Samantha McIntosh

Actor Will Ferrell and writer Harper Steele have been collaborators and friends for 30 years.

New York native Caroline Rose, who's released four studio albums since 2014, visited the Englert Theatre in April, where she entertained the audience with a performance intersecting emotional and comical moods.

From Muddy Waters to The Lumineers, a venue located in the basement of Iowa State University's Memorial Union has seen 50 years of music, theatre, comedy and more.

A recent poll from The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 62% of adults say democracy in the U.S. could be at risk in the 2024 presidential election.

Every spring, nearly a million sandhill cranes pass through an 80-mile stretch of the Platte River in Nebraska on their northward migration.

The sense of belonging and connection in rural towns has wavered as people travel further for jobs, schools, hospitals and more.

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.

Monica Nassif founded the company Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day, using her mother, Thelma Meyer, as the spokeswoman.

The Amplifying Black Voices in Iowa project has digitized thousands of resources created by Black Iowans from the 19th through 21st centuries. The project has digitized 'The Iowa Bystander,' the oldest Black newspaper west of the Mississippi, issues of 'The Waterloo Defender,' a weekly paper in the 60s and 70s, photographs, letters, oral histories and more. On this episode, we learn about the project with some of the people that made it possible — Iowa State University archivist Amy Treslan, Felicite Wolfe of the African American Museum of Iowa and historian Ricki King. Then, the spotted hyena is a fascinating creature with incredible hunting skills, problem solving abilities and a matriarchal pack structure. We talk with Michigan State University behavioral ecologist Kay Holekamp, who has spent the last 35 years studying hyenas in the field. Holekamp will be speaking at Iowa State University on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Union.

On this episode, the science of menopause and the aging brain. Women are more vulnerable to strokes, yet they're historically underreported and underdiagnosed. On this episode, the science of menopause and the aging brain. First, University of Iowa neurologist Dr. Hannah Roeder shares how stroke risk in women nearly doubles in the decade after menopause, and the gender disparities of stroke cases, response and recovery. Then, we learn about a new study to examine whether the menopause transition quietly accelerates brain and blood vessel aging, potentially helping explain why women face higher risks of stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Finally, University of Iowa Comprehensive Stroke Center Head Dr. Enrique Leira joins to share how the Code Stroke system has improved recognition and response to strokes for the past 20 years across the state. (This episode was originally produced June 2, 2026.)

Iowa lawmakers are back at the Capitol for one reason: a $15 billion steel mill, and what Iowa will pay to land it. On this Newsbuzz episode, IPR's Grant Gerlock on the special session over that steel plant. We also hear from Rachel Fey and Megan Kavanaugh about new maps that show how hard it is to get affordable birth control in Iowa. Then, we talk with Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks. She represents Iowa's 1st Congressional District, and is running for reelection against Democrat Christina Bohannan. We also discuss a relay carrying a copy of the Declaration of Independence throughout Iowa with Butch Niebuhr and Mitch Barloga. And, IPR’s Nick Brunner grooves us into the weekend.