Caitlin Troutman
Talk Show ProducerExpertise: Finding, booking, preparing and connecting guests with listeners on IPR's two talk shows: <i>Talk of Iowa</i> and <i>River to River</i>
Education: Audio studies at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies at the Maine College of Art, Bachelors degree from William Jewell College
Favorite Iowa Destination: Raptor Center at Macbride Nature Recreation Area and the Hothouse Yoga Studio
Experience:
- Audio, talk show production and writing across various topic areas for IPR as a digital producer and talk show producer, Maine Public as a digital producer, and KCUR, where she worked on the daily talk show Central Standard
- Has reported and written features on the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries and George Floyd protests while working for Maine Public
- Lead producer for the Talk of Iowa "Book Club" series
- Occasional substitute host for All Things Considered on IPR
- Pitched and launched IPR's award-winning Garden Variety newsletter and podcast
- Host of a local music show at WMPG in Portland, ME
My Favorite Stories
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“I wanted to figure out what happened, and the way I figure stuff out is by writing.” Discussing Fun Home with author and illustrator Alison Bechdel for the Talk of Iowa book club -
What can ghost stories tell us about the world? The Talk of Iowa team takes a ghost tour of Cedar Falls and discusses ghost stories with author Carmen Maria Machado. -
Psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA have become a very active area of medical research. -
Host Charity Nebbe and wildlife biologist Jim Pease observe the prairie chicken mating dance and discuss the species’ precarious situation in Iowa. -
Recently, organized labor has experienced a string of big wins, and nationwide support for unions has reached a high-water mark not seen since the 1960s.
My Latest Stories
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Grant Faulkner will be at Beaverdale Books in Des Moines on Jan. 23 to promote “something out there in the distance,” a novel written in the flash fiction style. -
The most wonderful time of the year can also be the most expensive, but there are ways to scale-back spending and give meaningful gifts without going into debt. -
Give the gift of a great story to a child in your life. Our expert readers recommend the best new books for the littlest readers through young adult readers.
My Latest Podcasts
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Black Future Fest is a month-long celebration focusing on Afrofuturistic art, fashion and community imagination in Iowa City. On this episode, Black Future Fest organizer Latasha DeLoach and professor of journalism and African American Studies Venise Berry join to discuss Afrofuturism and the upcoming events. Later, reflecting on the legacy of Lee Swearengin, who spent decades of his life institutionalized, but made tremendous contributions to Iowa archeology.
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Social media has rapidly become an unavoidable part of how people socialize, communicate and spend their free time. Experts Jonathan Platt, Gerta Bardhoshi, Kostadin Kushley and Rachel McLaren unpack the latest research on how social media affects teens' lives and mental health. We also explore how to break out of doomscrolling and realistic ways to limit screentime.
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University of Iowa scholars are developing an AI system that monitors behavior to detect physical violence as it happens. (This episode was originally produced Nov. 4, 2025.)