Hey, Friday.

🌧️ Weather: Showers and thunderstorms, with a high of 80 and a low of 63.

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Des Moines member Donn Jones!

• And happy early birthday to Sara Opie, Janet Petersen, Susan Patterson Plank, Wendy DeVries, Elaine Lundstrom, David Johnson and Jackie Saunders!

Today's newsletter is 957 words — a 3.5-minute read.

A festival in Des Moines will explore the theme "The Pursuit of Happiness" and the role the concept played in America's foundation in light of the country's 250th anniversary.

Why it matters: Despite Thomas Jefferson's writings and having more material comforts than ever, Americans are reporting more unhappiness, anxiety and detachment.

State of play: Panels at the Tallgrass Festival of Ideas next weekend will center on the pursuit of happiness, including beauty and art, migration, mental health, and the historical context of the phrase, founder Nathan Beacom tells Axios.

• Speakers will include professors from the University of Iowa and Iowa State, local artists, and political theorists.

Zoom in: AI — the constant gloom-and-doom topic of 2026 — is also on the agenda, with a panel led by Ali Hasan, a University of Iowa philosophy professor.

• "There are a ton of interesting questions that AI raises," Beacom says, noting the ease of automation. "What's the place of difficulty and suffering and friction and challenge? Are those things necessary? Do we lose anything if we make life more easy and painless?"

The big picture: Since the mid-1960s, we've seen a rise in individualism and a drop-off in community life, including declines in organized religion and volunteering.

• Community life dropped more sharply in 2012 as more people picked up their phones and teens reported increased anxiety and social isolation with the popularity of social media.
• The goal of the festival is to promote more in-person interactions, even if the topics are already easily accessible through TED Talks and podcasts online. Beacom hopes that by having more in-person conversations, people will feel more meaning in their lives.
• "Materially, we're very comfortable," he says. "Invest in, especially right now, real, in-person, concrete relationships."

Zoom out: Beacom points to a nearly 90-year-old longitudinal study by Harvard examining human health and happiness as evidence of the need for human connection.

• Older adults who had led longer and happier lives reported that money and fame hadn't been major influences. Instead, they said that strong social relationships were what sustained their happiness.
• The quality of friendships, rather than just the number of friends, also mattered, as did treating happiness as a daily mindfulness habit rather than an end goal.

If you go: Aug. 7-8 at Drake University and The Shop. Tickets: $55.

Mama Africa is opening its first permanent restaurant.

Why it matters: It turns a popular caterer and regular Downtown Farmers Market vendor into a downtown destination for West African food.

Driving the news: Owner Ventica Woods plans to open the restaurant tomorrow in the food hall on the lower level of the Greater Des Moines Partnership building at 700 Locust St.

Catch up quick: Woods, 34, is originally from Liberia and came to Des Moines at age 14 after fleeing civil war.

• She says cooking became her safe space after childhood trauma, and she brought that love of food with her to Iowa.

What they're saying: "When I took my first step at the Des Moines International Airport, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders," Woods tells Axios. "I call that my birth of freedom."

Zoom in: Woods began selling meals from her home in 2020 after her husband asked on Facebook whether people would support her cooking business.

• The first meals sold out, and the business grew to include weekday orders, catering, weddings, festivals, pop-ups and farmers market appearances.

On the menu: Mama Africa will serve traditional dishes, including jollof rice, fried plantains, and goat meat.

• The restaurant will also introduce a build-your-own-bowl concept, allowing customers to mix dishes their own way.

The intrigue: Woods is finishing a memoir, "I Almost Got Lost," which she expects to release in September on Amazon, in local bookstores and at the restaurant.

What's next: Woods plans to continue catering and making weekend appearances at the farmers market after the restaurant opens.

If you go: Mama Africa's grand opening is from 10am-4pm tomorrow.

• Regular hours will be 10am-2pm Monday through Friday.

💰 Crypto-backed groups are launching about $1.5 million in ad spending to boost Rep. Ashley Hinson in Iowa's U.S. Senate race. (Axios)

💩 Iowa has 226 cyclosporiasis cases with 32 of those in Polk County, according to the state health department. There were only 69 cases statewide last year. (KCCI)

✋ University of Iowa's Center for Intellectual Freedom is pausing classes until 2028. (KCRG)

😷 MercyOne in Ankeny was temporarily closed yesterday after people reported feeling ill due to an odor. The smell was from an adhesive used during roofing work. (KCCI)

Friday

🎤 Female Hip-Hop Showcase | Celebrate women in music during this high-energy showcase featuring local female hip-hop artists. | 7pm | xBk Live | Tickets: $19

Saturday

🧘 Yoga at Terra Lake | Start your Saturday with an hour of yoga. Bring your own mat. | 8–9am | Terra Lake Amphitheater | Free!

🍺 Single Speed Beer Mile | Drink four beers and run four laps during this kooky race. | 4pm | SingleSpeed Brewing | Registration: $30

🎷 Des Moines Gamer Symphony Orchestra | Listen to jazz arrangements of video game favorites from Mario, Pokémon, Cuphead, and more. Bring a lawn chair. | 7pm | Water Works Park | Free!

Sunday

👚 Sip N' Thrift Market | Shop local vintage vendors while enjoying food and drinks at Captain Roy's. | 10am–4pm | Free!

👋 Thanks for reading. Say hi to Muna and Lorde for us tonight.