Iowa Public Television

Past Episodes

• Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind (#145)
• Great Ape Trust Symposium: The Chimpanzee Mind (#144)
• Statecraft: How to Restore America's Standing in the World (#143)

  Former U.S. Ambassador Dennis Ross presented a lecture at Drake University on April 30, 2008 titled "Statecraft: How to Restore America's Standing in the World." Ross is a counselor and the Ziegler distinguished fellow at the Washington Institute. He has been active in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process for more than 12 years. He played a major role in both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. Ross was instrumental in assisting Israelis and Palestinians to reach the 1995 Interim Agreement, successfully brokered the 1997 Hebron accord, facilitated the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace treaty and intensively worked to bring Israel and Syria together.

• Women in Politics: Madeleine Kunin (#142)

  Madeleine Kunin is a former three-term governor of Vermont and Ambassador to Switzerland. She also served as U.S. deputy secretary of education. Ms. Kunin is currently the Marsh Scholar Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont, where she lectures on history and women's studies. She is the author of Living a Political Life, The Big Green Book, and, most recently, Pearls, Politics and Power, an insider's view of the role of women in politics.

• Is Global Warming Affecting Hurricanes? (#140)

  Lecturer Kerry Emanuel is an MIT professor of atmospheric science and the author of Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes. His work in atmospheric dynamics is well regarded among the meteorological community. In particular he has specialized in atmospheric convection and the mechanisms acting to intensify hurricanes. Mr. Emanuel was named one of Time's 100 Influential People of 2006.

• The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming (#139)

  Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It, is the director of the Copenhagen Consensus Center and an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School. In 2004, TIME Magazine named him one of the "100 globally most influential people," and the UK's Guardian newspaper recently named him one of the "50 people who could save the planet." An environmental conservative, Lomborg has questioned the priority given to solving global climate change, arguing that we should first focus our resources on more immediate concerns, such as fighting malaria and HIV/AIDS and assuring a safe, fresh water supply. Mr. Lomborg appears as a featured speaker at ISU's World Affairs Series.

• Censoring Freedom: How the Quest for Security Is Trumping Your Constitutional Rights (#137)

  Mark Goodman is the Knight Professor of Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University and an expert on student free expression in the United States. Mr. Goodman appeared as a featured speaker at ISU’s First Amendment Day Celebration.

• Dreams to Reality: Astronaut Clayton Anderson (#136)

  Astronaut and Iowa State University alumnus Clayton Anderson chronicles his 152 days in space as part of the 15th and 16th expeditions to the International Space Station [ISS]. Mr. Anderson launched to the ISS in 2007 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. During his stint, he performed three spacewalks for a total of 18 hours of extravehicular activity. He holds a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from ISU (1983).

• A Conversation About Race with James Autry & Clifton Taulbert (#135)

  James Autry and Clifton Taulbert are recognized forces in the contemporary literary world. Both award-winning authors grew up in racially torn Mississippi separated by fewer than 200 miles and the perceived chasm of skin color. After discovering each others’ works a decade ago, the writers met and made a commitment to use their words and lives to leave a legacy of how brotherhood should look

• Russia After the Presidential Elections: Is There Hope for Democracy? (#134)

  David Satter is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. A former Soviet correspondent for the London Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Satter is the author of Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union and Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State.

• "Three Cups of Tea" Author Gregory Mortenson (#133)

  Gregory Mortenson is the author of the best-selling book “Three Cups of Tea” which recounts his lifelong dedication to promote education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote, volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. As of 2007, Mortenson has established over 61 schools in these areas, which provide education to over 25,000 children, including 14,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.

• David Plowden’s "Vanishing Point: Fifty Years of Photography" (#132)

  World-famous photographer David Plowden celebrates his 75th birthday with his new book "Vanishing Point" which includes his phenomenal black and white photographs of the prairie landscape and quiet Midwestern scenes. Mr. Plowden provides commentary about his art and technique.

• Governor Robert Ray: Tai Dam Refugee Relocation (#130)

  On February 21st at Simpson College, former Governor Robert D. Ray and former Ambassador Kenneth Quinn, discussed their roles in aiding the relocation of Tai Dam refugees from southeast Asia to Iowa in the 1970s. They also described their efforts to help southeast Asian refugees through the Iowa SHARES program.

• Running on Ice: Stories from a Warming Arctic (#127)

  Iowa State University graduate Elizabeth Andre shares stories from her 1200-mile dogsled trek across Baffin Island with renowned polar explorer Will Steger and a team of Inuit hunters, explorers and educators. She also recounts Inuit stories of living in a rapidly warming climate and offers insights on meeting the challenge of global warming.

• Richard Florida (#117)

  On September 19, 2007 at Iowa State University author Richard Florida discussed his book "The Flight of the Creative Class," an examination of the global competition for creative talent.

• International Pollination Symposium (#111)

  On June 27, 2007 at the International Pollination Symposium at Iowa State University, Marla Spivak from the University of Minnesota and Jeff Pettis from the USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, spoke about Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder.

• Dr. Willard Daggett (#101)

  Dr. Willard Daggett shares his knowledge about what students are going to need to know in the 21st century with a group of Iowa high school students. Following a presentation about the emerging challenges of a global economy, Dr. Daggett answers questions from the student audience.