St. Charles County beat reporter Ethan Colbert joins Beth O'Malley and public safety editor Alex Valentine (who is also his boss) to discuss his coverage of a growing region of the St. Louis area. Colbert's coverage includes articles about concerns some residents raised over the attire of a St. Charles City-County Library employee, residential developments and politics.

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St. Louis County government reporter Kelsey Landis joins co-hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller to discuss how she reports on the County Council, but avoids boring meeting coverage. Landis discusses several recent topics, including gun control, property tax freezes and smoking in parks.

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Enterprise reporter Jesse Bogan joins Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller to discuss his work on a variety of stories, including coverage of sales taxes on guns, rural Missouri, All Things New, statewide issues, possible radioactive contamination in Florissant, prisoners and SORTS (a program in Missouri for sexually violent predators). Bogan has worked at the paper since 2010.

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Business reporter Steph Kukuljan, who covers real estate and development in the St. Louis area, joins co-hosts Liz Miller and Beth O'Malley to discuss Brick City, her weekly email newsletter, as well as recent articles. One of those topics was the fire at a historic church turned into a skate park, Sk8 Liborius. Kukuljan talks about the impact of the development, and the fire, and the group's plans for the future.

Email Steph Kukuljan.

Sign up for the Brick City newsletter.

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Music critic Kevin C. Johnson discusses the response his recent column, about why he didn't review Morgan Wallen's St. Louis concerts, with co-hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller. Johnson talks about how readers, as well as Wallen's manager, reacted to the column, and how Johnson was protecting his peace by choosing not to review an artist previously recorded in a racist rant.
Read Johnson's column here.
Sign up for The Blender to hear more about the St. Louis music scene.

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Co-hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller return from a longer-than-expected break to interview public safety editor Alex Valentine about how the team of reporters covers public safety and crime in the St. Louis region.

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St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Katie Kull joins podcast hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller to discuss the coverage of the Oct. 24 school shooting. The shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience high schools killed two people, student Alexzandria Bell and teacher Jean Kuczka. Police shot and killed the shooter. Find more coverage of the shooting and the aftermath at stltoday.com. 

Behavioral Health Response is offering free assistance for those who feel they need to speak to a mental health expert. Call 988 or 314-469-6644. 

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Restaurant critic Ian Froeb joins podcast hosts Liz Miller and Beth O'Malley to talk about the return of ratings with his reviews. He also discusses a recent bad review, writing reviews and about some restaurants coming to Centene Stadium when St. Louis City SC begins its first season in the MLS.

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Reporter Erin Heffernan joins hosts Liz Miller and Beth O'Malley to discuss her recent reporting on the 1990 serial murders of four St. Louis women. In the episode, Heffernan details how O’Fallon police department Detective Sergeant Jodi Weber broke the 30-year-old serial killer case wide open. Heffernan also discusses how she approached interviewing the victims' families to share their stories.

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Data reporter Janelle O'Dea joins hosts Liz Miller and Beth O'Malley to discuss the St. Louis-area public pay database. The database, at https://stltoday.com/pay, provides information about government employees' earnings. The project takes O'Dea nine months to prepare, and involves hundreds of Sunshine Law requests. 

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