What the hell happened to Iowa?

Ted Koppel talks about the factors that he feels have led to the decline of broadcast media, and his fears for its future. He connects racism, the spread of lies, coupled with an unbridled evolution of technology, resulting in threats to democracy. In this wide-ranging conversation, he starts by sharing his concerns about artificial intelligence, and how it will impact the dissemination of truthful information.We talk about the downside of the internet, the demise of the Fairness Doctrine, the consolidation of media ownership, plus his growing fears about the news deserts in the country, created by the absence of legitimate local reporting. He shares his candid views about the CNN town hall with Donald Trump - the good, bad, and ugly. Listening to the voice of Ted Koppel will whisk you back into an era when a trusted source came into your living room every night, reporting the news with dignity. Though Koppel is pessimistic about the future of journalism, his quick wit, wisdom, and self-deprecating humor, come shining through. Here is episode one of this topic: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julieandrekha.substack.com

Rekha and Julie offer a two-part series discussing ‘What the hell happened to Iowa?’ focusing on how Iowa's media landscape has changed.We offer four points of view; first, from Trish Nelson, a listener who has monitored the changes in Iowa radio stations' news/talk format. Next, we hear from former Federal Communications Commissioner Nicholas (Nick) Johnson, followed by businessman Tom Stoner, who owned radio stations in Iowa.To know what the hell happened to Iowa, one must understand federal policy changes that fundamentally changed the operation and ownership of local broadcast companies. In the second episode, Julie and Rekha interview veteran broadcast icon Ted Koppel, who shares his fears about the future of journalism. The political sea-change in Iowa did not happen overnight. Julie and Rekha explore the factors that have made Iowa take a hard right turn.Today, the subject is how and why media has changed in the state. Veteran broadcast journalist Ted Koppel addresses the second part of this topic. Here is episode two: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julieandrekha.substack.com

Here is the video from public testimony on the SNAP bill, thanks to Iowa Starting Line. The second audio clip is from Senator Janice Weiner, D-IA, from Johnson County. “Exploitation, plus arithmetic equals poverty” says Anne Bacon, the director of IMPACT Community Action Partnership, our featured guest in this episode. Her organization serves central Iowans with the mission of reducing barriers and burdens that families in poverty experience. Bacon’s passion is fueled by her understanding of poverty from her lived experience. The title of our podcast series is What the hell happened to Iowa? Today we focus on the most vulnerable in our state, and the impact current proposed legislation will have on our neighbors. The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program, otherwise known as SNAP, takes center stage. It would require the poorest among us to go through even more hoops, to get assistance for their children, at an expected administrative cost increase to the state of over four times what it currently costs. The recipients are not the mythical ‘welfare queen’ but rather a vast majority are children, people with disabilities, and an estimated 34,000 elderly. As for the arithmetic, it doesn’t add up - unless it does. And by that, we mean, targeting the poorest among us is a vote-getting technique. Hate for the poor is a powerful motivator, especially when used to draw attention away from the decline of funding for public schools, disappearing health care at the same time there is a huge increase in cancer diagnosis in the state. And taking away a woman’s right to an abortion, even from rape induced pregnancy, is a top priority by this governor and the legislators all falling in line to do her bidding. Younger Iowans with families are reportedly fleeing, businesses can no longer attract executives to the state because of the promise of Iowa’s pride in Iowa schools, and children who are in the maturation process of discovering their own identities are being bullied by adults who are making bank on the belief that they can make other adults believe they are an evil freak of nature. Damn the consequences. The far right turn of politics in Iowa is a part of what the hell happened to Iowa. Thank you for listening. Our subscriber base is growing because readers are sharing this with others. Do you know someone who would like to be a part of our effort?Are you new to this podcast? Here are others you might appreciate:If you would like to support production and travel costs, you can become a paid subscriber. However, you can subscribe for free. The most important way to support these stories is to share this with your friends. Julie Gammack and Rekha BasuMore on the topic: Todd Dorman, Cedar Rapids Gazette: ‘People need food to be alive.’ Iowa GOP isn’t so sure. More about the anti SNAP legislation, from Ty Rushing, and Iowa Starting Line. * https://iowastartingline.com/2023/04/06/nurse-bill-to-cut-snap-medicaid-not-good-for-iowans-health/* https://iowastartingline.com/2023/03/23/shame-on-us-says-iowa-senator-as-snap-restriction-bill-passes/* https://iowastartingline.com/2023/01/28/study-shows-welfare-fraud-nearly-nonexistent-in-iowa-as-gop-aims-to-restrict-snap/* https://iowastartingline.com/2023/01/26/legislators-get-an-earful-about-iowa-gops-controversial-snap-bill/* https://iowastartingline.com/2023/03/28/fry-bills-that-take-food-and-health-care-benefits-from-thousands-arent-about-that/ We are delighted to be included in a new effort lead by Robert L. Leonard, called the Iowa Podcasters Collaborative. Watch us grow, pop those earbuds in and take a listen: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julieandrekha.substack.com

Rekha Basu and Julie Gammack upload their third podcast of What the hell happened to Iowa?We begin with Rekha talking about her most recent trip to India, and her reflections about Iowa from a country on the other side of the globe.The two friends talk openly about their feelings of depression around the radical policy changes taking place in their beloved home state, but end the podcast with a dash of optimism, and an acknowledgment of the fact there is one thing happening now that just about every Iowan supports.Take a listen.What the hell happened to Iowa? is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.We’d like to thank those of you who are paying for this subscription. It is not necessary to do so to subscribe, however these funds help cover travel and production costs. Thanks to Tina Haase Findlay for our musical intro and outro, Thomas Tormey for guitar interludes, and James Hamilton for being our sound engineer.If you have topic ideas or comments, we welcome your input. And, please share this podcast with those you think will have an interest. Thanks to our listeners, we are growing exponentially. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julieandrekha.substack.com

Episode 2: Vouchers? What educators and school-age family members have to sayIn a passionate rebuke last week to state lawmakers’ flood of anti-public school legislation, Des Moines School Board President Teree Caldwell-Johnson had this message: “Leave our public schools alone. We are doing just fine. We don't need your interventions around curriculum, what we teach, how we teach, who we teach… Des Moines Public Schools has been in existence for 116 years and we've been doing pretty darn well."The frustration and weariness are a palpable response to the many ways in which Gov. Kim Reynolds and her cadre of obedient Republican allies in the state Legislature are tampering with education in Iowa – most notably with a law and funding to privatize it. They elevate “parental rights” to the point where schools should need permission to introduce any topic not discussed at home. South Africa’s history of apartheid? The women’s rights movement? The health benefits of vegetarianism? Must these all be vetted at home first?But lately, those now dictating the norms have found their most potent target in sowing controversy around gender identity. Because hatred and fear of what you don’t understand are usually reliable drivers of division -- and votes.Not only does a succession of bills attempt to ban school books on transgender identities, and force schools to tell parents if their child is identifying with another gender. But a new bill goes so far as to regulate school employees’ use of student nicknames.Call Alexandra Alex in class, or Samantha Sam, or Daniel Dani– spelled D-A-N-I, that is -- and a teacher could be held to account -- if they hadn’t obtained prior written parental consent for nicknames associated with the other sex.And yet these lawmakers who claim to want to protect children sit silent in the face of growing school bullying, especially of those who don’t fit a preconceived notion of what a boy or girl should be. Republican legislators are also trying to remove gender identity as a protected category in Iowa’s civil rights law so bullying on those grounds wouldn’t be a problem.The CDC says 22% of LGBTQ teenagers attempted suicide in the past year.Any Iowa lawmaker genuinely concerned with child safety wouldn’t be trying to weaken the laws on child labor to shield businesses from liability if a teen worker gets injured or dies.They’d be working to curb young people’s access to guns and writing tougher environmental pollution so Iowa’s  children can grow up healthy.But just the opposite.  They’d rather do handstands over nicknames. Rekha BasuWhat will the impact of the so-called private school voucher bill have on Iowans?In this episode, Rekha and I spoke with Dr. Stacey Cole, Storm Lake District Superintendent. Her words are powerful and emotional. State Senator Pam Jochum delivered an impassioned speech to her colleagues on the eve of passage of the controversial and radical voucher bill. We include this clip, along with our conversation with Senator Jochum.We also spoke to family members of school-age children to see what they think. Our first chat took place in the Junkyard Cafe in Jefferson, and then we had another conversation during lunch time at the Family Table restaurant in Pocahontas. What about educators? What do they think? We gathered three women on the front lines of the issue. Teacher Sandra Abbott; Findley Elementary principal Barb Adams, and Joy Linquist, a high school administrator, weigh in on the impact the bill will have on public education.This podcast is 1 hour and 17 minutes. It is longer than we expected an episode to be, but we believe these voices are vitally important to examining what this radical, anti-public school agenda - moving throughout the country - is having on real people. We end this episode giving a couple of answers to the question: What can we do? And, let’s hear from you. Put your ideas in the comment section below.One thing we can all do is forward this podcast to people you know. Send it to your legislator. Your friends. Go through your contact list and send a group email with the link to this podcast.Let people hear the sadness, frustration and tears from those who are doing their best to teach and protect our children. Julie GammackRekha Basu and Julie Gammack are veteran former newspaper columnists with broadcast experience. Rekha recently retired as an Opinion columnist with The Des Moines Register. Julie currently is a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative and produces the annual Okoboji Writers’ Retreat. Thank you to our paid subscribers. Although we do not have a paywall for this content, if you choose to fund this effort through a paid subscription, funds go toward production and travel costs. We very much appreciate your support. What the hell happened to Iowa? is a reader-supported publication. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julieandrekha.substack.com

February 14, 2023 -Rekha Basu and Julie Gammack are teaming up to ask a question on the minds of observers throughout the land:What the hell happened to Iowa?These two Iowa print and broadcast journalists decided to adapt the audio podcast platform to introduce an authentic voice to the devasting laws sweeping the state under the leadership of Governor Kim Reynolds and the extreme right-wing members of the current Republican party. They have circumvented traditional legislative processes to ram through a school voucher bill that some predict will bankrupt the state and destroy many public schools by starving funding. In this episode and others to come, you will hear the pain in the voices of those impacted by the hateful bombast being used to foment anger within their base of support. You’ll also hear from professional observers attempting to put into historical context what happened to Iowa. In future episodes, they plan to talk to people who can speak to various paths that lead us to where we are today, where the government is encroaching on what books can be available in public schools and the cases a duly elected County Attorney can prosecute or not. This move toward totalitarianism is ironically called ‘liberty-loving.’‘What the hell happened to Iowa?’ will be delivered to our subscribers’ email inboxes, the Cedar Rapids Gazette, and the most popular podcast apps. It is not required to become a paid subscriber to receive this podcast. However, the revenues will be used for production costs if you do. Please offer your thoughts about what is going on in Iowa. Do you have a suggested topic? Your responses could be incorporated in future episodes during a reader reaction segment. Thanks to our incredible production team: James Hamilton, Brain Dodson, (audio production), Tina Haase Findlay, Brandon Findlay, and Thomas Tormey (music). This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julieandrekha.substack.com

We gathered yesterday, February 1, to record what will be the musical introduction to a new podcast featuring Rekha Basu, Julie Gammack, and guests. Special thanks to musician Tina Haase Findlay and sound engineers Brian Dodson and James Hamilton for being on the team.For nearly five years, Tina’s voice was featured on Iowa Tourism ads telling potential visitors that ‘Iowa will make you smile.’ So it’s a tad ironic she composed the beautiful song (embedded above) for this podcast, What the hell happened to Iowa?This podcast production would not be happening without the support of our paid subscribers. You provide capable sound editors, the funds to purchase recording equipment and help with travel expenses. We plan on having a thank-you party for our paid subscribers. We were stunned by the enthusiasm for this podcast, which was just announced on January 21, and we will do our best to deliver answers to the question:What the hell happened to Iowa? Please offer your feedback in the comment section below. Please tell us how you answer the question (what the hell happened to Iowa) and your suggestions for future episodes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit julieandrekha.substack.com