Charity Nebbe
Talk of Iowa HostExpertise: Interviewing, literature, ecology, political science, history and life in Iowa, all in order to help IPR listeners and readers better understand, appreciate and explore their state
Education: Bachelors degree from Iowa State University
Favorite Iowa Destination: Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge
Experience:
Has served as a talk show and podcast host for IPR and WOI Radio, as well as for Michigan Public in Ann Arbor from 2000 — 2010
- Has been the host of Talk of Iowa since 2010
- Hosts the podcasts Garden Variety and Unsettled
- Founder of the Talk of Iowa Book Club
- Is a multi-award-winning host and reporter, including a regional Edward R. Murrow for The Bonobo Hope Great Ape Trust Sanctuary, a first place award from the Public Media Journalists Association for her Iowa Veteran Talks About Being Trafficked as a Teenager interview, a first place newscast award from the Public Media Journalists Association, and a Regional Upper Midwest Emmy for Iowa PBS' Iowa Ingredient
- Created the nationally-syndicated public radio show Chinwag Theater, which she produced and co-hosted with author Daniel Pinkwater
- Honored with an Alumni Achievement Award by Iowa State University's Department of Political Science
- Host of Iowa Life and Iowa Ingredient for Iowa PBS
- Author of the children's book Our Walk in the Woods, published in 2008
- Co-founder of Let Me Run Eastern Iowa Corridor, a character development and running program for boys
My Favorite Conversations
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The Talk of Iowa team hops into a dugout canoe on Lake Darling to learn about Indigenous cultural practices. Plus, Project AWARE uses canoes to clean up Iowa waters. -
While floodwaters destroyed and damaged Spencer homes, neighbors organized to help their community, supporting each other and the community after the devastating floodwaters receeded. -
Every spring, nearly one million Sandhill Cranes pass through an 80-mile stretch of the Platte River in Nebraska on their northward migration. -
In her memoir, Lucinda Williams explains how she spent her career making music on her own terms. -
The 108th annual Meskwaki Powwow takes place this weekend. It’s a four-day celebration of Meskwaki culture and tradition where everyone is welcome.
My Latest Stories
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The sense of belonging and connection in rural towns has wavered as people travel further for jobs, schools, hospitals and more. -
Students across Iowa can tour the Anne Frank House without leaving the state. -
Richard Tyler doesn’t know why he decided to purchase the Secrest Octagonal Barn in 1992; he just knew it was something he wanted to do.
My Latest Podcasts
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Your home is your first space. Work is your second space. A third space is a place where you can gather with other people in your community, meet people and make connections. But many of these spaces have disappeared, particularly in small towns. On this episode, rural sociologist Dave Peters shares how gas stations have become a social hub for small towns. Library director Mary Kathryn Gepner talks about the local library enduring as a third space. Jennifer Drinkwater talks about her work uplifting third spaces in Iowa's small towns and how they inspire her art. Finally, Tiara Phillips has been bringing people in the Iowa City area together with "stuff swaps," book clubs and bingo nights through her Instagram page, Bitchin' Events. (This episode was originally produced March 12, 2026.)
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On this episode, we listen back to a 2025 conversation about the bicentennial anniversary of organized Norwegian immigration to the U.S. and how Norwegian culture has shaped the Midwest and the U.S. as a whole. First, we hear highlights from the now-King of Norway's visit to the Vesterheim National Norwegian American Museum and Folk Art School and Luther College in Decorah. Then, we hear more about the Decorah-Norway partnership from Chris Johnson of Vesterheim and Maren Johnson of Luther. Later, Norwegian Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen and ISU faculty Ted Grevstad-Nordbrock discuss how Leif Erikson lore has been enshrined across the U.S., as the two of them have had Fulbright residencies in each other's homeland. (This episode was originally produced Oct. 8, 2025.)
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We talk with artist and writer Katie Holten, author of 'The Language of Trees: How Trees Make Our World Change Our Minds and Rewild our Lives.' Holten discusses the ideas behind the project and explores how language, nature and place intersect. The Anne Frank Initiative is presenting a conversation with Holten about the project on Thursday, Oct. 1 at the Senate Chamber in the Old Capitol Museum in Iowa City at 5:30 p.m. Then, we listen back to a conversation with father and daughter Dan and April Wilson, co-owners of Seven W Farm in Paullina. The farm was named Niman Ranch’s Sustainable Farm of the Year for 2025. (A portion of this episode was originally produced in January 2026.)