
Lara Hamdan
Engagement EditorLara Hamdan joined St. Louis Public Radio as the news intern in 2017 and went on to become a producer for St. Louis on the Air before her latest role as the newsroom's Engagement Editor. A St. Louis native, Lara studied journalism and international relations at Webster University. She's fluent in English and Arabic – and in eating falafel sandwiches and veggie burgers. She enjoys discovering new people and gems in the city throughout her work at St. Louis Public Radio.
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Most of what mankind knows about Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth’s moon sits on servers in St. Louis thanks to researchers at Washington University. Earth and planetary sciences professor Raymond Arvidson joins “St. Louis on the Air” to discuss his department's latest contract renewal with NASA.
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More people are dying than being born in Missouri — what experts refer to as a “demographic winter.” St. Louis University professor Ness Sandoval explains where we are and what it will take to reverse course.
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Drew Jameson relaunched Jamo Presents’ concert series this month on Laclede's Landing along the St. Louis riverfront. He discusses what it has to offer and how it’s part of a larger effort to revitalize downtown on “St. Louis on the Air.”
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STL Juntos helped drive up COVID-19 vaccination rates in Missouri’s Hispanic and Latino community. Two members discuss how the volunteer-based organization jumped to serve St. Louis’ Spanish-speaking community on "St. Louis on the Air."
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Long after the National Guard closed its mass vaccination clinic at the Dome, the Urban League continues to administer shots daily in underserved areas of St. Louis. James Clark, vice president of public safety and community response, discusses how that work is going.
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Yannon delves into her her music journey, and preview tracks from her first album “Cohesion," ahead of its debut on Oct. 3.
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Christy Ferguson started the Mensi Project in 2018 at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to donate unneeded menstrual products to someone who could use them. Now the university is funding the effort with the help of new legislation.
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Check out two local opportunities to learn about the era of Japanese internment camps: "Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II" exhibit at Soldiers Memorial Military Museum, and a multimedia performance of "Improvisations on EO9066" by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra on Sept. 17.
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The Field House Museum boasts a wide collection of quilts on display, ranging from 19th-century creations to more modern quilts. Now one final quilt completes the collection: the MO Bicentennial Quilt. Hear about how its pieces came together.
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Andrew Wanko of the Missouri History Museum previews the “St. Louis Sound” exhibit, which looks at how the city shaped popular music in America, from Scott Joplin to Nelly.
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The Modern Widows Club has grown to 37 chapters across the U.S., with more than 1,000 members who lost a partner far too young. We discuss how the local chapter is helping its newest members.
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Washington University biologist Aryeh Miller analyzed data from 2,600 lizard species to find if lizards with toepads had an evolutionary advantage for life in the trees relative to their padless counterparts.