Rick Brewer
Rick came to Iowa Public Radio as a producer for Talk of Iowa and River to River in June 2019. He has worked at WFIU, community radio WFHB, WIUX's American Student Radio and created a couple of podcasts. His work has also been heard on PRX Remix, WAMC, and WFYI. Before his life in audio, he worked at archives and libraries.
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Michaela Ramm of the Cedar Rapids Gazette joins Ben Kieffer to discuss what the end of Iowa's emergency COVID-19 disaster proclamation means for data collection, tracking cases and access to information. Plus, other top news stories and conversations from around the state, including tax bills at the statehouse, free speech training at Iowa's public universities and how vertical farming is a new way of harvesting leafy greens.
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Dennis Goldford of Drake University and Jim McCormick of Iowa State University join Ben Kieffer to discuss the latest news from Ukraine and various other political headlines from the U.S. and abroad.
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Rep. Ann Meyer of Fort Dodge and Rep. Tracy Ehlert from Cedar Rapids join IPR state government reporter Katarina Sostaric and host Ben Kieffer to discuss bills addressing Iowa's child care issues. Before that, a conversation with a Des Moines parent about her struggles to find affordable child care and how the workforce shortage is connected to these issues.
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Mountain climber Jen Loeb is the first Iowa woman to complete the seven summits, which means she has climbed the highest peak on every continent in the world. Loeb joins Charity Nebbe to discuss her latest mountain climbing expedition to Antarctica, where she summited Vinson Massis. Before that, Heather Henson and Monica Leo talk about the new collection of short films "Dreamscapes Volume One" that will be screened at Owl Glass Puppetry Center in West Liberty.
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Historian Michael Zahs joins Charity Nebbe at the Kalona Historical Society to talk about his latest exhibit on the stories behind 20th century feed sacks and quilts. Plus, Timothy LeDuc of Cedar Rapids, along with Ashley Caine-Gribble, discuss their upcoming trip to the 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing in pairs figure skating.
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Rep. Ann Meyer and Rep. Timi Brown-Powers join Ben Kieffer to discuss mental health legislation on the move in the Iowa House of Representatives. Then, Rep. Bobby Kaufmann and Rep. Dennis Cohoon discuss a bill that would change how ATV and UTV vehicles can access certain state roads.
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Dr. William Ching of St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids joins Charity Nebbe to discuss the latest studies on COVID-19 and children. They also discuss strategies for handling a positive case and the differences between rapid and PCR tests. Plus, a conversation with Brittany Peacock of the the Davenport Public Library, which became the first library in Iowa to hire a full-time social worker.
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Jim McCormick and Karen Kedrowski of Iowa State University join Ben Kieffer to discuss voting rights legislation in the U.S. Senate, the future of the filibuster and the escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine.
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Lisa Remy of West Des Moines Public Schools and Mike Johnston of the Decatur County Hospital join Ben Kieffer to explain how the latest COVID-19 surge has been impacting their day-to-day operations. Later, Kathie Obradovich discusses the debate over press access in the Iowa Senate chamber and Drake University student Joie Stoefen shares her feelings about starting the spring semester online.
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John Hall is the author of the new historical fiction book "Rare Encounter." He joins Ben Kieffer to discuss the World War II events the book is based on and why he used his father's story as the book's centerpiece.