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Des Moines

Maura Curran
/
Iowa Public Radio
Researchers presented their findings from the Central Iowa Basic Income Pilot in Des Moines. Their study looked at how participants used monthly $500 payments, and how it affected their well-being and goals.
  • The Center Street Neighborhood — a tight-knit, predominantly Black community — was destroyed by highway construction and city urban renewal projects. Our sense of community is tied to economic opportunity, and this hour, we explore this by starting with Richard Duncan, a former resident of the Center Street neighborhood, and his wife and documentary partner, Madison Deshay-Duncan. Then we return to the wealth inequality of the Gilded Age with economist and historian Joshua Rosenbloom to see what parallels we can draw to today. Finally, union president Charlie Wishman shares how fewer manufacturing jobs and weakened unions harmed our communities.
  • On this episode, we talk with the people behind Iowa's two Latino film festivals. The Des Moines Latino Film Festival just held its sixth annual event on April 11. Antonio Romero of the Latino Center of Iowa and Ben Godar of Varsity Cinema, who co-present the festival, share how their partnership has reshaped the festival the last couple years, and their hopes for the future. Then, we get a preview of the inaugural Aqui y Alla Latin American Film Festival happening May 1-3 at Filmscene in Iowa City with programming director Ben Delgado and festival committee member Ariana Martinez. Also, poets JD Schraffenberger and Sean Thomas Dougherty join to discuss their recently published "chapbook" of golden shovel-formatted poems that were inspired by the work of James Hearst.
  • For the last century, Roosevelt High School’s synchronized swimming team has fostered a community for women both in and out of the water. This year marks the Sharks’ 100th anniversary, making them the oldest club of their kind.