Talk of Iowa
by Iowa Public Radio
Talk of Iowa is a place for Iowans to connect to our shared culture and what it means to live in Iowa. Host Charity Nebbe brings a mix of regular guests and a range of experts to discuss the arts, history, literature and everything else happening in Iowa. Every day brings something new — even if it's in a recurring segment like Talk of Iowa Book Club or comes from a familiar voice on Horticulture Day.
Episodes
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The nuts and bolts of nut trees
Squirrels are busy building up their winter caches, but humans can also enjoy a nut harvest in Iowa. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort you can grow a variety of nuts.
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There is a very effective tool for preventing ovarian cancer
Why ovarian cancer is so difficult to catch early and a very effective new tool for prevention.
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Finding a home for your later years
The house that may have been just right for you and your family at one point in time might not meet your needs as you age. It's another Home Improvement Day, and expert Bill McAnally talks about what to look for in a home when it's time to downsize and you're planning to age in place. Then, Bill...
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The common threads of American protest movements
Protest movements have been a part of American history since before the United States was founded. In this episode, we hear from three historians about three different and powerful protest movements in U.S. history — the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War and the...
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Documentary connects Indigenous tribes from Iowa, Hawaii and Mexico through dance
In 1883, the U.S. Department of the Interior created a Code of Indian Offenses — it made Native dancing and ceremonies illegal and gave Indian Agents authority to punish anyone who violated the code. This was part of a systematic effort to erase individual tribal cultures and to force all...
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Let's talk pumpkins
On this Horticulture Day episode, we talk with Iowa State University extension horticulture specialist Aaron Steil and professor of horticulture Cindy Haynes. We learn how to grow and care for pumpkins, and what to do with them after Halloween. Then, Aaron and Cindy answer listener questions.
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How Iowa's earliest conservationists shaped our landscape
On this episode, we learn about some of Iowa's early conservationists — Theodore Parvin, Thomas MacBride, Bohumil Shimek, Louis Pammel and Ada Hayden. We discuss their important contributions with University of Northern Iowa historian Kevin Mason and Mary Skopec, director of Lakeside Laboratory.…
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UI study finds periodical cicadas may face extinction
The drone of cicadas has always been one of the sounds of summer in Iowa. Annual cicada populations are holding their own, but periodical cicadas are in trouble. On this episode, we talk with University of Iowa biologist Andrew Forbes about a study that uses GIS technology to show how habitat…
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Is online betting changing sports?
Sports betting can elevate a sports fan's connection to the game, but can lead to corruption and decimate savings. Des Moines resident Caleb Tessmer shares his positive experience casually sports betting. Then, Justin Balthrop joins the program. He gambles in the low seven figures each year, but...
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Iowa alum talks about adapting 'The Whale' for Hollywood
On this episode, we listen back to a 2023 conversation with Iowa Playwrights Workshop alum Samuel Hunter about his play-turned-film 'The Whale.' Then a 2025 conversation with Emili Johnson who created a blog and podcast about the Black experience in Iowa. (Portions of this episode were originally...
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Monarch butterflies are migrating south
Thousands of monarch butterflies are finishing their annual migration to Mexico. On this episode, Samantha McIntosh sits in for Charity Nebbe. We talk with Mykayla Hagaman of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, who gives us an update on Iowa's monarch population. Then, Laura Iles of Iowa...
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How adaptive sports changed the life of a retired Air Force sergeant
On this episode, we listen back to a 2025 conversation with Dawson resident and Air Force veteran Justin Wolfe, who received bronze at the 10th annual Invictus Games in Vancouver, Canada. Adaptive sports have helped Wolfe push past limitations from his diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Troy...
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Disability advocates illustrate the importance of accessible public spaces
The Americans with Disabilities Act has done a lot to improve accessibility in public spaces, but people with physical disabilities still encounter barriers every day. Host Charity Nebbe interviews Iowans who are trying to make our state more accessible. (This episode was originally produced Jan....
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Pulitzer Prize-winning author Yiyun Li puts her life into words
On this episode, we talk with author Yiyun Li about her Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir is 'Things in Nature Merely Grow,' and her new novel 'Music Against the Night.' Then, we listen back to a 2022 conversation with baker and Food Network regular Andrew Fuller.
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Federal historic preservation law is facing the most critical threat in 60-year history
Sixty years ago, the National Historic Preservation Act was signed into law, establishing a partnership and preservation ethic on historic properties between the federal government and state, tribal, and local governments. The U.S. Senate is now looking to change that framework in a permitting...
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Winter is coming. Is your landscape ready?
Now that it feels like fall, it's time to grapple with reality. On this Horticulture Day episode, Iowa State University horticulture professor Jeff Iles tells us how to prepare our woody landscape plants for cold weather and hungry critters. Then extension horticulture specialist Aaron Steil…
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Let's talk politics
On this episode, we explore the tools needed to tackle political discussions with loved ones, first by hearing the skills Greg and Jennifer Brost have developed since 2016. Then, human resources professional Jason Glass joins the conversation to share how skills in the workplace translate into...
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A conversation with CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Conor Knighton
We revisit an interview with author Joanna Dee Das about her book, 'Faith, Family and Flag: Branson Entertainment and the Idea of America' and what Branson’s entertainment culture reveals about faith, patriotism and American identity. Then, a conversation with Conor Knighton, Emmy Award-winning...
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How Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' became a cultural phenomenon
More than two hundred years later, Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' still feels urgently relevant as it explores the dangers of playing God, the traumas of parental abandonment and the costs of rejection by society. On this episode of the 'Talk of Iowa' Book Club, we discuss 'Frankenstein' with…
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New book explores Christian femininity in a consumer culture
As second wave feminism was taking off, an equal and opposite movement to keep women in traditional roles was also gaining steam. On this episode, a 'Live, Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made' explores this history. We talk with author Kristin Kobes Du...
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The leaves they are a-changin'
Fall has arrived and beautiful colors are creeping across the landscape. After a couple of dry and less vibrant autumns, this year may be quite different. On this Horticulture Day episode, DNR Forester Mark Vitosh joins us to talk autumn leaves and how the weather affects the colors we see. He…
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Ukrainian refugees made a home in Iowa, but their future is uncertain
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, millions of Ukrainians were displaced, searching for a safe place to live and work. Augustana College professor Angela Boelens saw this need and opened her home in DeWitt to Ukrainians, with more families hoping to follow. With an outpouring support from the...
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Digital archive elevates Black history in Iowa dating back to 1862
The Amplifying Black Voices in Iowa project has digitized thousands of resources created by Black Iowans from the 19th through 21st centuries. The project has digitized 'The Iowa Bystander,' the oldest Black newspaper west of the Mississippi, issues of 'The Waterloo Defender,' a weekly paper in…
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A Marion middle schooler is finalist in NPR's Student Podcast Challenge
On this episode, we talk with Laura Wifler, a bestselling author of books for adults and children. She's hosted a popular podcast and founded Kid Lit Lab to help aspiring authors of children’s books. She writes about womanhood, motherhood, health and her Christian faith. A few years ago, she...
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Iowa State MFA program celebrates 20 years of interdisciplinary storytelling
Over 20 years ago, Iowa State University’s creative writing program wanted to elevate its Master of Arts program to a Master of Fine Arts, but the University of Iowa was already home to one of the most acclaimed MFA programs in the country. Iowa State University created something different — an…
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A guide to garlic
It’s a staple in almost every kitchen, but if you’re going to grow your own garlic you have to do some planning ahead. On this Horticulture Day episode, Iowa State University horticulture professor and chair Ajay Nair guides us through planting, caring for and harvesting garlic. Then…
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Pioneers of public school desegregation reflect on their impact
Carlotta Walls LaNier is one of the Little Rock Nine — one of the first nine Black students to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in September 1957. Leona Tate is one of the McDonogh Three — one of the first three Black students at McDonogh elementary in New Orleans in 1960.…
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The fight for third spaces
Your home is your first space. Work is your second space. A third space is a place where you can gather with other people in your community, meet people and make connections. But many of these spaces have disappeared, particularly in small towns. On this episode, rural sociologist Dave Peters...
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Decorah community and Crown Prince of Norway celebrate 200 years of transatlantic relationship
On this episode, we listen back to a 2025 conversation about the bicentennial anniversary of organized Norwegian immigration to the U.S. and how Norwegian culture has shaped the Midwest and the U.S. as a whole. First, we hear highlights from the now-King of Norway's visit to the Vesterheim…
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Irish artist Katie Holten reimagines language with a tree alphabet
We talk with artist and writer Katie Holten, author of 'The Language of Trees: How Trees Make Our World Change Our Minds and Rewild our Lives.' Holten discusses the ideas behind the project and explores how language, nature and place intersect. The Anne Frank Initiative is presenting a…
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It's spider season
Autumn is here and before winter arrives, insects and arachnids have some important work to get done. In the meantime, we can enjoy the beautiful handiwork of orb weaver spiders which is especially visible this time of year. On this episode, entomologist Zach Schumm of the Iowa State University...
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Anne Frank Initiative shares her legacy through hands-on learning opportunities
The Anne Frank Initiative at the University of Iowa is dedicated to preserving and sharing Frank's legacy with new generations. On this episode, Charity Nebbe takes a virtual reality tour of the secret annex where the Frank family lived for two years. We also visit a tree grown from the sapling…
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Dolly the Mastodon returns to Wayne County
On this episode, we explore the long, hard process of preserving Dolly the Mastodon. In 2024, University of Iowa archaeologists excavated the first-ever well-preserved mastodon skull found in the state. For the past two years the skull has since been cleaned and preserved at the Office of the…
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Jane Elliott continues to fight bigotry, and she wants your courage
Iowan Jane Elliott is renowned for her pioneering work in anti-racism education. Elliott achieved celebrity for her "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise, which she first conducted in 1968 with her third grade class the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. This exercise has led to several...
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Iowa Writers' Workshop alum explores mental health struggles in new YA novel
Peter Bognanni fell into YA fiction by accident. His new book, 'How to Lose Yourself Completely', is an outlet for his experience coming to terms with anxiety as a teen. On this episode, we talk with Bognanni, an award-winning novelist and Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate about his new book and…
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When it rains, it pours
Some Iowans spent a lot of the summer wishing for rain, others spent the summer wishing the rain would stop. Later summer deluges are raising some concerns about what a strong El Nino means for the next few months. Agricultural climatology specialist Madelynn Wuestenberg joins us on this...
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Short story collection tells humorous, heartbreaking stories of womanhood
There are many joys that come along with womanhood, but there are plenty of challenges as well. 'You Know Nothing' is a collection of very short stories from Yasmina Din Madden that focuses mostly on the challenges. The stories are insightful, funny, heartbreaking — and readers may occasionally...
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Pulitzer Prize-winning historian to deliver Constitution Day address at UNI
In 1997 Annette Gordon-Reed published 'Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy.' Her work has inspired other historians to look beyond the traditional narrative when researching and writing about American history. We talk with Gordon-Reed about her contributions to historical...
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The world of Jane Austen fanatics
Iowa City-based artist Sonja Strathearn began making Regency-era attire three years ago to attend The Jane Austen Fest and the obsession has only grown from there. To celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday, Strathearn welcomes Charity Nebbe into her home to talk about her love for Austen and show...
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Tinker siblings draw parallels of student protests from the 1960s to present
In 1965, John and Mary Beth Tinker went to school in Des Moines wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. They were suspended, and the incident led to a landmark Supreme Court decision that guaranteed free speech rights for public school students. Host Charity Nebbe revisits this history...
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Prepare your garden for the first frost
Iowa will see it’s first frost sometime between September 21st and October 31st — and now is the time to prepare. On this Horticulture Day episode, we talk about final harvests, row covers, clean up cover crops and more.
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Four-day school weeks are increasing across Iowa
In 2013, the Iowa Legislature passed a law that changed calendar requirements for school districts, allowing them to change their schedule from five days of classes to four. In the years since, more rural school districts have adopted this schedule as a more affordable way to attract and retain...
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Tell-tale signs your home needs structural repair
Everyone wants a house with good bones, but as a home ages, the bones age too. Home improvement expert Bill McAnally joins this episode to share the signs that the structure of your home could use some work and what can be done to mend its bones. Then, he answers listener questions.
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The most famous Iowa writer you've never heard of
One hundred years ago, Iowa writer Ruth Suckow published a short story collection that put her on the map. That collection, 'Iowa Interiors,' has been out of print for many years, but is available again in a new centennial edition. On this episode, we learn about Ruth Suckow and how new editions...
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Sing a song of summer
If you step outside into the quiet of a summer afternoon or evening, you will probably hear a merry cacophony of insect sounds. We going to talk about the singing insects of late summer in Iowa with entomologist Laura Iles, director of the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center. Then…
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Federally-funded early childhood education program faces deregulation
Head Start is a free, federally-funded program that provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition and parent-involvement services to low-income children and families. A new proposal from the Trump administration would do away with many of the federal regulations that guide…
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Smaller populations and more school options mean less funds for public schools
Kids are back to school, but for Iowa's public schools, things have gotten more challenging. Public school funding hasn't kept pace with inflation, and many districts are losing students and the funds that come with them. On this episode, we check in with school districts around the state — Des...
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2026 All-State Barn Tour highlights 108 unique barns across Iowa
In 1883, the Secrests commissioned a builder to construct a new barn on their property. The structure is three stories tall with a gothic roof and eight sides. The Iowa Barn Foundation's All-State Barn Tour is Sept. 19-20 and there are a record 108 barns participating. On this episode, we talk…
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Into the woods
The woods may be lovely, dark and deep, but most Iowa woodlands are plagued with invasive species. On this Horticulture Day episode, we talk with DNR District Forester Mark Vitosh about the non-native invasive plants that we should be concerned about in Iowa forests and some management…
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About this show
Talk of Iowa is a place for Iowans to connect to our shared culture and what it means to live in Iowa. Host Charity Nebbe brings a mix of regular guests and a range of experts to discuss the arts, history, literature and everything else happening in Iowa. Every day brings something new — even if it's in a recurring segment like Talk of Iowa Book Club or comes from a familiar voice on Horticulture Day.
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Iowa Public Radio
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