Iowa’s lasting legacy of educational broadcasting

5/6/2026

Radio is still one of the most personal media formats. In a car, it becomes a companion — something you turn on without thinking, something that fills the space of a commute. After a few consistent listening sessions, hosts start to feel familiar, even personal, as if they are speaking directly to you for those 20 minutes a day.

Yes, podcasts can create a similar effect. But this is not about podcasts. It is about something older, faster and still irreplaceable when it matters most. Radio is not dead.

 

A STATION BUILT FOR EDUCATION

In 1953, Des Moines Public Schools founded KDPS 88.1 FM as an educational station for students. But its history stretches even further back. Before becoming a classroom tool, the license belonged to a local bus company that had planned to use it for onboard advertising. That plan never materialized. Instead, the company sold the license to the school district, transforming a failed commercial idea into one of Iowa’s most distinctive educational platforms.

By the early 1980s, Grand View College began leasing airtime from KDPS after college president C. Arild Olsen sought a community-facing broadcast presence.

 

THE WINZENBURG ERA

Steve Winzenburg arrived in 1989 and quickly became a defining figure in Iowa radio education. He had started working in radio in high school and eventually worked at 16 stations, including the now-defunct Marycrest College station in Davenport. Even while teaching full time, he continued working professionally at WHO Radio.

By the 1990s, Winzenburg had built one of the strongest college radio programs in the state.

In 1992, he co-created “Kids Radio Mania” with Judy Richardson, a weekend program designed entirely for children. It mixed music, talk segments and on-air personalities that built a loyal audience well beyond Des Moines. Among those voices were Kate, Mary, Jenna, Crazy Dave (Dan Wardell of Iowa Public Television) and Goofy Gilbert.

“The whole point was to get students on the air, let them make mistakes and learn from them,” Winzenburg said. “There weren’t many places where college students could get on a real, full-power station like that. We had high school students during the day, college students at night, and kids programming on the weekends.”

 

A SHARED SIGNAL

By 2007, Kirk Johnson joined Des Moines Public Schools radio operations, moving from a closed-circuit high school setup into KDPS at Central Campus.

“During the day, it was KDPS with the high school students,” Johnson said. “Then around 6 p.m., we’d hit a button and it switched over to Grand View through a phone line, and they’d run nights and overnights as The Edge. Weekends were Kids Radio Mania. It was just a shared station, which sometimes made for a bit of an identity issue.”

That same year, Grand View expanded again, purchasing 94.1 FM from Drake University after its low-power station KDRA-LP “The Dog” ended. The new station became KGVC-LP, a low-power sister outlet.

 

LEARNING LIVE ON AIR

For students like Sean Roberts, the station was more than a class — it was opportunity.

Originally focused on college athletics, Roberts shifted direction after realizing baseball was not going to be his long-term path. Grand View offered something else: real broadcasting experience.

“I’m not where I am today without that station,” Roberts said. “I loved that place so much. I hosted a show with my buddy called ‘Sean and Jose Two Hour Bonanza Mash-Up.’ It was a loose format show with music (lots of EDM), sports talk and random segments like YouTube Video of the Week. It was live, too. You turned the microphone on, and it was go time. There’s no going back.”

 

THE SLOW FADE

By 2019, the Grand View University presence on the station was gone. It did not end with a single decision or announcement. It faded quietly, gradually, like many institutional things do.

After Winzenburg stepped away due to health issues, there was little institutional momentum left to sustain it. Grand View shifted focus toward athletics and other programs.

Then, in 2025, KDPS itself went dark as Des Moines Public Schools began the process of selling the station, ending more than 70 years of educational broadcasting.

 

WHY RADIO STILL MATTERS

The idea that “radio is dead” usually comes from those who do not work in it. Radio still does something nothing else can: it reacts in real time. Sean Roberts experienced that firsthand while working at a sports station in Des Moines. During the 2016 police shootings, the format changed instantly. One moment it was sports talk. The next, it was public information. That is the distinction often missed in conversations about streaming or podcasts. When something is happening right now, you do not queue it up. You turn on the radio.

 

THE ARCHIVES REMAIN

Even as stations shut down, their output persists. KDPS, The Edge, and KGVC-LP archives continue to circulate online, preserved by Steve Winzenburg through his YouTube channels @SWinzenburg and @KidsRadioMania. Central Campus has also archived KDPS promotional material on @CCBroadcastFilm.

 

A LARGER PATTERN

When federal funding cuts hit the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, National Public Radio and public television systems absorbed major losses. Stations like Marfa Public Radio in far West Texas — serving vast, sparsely populated regions — highlight what is at stake.

Iowa has places like that, too, communities where local radio is still the only immediate public voice. And that is the point. Radio is not gone. It is just quieter now, more fragile — and when it matters most, still there. ♦

Kristian Day is a filmmaker and writer based in Des Moines. He also hosts the syndicated Iowa Basement Tapes radio program on 98.9 FM KFMG. Instagram: @kristianday | Twitter: @kristianmday