The Gateway

The Gateway

Essential news for the St. Louis region. Every weekday, in about 8 to 10 minutes, you can learn about the top stories of the day, while also hearing longer stories that bring context and humanity to the issues and ideas that affect life in the region. Music by Ryan McNeely of Adult Fur.

Episodes

December 29, 2025 12 mins
For a special edition of The Gateway Podcast, Abby Llorico sits down with STLPR's Visuals Editor, Brian Munoz, for a closer look at the stories behind some of the most poignant and important images from our team this year. We'll be back in your feed with news storytelling January 2.
Mark as Played
Economists estimate that it takes six months for college graduates to get a job offer, but with slowing job creation now, that search takes longer. The Midwest Newsroom’s Daniel Wheaton checked in with twelve traditional 2025 graduates to understand what the job search looks like for first-timers.
Mark as Played
December 23, 2025 10 mins
A hub of arts activity grows on Grand Center’s eastern edge, after the Kranzberg Arts Foundation spent $50 million dollars repurposing old buildings there. As St. Louis Public Radio’s Jeremy Goodwin reports, the nonprofit says it has set the stage, and now it’s time for more public and private dollars to take a leading role.
Mark as Played
December 22, 2025 10 mins
As St. Louis Public Schools continues to develop a plan to consolidate buildings, a student at Washington University has created an exhibit to remember one school that was closed in 2003. St. Louis Public Radio’s education reporter Hiba Ahmad takes us to the exhibit in this report.
Mark as Played
St. Louis musicians have historically made their mark on the holidays — now Kris Kringle and the Jolly Jingles are putting their ‘North Pole Rock’ twist on Christmas classics. St. Louis Public Radio’s Brian Munoz hoped to speak with band founder Joe Bubenick about their unique sound, new song, and pandemic-era beginnings. But he wasn’t free. So here’s Kris Kringle instead.
Mark as Played
December 18, 2025 12 mins
St. Louis band Foxing has grown from indie newcomers into one of the most lauded emo revival bands out of the Midwest. But after more than a decade, the band is saying goodbye, at least for now. St. Louis Public Radio’s Chad Davis went to meet the devoted fans who traveled miles to see one last show, and the guitarist who is grateful for their support.
Mark as Played
The St. Joseph Housing Initiative revitalizes vacant properties in underserved St. Louis neighborhoods and renovates them before selling to first-time homebuyers. As St. Louis Public Radio’s Lacretia Wimbley reports, the program is making homebuying dreams come true, one renovation at a time.
Mark as Played
December 16, 2025 11 mins
It's a different kind of club going up on this Tuesday: Two Lindenwood University students are creating a new party culture in St. Louis that doesn’t go late into the night, and doesn’t involve any alcohol. St. Louis Public Radio’s Lara Hamdan reports.
Mark as Played
Over the past 40 years, the St. Louis Lambert International Airport chaplaincy has prayed with military families, helped stranded travelers with hotels and supported numerous unhoused people with social services. All through in-kind donations. But as St. Louis Public Radio’s Andrea Henderson reports, chaplains say their finances are slowly drying up.
Mark as Played
100 years ago in St. Louis, cold winter temperatures brought an annual blanket of thick smog. The air quality was so bad, St. Louis Public Radio’s Kate Grumke reports it planted the seeds for a famous Missouri institution.
Mark as Played
In the fall of 2023, 540 St. Louis families were selected to receive $500 a month for a year and a half. The guaranteed basic income program, or GBI, aimed to help low-income residents meet basic financial needs. But halfway through the program, a lawsuit temporarily paused the payments. Then other crises hit. The Midwest Newsroom’s Naomi Delkamiller reports.
Mark as Played
With the cold weather hitting the St. Louis region in the past two weeks, Illinoisans have been using more natural gas to heat their homes. In the last six years, Ameren has been working to renovate its natural gas storage fields to make them more efficient for the company — and, they say, save customers money. St. Louis Public Radio’s Will Bauer recently toured one of the fields near Freeburg and has this report.
Mark as Played
University of Missouri sociologist Chris Conner has studied and written about conspiracy theories for years. And he says the belief in them is spreading beyond the typical fringe groups — it’s our friends and family, too. He shares why so many Americans are adopting even the most extreme-sounding ideas, and how to respond.
Mark as Played
December 8, 2025 13 mins
The nonprofit organization Feeding America was looking for a better way to distribute billions of pounds of food to food banks each year. It used to use an algorithm to answer that question. It generated a list of food banks based on need, and when a shipment came up, Feeding America called the food bank at the top of the list. But what if a food bank didn’t need or want that donation? The answer to that problem is a market economy...
Mark as Played
Ameren Missouri’s new rates for data centers are now in effect. But a consumer advocacy group is asking for a redo. St. Louis Public Radio’s Kate Grumke explains the case and the latest updates. Plus, Midwest seniors have two options for Medicare coverage– traditional Medicare through the government, or a private Medicare Advantage plan. While Advantage plans cost less up front, experts say seniors could pay the price with their he...
Mark as Played
People with alpha gal syndrome are suddenly unable to eat meat or dairy. It’s becoming more and more common in Missouri. In fact – so many people are living with the condition now, some restaurants are adapting their menus to accommodate, as Rebecca Smith reports.
Mark as Played
The niche card game was once banned at a downstate Illinois prison, but is back and helping with rehabilitation efforts.
Mark as Played
A St. Charles County judge who agreed to resign after being accused of misconduct by the state of Missouri, including for dressing in an Elvis Presley costume while on the bench, appears to have changed his mind. St. Louis on the Air producer Danny Wicentowski has the latest in the case.
Mark as Played
Starting today, Missourians can legally bet on sports. St. Louis Public Radio’s Sarah Kellogg reports, it marks the end of a years-long effort to legalize sports betting in the state, one that ultimately came down to a vote of the people.
Mark as Played
St. Louis Public Radio’s Chad Davis breaks down the end of this trial for the sheriff, and Andrea Henderson spoke with members who hope the ministries of Centennial Christian Church will continue even after it was destroyed in the May tornado. The Gateway will return to your podcast feed Monday, following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    The Burden

    The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.

    SmartLess

    "SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.

    The Breakfast Club

    The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.