The May 6th Iowa Podcasters' Collaborative Weekly Roundup
The Iowa Legislature, Black Iowa News, Water Quality, and more
May is here, and with it, the winds have given way to some pleasant spring days as farmers plant this year’s row crops across the state. Welcome to the May 5th weekly roundup of the Iowa Podcasters’ Collaborative. We are your hosts, Robert Leonard, Amy Russell, and Sarah Davis. The purpose of the collaborative is to curate and promote some of the best podcasters and other digital media producers in the state. It’s built upon the model created by Julie Gammack’s Iowa Writers’ Collaborative with thousands of subscribers in 45 states and 44 countries.
Here are the current members of the Iowa Podcasters’ Collaborative and what they are up to this week:
Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck offers a weekly Monday Zoom call at noon, and since it is a video digital product, it’s a broader part of the Iowa Podcasters’ Collaborative. Who would start a newspaper today? Find out in this week’s interview with Dana James who is about to launch Black Iowa News, a print newspaper product. Thousands of copies of the premier edition will be available throughout Iowa in time for Juneteenth, June 12. This is your chance to purchase the first edition of a historic newspaper!
Also, many of you have read about the controversy over the State of Iowa shutting down 66 real-time water quality data monitors supervised by Chris Jones of the University of Iowa (who has a new Substack, by the way). Bob Leonard interviewed Chris, and Chris shared some breaking news. Now Julie Gammack wants to dig in deeper and has invited Chris to discuss the issue in real-time in a Zoom meeting at noon on Monday. And YOU can be there as news is made. Here is the Zoom link.
Legendary Des Moines Register columnists Rekha Basu and Julie Gammack offer their What the Hell Happened to Iowa. They search for answers in a state once considered progressive.
This past week on Podcast By George, activist Jose Vega was interviewed about his directly confronting mainstream media and politicians about their purposeful obfuscation of facts surrounding Russiagate, Nordstream, Ukraine, Julian Assange, and more. You can watch George's interview here. Congratulations to George. It’s his 500th podcast!
KHOI’s Capitol Week radio broadcast with Laura Belin airs each Monday at 7:00 PM, and the archives may be found at the link above. Take 30 minutes and get caught up on politics as the new month begins. Laura Belin, the author of the blog Bleeding Heartland, updates us on developments in Iowa government, hosted by KHOI’s newsman Dennis Hart. All subscribers to Iowa politics with Laura Belin on Substack receive an audio file and recap of every edition of KHOI Radio’s “Capitol Week.” And please consider subscribing to Laura’s Substack newsletter, Iowa Politics with Laura Belin.
Mary Swander’s Buggy Land focuses on the Amish, sustainability, and the wider rural environment. Mary is the former Poet Laureate of Iowa and the executive director of AgArts. This week, host Mary Swander interviews Christopher Weatherly, a licensed social worker and Ph.D. candidate at Washington University in St. Louis. Weatherley discusses his research on mental health issues for farmers and others in the rural environment. He details the social, economic, and atmospheric challenges farmers and rural youth face, and the availability of care they receive. Includes a discussion of the arts and how they serve as an emotional outlet.
Iowa Revolution is hosted by award-winning radio broadcaster Spencer Dirks, and he and Robert Leonard (aka Bob, or Dr. Bob) discuss news, politics, sports, and much, much more. The duo highlights how Iowa’s water is about to get “dirty AF,” Iowa’s horses in the Derby, and Rob Sand is the man. Also, the Writer’s Guild is on strike, Iowa’s best burger, and Spencer’s Top 5 Tom Cruise Movies.
For a weekly roundup, subscribe to the Iowa Podcasters Collaborative. Also, please check out the Iowa Writers Collaborative--powerful commentary--and free! If you can, please consider being a paid subscriber.
Enjoy, and see you again next week!