Charity Nebbe

On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe is joined by Fairfield-based artist Greg Thatcher, who has been making art inspired by yew trees for more than 30 years. Thatcher talks about his “Sacred Yew” exhibit at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden and his multi-decade relationship with a single grove of yew trees in a small English town. 

Guest:

Greg Thatcher, Artist.  

The film "Erin Brockovich," starring Julia Roberts came out in 2000 and is based on the true story of Brockovich, a legal researcher, activist and single mother who uncovered a 30-year long industrial poisoning of a small town’s water supply by Pacific Gas and Electric. 

The University of Iowa's 2020 What About ME(N) Summit seeks to "explore how our community can redefine masculinity and influence the culture we live in to end gender-based and interpersonal violence." Craig Bidiman, the summit's keynote speaker, joins host Charity Nebbe on this segment of Talk of Iowa to explore the masculine boxes men are placed in and why self-awareness, both mentally and physically, can be difficlut for some men to confront.

Last month, Kesho Scott of Grinnell College presented a three-part lecture series on the black holocaust as part of the Drake Community Library's "Bucket Courses." This community event was at maximum capacity for Scott's presentation as the audience sought to learn more about the atlantic slave trade and why this period in world history is now being called a holocaust.

The days are starting to lengthen, and gardeners are itching to do something to get ready for the growing season. So, why not start some seeds indoors?

Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe talks with ISU Extension horticulturist Richard Jauron and assistant director of Reiman Gardens Aaron Steil about the best conditions for getting seeds to sprout, and the best way to prepare seedlings to go outside this spring.

  This program origionally aired on 5-15-18.

The laws, morals, and ethics which guide us, can also confuse us, and sometimes challenge us to improve or change the rules.

In this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe gets a look at the philosophy of rules with Scott Samuelson, a philosophy professor at Kirkwood Community College. He says that he's learned a lesson stemming from the life of Socrates that for the most part, rules are important to follow, and when they need to change, then sometimes civil disobedience is that way that is done.

 This program origionally aired on 7-2-2019.   

We all know that February is Black History Month. The designation of that month, which dates back almost 50 years, created some space for learning about important moments in Black history in almost all public schools and in popular media. Unfortunately the way Black history is taught can be problematic, and focusing on Black Americans in February doesn’t prevent them and other communities of color from being left out of the national historic narrative the rest of the year. 

Feb. 12 marks the 211 anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Over the last several decades, a movement to establish an international Darwin Day holiday has been growing. A group in Iowa City celebrates Darwin Day every year by highlighting the work of modern evolutionary scientists. 

Officials from both Minor League Baseball (MiLB) and Major League Baseball (MLB) will meet Thursday Feb., 20 in Dallas to continue negotiations regarding The Professional Baseball Agreement (PBA), which is set to expire in September. 

The MLB's current plan proposes that 42 minor league teams will lose their MLB affiliation status. Three of these 42 teams are in Iowa: the Burlington Bees, the Clinton Lumberkings and the Quad Cities River Bandits. 

Whether a family-focused courtship in the early 1900s, a romantic romance abroad in the '60s, or a modern digital partnership that started with a swipe, dating — good, bad, and in-between — has stood the test of time.

Tim Robbins discusses "The New Colossus," a theatrical performance and story depicting the immigrant experience, with IPR's Charity Nebbe. 

Bruce Aune, a trusted news anchor at KCRG, the ABC affiliate in Eastern Iowa, is retiring this March.

On this episode of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe welcomes Aune for a discussion of some of the most memorable moments in his 34 years in the anchor chair and some of the changes he’s witnessed.

Guest:

Bruce Aune, anchor, reporter

Did you make a New Year's resolution to read more? We're here to inspire you! Talk of Iowa is launching a book club.

We hosted the first meeting at 10:00 a.m. during the live broadcast of Talk of Iowa on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Author Ayana Mathis talked about her novel "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie," and a few Iowans who read the book along with us also joined the conversation. 

At History Camp Iowa 2020, history buffs from all over the state will come together to share their expertise. On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe gets a preview of the fourth annual conference that's organized entirely by volunteers. 

More cut flowers are purchased on Valentine’s Day than on any other day of the year, in spite of the fact that the holiday falls in the dead of winter. During this episode of Talk of Iowa, Charity Nebbe talks with Cindy Haynes and Richard Jauron from Iowa State University Extension about keeping those flowers fresh for as long as possible.

What does it mean to create in apocalyptic times? A new course and public talk series at the University of Iowa seeks to answer this question while looking at the concept of large-scale endings through art, music, writing and other mediums.

Planting pollinator-friendly habitats is popular right now, but some Iowans go even further and become backyard beekeepers. Now it’s easier than ever to learn how to do it.

Iowa is full of old structures including barns, churches and abandoned schools. Some enterprising Iowans have turned old structures into beautiful, non-traditional homes. What does it take to improve an old home or to turn a barn into a house?

"Black Sunday" tells the story of a family living in Lagos, Nigeria. Told over 20 years, the book tells of their attempts to cling to their middle-class lifestyle and subsequent plunge into poverty. In this episode of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe speaks with Tola Rotimi Abraham about her debut novel.

From wildfires in California and Australia to category five hurricanes destroying small islands, Jerry Schnoor describes how climate change has manifested itself around the world. Iowa has experienced the effect of climate change through severe flooding and intense precipitations. 

Livia Knipp was only about halfway through her pregnancy when her water broke at 19 weeks. Doctors at the first hospital she visited gave her no hope for the survival of her unborn child. “They told me to start planning a funeral,” Knipp says.

After returning home from her initial hospital stay, Knipp took to Facebook to ask for prayers and support from friends and family and found the miracle suggestion she needed.

Every four years Iowans are bombarded with telephone calls asking to take a polling survey in preparation for the caucuses. Reading polls can be confusing. Most polls show different outcomes for elections and vary from week to week. In the context of the Iowa caucuses, it's even more confusing because so many likely caucusgoers remain undecided until the last minute. So, how do we understand political polling? We brought in Peter Hanson, Director of the Grinnell National Poll, to explain.

Actor Jordan Whalen grew up in Ames and has been interested in the Iowa caucuses since 2007. Whalen has always thought the Democratic caucus process is naturally theatrical and has been thinking about developing a play about this political event for more than a decade. Now he is one of the leaders of New York City's Counterpart Collective, a theatre group whose mission is to create theatre derived from primary sources.

A lost millennial, an Instagram celebrity, an overgrown man-child, and a precocious toddler run headlong into issues of race, class and human folly are all themes in the new novel “Such a Fun Age.”

On this this edition of Talk of Iowa host Charity Nebbe speaks with author Kiley Reid about her debut novel. 

The caucuses are a less than two weeks away, and that means Iowa is getting some pretty special visitors. This isn’t a reference to all the presidential candidates; Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! is in Des Moines to record show in front of a sold out audience.

In September of 2019 we learned the number of birds in North America had fallen by 29 percent since 1970.

There are 2.9 billion fewer birds today than there were 50 years ago. Some bird species, however, have increased dramatically in the past 20 years, including two species beloved in Iowa. 

Cities and towns across the United States were shaped by a system many people have never heard of.

That system is called redlining -- a discriminatory  practice by which banks and other financial organizations refused to serve specific neighborhoods, usually based on race. 

As a method for processing the end of a nine-year marriage with a gay man, Kellie Kramer has channeled her energy and emotions into a one-woman cabaret show, "All the Good Men Are Gay."  Kramer, an actor and singer who hosts Iowa Outdoors on Iowa PBS, pieces together the story of love and loss through songs that range from Judy Garland to "Weird Al" Yankovic. 

Weightlifting didn't appear on Cynthia Martin's radar until age 64, when she picked up barbells for the first time through a Cross Fit program. Just a few years later, the Marion native won the 2018 National Weightlifting Championship in Buffalo, New York. 

  This program origionally aired on 5-3-2018. 

For more than 25 years, U.S. TV viewers have been captivated by "reality television," watching "real people" in supposedly unscripted events.  Author Lucas Mann is not immune to this guilty pleasure.