Nearly half of Republicans and those who lean Republican say they have mixed feelings about how Donald Trump conducts himself as president, and almost a fifth of the Republicans polled by Pew Research say they don’t approve of Trump’s conduct as commander-in-chief at all. On this politics day edition of River to River , analysts Rachel Caufield of Drake University and Tim Hagle of the University of Iowa navigate us through the latest on the political landscape, including the politics of disaster

Author Adam Piore says he's always been interested in stories of resilience. As he was looking for the topic of his latest book, he says he realized some of the most interesting stories of resilience today are taking place through technology. The result is The Body Builders: Inside the Science of the Engineered Human. Piore says technology has allowed for remarkable recoveries among people with once devastating injuries. "Now we have some of the best engineers turning their sights inward to see

School districts across the country are struggling to adapt to growing school lunch debt. Many children who cannot afford their school lunches have been subjected to what is commonly referred to as "lunch shaming," which involves practices that can humiliate children in public schools who have unpaid lunch debts. One such method involves dumping a student’s lunch in the trash once they get to the cash register. Ann Feilmann of Iowa's Department of Education says that schools participating in the

Leaders from various faith traditions across the state are getting into the spirit of solar power. On this news buzz edition of River to River , Ben Kieffer hosts a conversation on the process and impact of a solar project in Norwalk, where more than 200 solar panels were installed St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, with Father John Ludwig and Red Lion Renewables CEO, Terry Dvorak. It’s a move to renewable energy that Father Ludwig says was inspired by Pope Francis's campaign combating

David Cwiertny of the University of Iowa is an expert in water quality and water resources. He's also one of 35 science and technology experts who've spent the past year working in the U.S. Congress as part of a fellowship program through the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Host Ben Kieffer talks with him about the experience in this edition of River to River. During Cwiertny's time in D.C., the Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill revising the Safe Drinking Water Act

A raucous President Trump revs up supporters in Arizona, a day after a statesman-like speech addressing Afghanistan. On this politics Wednesday edition of River to River , host Ben Kieffer talks about the president’s defense of his response to violence in Charlottesville with Wayne Moyer of Grinnell College and Sara Mitchell of the University of Iowa. They also compare Trump’s strategy in Afghanistan compared to Obama’s; and, after a string of deadly collisions involving US warships in Asia,

It was ten days ago that violence broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, when white nationalists protesting against the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee clashed with anti-racism demonstrators. One woman was killed when a suspected white nationalist drove his car into a crowd. On this edition of River to River, Ben Kieffer talks with Frank Meeink, former skinhead leader and neo-Nazi recruiter turned activist who speaks out against the dark side of human nature, for some perspective

For groups trying to affect firearms policy, what are their priorities, challenges, strategies for the future? Where is money and lobbying efforts going? What do Americans think about access to guns, and what do those view say about their own politics? In this River to River program as part of our continuing Guns in Iowa series, host Ben Kieffer gets two looks at the national gun debate. First, Mark Kelly co-founder of Americans for Responsible Solutions, retired NASA astronaut and husband of

Some astronomers and enthusiasts have been waiting years for today’s solar eclipse. Almost all of Iowa experienced a partial eclipse, and the path of the total eclipse was further south and west. There is a small portion, a few hundred acres, of extreme southeast Iowa in that path. Iowa State University Professor of Astrophysics Steve Kawaler joins the conversation to talk about the eclipse. He describes the experience of a total eclipse. "When totality is achieved the shadow swells over you,

The city of Des Moines could set a record for the number of homicides this year. Sergeant Paul Parizek with the Des Moines Police Department says if another homicide happens, it will be the most the city has seen in over a decade. “Right now we are at 21, and in 2015, that was the mark we hit for the whole year, and that was the highest we’d hit since 1995. So, with so much time remaining in the year, there’s a very real possibility we’ll hit that,” says Parizek. “We’ve had as low as 5 in a year