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1 week ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Ben Kieffer |Caitlin Troutman |Dani Gehr |Madeleine Willis
On this Juneteenth episode of River to River, host Ben Kieffer is joined by Dwana Bradley, the chair of Iowa Juneteenth, about the legacy and future of the holiday in Iowa. Historian Leslie Schwalm also joins the program to discuss emancipation celebrations in Iowa dating back to the 1800s. And Sheritta Stokes of the 1619 Freedom School discusses why learning about the holiday is important for everyone. This episode was originally produced on June 19, 2023.
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1 week ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Charity Nebbe |Dani Gehr |Neve Kelley
Last November, Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, D-Hiawatha, became the first transgender person elected to the Iowa Statehouse. She has just completed her first session in the house, a session that included the removal of gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights Code. On today's Talk of Iowa, she shares her story. Then, we hear from artist and puppet maker Brant Bollman.
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1 week ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Ben Kieffer |Dani Gehr |Neve Kelley
One hundred years ago, a murder in Vinton shocked the country. Today, we hear what that case exposed about a dark chapter in Iowa's history. Veteran journalist Tom Chorneau joins this episode to discuss his new book Mrs. Cook & The Klan. This book examines an unsolved Iowa murder case from 1925.
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1 week ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Ben Kieffer |Dani Gehr |Neve Kelley
On July 1, gender identity as a protected class will be removed from the Iowa Civil Rights Act. Iowa is the first state in the nation to remove these protections from their state code. On this episode, we hear from Keenan Crow of One Iowa on how laws from the recent legislative session will impact the LGBTQ+ community. Then, we look back at the enshrining of these civil rights in 2007 with state Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames.
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3 weeks ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Charity Nebbe |Dani Gehr |Neve Kelley
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that causes a buildup of thick, sticky mucus in the lungs, pancreas and other organs. On this episode of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe talks with Dr. Michael Welsh of the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, who has been studying and treating Cystic Fibrosis for nearly 50 years. Over the course of his career, he has seen this disease transform from terminal to highly treatable.
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3 weeks ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Ben Kieffer |Dani Gehr |Neve Kelley
Sen. Joni Ernst is under fire after a town hall attendee yelled, "People will die" due to Medicaid cuts, and Ernst responded, "We all are going to die." In the wake of this controversy, state Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, announced his run for Ernst's Senate seat.
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3 weeks ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Ben Kieffer |Dani Gehr |Neve Kelley
Iowa Lottery CEO at the time, Terry Rich, could not have anticipated the twists and turns that would come from an unclaimed lottery win. Somehow, the story includes Bigfoot, and in the end, hot dogs were key to the arrest of a former lottery computer technician. This lottery scam is the subject of a new documentary Jackpot: America’s Biggest Lotto Scam, and on this River to River, host Ben Kieffer is joined by Rich and documentary director Brad Osborne.
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4 weeks ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Ben Kieffer |Dani Gehr
This week, the federal government announced it would no longer recommend COVID-19 vaccines for healthy pregnant women and children and that it had cancelled a contract with Moderna to develop a bird flu vaccine. This follows the first detection of measles in Iowa since 2019. Amid all this health news, River to River host Ben Kieffer is joined by Johnson County Public Health disease prevention specialist Jennifer Miller to get the latest health guidance.
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4 weeks ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Natalie Dunlap |Dani Gehr |Charity Nebbe
It’s become harder to enforce environmental regulations and combat climate change at the federal level since President Donald Trump took office. On Inauguration Day he pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord. Since then, his administration has allowed new coal projects on federal land and blocked the development of wind energy. He signed an executive order making it easier for companies to mine the ocean floor.
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1 month ago | 
iowapublicradio.org | Ben Kieffer |Dani Gehr
Only two Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa will remain open after the North Central States branch announced a restructuring amid "an onslaught of attacks," according to the organization.
