This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. The universe may lay claim to the first and the biggest bang, but the Upper Mississippi has witnessed some pretty good echoes ever since the first steamboat exploded in 1837. That year, with Iowa and Northern Illinois newly opened to settlement, the steamer Dubuque bound upstream from St. Louis, blew one of its boilers, throwing a sheet of scalding steam and water over the deck passengers, killing twenty-two of them. Other Episodes ... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. Nineteenth Century steamboat men were not more than ordinarily superstitious, but by the 1860s, there did seem to be a disturbing pattern among Mississippi steamboats whose names began with the letter M. They seemed to be cursed. Other Episodes December 27, 2023 The Special Edition This is Roald Tweet on... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. Captain Jones Worden became such an important Upper Mississippi riverman that he ended up in several biographical dictionaries. In each of these entries, however, several years of his life were erased, all because of a printer’s error. Other Episodes December 27, 2023 The Special Edition This is Roald... Read More

The Kinogarten film series is a collaboration between the German American Heritage Center (GAHC) in Davenport and Rozz-Tox in Rock Island. Free of charge, all six films will be shown on the first Friday of each month from April through September of 2021 in the intriguing outdoor garden space at Rozz-Tox. Did you know? The German word for cinema is kino while garten translates to garden. The remaining films are: May 7: The Tin Drum June 4: Free Fall July 2: Mephisto Aug 6: Transit Sept 3: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul Listen to the conversation here with Erika Holshoe, the Assistant Director of the German... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. Mark Twain would have us believe that boys along the Mississippi in his day longed to become steamboat captains because of the romance of those floating wedding cakes and the mystery of the great Mississippi itself. A closer look might reveal a deeper and far more American reason to take up steam boating: money. Other Episodes December 27, 2023 ... Read More

Other Episodes June 23, 2023 Scribble: The Finale Listen · 29:02 June... Read More

Don Wooten and a cavalcade of guests kill an hour in a very unceremonious way. Other Episodes May 4, 2024 Saturday Morning Live! Carrying on one of the most venerable traditions in local broadcasting history, Kai Swanson carries on the carrying on Don Wooten carried on with a cavalcade of carriers on. Carry on. ... Read More

Other Episodes April 27, 2024 River Action Fish and Fire 2024 Listen · 4:00 ... Read More

Other Episodes May 3, 2024 The Impact of Iowa's Budget Increase: A Closer Look In this episode, we discuss the recently passed budget and new income tax plan in the Iowa Legislature. Listen · 28:13 ... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. Growing up in southern Minnesota during World War II, I spent many late-night summer hours under the streetlight with my buddies discussing where we were going when we grew up. It was Alaska or Oregon, New Zealand, the Amazon. Never in that circle of light along the curb did I dream it would be Rock Island, Illinois, where I would be sitting here writing “Rock Island Lines.” Other Episodes ... Read More