Part 3 of the "Cancer in Iowa" series. Iowa has some of the USA’s worst water quality AND some of the highest cancer rates in the nation. Larry Weber, who is this episode's featured speaker has spearheaded the effort to create one of the United State’s most advanced watershed nitrate monitoring systems. We can now tell where the most pollutants are coming from. We can tell what times of year the nitrate loads will be the highest and in what river system. There is a treasure trove of real time data and thank god for that right…?? Because without it, how do we even know where to start in terms of tackling cancer rates and cleaning up our water? Inexplicably…There are people here in Iowa, with a vested interest in eliminating this program. People in positions of influence actually voted to know LESS about how to pursue cancer and water quality in our state. If something doesn’t change, in 2026…We are going from having one of the nation’s most sophisticated water monitoring systems, to possibly having none. Larry has a lot to say about this and other incredible projects he has worked on…and I think you should listen.

Episode 9 is the second interview of the "Cancer in Iowa" series, where I interview someone who knows more than the average bear about what's going on with cancer here in our state. Shawn Ellerbroek is a cancer researcher based in the state of Iowa. What Shawn shares in this interview should honestly rattle every single iowan. This is the kind of interview that I have lost sleep over.

Episode 8 is the first interview of the "Cancer in Iowa" series, where I interview someone who knows more than the average bear about what's going on with cancer here in our state. This first episodes features Zachary Oren Smith, a journalist and reporter with Iowa Starting Line.

This interview is available as both a podcast and a video and comes to you from Manhattan…but not the one in NYC…it’s the one in Kansas! Yes you heard that right. Kelly Yarbrough is the founder of the Tallgrass Artist Residency which "seeks to create connection and conversation across the Great Plains through engagement with the prairie ecosystem." Who knew that there was even such a thing as art residencies dedicated to the prairie? I didn’t! Listen up and tune in!

S1:E6 Getting Real with Glenn Pollock We dive into pioneer history, pioneer cemeteries, prairie species that have gone extinct, farm life in early pioneer days, MOTUS bird tracking and how we can’t let the bastards get us down.

Scott Koepke doesn't mess around, not when he's planting peppers with incarcerated youths or when he's talking about what you see root systems do when viewed through a 400X microscope. This guy has more good plant stories than most, especially when it comes to how badly we all need growth and gardening in our lives. From Indian Creek Nature Center to Iowa City, Scott's been around the block. Tune in and learn you something.

Episode 4 covers Ruth's life story of gardening with her family as a youngster to restoring prairie and oxbows in Iowa as an adult. We met up just before she is about to receive a Legacy Landowner Award. Find out why!

Paleozoic Plateau? Driftless? Algific Talus slopes? What's the difference between an Oak Woodland and an Oak Savannah? Can you look at a patch of Iowa and tell by sight if it's restored prairie, old growth prairie or neither? What does it all mean? Join host Charlie Morris and Clayton County Conservation Naturalist and Resource Manager Kenny Slocum to get some answers.

Hey ya'll...wanna go to Fairfield, Iowa? I love a lot about this episode. Sue's enthusiasm for the land she lives on and her commitment to helping the land restore and recover is inspiring. She helps me understand that there are different types of restoration that Iowans are working on. Spoiler Alert: There's more than one approach! We also take a close look at her three different "prairie patches" as they have different results from the Spring burns. Oh...and Iowans burn prairie to make it grow. Are they crazy or what? Let's find out...

Prairie + Iowa? How is that even a story? Where would that start or finish? Take a listen as I explain my point of entry into the topic of Iowa Prairie in this first installment of the Iowa Prairie Documentary Project.