Yes, this weekly roundup is by writers who tell stories with an Iowa angle. That said, our man Art Cullen hit the road to witness how climate change is impacting our neighbors to the west, and he’s taking his readers along the journey.
Dave Busiek’s take on media coverage of the Trump indictment, and a national media circus in general, John Naughton’s view of women’s basketball, Fern and Joe along with Ed Tibbetts writes about property tax assessments, Laura Belin has a scoop, and a watchful eye on the Iowa legislature, Beth Hoffman has a feature story about a Monroe County Librarian, and Bob Leonard takes us down a memory lane of Trump’s early campaign stop in Iowa.
Kyle Munson covered a lecture by investigative reporter Bob Woodward at Drake University, and Suzanna de Baca makes a discovery about her aunt. Julie Gammack is touched by the gift of a tablecloth, while Barry Piatt writes of a fascinating link the family of Abraham Lincoln has to Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and Deb Engle has a spiritual tie to her upcoming Easter celebration.
Hola Iowa’s Christina Fernández-Morrow has a story about a Black and Brown Business Summit.
Mary Swander weaves a tale of buttons and birds that will make you smile, and so will Pat Kinney, who writes about a man teaching financial literacy wearing a pink wig.
Chuck Offenburger makes his annual visit to the ‘closest place to heaven on earth’ and - last, but far from least - Cheryl Tevis writes about the grim news regarding life expectancy in the U.S.
Twitter tries to quash Substack
As of this week, Twitter is blocking links to Substack columns. What does this mean for the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative? Not much. The vast majority of our readers and subscribers come from the collaborative members referring to one another, plus some Facebook chatter, and Google searches. Twitter’s influence is not nearly as impactful as Elon Musk thinks it is.
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If you share this with just one friend, it will do more to spread the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative than an entire year of us posting columns on Twitter.
So there, Elon.
ART CULLEN
KYLE MUNSON
DEBRA ENGLE
CHUCK OFFENBURGER
FERN AND JOE
LAURA BELIN
SUZANNA DE BACA
BARRY PIATT
JOHN NAUGHTON
ED TIBBETTS
ROBERT LEONARD
DAVE BUSIEK
JULIE GAMMACK
MACEY SPENSLEY
MARY SWANDER
PAT KINNEY
HOLA IOWA
CHERYL TEVIS
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative members offer a slice of life in Iowa not found elsewhere. If you can pay to subscribe to any of them individually, great. If are not able to at this time, subscribe at no charge. Both are much appreciated. And you won’t have to wait for the Sunday Roundup to see their columns on the day they are filed.
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Nik Heftman, The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar
Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines
Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines
John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics: Behind the Curtains, Washington, D.C.
Macey Spensley, The Midwest Creative, Davenport and Des Moines
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
The Iowa Writers Collaborative is also proud to ally with Iowa Capital Dispatch.