This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. Of the thousand or more island sprinkled on the Upper Mississippi River, only one is fit for that Biblical wise man: the solid limestone bed of Rock Island. Foolish men have their choice of any of the others, from St. Paul to St. Louis, all of them made of slippery silt or sand. As the Sunday School song says, “when the rains come down and the floods come up” . . . watch out foolish man. Other Episodes ... Read More

Other Episodes May 10, 2024 The Cities 5/11/24 The Cities 4/11/24 Listen · 27:15 ... Read More

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

Other Episodes May 11, 2024 Bird Migration and Light Pollution Listen · 2:56 ... Read More

On Midwest Week, as bad as the derecho was in the Quad Cities, the impact was many times worse in Cedar Rapids, where hundreds of people are still trying to recover. Other Episodes December 30, 2022 Ballot Counting Problems in Scott County On Midwest Week, some of the numbers from the November election in Scott County still don't add up,... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. As with most rough river towns along the Upper Mississippi, Rock Islanders have had their share of sin. In 1903, Bishop Henry Cosgrove visited Davenport, Iowa, and declared it “the wickedest city for its size in America.” Other Episodes December 27, 2023 The Special Edition This is Roald Tweet... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. When it comes to saints, we Scandinavian Lutherans around Rock Island have a poor track record. We have only one—Saint Olaf—born in 995 A.D. For the last thousand years, it’s been slim pickings—not a one. Your Lutheran saint is an endangered species. Other Episodes December 27, 2023 The Special Edition ... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. The Rock Island Lines steam engine passenger trains have been silent for more than forty years now, but I can still shut my ears and hear the two-toned whistle (more if you listened carefully). No one could mistake that sound, even miles away, for anything but a train. Even today, its twin notes remind me of why the railroad still haunts our American dreams though it has all but disappeared from the landscape. Other Episodes ... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. We all know people who have grown up to fit their names. At least one town near Rock Island did just that. Other Episodes December 27, 2023 The Special Edition This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. Listen · 3:00 ... Read More

This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. Mark Twain held a very peculiar idea about literature. He thought that books ought to tell the truth. It’s a lesson he learned from the river itself. Other Episodes December 27, 2023 The Special Edition This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island. Listen ... Read More