WOI's first Iowa Week celebration was an amazing success by any account, so we're back again this year with another special week of interviews, documentaries and live broadcasts designed to showcase different aspects of the state we call home. This year's Iowa Week takes place August 17 - 23.

Here's just a sample of what we're planning:

• A week's worth of special Talk of Iowa programs on AM640.  Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper editor Michael Gartner will talk about famous Iowa court cases; WOI's politically savvy weekly commentator Steffen Schmidt ("Dr. Politics") will analyze the Iowa political scene. Other guests include Iowa State University Ag Economist Paul Lasley and ISU President Martin Jischke.
• A special Midday live broadcast from Stone's Restaurant in Marshalltown on AM640.  Doug Cooper, Todd Mundt and Elwynn Taylor will enjoy a home cooked meal and talk with locals about life in Iowa's small towns.
• Iowa: The Rural Melting Pot  Waves of immigrants have altered the face of Iowa over the past couple decades.  Taken together, these new immigrants, refugees and naturalized citizens represent a population larger than any single Iowa town or city except Des Moines.  In the latest installment of our Roundtable series August 21 on FM90.1 and AM640, we'll explore the challenges and opportunities that come with such change.
• We'll reunite our Voters of Madison County to assess political developments in Iowa since the November elections.
• The Villisca Ax Murders: a tourist attraction or best forgotten?
• A special look at the Hoover Library and Birthplace in West Branch, including interviews with the library's director, the library association, the National Park Service personnel, and casual visitors.
• What's happened to handwriting in the computer age?  Find out why Iowa has always been a leader in promoting good handwriting.
• Another in our series of Third Thursday Jazz Concerts live on FM90.1 at 7pm on August 21.
• Raising Thoroughbred Horses in Iowa  Horse farms are experiencing a baby boom, high-priced stallions are coming into the state for breeding, and foals and yearlings are selling at record prices.  That's all because casino profits at Prairie Meadows racetrack are creating huge purses for Iowa-bred racehorses.  Listen as Joyce Russell talks to the Iowans whose success at raising thoroughbreds has gone up and down with the fortunes of the track.
• On Midday, we'll meet some of Iowa's Women Pioneers.  Among the guests is Iowa State University award-winning scientist Lois Tiffany.

Letters from Asia has a Bangkok postmark.  More than 25 years after Hmong refugees started arriving in Iowa, author Jerry Hopkins treks to a relocated Hmong hilltribe village in northern Thailand, and doesn't like what he sees.

In addition, we'll have daily ticket giveaways to jazz concerts, horse shows, art displays, country music and classical pops concerts.  So be ready to call us with your answers to Iowa trivia questions.

And... Iowa Week reaches its climax with another hometown Iowa picnic.  We'll invite an entire town to enjoy food and some great local talent.  Where will it be?  Listen Saturday, August 23 at 4pm for the live broadcast!

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Iowa Week 97 is made possible, in part, by: The Des Moines Register Maytag Corporation Foundation Small Business Resource Office, Iowa Department of Economic Development The Iowa Pork Producers Association

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