Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with Iowa political reaction to the Trump administration's new military campaign in Iran and Iowa angles from last week's State of the Union address. They discussed several aspects of a big state government story: Governor Kim Reynolds has been traveling on an Iowa State Patrol airplane purchased with pandemic relief funds. Other topics covered: filing period begins for state and federal candidates, the DCCC backing candidates in the first and third districts, health care news that could be important in those Congressional races, Randy Feenstra's contributions from PACs connected to China-linked companies, and Iowa legislative action on bills related to higher education, the governor's powers, and firearms.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with Iowa political reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump's tariffs. The rest of the show focused on news from the legislature, including details on the House and Senate Republican agreement on K-12 school funding. They discussed a group of bills designed to limit the next governor's power and following the legislature's first "funnel" deadline, they covered some notable bills that are still alive (as well as a few that didn't advance) related to education, libraries, vaccines, health care, immigration, crime and courts, agriculture, the environment, energy policy, local government powers, and automated license plate readers.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks dove into the shake-up in the Democratic race for U.S. Senate after Nathan Sage ended his campaign and endorsed Josh Turek. They discussed what Turek and Zach Wahls have in common, some well-known supporters of each candidate, the contrasts they will draw as they appeal to Democratic voters, a new poll hinting at a talking point for Wahls, and a separate poll testing each Democrat against likely GOP nominee Ashley Hinson. Then they discussed Randy Feenstra's taxpayer-funded political ads and the Iowans in Congress voting to uphold Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada. The second half of the show focused on legislative news: school funding proposals, controversial bills related to Charlie Kirk, school dress codes, libraries, and abortion restrictions, and bills on elected officials' safety and renewable energy projects.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with news from the 2026 campaign trail: big endorsements for Chris McGowan in the fourth Congressional district, Matt Windschitl dropping his IA-04 campaign, Adam Steen banking on social conservatives in the governor's race, a weak showing for Randy Feenstra at the GOP off-year caucuses, and the DNC clearing Iowa Democrats to compete for an early slot in 2028. They covered some news from Congress: federal government funding and Senator Chuck Grassley's connection to FBI changes under Kash Patel. Most of the show focused on news from the Iowa legislature: proposed restrictions on abortion medications and local civil rights ordinances, a trio of "tough on crime" bills from House Republicans, the Senate GOP school funding plan, controversial measures advanced from the House Education Committee, and a House bill to strike all code references to affirmative action or "minority" grants.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with news about the partial government shutdown and the status of federal budget negotiations. They covered Donald Trump's latest Iowa rally, including notable remarks by the president and which members of Congress were (and were not) invited to speak. Other topics covered: a debate featuring four of the five Republican candidates for governor (you can guess who was the no-show), a poll testing messages about the Democrats running for governor, a new candidate for state treasurer, a new endorsement for Ashley Hinson, why the off-year precinct caucuses matter, and year-end fundraising by the Iowans running for U.S. House and Senate. Finally, they discussed the latest news from the Iowa legislature on property taxes and eminent domain. 

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with Iowa political reaction to another tragedy in Minneapolis. Next, they covered breaking news from the 2026 campaign trail, as three Iowans ended their Congressional campaigns on the same day. One of them, Taylor Wettach, is now running for state auditor. Christina Bohannan announced a new stance on health care reform, and State Senator Catelin Drey revealed her cancer diagnosis. Laura and Spencer also covered many Iowa legislative stories: a House Republican property tax plan, a House floor vote on eminent domain, a very different Senate GOP plan on eminent domain, a House Democratic clean water package, subcommittee action on over-the-counter ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, more teaching restrictions on LGBTQ topics, and a possible smoking ban for casinos. Finally, they discussed the new Iowa Legislative Black and Brown Caucus and highlights from the fundraising reports for some Democratic and Republican candidates for governor. (More to come on candidate fundraising next week.)

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks each shared a favorite quote from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., then got right to it, discussing key points from Governor Kim Reynolds' Condition of the State address, some topics Reynolds didn't mention, Democratic reaction, why the governor wants to eliminate elections for some county offices, and Laura's viral moment when the governor's staffer prevented her from entering a briefing. Other topics covered: what the Iowa Supreme Court chief justice is asking for, why the Iowa National Guard is deployed in Syria, the legislative priorities of Iowa's attorney general, state auditor, and secretary of agriculture, and early bills moving through Iowa House committees. They finished with some campaign news: two Democrats launched bids for secretary of agriculture, a ratings change for Iowa's third Congressional district, and why one Republican candidate for governor wants supporters to attend off-year caucuses in February.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with news from Congress: Zach Nunn votes to extend health insurance subsidies, Mariannette Miller-Meeks votes to override Trump's vetoes, pesticide immunity dropped from a government funding bill, Ashley Hinson defends ICE, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst stick with the president on Venezuela. They covered the Iowa legislature's return from many angles: political and demographic changes since last year, key deadlines for the legislature's work, Senate Republicans' property tax bill, House Republicans' "tough on crime" proposals, the new Senate leader punishing rebels through committee assignments, and key remarks from top Democrats in both chambers. Finally, they discussed Kari Lake's prospects as a candidate in Iowa after she bought property in Davenport, and Ernst's endorsement of Hinson for Senate.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with Iowa political reaction to the U.S. attack in Venezuela and whether this could become a 2026 campaign issue. On the campaign front, they discussed the first TV ad aired in Iowa's U.S. Senate race, a Republican rival's challenge to GOP front-runner Ashley Hinson, and takeaways from the special election in Iowa Senate district 16 (another big Democratic overperformance). Other topics covered: how Iowa will use additional federal funds for rural health, the governor's new Nuclear Energy Task Force, new policies that took effect in Iowa on January 1, a big drop in traffic fatalities, and several topics to watch in the upcoming Iowa legislative session.

Laura Belin and Spencer Dirks began with some news from the Republican primary campaign for governor and a quick preview of the December 30 special election in Iowa Senate district 16. The rest of the show recapped major Iowa politics stories from 2025: news from the Iowa legislature, from campaigns for state and federal offices, from the Iowa delegation in Congress, and from the courts. They also flagged some of the most surprising political events of the year and a few important stories that stayed mostly below the radar. They ended the show with an update on Donald Trump's lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and its longtime poll director, Ann Selzer (filed a little more than a year ago).