PlatPhorm Podcasts
Start your day with the essentials. Coffee. Breakfast. And the local news you need to know. Host Meghan McKinney rises bright and early to bring you the top news stories from around Iowa in under 10 minutes. Wake up, grab that coffee and get your news Here First. You can support what you hear on this podcast at ipr.org/donate.
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9/25/2026
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A proposed change to Waterloo’s human rights department is dividing the city’s leadership. A business group is questioning why Alliant Energy wants to build three new power plants. And Dubuque’s Marshallese community celebrates its heritage this weekend.
View original9/24/2026
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President Trump's lawsuit against pollster J. Ann Selzer has been dismissed. A traveling exhibit is in Des Moines that features the Epstein files that have been released. And Dolly the mastodon is returning to southern Iowa.
View original9/23/2026
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Linn County is looking at the quality of its groundwater. Library hours are being reduced in Des Moines because of city budget cuts. And how has data from Flock Safety cameras been misused?
View original9/22/2026
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Prosecutors will retry a man accused in the cold-case killing of a Native American woman in Sioux City. The Dubuque City Council voted Monday to adopt a goal to zero out its greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. A Johnson County judge ruled against the state's decision to close a State Historical Society of Iowa facility, and the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club is disappointed by the EPA's decision to repeal rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
View original9/21/2026
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Vice President JD Vance and Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy are among the high-profile Republicans who’ve visited Iowa recently to rally GOP support ahead of the midterm elections. A nonprofit that supports low-income Iowans predicts more requests for help paying heating bills this winter. And hemp sellers are bracing for a ban on most of their products expected to go into effect in December.
View original9/18/2026
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The Democratic candidate for governor supports legalizing recreational marijuana. Republicans are urging support for a constitutional amendment. And how are voters feeling about Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat race?
View original9/17/2026
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Two Iowa representatives have voted to limit President Trump's war powers in Iran. Private well owners in certain counties are eligible for a free arsenic testing kit. And a county park in eastern Iowa is conserving the blue spotted salamander.
View original9/16/2026
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This year's Iowa Climate Statement calls for investing in renewable energy to meet electricity demands. Minden and Greenfield are receiving money from the USDA two years after devastating tornadoes. And Des Moines Public Schools has a new superintendent.
View original9/15/2026
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The city of Des Moines has approved an initial recommendation to cuts to its 2028 budget. The state attorney general's office has announced how it'll use some Meta settlement funds. And the latest on two proposed carbon pipelines.
View original9/14/2026
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The Department of Homeland Security secretary was in Iowa over the weekend. Child labor violations are disproportionately higher in Iowa. And a rare and federally endangered bumblebee species was spotted in eastern Iowa.
View original9/11/2026
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Iowans will remember the 9/11 anniversary today with observances. One former Iowan will return to the Pentagon for today’s commemoration. Republicans will go first in the 2028 presidential nominating process. And UNI is the only one of Iowa’s three public universities with an enrollment increase this year.
View original9/10/2026
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Iowans vote this fall on whether to make it tougher for lawmakers to raise income taxes. Iowa's agriculture secretary is promoting a science-based approach to addressing the state's water quality programs. And Waterloo is considering creating a city manager position.
View original9/9/2026
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University of Iowa marching band member Derek Phillips has died after collapsing from the heat in Iowa City Saturday. Waterloo passed a temporary ban on new data centers at its council meeting Tuesday, and the U.S. Department of Energy will loan NextEra up to $1.9 billion to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant near Cedar Rapids. American farmers will likely feel the squeeze of higher tariffs exchanged with Canada, impacting products including dairy and ag equipment.
View original9/8/2026
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The candidates for governor share their thoughts on automated license plate readers. Johnson County officials are trying to figure out an AI policy. And what happened to the Monarch Highway?
View original9/4/2026
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Iowa is trying to bring back nuclear energy. Farmers across the country are losing access to federal workers to help with soil and water conservation. And how could proposed federal regulations to Head Start impact Iowa programs?
View original9/3/2026
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Many public schools in Iowa are trying to navigate rising costs and low enrollment. Iowa has been burning more coal to produce electricity than in the past. And data center opposition is growing in the Midwest.
View original9/2/2026
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The U.S. secretary of agriculture is in Iowa this week. Synthetic Kratom fatal overdoses are higher than last year. And a central Iowa town wants to add a local option sales tax.
View original9/1/2026
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A new data analysis suggests there are more heat-related deaths than what's reported by the CDC. Candidates for Iowa's First Congressional District share their plans for addressing Iowa's high cancer rate. And the Center for Intellectual Freedom at UI is trying to find a director.
View original8/31/2026
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Republicans and Democrats held big rallies in central Iowa over the weekend, with Election Day just about two months away. The price of ground beef has passed $7 a pound, and an economist is not confident it will come down soon. And the DNR has been looking into a strange smell people have complained about in far eastern Iowa.
View original8/28/2026
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Black Hills Energy is facing scrutiny from Iowa utility regulators. Libertarian candidates for governor and in the 3rd Congressional District have lost a legal challenge aimed at putting their names on the November ballot. Forecasters say we've moved into what could become one of the strongest El Niños in recorded history, and the Midwest Newsroom and Harvest Public Media report that higher grocery prices are especially hard on older adults on fixed incomes.
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