RAYGUN Des Moines will host a launch party from 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6., for the podcast “Mid-Americana: Stories from a Changing Midwest.” It is a project of Central College professors Joshua Dolezal, professor of English, and Brian Campbell, director of sustainability education. The project explores the history and identity of the Greater Midwest through the lives and stories of individual people. The debut season, with the theme “Homecoming,” features eight native Iowans who left the Midwest and came back to stay. It details what pulled them away, what drew them back and what they contribute now to a changing Midwest.The first two of the eight episodes for this season have been released. They are available on the website www.midamericana.com and can be downloaded through Apple, Google Play, Spotify and Stitcher. The first is titled “Gateway to the Midwest: Mike Draper” and the second “Divided by Difference: Dawn Martinez Oropeza.” In June, Campbell and Dolezal received an $18,630 grant from Humanities Iowa, a state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The mission of Humanities Iowa is to promote understanding and appreciation of the people, culture and stories of importance to Iowa and the nation. The foundation provides grants and partnerships to other nonprofit organizations that further the humanities in the state and conducts its own programs to support the humanities across Iowa.