In 1883, the Secrests commissioned a builder to construct a new barn on their property. The structure is three stories tall with a gothic roof and eight sides. The Iowa Barn Foundation's All-State Barn Tour is Sept. 19-20 and there are a record 108 barns participating. On this episode, we talk with Deann Haden about the Iowa Barn Foundation and highlights for this year's tour. Then, we travel to Cedar County to tour the Secrest 1883 Octagonal Barn with owner Rich Tyler. Later in the hour, we talk with Rachelle Long, founder and executive director of Taste of the Junction, a multicultural festival that celebrates the people and culture of Valley Junction. It takes place Sept. 3-5, and features presentations, live jazz and a street festival.
Samantha McIntosh
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Iowa Public Radio
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Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson was the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and went on to build a distinguished career in higher education. In 2020, she was made the new namesake of Johnson County. We talk with her great-niece, Sonya Jackson, the lead consultant on the Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson project, and project historian Rebecca Conard. Then, poet and artist Dave Morice, known to many as Dr. Alphabet, died after a long battle with Lewy body dementia. We speak with his son Danny Maurice about the impact of his words and how he is being remembered in Iowa City. -
The loss of the historic Mississippi River Bridge at Lansing in December 2025 stranded the remote communities of northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin. This summer, residents and business owners have adapted — and advocated — as they wait for the replacement to open. -
Are America’s divides truly political — or is something else at work? In his book 'Nations Apart: How Clashing Regional Cultures Shattered America,' historian and New York Times bestselling author Colin Woodard argues that today’s polarization can’t be explained by Democrat/Republican or urban/rural divides. Instead, he traces these conflicts back to regional worldviews rooted in the nation’s earliest settlement patterns. (This show was originally produced Nov. 25, 2025.)
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The legacy of former President Herbert Hoover and Lou Henry Hoover is on display at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, open now for the first time since January 2025. -
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch first opened on Aug.10, 1962. It reopened on Aug. 6, 2026, after a $20 million complete renovation. On this episode, we speak with Mundi McCarty, president and CEO of the Hoover Presidential Foundation. She shares the vision for the renovation and the collaborative efforts that made it possible. Then, we tour the museum with Museum and Library Director Thomas Schwartz. He also discusses his role in shaping the museum narrative and his hopes for visitor engagement.
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The Iowa National Bar Association turns 125 this year. We look at the history of the Des Moines organization that gave rise to the nation's largest network of Black and African American lawyers and judges.
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Members of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe are crossing the Midwest on a tour of ancestral sites. The 11-day journey brought them across Iowa and included a stop in Decorah, where they met with a researcher of the tribe’s native language. -
In 1861, 32 students and two teachers from Greene County left to enlist in the Union Army. The school closed behind them and 11 of them never came home. On this episode, we learn about the schoolboy soldiers of Rippey and the people who are keeping this history alive. We talk with local historian Chuck Offenburger, who spoke to a Greene County High School class, which then inspired students and history teacher Dena Boyd to research further into the soldiers. We also hear from one of those students, Oliver Harris, and Rippey resident Mary Weaver who have all been involved in bringing the Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey to life with monuments, re-enactments, and an upcoming theatrical production.
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When the Africa Live Network announced the first Iowa African Film Festival, they were overwhelmed with submissions. We talk with Jack Chimbetete, founder of the Africa Live Network, about how the Iowa African Film Festival will showcase African culture and about what it means to connect people from the African diaspora. We also talk with Omar Love, founder and executive director of The Motherland Experience Festival. The Iowa African Film Festival takes place Aug. 6 through 8 at Drake University in Des Moines. The festival ends on Aug. 8 with the Motherland Experience Festival, a day of African arts, culture, and community. Then, Talk of Iowa Summer School continues with Alex Grapp, a high school language arts teacher at Ames High School. He shares how he is turning his students into readers by teaching them how to connect books to their own lives.
