Episodes

  • The World Food Prize marks 40 years by traveling across Iowa

    The World Food Prize marks 40 years by traveling across Iowa
    Jun 30 2026
    The World Food Prize Foundation is marking four decades of honoring the scientists, farmers and policy innovators who feed our planet. On this episode, host Ben Kieffer is joined by Iowa Governor and two-time U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. Vilsack now leads the foundation. We talk about what the World Food Prize’s 40th anniversary means for communities across the state and why global food security starts with places like Iowa. We also talk about the New World screwworm, the dismantling of USAID and more.
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    48 mins
  • SCOTUS backs makers of Roundup weed killer

    SCOTUS backs makers of Roundup weed killer
    Jun 27 2026
    Headlines from this week, including a Supreme Court ruling related to Roundup weed killer, a new law concerning medication abortion access and more.
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    48 mins
  • Meet three Iowans behind NASA's Artemis II mission

    Meet three Iowans behind NASA's Artemis II mission
    Jun 26 2026
    Ten days, a quarter-million miles from Earth and for the first time since 1972, humans flew around the moon. On this archive episode, we hear from three Iowans who were involved in the historic Artemis II mission that was completed on April 11. Madison Tuttle of West Des Moines, Jack Sieleman of Waukee and Alex Brewer of Council Bluffs share about their love of space exploration — whether lifelong or found on the job — and what their roles were in the preparation for and execution of Artemis II. (This show was originally produced April 2026).
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    40 mins
  • Trump cancels signing of bipartisan housing bill, surprising his own party

    Trump cancels signing of bipartisan housing bill, surprising his own party
    Jun 25 2026
    President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled plans to sign a bipartisan housing bill Wednesday morning, surprising Republicans and Democrats alike. Trump wrote in a social media post that he would not sign the legislation until Congress passed the Save America Act. Political scientists Rachel Caufield of Drake University and Peter Hanson of Grinnell College offer analysis of this recent about-face and rising tensions between the president and Senate Republicans. They also discuss takeaways for Iowa from Tuesday's New York primary, the U.S. Senate's vote in favor of a war powers resolution concerning Iran and more.
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    48 mins
  • Over half of the churches in the Archdiocese of Dubuque to lose weekend mass

    Over half of the churches in the Archdiocese of Dubuque to lose weekend mass
    Jun 24 2026
    Dozens of rural Catholic churches in Iowa are about to lose their weekend mass. Today, we hear about the changing map of midwestern Catholicism. First, we hear from a Vinton resident who's Catholic parish has appealed to the Vatican in effort to keep weekend mass in the wake of the Archdiocese of Dubuque's final 'Journey in Faith' restructuring plan. University of Iowa professor Kristy Nabhan-Warren joins to discuss what this initiative means for churches losing eucharistic mass and how this juxtaposes a recent increase in attendance at Catholic churches in urban dioceses, including Des Moines. Then, Deacon John Robbins of the archdiocese explains the mission behind 'Journey in Faith,' and answers listeners' questions.
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    48 mins
  • New documentary highlights critical material recovery efforts in Iowa

    New documentary highlights critical material recovery efforts in Iowa
    Jun 23 2026
    'Urban Mining' explores how discarded electronics and wind turbines are being turned into a domestic source of rare earth elements. We hear from the filmmaker behind the documentary and two of the Iowans at the center of this work. The film will be showing at 4 p.m., Saturday, June 27 at the Interrobang Film Festival in Des Moines.
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    48 mins
  • Cedar County's Humans for Racial Justice hosts second annual Juneteenth historical tour

    Cedar County's Humans for Racial Justice hosts second annual Juneteenth historical tour
    Jun 20 2026
    On this Newsbuzz episode, IPR's Gavin McGough joins to discuss a new gas power plant that was approved by the Cedar Falls City Council this week, and IPR's Rachel Cramer shares how Iowa's landfills are filling up fast. Cami Koons of Iowa Capital Dispatch reports on a multistate research project that held a panel of rural Iowans Tuesday, and we hear about the U.S. losing ground in the higher education space as Iowa State University and University of Iowa continue to slip in university rankings. Humans for Racial Justice hosts their second annual Juneteenth event which tours local Underground Railroad sites in Cedar County, and IPR Studio One's Nick Brunner grooves us into the weekend.
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    48 mins
  • A look at Iowa's environment during the nation's founding

    A look at Iowa's environment during the nation's founding
    Jun 19 2026
    Our nation is 250 — but 250 years ago, Iowa was a world apart. An ecologist takes us back to a yesteryear’s landscape of endless tallgrass prairie, bison, elk and whooping cranes, and explains why Iowa is now the most ecologically altered state in the nation. A historian discusses the Indigenous nations living here in 1776 and why the American Revolution mattered enormously to people who may not have even known it was happening. And the tribal historic preservation officer of the Meskwaki Nation joins the program to discuss on her people's presence in Iowa.
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    48 mins