Ben Kieffer
River to River HostExpertise: Interviewing, news and politics, scientific research, history and literature, all in order to help IPR listeners and readers better understand, appreciate and explore their state
Education: Bachelors degree from the University of Iowa
Favorite Iowa Destination: Anywhere where there's swimming, hiking or biking!
Experience:
- Has served as a talk show and podcast host for IPR and WSUI/KSUI
- Has been the host of River to River since 2007
- Hosted IPR's weekly live music/talk show Java Blend from 2000 to 2017
- Is a multi-award-winning host and reporter
- Has created and hosted many regular segments and series, including "Leaving Afghanistan," a series of interviews with US veterans of the Afghanistan War, "Politics Wednesday," "Big Brain," a talk show that tackled life's little questions, "News Buzz" and "Groove into the Weekend"
- Has interviewed major political candidates and elected leaders, including former US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, Sen. Chuck Grassley, Sen. Joni Ernst, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Kamala Harris, among others
- Worked in Europe for more than a decade as a journalist, translator and consultant
- Reported firsthand in 1989 on the fall of the Berlin Wall and from Prague on the Velvet Revolution
- Hosted a weekly radio magazine about European politics, science and culture, carried by public radio stations across North America from 1990 - 1993
- Serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa, teaching courses on interviewing techniques, radio journalism, politics and storytelling
- First started in public radio in the mid-1980s as a student announcer on WSUI
Contact Ben at bkieffer@iowapublicradio.org.
My Latest Stories
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Ben Kieffer talks with Rep. Ashley Hinson, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. She discusses affordability, national security, healthcare and other key issues. The contest with Democratic nominee Josh Turek is one of the most competitive Senate races in the country. -
Ben Kieffer talks with Lindsay James, the Democratic candidate for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District. James is facing Republican candidate Joe Mitchell in the general election. The two discuss affordability, the war in Iran, cancer rates in Iowa and other key issues. -
Ben Kieffer talks with 1st Congressional District candidate Democrat Christina Bohannan. Bohannan is running against incumbent Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The two discuss affordability, immigration, healthcare and other key issues.
My Latest Podcasts
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Mailers and ads are using social pressure to get out the vote by reminding people that friends and neighbors can look up whether they voted. On this episode, Ben Kieffer speaks with Tom Lopach, CEO of the Voter Participation Center, about why they've taken this approach. Drake political scientist Adrien Halliez shares the origins of this strategy and why these organizations tend to be connected to Democrats. But first, trust in the polls has been shaken since 2016 and most recently by the 2024 Ann Selzer poll. Halliez shares what pollsters are doing to make their polls more accurate and how to read the polls. Also, Grinnell College political scientist Peter Hanson shares findings from the latest Grinnell College Poll, which asked wide-ranging questions on democracy, education, data centers and more. He is joined by students who helped compose the questions. -
On this Newsbuzz episode, we discuss election security and the election safeguards that are in place in Iowa. We also talk about where the secretary of agriculture, secretary of state and attorney general races stand, Iowa's Medicaid Fraud Elimination Task Force and more.
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Most independent music venues struggle to stay afloat. On this episode, we talk with Tobi Parks, owner of Des Moines music venue xBk. She tells us why so little of live performance royalty money reaches the artists who deserve it, and how she’s working to change that with her newest startup Tour Tech. Also in this episode, this upcoming election is the first that no woman is running for governor or lieutenant governor in Iowa since 1978. We talk with Kelly Winfrey of Iowa State University about the gender politics in those races and others this midterm.
