On this edition of River to River, we listen back to conversations from 2017 about milestones.
2017 marked the 60th anniversary of the launch of the world’s first artificial satellite: Sputnik 1. In October, Ben Kieffer spoke with longtime space scientist Don Gurnett to talk about how that momentous event instilled fear in America and marked the start of the space race with the Soviet Union.
Gurnett is a physics and astronomy professor at the University of Iowa.
Later in the hour, Kieffer discovers how the State Historical Society is commemorating the 100th anniversary of U.S. involvement in WWI with a project that asks Iowans to comb through old photos. He also talks with public radio archivist Jack Brighton about the birth of public broadcasting 50 years ago.
