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Iowa lawmakers ban transgender youth from getting gender-affirming care and using preferred school bathrooms

River to River, hosted by Ben Kieffer

Education policy, distracted driving, eminent domain – it's been another busy week for Iowa lawmakers.

On this episode of River to River, host Ben Kieffer gets an update on this week's happenings in the state legislature from Erin Murphy of The Gazette.

Linh Ta of Axios Des Moines shares recent reporting on the challenges Iowa faces in recruiting teachers, and Iowa Capital Dispatch's Robin Opsahl details the governor's School Safety Bureau's launch of an anonymous threat-reporting app amid a flood of "swatting" calls received by schools across the state.

Economics professor Peter Orazem weighs in on how loosened child labor laws proposed at the statehouse would impact labor force trends, and The Gazette's Jeff Linder gives an update from Seattle, where the Hawkeye women's basketball team went head-to-head with the Colorado Buffaloes Friday.

An Oskaloosa resident who won big on Wheel of Fortune this week shares his lifelong fanaticism with Kieffer, and Studio One host Tony Dehner helps groove into the weekend.

Guests:

  • Erin Murphy, Des Moines Bureau Chief, The Gazette
  • Linh Ta, reporter, Axios Des Moines
  • Robin Opsahl, reporter, Iowa Capital Dispatch
  • Peter Orazem, professor of economics, Iowa State University
  • Jeff Linder, sports reporter, The Gazette
  • Cory Houser, Oskaloosa resident
  • Tony Dehner, IPR Studio One Host
Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River
Samantha McIntosh is a talk show producer at Iowa Public Radio. Prior to IPR, Samantha worked as a reporter for radio stations in southeast and west central Iowa under M&H Broadcasting, and before that she was a weekend music host for GO 96.3 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.