Inside The Post-dispatch

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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' salaries. The project takes O'Dea nine months to prepare, and involves hundreds of Sunshine Law requests. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Inside the Post-Dispatch podcast, education reporter Blythe Bernhard discusses a range of education issues with podcast hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller, from a new state law causing concerns for school librarians to changes at St. Louis Public Schools.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recently, longtime St. Louis Post-Dispatch food writer Dan Neman pivoted to retail reporting on our business team. Neman discusses his new beat with podcast hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller, including a few recent stories and columns that resonated with readers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reporter Dana Rieck joins hosts Liz Miller and Beth O'Malley to discuss a May traffic stop in O'Fallon, Mo., involving Hazelwood police chief Gregg Hall and the attacks at SSM Health DePaul Hospital. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Podcast hosts Liz Miller and Beth O'Malley pull double duty as the guests, explaining their roles as digital editors for the newsroom. Miller and O'Malley discuss the importance of headlines as well as social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) for helping readers find the paper's work. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Local news editor David Hunn joins hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller to discuss his new role overseeing business and metro news coverage. Hunn has worked at the paper since 2005, and (among other notable work) covered the St. Louis Rams as the team's owners and the NFL worked to move the team to Los Angeles. As former business editor, he has recently overseen recent work showing how long NLF and team leaders planned to move the operation. Hunn also discusses his views of news coverage, and the necessity of getting breaking news online while continuing to work on reporting. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reporter Jacob Barker joins hosts Liz Miller and Beth O'Malley to discuss the recent federal indictments against former aldermen Jeffrey Boyd and John Collins-Muhammad, former aldermanic President Lewis Reed and former county employee Tony Weaver.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alan Achkar joins podcasts hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller to talk about his role as the executive editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Achkar has been with the paper as an editor before, and re-joins the paper after working in Indiana. The trio talk about his goals for coverage, and the importance of digital presence and presentation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Metro columnist Tony Messenger joints podcast hosts Beth O'Malley and Liz Miller to discuss some recent columns on abortion, guns and homelessness, as well as his role at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He also talks about how he connects with his readers (even the ones who dislike his positions). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Liz Miller and Beth O'Malley welcome the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's restaurant critic Ian Froeb, who recently wrote his STL100, a list of the best restaurants in St. Louis. The list returned in 2022 after a two-year pandemic hiatus, reflecting the return of the restaurant industry, which suffered from closures and health restrictions during COVID-19. Find the list at stltoday.com/stl100 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.