DJ hosts this conversation with Harvey Ferdman, chair of the West Lake Landfill Community Advisory Group (CAG), and Susan Folle, also with the CAG and STL Toxic Aware.
Ferdman and Folle are actively working for public awareness of the multitude of problems related to top secret Manhattan Project work, conducted in the St. Louis area, and the lack of toxic waste management in area landfills and dump sites.
After years of CAG pressure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 has published the proposed plan and initiated a public comment period for the West Lake Landfill Superfund Site, located in Bridgeton, Missouri. Comment via this EPA link.
Recommended documentary films on Atomic Waste:
Roland Klose's first paid writing gig was right here in St Louis in the early days of the Riverfront Times; he is now the Enterprise Editor for the St Louis Post-Dispatch. Working inside and out of the St Louis area over the course of his career has provided Klose with great insights into the business of media and journalism.
Chapter 1. Journalism has been in a state of decline for 30-40 years, but so have other industries. The media has been in a constant state of restructuring for decades. (0:00-14:45)
Chapter 2. Cable news is a "poor imitation of news." The consolidation of media companies and the public's insatiable appetite for so-called "breaking news" has changed the way we consume information. While today's papers may be thinner than they were last century, there's still good content in there. (14:45-35:00)
Chapter 3. In the age of Facebook and Twitter, journalists feel the need to cover all of the big stories, but "how do you pick and choose?" Klose also takes a look at the transformation of journalists into psuedo-celebrities with their own personal brands. (35:00-44:30)
Chapter 4. Where's media going and what's the outlook for aspiring journalists? As long as newsmen keep asking "how did things get this way?" there will be hope for modern media. (44:30-54:00)
Thanks again to DJ's family who have helped him get back into the studio after several months away. Also, many thanks to Hank Thompson, who has been keeping Wilson's seat warm. Look for a new show from Thompson coming out in late March 2018 - right here at Podcasts.KDHX.org.
Andy Heaslet is the engineer for Collateral Damage.
After some 5 months battling brain cancer, DJ Wilson returns to the studio with a friend of the show, Professor Todd Swanstrom.
DJ starts his interview by discussing a conversation he had with Swanstrom just hours before the St Louis region learned that there would be no trial for Officer Darren Wilson (no relation), who had killed Mike Brown in Ferguson some three months earlier.
You can read a piece DJ wrote the next day, reflecting on the protests and his recorded conversation with Swanstrom right here.
These two old friends go on to speak for about an hour about race, politics, economics, and if St Louisans should feel bad about the state of the region when comparing themselves to other urban areas.
Chapter 1. "Same DJ Wilson as before, just sittin' in a wheelchair." DJ briefly explains his health and jumps into a familiar topic, Ferguson, and whether we've learned or done anything to improve the region since that tragedy and subsequent uprising. (0:00-9:45)
Chapter 2. The poor have been unable to accumulate wealth while the already wealthy have been profiting off of "unearned increments." Thankfully, the professor explains this all very clearly. (9:45-15:30)
Chapter 3. DJ asks Swanstrom to take out the metaphorical yardstick to compare St Louis to other cities and regions. Sprawl, Prof Swanstrom explains, is related to segreation and inequality. (15:30-31:30)
Chapter 4. Can urban areas improve on their own or is Federal and State intervention and empowerment necessary? Yes. (31:30-39:00)
Chapter 5. A look at the political landscape: There's a new police chief in town, we're in the middle of a race for County Executive, Expresscripts has been bought out, and more. (39:00-60:00)
Thanks to DJ's family who have been helping him heal and a huge shoutout to Hank Thompson, who has been keeping Wilson's seat warm in the studio these past several months. Look for a new show from Thompson coming out in late March 2018 - right here at Podcasts.KDHX.org.