poetry

On this episode, it's summer school! We talk about the summer slide with University of Iowa expert Leah Zimmermann. The University of Iowa launched a literacy hub to help caregivers develop literacy skills whether at home or on the move. We also hear from Kathleen Locher, an elementary teacher librarian in Iowa City. She shares how a book that hadn’t been checked out in a decade has had a profound impact on her students. We hear poems read by rising fourth-grade Poetry Invaders Lina Ahmed, Sadie Linder, Kate Fina and Etta Schons. Then, Iowa State’s University Museums announced its new director, David Schmitz. We talk with him about how he found a passion for supporting other artists and plans for the future at University Museums.

Elizabeth Wehrle of Montezuma went into the hospital in February and this week she gets to go home. In March, she received a first-of-its-kind lifesaving surgery, a quadruple organ transplant. On this episode, we talk with Wehrle and Dr. Ankit Bharat of Northwestern Medicine, the lead surgeon for this groundbreaking procedure. We hear about the health issues that led to these transplants, what this surgical advancement means and what goes into the decision to perform a surgery that hasn’t been done before. Then, we talk with Suzanna de Baca, Iowa author of 'You Were Never Lost: Poems From The Tallgrass Prairie.' De Baca didn’t expect to write about grief, but when back at the place where she spent her childhood with a friend who died, poetry and nature helped her cope.

At its peak in the late 1950s, there were over 4,000 drive-in movie theaters in the U.S., with nearly 70 in Iowa. Today, there are four drive-in theaters operating in the state. On this episode, we hear from operators of three of the remaining theaters. Then, we talk with Iowa's new poet laureate, Paul Brooke.

Iowa alum and author Tayari Jones set out to write a very different story for her much-anticipated novel 'Kin' following the widely acclaimed 'An American Marriage.' She joins the show to shares how she was derailed when these characters came to her. Then, the new National Youth Poet Laureate is Cedar Falls senior Daniel Daniel Umemezie. He joins the show with Rachel Morgan, the editor of the 'North American Review' who helped started the Cedar Valley Youth Poet Laureate program.

A new documentary, 'Kamal’s,' follows a Muslim chef and his Catholic wife as they build a life together in Grinnell, blending Middle Eastern traditions with Midwestern ingredients. We talk with filmmaker Nich Perez, along with Kamal Hammouda and Laura Fendt, the couple at the heart of the film and co-founders of The Iowa Kitchen. Later in the episode, April is National Poetry Month, and Iowa poets are reaching audiences far beyond the Midwest.

The Violins of Hope all have connections to Jewish musicians and the Holocaust. These instruments are now touring in Iowa, keeping history alive. Plus, Emily Bright shares her new poetry collection 'This Ground Beneath Our Feet.'