Iowa Starting Line
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🎧 Guess who’s next up running for Ernst’s seat?
Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, June 11, 2025. On this week’s episode of Cornhole Champions, Amie, Zachary, and Avery discuss: State Sen. Zach Wahls of Coralville announced this morning that he’s running against Joni Ernst for her US Senate seat. Less than 12 months after Perry lost 1,200 jobs when Tyson shuttered their pork plant,…
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All the No Kings Protests in Iowa This Weekend
Share with a friend It’s Monday, June 9, 2025. Amie here with some interesting things to start your week: No more 99 counties? Getting rid of some of our counties is something Iowa DOGE is apparently considering. Email me: Would you want your county on the chopping block? Want to help track Iowa’s bumblebees? Learn more…
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🎧 She Told Ernst ‘People Will Die’
Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Following a scandal involving an alleged romantic relationship with a military lobbyist, US Sen. Joni Ernst faces new controversy. As a member of President Donald Trump’s party, she was on the road recently to defend his tax bill that will force an estimated 13.7 million people to lose health insurance…
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❗️ Joni Ernst Defends Medicaid Cuts: ‘We Are All Going to Die’
Share with a friend It’s Friday, May 30, 2025. 🗣️ It’s Friday: Time to hear from ISL readers! 🐶 This is Crosby. “We have a music icons naming convention for our pets— we’ve had Dylan and (Mama) Cass, and Crosby’s feline sister is Cher,” says Crosby’s human Matt U. “The two things he values most…
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🎧 What’s the Argument for Staying in Iowa?
Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, May 28, 2025. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, the holiday-shortened week has Iowa Starting Line’s Zachary Oren Smith all by his lonesome on hosting duties. So he’s making up for it by interviewing a couple other podcasters at Pints and Diplomacy. This week, they talk about a big…
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🎧 This Week’s Podcast: Iowa’s Book Ban Halted (Again!)
Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, May 21, 2025. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, Iowa Starting Line’s Zachary Oren Smith, Amie Rivers, and Avery Staker discuss a federal judge’s preliminary injunction against key portions of Iowa’s SF 496, the state’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law. We also explore Republican Rep. Megan Jones’s accusations that the Iowa Division of Criminal…
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🎧 This Week’s Podcast: A Record-Breaking Campaign Launch
Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, May 14, 2025. “Iowans are great. Honestly, people love this state. They’re so proud to live here. They are so proud of our history,” State Auditor Rob Sand told Cornhole Champions host Zachary Oren Smith. “A lot of them are very frustrated with where we are right now, but they’re…
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🎧 This Week’s Podcast: Why We’re Still Iowa Journos
Share with a friend It’s Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Amie here, and I wanted to quickly plug Cornhole Champions, a Starting Line podcast featuring Zachary Oren Smith, Avery Staker, and me talking about Iowa politics and other relevant news of the week (and cracking each other up, also). This week: Zachary’s out on PTO,…
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🗣️ In One Word, Describe Trump’s First 100 Days?
Share with a friend It’s Friday, May 2, 2025. 🗣️ It’s Friday: Time for the takes! But first, here’s this week’s Pets and Bloomers: 🐶 This is Geode, “an adventure dog through and through,” according to Kelsea H. That includes “going to take the leaves, branches, yard waste to the local brush spot ……
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🗣️ What’s With Trump and Canada?
Share with a friend It’s Friday, Apr. 25, 2025. 🗣️ It’s Friday: Time for the takes! But first, here’s this week’s Pets and Bloomers: 🐱 This is Shay, a 2-year-old “who is so handsome, but is our new kitten’s #1 hater,” according to Elliot H. of Cedar Rapids. Fact: Pets hate new competition.…
