The Iowa Podcasters' Collaborative is Live!
And Friday's Office Lounge link for our paid subscribers...
I’m pleased to announce that the Iowa Podcasters’ Collaborative is live! I’m also happy to report I have a new podcast that you will read about below called the Iowa Revolution. I’m also including the zoom link for paid subscribers who want to attend our Office Lounge meeting tomorrow/Friday at noon at the bottom of this post.
But given the Iowa women’s basketball team’s appearance in the final four, I first want to highlight some great sportswriting about the team and women’s basketball in general that Julie Gammack shared this morning. It’s by former Des Moines Register sports and feature reporter Jane Burns. At the heart of Iowa women's success is the 'Iowa Girl'...The state's long basketball tradition lives on in the Hawkeye coaches and what they teach their players. Click here. You won’t regret it.
I also appreciated a letter to the editor in today’s Register from Janet Johnston. It’s not online yet, so I’ll transcribe it here:
Men’s coaches aren’t multiple times more valuable than Bluder
For the first time in 30 years a Division I basketball team from the state of Iowa is headed to the Final Four. It was great to see six college teams from Iowa in March Madness: two each (one men's, one women's) from Iowa, Iowa State and Drake.
The women from the University of Iowa move on to the Final Four with Coach Lisa Bluder still hard at work while her male counterparts are done for the season. The women's games are consistently sold out. The coverage that Iowa gets on national TV night after night is fantastic.
According to published base salary information, University of Iowa men's basketball coach Fran McCaffrey makes four times what coach Bluder makes. In his first year at Iowa State University men's coach T.J. Otzelberger made almost double what Bluder, who has been at UI for 23 years, made the same year.
Isn't it time for the presidents and the athletic directors of Iowa's universities to reevaluate the compensation of their coaching staff? Even a modest effort to achieve parity is long overdue!
Janet Johnston, Des Moines
Great column, and great letter to the editor, which both show how much we need local newspapers.
And now about the Iowa Podcasters Collaborative, and my new podcast with my friend, the award winning radio broadcaster Spencer Dirks. Below is a copy of the collaborative’s first post:
Here are the current members of the Iowa Podcasters’ Collaborative. We will be growing soon!
Mary Swander’s Buggy Land focuses on the Amish, sustainability, and the wider rural environment. Mary is the former Poet Laureate of Iowa, and brings us into her world, often with humor. And check out her Emerging Voices.
Laura Belins Capitol Week radio broadcast airs Monday at 7:00 PM, and the archives may be found at the link above. It’s not technically a “podcast,” be we don’t care. It’s great content we are proud to link to. Laura Belin, the author of the blog Bleeding Heartland, updates us on developments in Iowa government, hosted by KHOI’s newsman Dennis Hart. And please consider subscribing to Laura’s Substack newsletter, Iowa politics with Laura Belin.
Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck offers a weekly Monday Zoom call at noon, and since it is a video digital product, it’s a broader part of the Iowa Podcasters’ Collaborative too.
Iowa Revolution is hosted by award-winning radio broadcaster Spencer Dirks, and he and Robert Leonard (aka Bob, Dr. Bob) discuss news, politics, sports, and much, much more. Expect a special focus on the Iowa Republican caucuses. This week Mike Pence takes it on the chin, and is Caitlin Clark the best athlete in the history of Iowa?
For a weekly roundup, subscribe to the Iowa Podcasters Collaborative.
Please also consider subscribing to the work of Julie Gammack’s Iowa Writers’ Collaborative.
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo
Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey
Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa
Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar
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 Politic Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Iowa
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines
To receive a weekly roundup of all Iowa Writers’ Collaborative columnists, sign up here (free): ROUNDUP COLUMN
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