This week on The Exchange, we hear the details of a new lawsuit filed against the state of Iowa over it’s ban on mask mandates in public schools.
Also, how to wean yourself off your electronic devices, because you may not realize you are addicted.
And we talk with some of the artists from last weekend’s ArtSplash event, and also with the one of co-founders of the Sioux City International Film Festival that is coming up in October.
We also talk with the artist who painted a new mural on West 7th Street in Sioux City.
And we hear another Small Wonder from Jim Schaap. With the 20th anniversay of 9/11 this weekend, Jim Schaap looks back on the day, that just happened to coincide with one of favorite trips he takes with his writing students.
But first, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and disabilty rights advocates filed a lawsuit last week that asks the courts to overturn the Iowa law that bans mask mandates in public schools. We hear from some parents of children with disabilities and from ACLU of Iowa attorney Susan Mizner.
Charmaine Alexander is involved in the lawsuit. She is picture with her son Corbin, who has severe asthma They are from Urbandale.
Most of us have our phones in our hand or within reach, that has created a problem of digital addiction for some people. Pyschiatrist Dr. Anna Lembke is seeing more and more of this kind of addiction. She is a psychiatrist and the author of the new book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. You probably have heard Dr. Lembke on Fresh Air with Terry Gross and NPR News programs as well. Lembke has been working with people with addiction issues for 25 years, and she runs Stanford University’s dual diagnosis addiction clinic. I talked with Lembke about how we can distance ourselves from our phones, computers and other devices.
Also, this week we hear from Andrea Owen, the author of Make Some Noise: Speak Your Mind and Your Own Strength. In the book, Owen shows how women can take hold of their destinies and speak out.
Over Labor Day weekend, ArtSplash was held downtown on the grounds of the Sioux City Art Center. Last year the festival was cancelled because of fears about the coronavirus. This year, the event moved from Riverside Park. Hundreds of people thronged to the event Saturday and Sunday.
Siouxland Public Media was at the event and I talked to a few of the artists at ArtSplash. One of them was featured artist Luke Hubbard. Hubbard grew up in Dallas Center and graduated from the University of Northern Iowa. He currently resides in Ankeny with his wife Jennifer.
Also, I talked with Sioux City artist and native Greg Berenstein.
And I spoke with Tim Bottaro of the Sioux City International Film Festival about the return of the event after a year off because of the threat posed by the coronavirus.
Some of the murals of Greg Bernstein, find more at https://www.flickr.com/photos/90674587@N03/?hide_photostream_welcome=1
Also, Siouxland Public Media's Sheila Brummer talks with muralist Sarah C. Rutherford who recently completed an mural on West 7th Street.
Mural on West 7th Street in Sioux City, on American Home Health Building
Muralist Sarah Rutherford; more at http://www.wall-therapy.com/sarah-c-rutherford-2/
Finally on this week's program we have a remembrance of 9/11 from Jim Schaap. It's another Small Wonder.
