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Happy Wednesday,
The work you do here matters. It’s a belief that centers this podcast. It’s a belief at the heart of my work. We’ve all watched as friends, children, and grandchildren make the the jump to somewhere else.
I don’t blame them. Their reasons are good, and I find they are really good at articulating them. They’ve been forced to explain themselves. For those of us who people these places; those of us who want to be here, I think we need to do a better job articulating too.
On this episode of Cornhole Champions, I speak with the Pints & Diplomacy duo, Tyler Stewart and Ryan Comer. They’re two folks with deep roots in Iowa. Folks who love it here. And whose love doesn’t mean their deaf to what’s not working.
They had me on their podcast, and it was such a blast, I wanted to share it with you. It’s a wide-ranging conversation.1 In it, I start scraping along an argument I’ve been putting together in my head for a while: why telling stories here matters. I hope you’ll join me. I hope you’ll think with me about this moment.
Meat and 3
While we don’t hit on them in the show, I think it’s important you hear about how federal cuts are shaking out right here in Iowa. Planned Parenthood ammpimced closures that leave just one abortion clinic in Iowa. The group’s been contracting amid the federal government’s moves to freeze and reduce funding for OB-GYN care across the nation. Four clinics will close in Iowa. You read my full dispatch on it here.
And here’s three:
Iowa pumps the brakes on crypto ATM transaction fees (Iowa Starting Line) - A new law caps daily crypto ATM transactions at $1,000, limits fees to 15% of the transaction amount, and requires operators to provide full refunds when customers can prove they’ve been scammed. The law also mandates written warnings for customers and gives Iowa’s attorney general authority to levy hefty fines against operators who violate the rules.
Replying to Kim Reynolds' lawsuit over emails, Register counterclaim demands their release (Des Moines Register lol) - The Des Moines Register has responded to a lawsuit filed against it by Gov. Kim Reynolds with claims of its own, alleging that Reynolds is illegally withholding public information the newspaper sought under Iowa's open record laws.
Sage - 47%; Ernst - 45% (Data for Progress) - Democrat Nathan Sage has been getting some attention in his bid against longtime Republican incumbent US Sen. Joni Ernst. Lefty poll has him up.
Question for you
We talk a lot about food in this episode (it was right before lunch. give me a break)…
Do you have a perfect day meal? Something that on a bad day can save it all?
For me, Pullman Bar & Grill in Iowa City has French onion soup. It’s simple. Some roasted bones. A lotta sweet onion. Maybe some anise. One time, Benjamin Smart, the executive chef and partner at Pullman told me “I mean it is very simple—in theory—but the execution is everything. It’s so simple, there is nowhere to really hide." For years, I’ve been loving on that soup. Do you have something like it? Careful. It might get featured in this very newsletter.
Before you go
Cornhole Champions is a weekly podcast powered by Iowa Starting Line with music by Avery Mossman. The best place to follow us is on YouTube. But don’t sleep on our short videos on Instagram and Tiktok (Avery would be pissed). And while you’re at it, subscribe to our flagship newsletter!
We are a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative.
Your friendly neighborhood reporter,
Zachary Oren Smith
“Wide-ranging conversation” might be among the most hackneyed expressions in the content-making space. But when you go from the birth of a child to Casey’s breakfast pizza, I feel like the overworked expression is deserved.
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