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Gratitude Day

September 21 is World Gratitude Day — a day set aside for us to reflect on the joys and many remarkable moments we have in our lives. For those of us at Iowa PBS, we want to express our gratitude for you!

This has been a year full of challenges and changes. However, one thing that is neither challenging nor changing is our gratitude for you. You make Iowa PBS possible. Thank You.

How You Make an Impact

You help preserve the past, share the stories of the present, put a spotlight on the issues important for the future and entertain along the way. Read about some of the ways your support makes a difference for Iowans in our latest Impact Report.

Report Transcript

Iowa PBS Foundation 2025 Impact Report

Dear Friend,

Iowa PBS is for you and because of you.

Together, you and Iowa PBS help tell Iowa’s stories, prepare children for school, preserve history and showcase high school arts and sports across the entire state. We share important information about the leaders of today and work to nurture and highlight the leaders of tomorrow.

You are the reason for our collective impact. Everything in this report is possible because of you.

Our award-winning team of producers, educators, artists, journalists and public media experts create over 1,000 hours of rich and entertaining programming and services. Content that is free and accessible to everyone everywhere. You help us fulfill this critical part of our purpose.

Despite the elimination of federal funding, our mission is not diminished. We remain positive and committed to keeping this essential service strong and here for the people of Iowa. With you by our side, we know we can.

You have always made the difference for Iowa PBS, and you always will. Thank you for your support.

Gratefully,

Andrew Batt
Executive Director and General Manager
Iowa PBS

Robert Hilbert
President
Iowa PBS Foundation

You Help Connect Iowans to Each Other

Iowa PBS is uniquely Iowan--locally owned, locally operated and the only TV station that reaches every corner of Iowa. We connect Iowans through local programming that they care about. Stories about Iowans by Iowans for Iowans. Each year, Iowa PBS shines the spotlight on exceptional student athletes and artists and keeps Iowans informed, whether it's the local economy or up-to-date information from the statehouse. We are here for you.

Local News and Sports Coverage

All-State Music Festival
Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards
Iowa High School Sports Championships
Iowa State Dance Team Championships
College Wrestling
Condition of the Guard Address
State of the State address
State of the Judiciary Address
Iowa Press

You Help Connect Iowans to Each Other

In 2024 and 2025, Iowa PBS dedicated hundreds of hours to producing 16 original local programs featuring stories from across the state. These programs range from news to education to entertainment to performing arts and more.

16 Original Recurring Local Programs

Local and Educational Programs

Christmas with Wartburg
Des Moines Metro Opera Productions
Yankee Doodle Pops
Iowa State Fair Coverage
Crafts from the Past
Iowa Press
FIND Iowa
Historic Buildings of Iowa
Gardening with Steil
Iowa Life
Iowa Pathways
Iowa Science Phenomena
Market to Market
Road Trip Iowa
Studio 3 Live
Woodsmith Shop
World Food Prize Laureate Award Ceremony

You Help Connect the World to Iowa

In addition to our continuing programs and annual broadcasts, Iowa PBS creates several hour-long documentaries every year about Iowa’s past present and future. These documentaries are made available to stations across the country to share with their audiences as well.

On average, Iowa PBS airs 10.5 hours of locally produced content every week.

Local Programs & Documentaries

Behind the Blue Ribbon
Dogs of Service
The Texas Tenors - Faith and Inspiration
Behind the Scenes at Antiques Roadshow Iowa
Citizen Diplomacy
The Pope’s Visit to Iowa
Tractor Wars

Through our catalog of international programs, Iowa PBS is able to provide our viewers access to stories from around the world. From dramas to mysteries to comedies and more, Iowa PBS brings high quality content to Iowans both on air and on demand. Our ability to license these programs is made possible in part by your support.

International Programs

All Creatures Great and Small (UK)
Call the Midwife (UK)
Grantchester (UK)
Astrid (France)
When the Dust Settles (Denmark)
Soviet Jeans (Latvia)
Sisi: Austrian Empress (Germany and Austria)
Velvet (Spain)
Miss Friman’s War (Sweden)
Cold Summer (Italy)
Our Miracle Years (Germany)

Your donation keeps Iowa PBS strong and helps us continue our mission to connect Iowans to each other, connect the world to Iowa, and connect Iowans to the world.

Your support is more important than ever with the recent loss of federal funding.

Please consider increasing your donation or making an additional gift to help Iowa PBS continue bringing outstanding educational and entertaining content to all Iowans.

Donate online at iowapbs.org/donate, or call (515) 728-2828.

The Amazing Effects of Gratitude

Gratitude is not just a polite response we learn as children. Gratitude affects your health and disposition. Recently PBS created a short video about the far reaching effects of gratitude.

Transcript

This concept of being thankful has been stressed in religion and philosophy for a long time. Back in 1820 Scottish philosopher Thomas Brown defined gratitude as "the delightful emotion of love to him who has conferred a kindness on us."

But scientifically, gratitude doesn't qualify as a basic emotion like joy, sadness or anger. There's no universal facial expression for it. As an emotion, gratitude is a little hard to define.

Today, the Oxford Dictionary defines gratitude as "the quality or condition of being thankful; the appreciation of an inclination to return kindness."

And we've only really started to study gratitude scientifically in the past 30 years.

In a 2015 study, participants were asked to imagine how they would feel if a complete stranger saved their life. I mean, how would you feel? The participants had to rate how grateful they were to strangers who provided them with gifts of food and clothing — all while they had their brain scanned in an fMRI machine. Researchers found their ratings of gratitude positively correlated with activity in brain areas associated with fairness and value judgements. It makes sense because gratitude is often thought of as a moral emotion.

There are even benefits in just noting how grateful you are. Another study asked people to write down three things that went well that day and why for one week. At the end of the week people were slightly happier than at the beginning, and over time, their happiness scores kept improving. After one month they were 5% happier and after six months they were 9% happier. Just from one week of writing a journal.

A similar study with participants with heart disease found that keeping a gratitude journal increased their heart health and quality of sleep, perhaps because it reduces stress.

"Counting your blessings" quite literally makes people happier and healthier.

And some people are even hardwired to be more thankful. In a recent study of 77 couples, those with a particular genetic variation that affects the secretion of oxytocin expressed more gratitude towards their partners. Oxytocin in thought to play a big role in role in promoting close social bonds, so gratitude is part of the glue that keeps these relationships together.

So if you think it's the thought that counts, think again. Science shows there are some pretty amazing benefits to our mind, body and relationships when we say those two small words — thank you.