We are presenting the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative’s first episode of the inaugural Politics Panel season.

Dave Busiek, veteran KCCI-TV news manager, is our moderator. From this point forward, others in the Collaborative will share the moderation duty, following Busiek’s template.

There is a growing demand for this kind of thoughtful, local commentary in an audio podcast format, and the assembled panel offers a combined decades of experience to bring to the conversation.

We hope you like our beginning effort and understand it will become even more substantial as time progresses. We welcome your feedback and ideas:

The opinions expressed around the table include breaking news about the Iowa gubernatorial race.

What Can You Do?

If you want to support this effort, please consider becoming a Benefactor through the subscription model offered through Substack or as a one-time contributor at various levels. Names will be listed on our Benefactors page in multiple contribution levels. Categories: Raving Fans ($1000 and up), Insightful Advocates ($700 to $999), and Trailblazer ($299-$699). There are costs associated with the production of this endeavor.

Who We Are

Our team will rotate through the episodes leading up to the 2024 election. Paid subscribers and Benefactors make this effort possible. Learn who is lending a hand:

Today’s Panelists

Laura Belin, who has been covering Iowa politics at the Bleeding Heartland blog since 2007. Her Substack column and blog are must-reads by those who want to know what is happening in local politics.

Douglas Burns is a fourth-generation Iowa journalist. Burns is the former co-owner of the Carroll (Iowa) Times Herald, which was in his family for 93 years.

Dave Busiek spent 43 years in Iowa radio and T.V. newsrooms as a reporter and anchor and the last 30 years as a news manager at KCCI-TV, the CBS affiliate in Des Moines. As a news manager, he was a political reporter for many years. He organized the station’s political coverage of the Iowa caucuses, arranged political debates, and covered hundreds of campaigns.

Barry Piatt has had a front-row seat for state and national government & politics for over 50 years, working first as a political reporter in Iowa and later as a senior advisor for U.S. House and Senate members and candidates for U.S. President.

Julie Gammack is the founder of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative and author of the Substack column, Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck. She is also the producer of the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat.

Dennis Goldford After 39 years, he retired as a professor emeritus from Drake University's Department of Political Science. He has been regularly providing political analysis for KCCI-TV. Follow his column: Let’s Talk Politics.

Black Iowa News founder, Dana James, is the writer and founder of Black Iowa News. Writer. Founder. Publisher. She founded the statewide Black Iowa Newspaper and Black Iowa News.

Robert Leonard is a former radio news reporter. He has bylines in the New York Times, TIME, USA Today, the Des Moines Register, the Iowa Capitol Dispatch, the Kansas City Star, and many more.

Dave Price is an award-winning Iowa journalist who offers observations on politics, current events, family, and some random things, too, through his column on Substack.

Ty Rushing will launch his new Substack column in mid-August. Most recently, he was a political reporter for Iowa Starting Line, a senior position with the Courier, with the mission of creating compelling, local commentary.

Ed Tibbetts is a lifelong Iowan who grew up in a small town near Cedar Rapids. He never achieved his boyhood dream of playing Major League baseball or moving to California. Still, he’s found a good life in Iowa and journalism.

He made the Quad-Cities his home in 1989, leaving television news to work for the Quad-City Times newspaper.

For 32 years, he wrote about politics and government at all levels and demographic and economic trends in the Quad-Cities and Iowa.

Our Team

Editing and production by Zachary Oren Smith.

Music after Episode 1 by Dartanyan L. Brown

Our Benefactors

The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative

We are members of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. The current roster is below. Soon to be added will include Ty Rushing.

Each Sunday, a roundup of our members’ columns is published. Here is the one from last Sunday:

IOWA WRITERS’ COLLABORATIVE

Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center

Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Tory Brecht: Brecht’s Beat, Quad Cities

Dartanyan L. Brown: My Integrated Live, Des Moines

Douglas Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Jane Burns: The Crossover, Des Moines

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Rachelle Chase : Reading with Rachelle, Ottumwa

Iowa Writers Collaborative: Roundup

Steph C: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Taylor Deckert: Taylor’s Millennial Mindset, Sioux City

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Randy Evans: Stray Thoughts, Des Moines via Bloomfield

Daniel P. Finney: Paragraph Stacker, Des Moines

Marianne Fons: Reporting From Quiltropolis, Winterset

Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Dennis Goldford: Let’s Talk Politics, Clive

Avery Gregurich: The Five and Dime, Marengo

Fern Kupfer and Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Rob Gray's Area: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla

Phoebe Wall Howard: Shifting Gears, Detroit,

Iowa Capital Dispatch, an alliance with IWC

Iowa Podcasters' Collaborative

Iowa Writers Collaborative Roundup Sunday Roundup

Black Iowa News: Dana James, Iowa

Chris Jones: Chris’s Substack, Iowa City

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters From Iowans

Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County

Hola Iowa: Iowa

Alison McGaughey: The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurtis Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Relatively Minor: by Vicki Minor, Winterset

Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines

Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers, Cedar Rapids

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 Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective, Des Moines

Ty Rushing: Coming Soon, Iowa City

Steve Semken: Ice Cube Press, LLC, North Liberty

Macey Shofroth: The Midwest Creative, Norwalk

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander's Emerging Voices: Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Bill Tubbs: Impressions, Eldridge

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Jason Walsmith: The Racontourist, Earlham

Kali White VanBaale: 988: Mental Healthcare in Iowa, Bondurant

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines

Get full access to Iowa Down Ballot at iowawriterscollaborative.substack.com/subscribe