What We're Reckoning With - and What Still Holds Us Together
...From Davenport, Iowa City, Minnesota & western Iowa, this week’s roundup spans political accountability, cultural witness, Iowa history, global tension, and the joy of a shared Iowa sports moment.
This week’s roundup moves from hard truths to human moments. Art Cullen and Rekha Basu cut through political doublespeak and power with clarity and urgency, while Lyle Muller reminds us how Iowa’s past continues to shape its present. Michael Judge turns to music as protest and witness, and Phoebe Wall Howard widens the lens to show how global tensions are reshaping what resonates at home and abroad. And when the news feels heavy, Mike Hlas offers the simple, shared joy of a great night of Iowa basketball.
The Iowa Down Ballot podcast is a must watch for Iowa political junkies.
Former Wall Street Journal writer Michael Judge comments regarding a guest post by saying: Jeffrey Foucault, many thanks for saying what was on your mind and in your heart. It’s a kind of blues we’re all feeling. Reminds me of the great Woody Guthrie, who said about the blues that it’s “sort of a complaint or I mean a lament or I mean sort of a hell raisin’ in your own system or somethin’ ya want to get out, ya want to sing about, ya know there is somethin’ wrong and you look around and you see a lot of things that you think’s sorta causin’ things to be hard and you just kinda get to singin’ the blues or somethin’.” A lament. That’s what this all feels like.
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National Politics
Cheryl Tevis
A partly cloudy forecast with headwinds for the president’s visit to Des Moines—nothing Iowans haven’t weathered before.
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Rekha Basu
Trump’s pardons and prosecutions reveal stark doublespeak—and double standards—between his “Very Fine People” and “Worst of the Worst.”
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Dan Henderson
Those opposing ICE thuggery have two superpowers: solidarity and an understanding of the tactics used to divide us. Henderson urges resistance and connection.
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Clare Culver
Czesław Miłosz’s 1944 poem “A Song on the End of the World” resonates eerily in today’s political climate.
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Phoebe Wall Howard
Canadian sailors redesign race courses to avoid U.S. waters amid rising international tensions.
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Phoebe Wall Howard
From New York City to Michigan, political outsiders are breaking through as voter frustration reshapes what resonates.
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Dennis Goldford
Unlike Reagan-era optimism, today’s MAGA message is blunt and dark: “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”
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How easily do we learn to coexist with brutality so long as it does not interrupt our routines. Clare Culver
Iowa Politics
Dave Price
An Iowa legislative leader makes an unusual move, and four competing property-tax proposals emerge. Kathie Obradovich, Laura Belin, and Dave Price break it down on Iowa Down Ballot.
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Dave Price
Tensions rise in Minneapolis after ICE kills another protester, and Price explores why Iowa legislators may deny Governor Kim Reynolds the $10 million she wants.
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Laura Belin
On Capitol Week, Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks analyze the governor’s speech, legislative priorities, and new Democratic campaigns.
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Laura Belin
A close look at—and fact-check of—a poll testing negative messaging against Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott and positives for Rep. Zach Nunn.
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Art Cullen
Why would farmers feel threatened by a retired scientist running for secretary of agriculture? Cullen says we’ve been fed a snootful.
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Art Cullen
Governor Kim Reynolds’ long and painful Condition of the State address reflects her tenure—and signals an end many won’t mourn.
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Ed Tibbetts
Republicans again move to curb voting rights—this time shifting power at the county courthouse level.
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Weather and Environment
David Thoreson
The Arctic is a delicately balanced wilderness in the fastest-changing region on Earth—and Greenland needs protection now.
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Law and Justice
Julie Gammack
The Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court was Julie’s guest. Susan Larson Christensen talked about the state of the judiciary following her address to the Iowa Legislature. Read more
Kitty Sheehan
Most of the words here belong to others—the voices of people on the ground in Minnesota, witnessing and living through unrest.
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Rick Morain
Iowa’s attorney general can now take over county criminal cases. Some call it efficiency; others call it usurpation.
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Business
Rick Jost
Business briefs include an AI-generated fake John Deere pickup, Bayer’s Roundup case heading to the Supreme Court, and Buc-ee’s coming…to Nebraska.
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Robert Leonard
A deep dive into Iowa startups and entrepreneurship with Diana Wright and Tej Dhawan.
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Hola Iowa
How one teen built a business rooted in her love of dance and commitment to preserving culture.
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Suzanna de Baca
In “Just Cold, Not Impossible,” leadership lessons on preparation, resilience, and pushing through adversity.
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Phoebe Wall Howard
When a designer steals the spotlight with stunning paper and plastic bag dresses.
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Education
Jane Nguyen
A classroom transformed—and emptied—since last year.
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Lyle Muller
The contentious 1987–88 search for a University of Iowa president still echoes today.
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Media
Dave Busiek
In 40 years of journalism, Busiek says he’s never seen attacks like those launched in the first year of the Trump administration.
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Arts and Culture
Michael Judge
When Every Song Is a Protest Song: Jeffrey Foucault reflects on music, empathy, and resistance.
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Chad Eliott
Singer/songwriter/artist/teacher Chad Eliott reworks a song he wrote about Minnesota in honor of the people who live there now.
Around Iowa
Chuck Offenburger
Stuck in the ’60s—and now the 1860s—helping Iowa students honor forgotten Civil War soldiers.
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Mental Health
Kali White VanBaale
A little-noticed disruption in the mental health world caused deep distress for those caught inside it.
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Poetry
Suzanna de Baca
A poem titled “She Bakes,” published in the Iowa Poetry Association Lyric Iowa 2025 Anthology.
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Podcast
Ken Chester
Indiana blames EVs for lost highway revenue—but the numbers tell a very different story.
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Sports
Mike Hlas
Last Tuesday was a very good night to be a basketball couch potato in Iowa.
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World Affairs
Mary Swander (Emerging Voices)
An unfinished sweater at the National WWII Museum tells a quiet, haunting story of the war’s end.
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Be like Steve:
Sorry for eavesdropping, but please make this happen! Tape it so everyone can watch at their first opportunity.
Hey nice cover photo! Hope you enjoyed the Greenland essay. I’m ready for a Zoom with you anytime. Much to discuss!