Samantha McIntosh

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

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.

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.

“Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World” was screened earlier this month in Iowa City and will air on PBS as part of "American Masters" on Aug. 25.

President Donald Trump said AI's biggest safety warnings are a conspiracy — even as Iowa towns pass moratoriums on the data centers powering it. On this Politics Day episode, we explore the president's clash with his own tech allies over AI safety. Political scientists Jonathan Hassid of Iowa State University and Wayne Moyer of Grinnell College join us with their analysis. We also discuss the latest election polls and Iowa's Senate and Governor races, SCOTUS blocking Trump's mail-in voting rule and more.

In 1965, John and Mary Beth Tinker went to school in Des Moines wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. They were suspended, and the incident led to a landmark Supreme Court decision that guaranteed free speech rights for public school students. Host Charity Nebbe revisits this history with John and Mary Beth and they discuss present day threats to the First Amendment. Then, Donna Reed is beloved for roles like Mary Bailey in 'It's a Wonderful Life' and Donna Stone in 'The Donna Reed Show.' She was born in Denison, Iowa, where the Donna Reed Foundation keeps her legacy alive. We speak with her daughter, Mary Owen, board member and treasurer for The Donna Reed Foundation. (Portions of this episode were originally produced on Jan. 13, 2026 and Sept. 22, 2025)

A quarter of a century later, we're still living with the world September 11th made. On the 25th anniversary of the attacks, we talk with Tom Vilsack, who was Iowa’s governor during the deadliest terrorist attacks in U.S. history. He remembers where he was and how he chose to respond. Then, we talk with Mark Listes of Pendulum Intelligence on the AI-fueled disinformation war reshaping elections and public trust, and what it means for us ahead of the midterms. We also meet Amber Essau, an International Writing Program resident from New Zealand. Then, Studio One's Cece Mitchell grooves us into the weekend.