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Rock Island Lines
Monday thru Friday 11 AM

A series of award-winning stories about our region's traditions, institutions, and people, past and present. Rock Island Lines is written and read by Roald Tweet, Professor Emeritus of English at Augustana College.

The stories in these three-minute modules are rooted in a specific place; a "kidney-shaped limestone island plunked down in the middle of the Mississippi River." It's the logical site for a storyteller. It is from the rich heritage of our region that Tweet spins his histories, biographies, and "stretchers."

Roald has spent much of his life travelling up and down the river, with forays overland, east and west, talking to the people, reading their journals, and enjoying the humor and history of America's heartland. His observations about life around Rock Island strike responsive chords across the region. It's a viewpoint that will enrich and enliven your day.

Listen below or subscribe on iTunes or RSS. 

Sponsored by
Quad City Bank & Trust

Latest Episodes
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.One thing you can say about those Minnesotans is, they're dependable. If they push your outhouse over on Halloween,…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.For those restless Rock Islanders who might have felt cooped up after a long hard winter below the Mississippi River…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.When the builders of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad finally crossed the Mississippi River to Davenport in 1856,…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.When a twenty-eight-year-old, up-start lawyer named David C. Cloud decided to end gambling in the small frontier town…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.I'd be interested in hearing from those of you who don't believe in ghosts. Just what do you think happened on that…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.If the Missouri War of 1839 counts for anything, the small adjacent villages of Rockingham and Davenport, Iowa, can…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.If you want to know how to make ends meet, you have only to go back and read the autobiography of J. M. D. Burrows, a…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Not many people travel the narrow road from the little village of Camanche to Clinton, Iowa, at any time of day, but…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.Whoever claimed that "sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me" had not heard of Counsellor J.…
  • Community
    This is Roald Tweet on Rock Island.The entire length of the Mississippi River is stitched together in ragged zigzags of bridges, creating a crazy quilt…