March 1 marked Charlie McDonald’s first day as St. Louis Public Radio’s permanent afternoon host.
Long-time listeners of St. Louis Public radio already know McDonald as our weekend mid-day host, a position he’s held for five years. But others may recognize him as the long-time host of Classical 99 KFUO-FM, where he also served as audio engineer and producer.
McDonald made his radio debut in Southeast New Mexico as an announcer. He’s held various other positions—producer, audio engineer, newscaster—for stations in Nebraska, Kansas, Cape Girardeau (Missouri), and Columbia (Illinois).
Outside the station, McDonald stays busy as an educator, voice-over talent, and musician.
He holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education and has taught students with autism who range in age from kindergarten to high school. “Teaching special education was extremely challenging, yet rewarding,” he said.
He’s now an adjunct professor at UMSL, where he says he draws upon his real world experience in media to teach courses related to radio, digital audio, and the recording industry.
He’s active with voice-over and audio recording projects, too. He’s completed six tracks on an EP of original compositions on which he sings and plays guitar, bass, and keyboard.
Last October, McDonald and Jim Althoff filled in as afternoon hosts. In early November, Marissanne Lewis-Thompson debuted as our afternoon newscaster.
“Working with Charlie has been a blast,” said Lewis-Thompson. “He's funny, patient, encouraging, and loves to talk about the news. To me, he's the afternoon and evening pilot for St. Louis Public Radio during All Things Considered. No matter what kind of ‘turbulence’ the news cycle brings us, I know that every time I step into the news booth, everything will be okay. In a nutshell, he's the kind of teammate/coworker you want to have when you're live on the air.”
McDonald is happy to continue the work he’s done for St. Louis Public Radio. “My goal is to maintain the level of intelligent discourse,” he said, “the hallmark of St. Louis Public Radio and NPR.”
Tune in to hear Charlie from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Marissanne joins him at 3 p.m. to deliver the newscasts during All Things Considered. You can listen live on your radio, on our website, on the St. Louis Public Radio or NPR One apps, or on your Alexa-enabled device. Just say, “Alexa, play St. Louis Public Radio.”