New 'We Live Here' season with host Chad Davis and producer Danny Wicentowski begins Aug. 1
It’s been 10 years since Michael Brown Jr. was killed by a Ferguson police officer and the uprising that followed. To honor that history and reflect on where the St. Louis region is today, St. Louis Public Radio is bringing back the podcast We Live Here for a special season.
In “We Live Here: 10 Years after the Ferguson Uprising,” host Chad Davis and producer Danny Wicentowski explore why many of the truths exposed in August 2014 are still open wounds a decade later and show how community members continue to push for a better future.
Former We Live Here co-host and producer Kameel Stanley also returns to the podcast as consulting producer for the season. She’s joined by Kris Husted, investigative editor at NPR’s Midwest Newsroom, who is serving as executive producer for the season.
“Relaunching We Live Here for this 10-year anniversary season is among the most important work the station has done in the past decade, and we have an incredible team leading this essential reporting for our region,” said Brian Heffernan, STLPR interim news director. “If you followed any of the previous seasons of We Live Here, you will not want to miss this one.”
Ways to participate
Early in the season, Davis and Wicentowski will produce a special community episode featuring reflections from local scholars, activists and STLPR listeners about where the region is heading.
The hosts invite all residents of the St. Louis region to share their thoughts in a two-minute love (or breakup) letter to Ferguson/St. Louis. Listeners can record a message via the St. Louis Public Radio mobile app, available for free in the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, or send a voicemail to 314-516-4373.
How to listen
We Live Here: 10 Years after the Ferguson Uprising will be available on Aug. 1 at welivehere.show, on YouTube @STLPR, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Listeners of STLPR’s weekday news podcasts The Gateway and St. Louis on the Air will also find new episodes of We Live Here in their podcast feeds on weekends starting in August. To learn more about the We Live Here podcast, visit welivehere.show.
More about '10 Years After the Ferguson Uprising'
The season begins with a new take on an old subject. In Episode 1: “The New Talk,” STLPR reporter and podcast host Chad Davis explore how Michael Brown’s legacy has changed “the talk” for St. Louis parents and teens. We’ll hear from students at Brown’s alma mater, Normandy High School; from one of his classmates, now a teacher at Normandy; and from a mother motivated by his death to make police interactions safer.
"The team has worked really hard on this project,” Davis said. “Mike Brown’s death changed the region, the world, how people view policing, racial equity and policies. We Live Here was born out of the Ferguson movement, and we're excited to revive this podcast and document how the region changed and how the people behind the movement changed with it."
During the course of the series, Davis and Wicentowski will also explore why St. Louis-area schools are more segregated today than they were 10 years ago, reconsider the legacy of live streamers who brought visuals from the frontlines of protests directly to people around the world and talk to the changemakers who are staying — and leaving — St. Louis.
We Live Here producer Danny Wicentowski was glad for the opportunity to return to Ferguson and pick up the story, which was a watershed moment for him personally and professionally. "Ferguson was the pivotal moment of my career as a journalist,” Wicentowski said. “I was tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed many times while covering the protests for the Riverfront Times. But what sticks with me are the people who I met there, who found their power and voices in the streets and who took power back in a way that's no less remarkable 10 years later."
'We Live Here' accolades
Since 2015, the We Live Here podcast has received numerous awards, including:
- Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best News Documentary for “Suspended Futures” episode, 2017
- Second Place, Public Radio News Directors, Best Podcast Award, 2017
- Kaleidoscope Award for achievements in the coverage of diversity, 2017
- Arch City Defenders' Excellence in Poverty Journalism Award, Audio-Visual, 2018
- Equal Housing and Opportunity Council's Open Door Award for furthering fair housing in St. Louis, 2018
- Radio Television Digital News Association Kaleidoscope Award for the "Nuisance or Nonsense" episode, 2019
- Launchcode Moonshot, The Commitment Award, 2020
- Media Award, from Empower Missouri, 2020
