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by Iowa Public Radio
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- 3 days ago47 min
What you need to know about fire blight
Fire blight can spread fast through orchards and backyard fruit trees, leaving growers scrambling to protect their crops. On this Horticulture Day episode, we talk with Iowa State University assistant professor and fruit tree specialist Suzanne Slack about how fire blight develops, what warning signs to look for and the impact it can have on fruit trees across Iowa. Later, Aaron Steil, Iowa State University Extension horticulture specialist, joins the conversation to share more gardening insight and answer listener questions.
- 4 days ago48 min
'Kin' follows two motherless girls in the Jim Crow South
Iowa alum and author Tayari Jones set out to write a very different story for her much-anticipated novel 'Kin' following the widely acclaimed 'An American Marriage.' She joins the show to shares how she was derailed when these characters came to her. Then, the new National Youth Poet Laureate is Cedar Falls senior Daniel Daniel Umemezie. He joins the show with Rachel Morgan, the editor of the 'North American Review' who helped started the Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate program.
- 5 days ago47 min
How the year 1963 transformed the Civil Rights Movement and the nation
In his book 'Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America’s Civil Rights,' Peniel Joseph writes how 1963 was a landmark year for the Civil Rights Movement. Now, Joseph says, the United States is experiencing rollbacks of civil rights and racial justice ideals that the turmoil and violence of 1963 ushered in. Host Charity Nebbe speaks with Joseph about his book, and how the events of 1963 help us better understand contemporary political polarization and racial and cultural divisions. Joseph explains struggles for racial justice in 1963 reverberated worldwide, at times strengthening and damaging America’s global reputation in a manner that echoes the present. (This episode was originally produced June 17, 2025.)
- 6 days ago48 min
Major challenges face our land and water, but Neil Hamilton says there's hope
Neil Hamilton wants Iowans to listen to the land, and throughout his career as director of Drake University’s Agricultural Law Center, he advocated for the land and sustainable agricultural practices. He has dedicated his retirement years to the same mission. Hamilton joins the program to talk about his third book in a series on our environment, 'Through Nature’s Lens: Do We Really Love Our Land and Water.' Then, the early months and years of motherhood are filled with contradictions; it's a time of wonder and discovery, but also drudgery. Emily Bright captures that time in her poetry collection, 'Fierce Delight: Poems of Early Motherhood.' (A portion of this episode was originally produced on May 7, 2025.)
- 1 weeks ago48 min
Mother’s Day can bring joy, grief and complicated emotions
Mother’s Day looks different for everyone, and for some, the holiday can bring difficult emotions and relationship challenges. We discuss how to navigate complicated family dynamics with University of Iowa communication expert Sylvia Mikucki-Enyart and hear from Erin Wissler Gerdes about her University of Iowa Three Minute Thesis research. Plus, we meet Monica Holt, the new president and CEO of Des Moines Performing Arts. Holt was previously at The Kennedy Center, but left following President Donald Trump's firing of Kennedy Center leadership and replacement of board members.
- 1 weeks ago47 min
Our country is divided, but these people are working to change that
We are living in a time of deep division, and this week we have been looking at the forces driving us apart. But people in communities across the country are working to combat this division, and today, we meet some of Iowa's community builders using the tools at their disposal — from giant trolls to the local bar. We meet Gabi Torres and Ari Lewerenz of Clinton, Jessica Bolton of Cedar Rapids, Maggie Reyes of Storm Lake, Byron of Pomeroy and Leslie Jackson and Caroline Peterson of Des Moines.
- 1 weeks ago46 min
Is the link between religion and politics good or bad for our government and faith?
We've seen a recent rise in Christian nationalism, a powerful political movement. To some it looks like a threat to our democracy, and to others it looks like voting their values. But, what does it mean to Iowa Christian faith leaders and their congregations? We sit down with four of them to find out. But first, we hear from journalist Katherine Stewart about how Christian nationalism evolved and who benefits from it.
- 1 weeks ago47 min
The media we consume — and how we consume it — can intensify division
Major news networks used to regularly present Americans with the same set of facts. Today, it's easy to stay in echo chambers with competing realities. On this episode, we take a look at how the media we consume and the ways we consume it have intensified community divisions.
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About Talk of Iowa
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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