The Alzheimer's Foundation of America says music, when used appropriately, can shift a patient's mood, help with managing stress and agitation, stimulate positive interactions, facilitate cognitive function and help with motor movements. Now, researchers at the University of Iowa are studying the extent of that effect. Alaine Reschke-Hernandez, a music therapist, and Dr. Dan Tranel, a neurologist, have teamed up to measure the impact music has on the health outcomes of Alzheimer’s patients in

What does it take to make it as an artist? When the line between success and failure is so thin, what factors contribute to an artist making it? For some, the old adage “Success is a third talent, a third perseverance, and a third talent” may not apply. “I’d take ‘a third talent’ out of that, and I’d replace perseverance with attrition,” laughs Halt and Catch Fire actor Toby Huss. Toby Huss grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa in the 1960s and 70s. Today, he has a thriving career in film and

Tonight, Indiana Governor Mike Pence debates U.S. Senator Tim Kaine from Virginia in this election’s only vice-presidential debate. Tim Walch, presidential historian and retired director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, points out that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the inception of vice-presidential debates, and he explains how those past events have likely affected what to expect this evening. “First of all, don’t screw up,” Walch says. Recalling Dan Quayle’s gaffe in

In 2011, investigative journalist Suki Kim posed as a missionary and taught English to the teenage sons of North Korea’s ruling class. In 2014, she published Without You There is No Us, an account of the time she had spent there, an account she risked her life to retrieve. Now, she’s coming to speak in Iowa City on October 9th from 2-4pm in C20 Pomerantz Center, sponsored by the Iowa City Book Festival. Kim says though she grew up in South Korea, and had visited in North Korea in 2002, she wasn

On this edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with U.S. Senator Charles Grassley, as the senator faces an election for what could be his seventh term in the Senate. This week, Congress overwhelmingly rejected President Obama's veto of legislation allowing relatives of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia. Here’s Sen. Grassley, on his position to vote to override the veto, and his response to whether the legislation could seriously hurt U.S. national security

The Cedar River in Cedar Rapids is expected to go below major flood stage sometime today. Perhaps you volunteered your time in one of the flood-stricken communities this past week filling bags with sand? Hundreds of volunteers moved somewhere between 9 and 20 million pounds of sand – all bagged, schlepped and stacked to form barriers to protect property from the flood waters this past week. But what happens to all that sand when the flood waters recede? During this hour of River to River, host

A new poll shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton tied in Iowa, with both having 38 percent support among likely voters. That’s a bit of good news for Clinton since two recent polls have shown Trump leading in Iowa by several points. On this politics day edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with political analysts Kedron Bardwell of Simpson College and Tim Hagle of the University of Iowa, as they share their analysis of what may sway Iowa’s undecided voters. They also take calls

Recent heavy rains have put the Cedar River and many streams at, or above, flood levels in what could be the worst flooding to hit the state since 2008. Communities are responding with sandbagging efforts and thousands of residents have evacuated their homes. On the first segment of today's River to River, host Ben Kieffer checks in with those living and working in Charles City, Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Cedar Rapids, including Molly Montag of Mason City Globe Gazette, Pat Kinney of the WCF

Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “Every great architect is — necessarily — a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.” On this edition of River to River, Ben Kieffer hosts a discussion on architecture in Iowa. He’s joined by Iowa State University College of Design associate professors Dan Naegele and Cameron Campbell. They explain how building design in Iowa has changed over the decades, what is says about us, and the art of the field. Campbell says it's

Iowa City is preparing to host an international sporting event that will be televised live around the world: the UCI World Cup of Cyclocross. John Meehan is a pediatric surgeon in Iowa City and the director for the Jingle Cross. He says cyclocross is different than a typical bike race. "When people watch the Tour de France, they see them race from point to point, it's not like that at all. This is around a closed loop course where there's obstacles and barriers. You have to get off your bike,