans has been well documented with death rates disturbingly and disproportionately higher than whites.The city of St. Louis made national headlines when its first 12 recorded deaths from COVID-19 were black. The peak of the first wave of cases expected to hit around the same day this episode is being released, which is why we wanted to better understand how the outbre...
Apr 23, 2020•20 min•Season 6Ep. 5
If you’ve been tuning into our recent episodes, you’ll know that a couple of weeks ago, we did an episode about anti-Asian xenophobia. We collected so many revealing and inspiring interviews for that episode that we couldn’t use them all. We decided that a special conversation we had with two Vietnamese American doctors which has continued to stick with us through this time is befitting especially since the St. Louis region is still expecting some very difficult weeks ahead. In this episode, we ...
Apr 16, 2020•20 min•Season 6Ep. 4
States across the country have announced shelter-in-place orders but for many that is not an option. The challenge for St. Louis and elsewhere is how to curb the spread of the coronavirus among people who are unhoused. This virus has highlighted how the same inequities in St. Louis are found in towns across the U.S. which is why we are partnering with our public radio friends at America Amplified to help explore how the spread of the coronavirus is affecting those who are unhoused in St. Louis a...
Apr 09, 2020•19 min•Season 6Ep. 3
By now, there are reports about Chinatowns across the country that are hurting for business because of anti-Asian xenophobia. We wanted to understand how anti-Asian xenophobia has impacted Asian Americans and Asian American-owned small businesses here in St. Louis. In this episode, we hear from a Taiwanese American therapist, a Chinese American organizer, and two Asian American small business owners about how the rise of anti-Asian xenophobia has affected their lives.
Apr 02, 2020•24 min•Season 6Ep. 2
Schools are closed across the country and some are done for the rest of the academic year. The shift to online learning for many schools can also reveal the deep economic and racial inequities that characterize schools in our hometown and yours. We wanted to understand how this sudden change could affect long-standing racial and economic disparities in education outcomes. In our first first episode about the COVID-19 crisis, we will hear what the director of a local education nonprofit and a tea...
Mar 26, 2020•15 min•Season 6Ep. 1
We’ve spent the past couple of months preparing for a season on the theme “black on campus.” But with efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19, like many of you, we can no longer go on with “business as usual.” We decided that now is not the time for a season about college campuses, especially when campuses are closed around the country.So we will be postponing the release of episodes about the black experience on college campuses until a later date. Instead, we’ll be putting a racial and econo...
Mar 18, 2020•2 min
The We Live Here team is about to start dropping episodes for our brand new season! This time, we’re talking about what it means to be black on campus. And we’re working with Educate, a podcast from American Public Media that explores stories about education and opportunity across the country. In the coming weeks, we’ll share the stories, experiences, and movements shaping the lives of black students across the country. And reveal the work being done to impact black students for generations to c...
Mar 12, 2020•2 min
St. Louis is home to longest running school desegregation program in the country. For generations it has shaped the students’ lives and how they see race in one of the most segregated places in America. On this episode we share five firsthand accounts of the trials and triumphs experienced during the program’s long history. What’s revealed is a portrait of a community that still struggles to make every student feel welcome in the classroom.
Dec 13, 2019•33 min•Season 5Ep. 4
Up to this point in our season, we’ve been talking about big, top down structures and practices that create municipal divides, and how they’ve made St. Louis one of the most segregated cities in America. So we decided to flip the script and talk about bridging those divides from the ground up. On this episode, we tell you how Mayor McGee went from sharecropping in the deep south to helping a group of mostly black mayors share resources in the fractured system they inherited.
Nov 22, 2019•24 min•Season 5Ep. 3
On this bonus episode, historian Colin Gordon will explain how St. Louis was divided by design, how its municipal divides impact public goods and services, and what can be done about the policies that perpetuate segregation today.
Nov 20, 2019•13 min
What happened to Missouri’s first all black town? What does home mean to you? Is it a physical place? Or maybe a specific person. Maybe it’s a feeling. Now how would you feel if home was literally torn down under the promise that something big would come that could change the economy of an entire city? But then that thing never materialized. And what’s left of home is pavement, empty lots and warehouses. This is what happened to Alana Marie’s dad and thousands of other black residents in a small...
Nov 08, 2019•24 min•Season 5Ep. 2
We collect sooo many stories while producing this show and we can't always squeeze them into a full episode. So we figured it would be cool to start sharing some with you as bonus episodes. We’re going to make them short and sweet, and we’re hoping that they give you a little more context to the larger stories we tell. This time, we tell the story of how black people now hold significant political power in a town that was explicitly created for racist reasons.
Oct 31, 2019•9 min
In the late 1970s, Dr. Will Ross was told to stay away when applying for medical school in St. Louis. He was told the city was too racist and that he’d be better off on the east coast.But Dr. Ross decided to dig in, and he’s spent a career trying to alleviate massive racial disparities in health outcomes. He’s convinced that the only way to clear a path toward meaningful policy changes is by unifying fractured governmental structures in St. Louis City and County. And a couple of years ago, that ...
Oct 24, 2019•29 min•Season 5Ep. 1
The new We Live Here team have been working hard putting together new shows for our upcoming season! In the coming weeks, we’ll bring you stories of how race and class contributed to dozens and dozens of governmental divides in St. Louis City and County’s municipal courts, police departments and school districts. And uncover the stories and costs behind the fractured governmental systems that define the town we call home.
Oct 10, 2019•3 min
We’ve got new hosts! We know it’s a big change, but trust us, we care deeply about issues of race and class. And we want you to get to know us. In our introductory episode, members of the new team have an honest conversation on how race and class has affected their lives. Co-host and Producer Ashley Renee, a St. Louis native, dives into her first experience with racism as a child. Co-host and Producer Jia Lian tells us how she experienced racism from the perspective of an activist. Associate Pro...
Aug 26, 2019•44 min
Just before Thanksgiving, a housing crisis popped up in the infamous St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Mo. The county housing authority had stepped in to demand repairs from a property management company officials deemed substandard and even dangerous. In other words, the system was doing what it was supposed to do: ensuring residents have a safe place to live. But the property company responded by threatening to kick out residents, and pointed blame at the housing authority and previous ownership. ...
Dec 31, 2018•29 min•Season 4Ep. 16
We’ve spent our entire year dissecting the intersection of race and housing. Which of course has meant taking a pretty critical look at the deeply destructive patterns of segregation in St. Louis. And listening this year, you might have thought to yourself: “Sheesh! they talk a lot about the problems.” But that’s not the full picture of what’s going on right now in our region. There’s a robust conversation -- in some circles -- about possible solutions. On this episode, we decided to listen to a...
Dec 20, 2018•30 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Hey ya’ll! It’s a been a long season. And it means so much to the WLH crew that you’ve hung with us all year as we dissect race, class and housing in one of the most segregated cities in these United States. Recently we invited about 150 of our friends over for a house party downstairs from our studios at St. Louis Public Radio. Conversations were had. New connections were made. Of course there were drinks. And it wouldn’t be a WLH party without stories! Many of you have asked to hear more youth...
Dec 06, 2018•34 min
The Grove neighborhood is in a part of St. Louis that has seen an uptick in new housing and business development. The changes have been a blessing and a curse. While many in the area welcome the investments, there are concerns that rising housing costs are pushing out longtime residents. On this episode, we listen to stories of those who live, work, worship and teach in the area about how they've seen the neighborhood change.
Nov 22, 2018•32 min•Season 5Ep. 14
It's an open secret that the nation's housing voucher (section 8) program has its issues. And that glaringly, a program intended to give people choice often doesn't, because turns out, many landlords on the private market aren’t rushing to participate and take housing subsidies, no matter that they're backed by Uncle Sam. In St. Louis, it leads to this data point: just 7 percent of housing voucher holders live in "high opportunity areas." But very quietly over the past year, a pilot program here...
Nov 08, 2018•23 min•Season 4Ep. 13
The specter of Pruitt-Igoe still looms over St. Louis. The massive 1950s era public housing complex suffered under disinvestment and bad public policy. Ultimately, officials literally blew the whole thing up. Since then, the focus of public housing has shifted to the Section 8 voucher program and smaller developments. Yet, the model of large public housing complexes is still very much alive today. From mice to mold, the problems facing St. Louis’ aging public housing complexes is long. And there...
Oct 25, 2018•27 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Segregation is systemic. We know that. But who powers these systems? People. In this episode, we zoom in on a group that holds immense power in guiding where people choose to live and raise families.Today’s show is about real estate agents. And what happens when some try to make amends for their industry’s past transgressions by focusing on a single St. Louis neighborhood.
Oct 11, 2018•27 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Rosetta Watson has won her fight against the city of Maplewood, Mo., which kicked her out of town after she generated too many calls to police while dealing with an abusive ex-boyfriend. Now what? We catch up with her, give her case some national context and chart out what may come next for the people challenging these nuisance and crime free laws.
Sep 27, 2018•24 min•Season 4Ep. 10
We’re interrupting our normal storytelling podcast schedule for...some breaking news. Earlier this season we brought you the story of Rosetta Watson, a woman suing in federal court after she says she was kicked out of Maplewood, Mo. for calling police too many times for protection from an abusive ex-boyfriend. Two days ago we got a tip that Maplewood had settled with Ms. Watson, who is set to receive a six-figure settlement. And the town’s city council voted to move forward with changes to their...
Sep 13, 2018•16 min•Season 4Ep. 9
J.D. and Ethel Shelley wanted a better home for their children. They were crammed into a small apartment in downtown St. Louis, but had saved enough money to buy a nice, two apartment building in a quiet neighborhood in north St. Louis called the Greater Ville. However, racially restrictive covenants barred the Shelleys, who were black, from owning the home. So in 1945 a white realtor bought the home from the Kraemers, who were white, and then quickly signed the deed over to the shelleys. When t...
Aug 30, 2018•26 min•Season 4Ep. 8
The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled on a case we highlighted at the beginning of our season. That of Latasha Johnson, whose eviction case made it to the state's highest court because of it's importance to tenants rights.. And the ruling, issued in a holiday news dump, does indeed change some things. Short story: The court ruled for Johnson's landlord. But it also laid out some really important new guidelines for tenants rights. Only problem ... they do nothing to change Johnson's situation or e...
Aug 16, 2018•27 min
Eltoreon Hawkins always thought he would be a cop. That's how he wanted to serve his community. But he quickly became disillusioned with the criminal justice system he wanted to see reformed. So he's turned his efforts closer to home. specifically, to real estate. And what started out as a plan to secure a future for himself and his family has turned into a mission for this 20-something: taking back his neighborhood, one vacant house at a time.
Aug 02, 2018•30 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Hear a group of St. Louisans tell their stories on stage as part of our annual “I Live Here” event. This summer’s theme was “Homes and the stories they hold.” This week’s episode was made possible with the help of the Second Tuesdays story organization and local music producer Trifeckta. Visit welivehere.show to hear the full, raw audio of the event and additional storytellers!
Jul 19, 2018•36 min
Today’s show is all about the g-word: Gentrification. Which we often think of as happening in urban centers. But for generations there’s been a slow turnover as cities expanded into the suburbs and rural areas. That’s the backstory of Brentwood Promenade, a relatively affluent mall about 15 minutes outside of city of St. Louis. For 90 years it was home to middle-class African American families centered around the Evens-Howard Fire Brick Company. Developers bought and demolished the neighborhood ...
Jul 05, 2018•26 min•Season 4Ep. 6
