Charity Nebbe

Throughout the last five years of his career as a running back in the NFL, Marshawn Lynch, or "Beast Mode," disengaged with the press and embraced silence as a form of protest. He became known for sitting during the national anthem and pushing back against questions from the news media.

A new documentary, "Lynch: A History," gives insight into what the all-American, all-pro, Super Bowl champion was communicating through silence. 

The first freeze of the season is expected to occur in Iowa this weekend, ushering gardens across the state into a new phase. 

Ajay Nair, ISU associate professor and extension vegetable specialist, and Richard Jauron, ISU horticulture specialist, join Talk of Iowa  to discuss the best practices for preparing gardens through the upcoming dip in temperature. 

Some neighborhoods feel alive and vibrant, with engaged and welcoming communities. On the other hand, some neighborhoods find it difficult to find a successful and thriving identity.

On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host  Charity Nebbe asks a panel of experts about the building blocks needed to create a vibrant, healthy and diverse neighborhood. This panel was hosted as part of the 2019 Iowa Ideas Conference in Cedar Rapids, organized by the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

With each passing day, it feels like we are learning more about the effects of climate change. Extreme weather events are increasingly common. These catastrophic events are also having a dramatic impact on our ecosystem and wildlife. 

The Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) has now been documenting and preserving artifacts significant to Iowa's history for 60 years.

The OSA, which is based at the University of Iowa, employs 23 full-time archaeologists and historic preservation specialists in addition to many students and volunteers.

During an open house  in celebration of their 60th anniversay last Friday, IPR Producer Matt Alvarez stopped in for a tour from State Archaeologist John Doershuk. 

Iowa's over one billion trees will soon break out with red, orange, yellow, or brown leaves,  depending on the species.

On this edition of ‘Horticulture Day,’ Department of Natural Resources Forester Mark Vitosh joins Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe to breaks down how, when mand why the colors of fall emerge.

Iowa City  poet Caleb Rainey  released his second collection of poems titled "Heart Notes" this week. The book dives into the ups and downs of relationships through a range of love poems. 

"These poems felt very close to me, important to me, part of who I am, that it just needed to be out," Rainey says.

Rainey, who publishes under the name "The Negro Artist" joins Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe to discuss the inspirations and motivations behind his writing. He also reads several poems on air.

A SIMPLE LOVE POEM

(a selection from "Heart Notes" by The Negro Artist)

I'm so in love I may beed a doctor

after a fall like that. 

The population of monarch butterflies has been cut in half over the last decade, according to University of Wisconsin Arboretum Director Karen Oberhauser. 

Oberhauser joins Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe to  discuss the latest updates on the status of monarch butterflies. She has dedicated 35 years to studying the species. As monarch butterfly populations dwindled,  her resarch expanded to focus on conservation. 

Oberhauser says monarchs have recently been faring better and have risen in population throughout the last two years.  

When Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five was published in 1969, it was an instant success. However, it took 25 years for the author to finish his masterpiece. Some of those years were spent in Iowa and the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop.

Slaughterhouse-Five tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of World War II, who is "unstuck in time"  and claims to have been abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. The book explores Pilgrim's life and the aftermath of his experience as a prisoner of war in Germany and how it affected his life.

This program originally aired on April 9, 2018.

When poet Stephen Kuusisto was 38 years old, he found himself unemployed, legally blind, and lonely. He made a decision that would radically change his life: he got a seeing eye dog.

On this Talk of Iowa, Charity Nebbe talks with Kuusisto about how his dog, Corky, opened up the world to him. His latest memoir, Have Dog, Will Travel, details Kuusisto's transformative decision to work with a guide dog after 38 years of downplaying his limited vision. 

This program originally aired on April 3, 2018.

Just over sixty years ago in September of 1957, Terrence Roberts and eight other young people became the first African American students at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. These nine students, known as the Little Rock Nine, faced mobs of angry protesters as they tried to enter the school.

All this week, Talk of Iowa has explored the question “Iowa: Is this home?” On the final episode of this Iowa Week series, six stories of finding, or perhaps not finding, home from Iowans originally from other parts of the country and the globe.

Sometimes it feels like Iowa is the country’s best kept secret. Iowans tend to be pretty happy with the quality of life, and yet there are still only 3.1 million of us.

On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe explores the economic and social reasons that people decide on to move to Iowa. Liesl Eathington, an assistant scientist and Iowa Community Indicators Program Coordinator at Iowa State University, joins Charity for part four of our “Iowa Week: Is This Home?” series.

People come to Iowa from all over the world for many reasons. Moving to another country and building a new life in a new culture can be incredibly challenging. Raising kids in a culture that is very different from your own takes things to a whole new level.

Children that grow up in an adopted homeland share their parents' genes, but in many cases parents watch those children move away from tradition and embrace a new way of looking at the world. For example, many parents struggle with teaching their native language to their kids. 

Think on this: you’ve lived somewhere your entire life, your family has been there for generations. What if something happens and home no longer feels like home?

Many Iowans experienced that feeling during the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, an event that radically changed our state forever. By the end of the decade, 300,000 farmers had defaulted on their loans. A large number lost their homes and farms.

Iowa is home to over 180 languages, and residents from across the world as a result of a range of migration waves. On this edition of Talk of Iowa, we explore the factors that draw people to Iowa as well as the challenges they may face here as part one of our "Iowa Week: Is This Home?" series.

Visit a naturalization ceremony for new U.S. citizens with IPR Producer Matthew Alvarez, and hear the thoughts of new citizens about their ties to Iowa and thoughts about the state. Then, learn more about why we have the population in the state that we do. 

Landscaping with plants native to Iowa is beneficial for the environment, but it comes with its own unique set of challenges. 

On this weekly edition of 'Horticulture Day,' Iowa State University Associate Professor Cindy Haynes and DNR Forester Mark Vitosh give advice on choosing the right plants for crafting native gardens and landscapes. 

Later on, they answer a variety of questions from callers about gardens, grasses, plants, trees and more. 

Guests:

Title IX became law in 1972. As a result any school that receives any federal money is required to provide fair and equal treatment of the sexes in all areas, including sports. Change didn’t happen all at once, but during the 1970s girls who had been forced to watch from the sidelines started to have real opportunities to join teams and compete. Melissa Isaacson was one of those girls.

A big dream is coming true for film lovers in Downtown Iowa City this week. For the last three years, people have watched the construction of the Chauncey building. This fifteen-story building will have a mixture of commercial and residential space, but what is on the first floor has film lovers excited. On Sept. 20, the new space for FilmScene, a non-profit cinema, and cultural organization will open its doors to the public. 

This program originally aired on April 1, 2019

NPR listeners know Paula Poundstone as a regular panelist on Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! and from 30 years of being hilarious on stage.

In this episode of Talk of Iowa, Charity Nebbe talks with Poundstone.

This program originally aired on 12-22-17

If you’ve ever taken a psychology class, you’ve probably heard the story of Phineas Gage. He was a railroad worker who survived a terrible accident in which an iron rod was driven through his head. He’s remembered in the psychology books because that accident taught us a lot about how the brain works.

In this Talk of Iowa segment, Charity Nebbe hosts a conversation about an Iowa horse named Jamberry who had a very similar accident to Gage.

Nick Offerman became a household name as the meat-eating, gun-loving, Libertarian macho man Ron Swanson on the television show "Parks and Rec." But, his career choices since that iconic role have taken him in a vastly different direction. And that's on purpose.

"If I can say no, I will," says Offerman. Leaving "daylight in his calendar," has allowed him to tour as a comedian. It allowed him to do the film "Hearts Beat Loud," co-starring Kiercey Clemons. And it's allowed him to work with British author and filmmaker Alex Garland on his FX series "Devs."

Early autumn can be an excellent time for planting trees, according to ISU Horticulture Professor Jeff Iles.

On this edition of ‘Horticulture Day,' Iles and Aaron Steil of Reiman Gardens in Ames join host Charity Nebbe to give tips on planting healthy trees and shrubs. Iles says that trees are now entering their prime root growth period. However, he advises against transplanting trees already in the ground at this time of year. 

What isn't being said about the lives of women in rural Kentucky?

Fueled by intuition, and inspired by time she spent filming present day life in rural Appalachia, pianist and composer Rachel Grimes set out to answer that question.

The statistics are devastating. According to the National Institute of Justice, four out of five American Indian or Alaska Native women have been victims of violence, and over half of Native women have been victims of sexual violence. Some advocates against such violence believe these numbers may even underestimate the severity of the issue. 

It's not uncommon for runners to carefully monitor their diet and health as they train for a long race, but for Morgan Russell, who is training for the New York Marathon, the stakes are higher. She has type -1 diabetes, and managing her blood sugar is an integral part of her everyday life, especially during her intense workouts. 

Denison, Iowa has changed a lot over the past 20 years. While many small towns have been shrinking, Denison's population has increased and the town has become far more diverse than it used to be. Over half of the students in Denison schools are English Language Learners. As Iowa towns and cities have become more diverse, teaching English language learners has become a vital part of what schools do.

More than 16 million people serve as unpaid caregivers for loved ones living with Alzheimer’s disease, which is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.. Caregivers face the difficult task of managing their loved one's health and daily lives as they increasingly lose touch with their memory and the world around them as a result of this irreversible brain disorder.

On this Horticulture Day edition of Talk of Iowa, Iowa State University Entomologist Donald Lewis makes the case for the importance of wasps in Iowa's ecosystem, despite their unpopular presence.

He provides information on social wasps, which congregate in colonies and spend their summer gathering other insects as food for offspring. In the late summer season, these wasps reach their peak population and become more visible as they seek out sugar and moisture, Lewis says.

When Iowa and Iowa State renewed their football rivalry in 1977, a group of ordinary guys conceived and created the trophy they would call “the Cy-Hawk.” A new documentary, Birth of the Cy-Hawk, tells this unique, Iowa story.