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 websitehttp://stlwaxworks.comLeah's Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/leahmerrimanart/Green Door Art Galleryhttps://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/

Saint Louis Speaks Podcast

Episode 68: Artist Leah Merriman of St. Louis Waxworks

Year End Special Part II

2019 Year End Special

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 Pagehttps://www.umsl.edu/~umslhistory/Faculty/hurley.htmlAsk an Expert: Andrew Hurley examines history of climate and its impact on St. Louishttps://blogs.umsl.edu/news/2018/08/27/ask-expert-hurley/Common Fields: An Environmental History of St. Louishttps://www.worldcat.org/title/common-fields-an-environmental-history-of-st-louis/oclc/36024068Virtual City Projecthttp://vcities.ite-stl.orgMissouri Place Stories: Missouri EPSCoRhttps://placestories.missouriepscor.org

Episode 67: Andrew Hurley On History, Cities, and Climate Change

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 Moundshttps://cahokiamounds.orgGrist: 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 Museumhttps://mohistory.org/exhibits/the-mighty-mississippi/Missouri Coalition for the Environment https://moenvironment.orgRadical Cartography: Mississippi Meander Maps http://www.radicalcartography.net/index.html?fiskScientific American: Mississippi River Flooding and Climate Change https://newrepublic.com/article/148352/can-rivers-people-too

Episode 66: David Lobbig on the Environment and the Mississippi River

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).

Episode 65: PotBangerz- "Mama Cat" Cathy Daniels

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.

Episode 64: Richard Reilly, Photographer

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.comhttps://twitter.com/yalehollanderhttp://stlouiscomedy.comhttps://twitter.com/stlcomedyscenehttps://www.facebook.com/STLComedy/https://www.flyovercomedyfest.com

Episode 63: Talking About Funny Stuff with Yale Hollander

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.

Episode 62: Southards Art Studio

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.

Episode 61: Francis Horton, "A Hell of A Way to Die Podcast" Co-Host

Stef Russell talks to Maryville University's Germaine Murray (Professor of English & Humanities) and Dana Levin (Distinguished Writer-in-Residence) as they walk us through "Whitman: Up Close," an exhibit at the May Gallery. The show, on view through October 18, is part of "Whitmania!", a semester-long celebration of all things Whitman on the occasion of his 200th birthday. Germaine and Dana talked about why Whitman considered himself more printer than poet, his love of technology, and his surprising ties to St. Louis. Note: because this is a field recording, there's some mic noise throughout, most noticeably at the halfway point; rather than pull that section (where mic noise overlaps voices), we left it intact, because we didn't want to lose the commentary about naked Walt Whitman (!) and the photographer Thomas Eakins. "Whitmania!" wraps up on November 3 with "Whitman Set to Song," a concert in the Maryville University Auditorium.Whitmania! https://www.maryville.edu/whitmania/https://stlouispoetrycenter.org/whitmania/The Morton J. May Galleryhttps://www.maryville.edu/about/news-and-events/morton-j-may-foundation-gallery/The Walt Whitman Archive https://whitmanarchive.org

Episode 60: Germaine Murray and Dana Levin Talk "Whitman: Up Close"

Artist Dail Chambers and poet Treasure Shields Redmond talk about their new project, the Fannie Lou Hamer House. Located in Belleville, it's a container for a multitude of creative people and creative projects. They also talked about their respective art practices; the importance of family and intergenerational dialogue within art; nature; the Mississippi River; the many other projects they're engaged in; and of course, Fannie Lou Hamer herself. https://www.instagram.com/FannieLouHamerHousehttps://snccdigital.org/people/fannie-lou-hamer/https://instagram.com/blackskilletfundershttps://itshanapa.tumblr.comhttp://www.breadandrosesmo.orghttps://www.facebook.com/WUArcadeProjects/https://femininepronoun.comhttps://www.whoraisedyoupodcast.comhttps://anchor.fm/treasure-shields-redmond

Episode 59: Dail Chambers and Treasure Shields Redmond on the Fannie Lou Hamer House

In 1969, a St. Louis teen named Robert Rayford became the first person in America known to have died of HIV/AIDS. His story was the starting point for Impact HIV/AIDS, a longterm initiative launched last year by the Griot Museum of Black History. The project combines art, culture, history, public health events, lectures and more, with the goal of documenting and raising awareness of the ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS on St. Louis' African American community. Stef Russell spoke with museum founder and executive director Lois Conley and museum assistant Ian Darnell about past events, the exhibit opening later this fall, and the future of the project.https://www.thegriotmuseum.comhttps://www.facebook.com/TheGriotTellsOurStory/https://www.stlmag.com/history/architecture/the-historic-griot-museum-hosts-events/http://drainmag.com/aids-1969-hiv-history-and-race/?fbclid=IwAR0kmBuWHw6pvr8BlQGnom_eHtY13Q6pGgKWASEgKxd10GYS_lGMGbxt1yM#ftn16https://www.kff.org/hivaids/fact-sheet/black-americans-and-hivaids-the-basics/https://www.stlmag.com/The-Pre-Pandemic-Puzzle/

Episode 58: The Griot Museum of Black History's Impact HIV/AIDS Initiative

Host Umar Lee chats with documentary filmmaker, Alana Flowers about her upcoming film "The Kinloch Doc" which will be screened August 15th at the Grandel (Hosted by Arch City Defenders).

Episode 57: Alana Flowers, The Kinloch Doc

Charles Klotzer, longtime free-speech activist and holocaust survivor joins host Umar lee on the St. Louis Speaks Podcast (available thru Spreaker). At 93, Klotzer has a lot to reflect on, from his family's flight out of Nazi Germany and settlement in a Jewish ghetto in Shanghai, to his storied publishing career in St. Louis.

Episode 56: Veteran St. Louis Publisher, Charles Klotzer

Unfiltered opinion and unfettered curiosity from hosts Umar Lee and Stefene Russell makes St. Louis Speaks the best new podcast in town. St. Louis Speaks brings to ear regular guests including local politicians, musicians, media personalities on a variety of local topics.

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Saint Louis Speaks Podcast

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