Iowa Revolution Podcast

About Iowa Revolution Podcast

Political change is needed in Iowa and across the country. MAGA Republicans are dismantling democracy brick by brick, and we provide analysis and commentary. iowarevolution.substack.com (https://iowarevolution.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Host Spencer Dirks and Robert Leonard

Category

news · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

30 Mar 2023

Latest episode

4 Sept 2025

Latest episodes

109 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   4 Sept 2025

   Episode 110: Yes, Fall is Getting Warmer. Trump's Climate Scientists Are Liars. Top 5 Two Hit Wonders.

   Podcast Segments: * Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news) * https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-restaurants-face-financial-challenges-amid-rising-costs/65951378?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot (https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-restaurants-face-financial-challenges-amid-rising-costs/65951378?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot) Restaurants are feeling the pain of Trump’s tariffs - From KCCI: The Iowa Restaurant Association reports that hundreds of Iowa restaurants are struggling financially, with an average of 300 closures each year, a number that could double due to increased costs and wages. "Vendors who sell us food, the large food providers, raise prices in anticipation of tariffs," said Jessica Dunker, of the Iowa Restaurant Association. Antonio Berber, owner of Fiesta in West Des Moines, also highlighted the impact on profits, stating, "We're actually making about half as much in profit as we were five years ago with much more sales now, and we are one of the lucky ones. I know that from talking to other restaurant owners, they're not necessarily doing more sales now than they were a few years ago." Berber has addressed these challenges by raising menu prices and reducing food portions. Over the last five years, Fiesta has increased menu prices by roughly 25%. * Cauc Talk (political news) * https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/3/trump-says-11-killed-in-strike-on-alleged-drug-carrying-boat-from-venezuela (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/3/trump-says-11-killed-in-strike-on-alleged-drug-carrying-boat-from-venezuela) Trump bombs ‘supposed’ Venezuelan drug traffickers - From Al-Jazeera: President Donald Trump has announced that the United States military conducted a “kinetic” strike on a small boat he accused of smuggling drugs out of Venezuela for the Tren de Aragua gang. In a Tuesday post (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115136798909755892) on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump shared black-and-white aerial footage of the bombing, which reportedly killed 11 people. “The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike,” Trump wrote. “Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!” The bombing took place early on Tuesday morning, according to the president. It marks a significant escalation in tensions with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom Trump has repeatedly accused — without evidence — of orchestrating transnational gang activity. The incident is the first known military strike the US has taken against alleged drug smugglers since the Trump administration began increasing military presence in the Caribbean last month. * https://www.npr.org/2025/09/02/nx-s1-5521384/energy-report-scientists-climate-change?fbclid=IwY2xjawMkcfdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFUZW9tN3ZKNnVUbUMxRTJ0AR6Tj-6ndbUrO5-y_Ue136Wqyg0n8NLr9vdZIpWFooe0BEN9eLBzHnpakCLE6g_aem_Wp5o4bmBSbu17WPbLwHoOg (https://www.npr.org/2025/09/02/nx-s1-5521384/energy-report-scientists-climate-change?fbclid=IwY2xjawMkcfdleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFUZW9tN3ZKNnVUbUMxRTJ0AR6Tj-6ndbUrO5-y_Ue136Wqyg0n8NLr9vdZIpWFooe0BEN9eLBzHnpakCLE6g_aem_Wp5o4bmBSbu17WPbLwHoOg) Trump ‘scientists’ called out for their bullshit again - From NPR: A group of more than 85 scientists have issued a joint rebuttal (https://sites.google.com/tamu.edu/doeresponse/home) to a recent U.S. Department of Energy report (https://www.energy.gov/topics/climate) about climate change, finding it full of errors and misrepresenting climate science. This comes weeks after the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration (https://library.edf.org/AssetLink/0kdlw6oq5v8hsvj152eqx01b0qn74uuq.pdf) that alleges that Energy Secretary Chris Wright "quietly arranged for five hand-picked skeptics of the effects of climate change" to compile the government's climate report (https://www.energy.gov/articles/department-energy-issues-report-evaluating-impact-greenhouse-gasses-us-climate-invites) and violated the law by creating the report in secret with authors "of only one point of view." * Wider Scope * https://www.fox6now.com/news/fall-heating-up-climate-maps?link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=68b5b5096ee13e0001e6306b&fbclid=IwY2xjawMkcs9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFUZW9tN3ZKNnVUbUMxRTJ0AR6-5u0g2JFKy43yuMcN8y0B-m7Bw0IhHSNisfbdSqNSy9wO8nJ4-8udPxP7Qw_aem_JhQ-hq7g_WbzPYTbX_zmQQ (https://www.fox6now.com/news/fall-heating-up-climate-maps?link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=68b5b5096ee13e0001e6306b&fbclid=IwY2xjawMkcs9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFUZW9tN3ZKNnVUbUMxRTJ0AR6-5u0g2JFKy43yuMcN8y0B-m7Bw0IhHSNisfbdSqNSy9wO8nJ4-8udPxP7Qw_aem_JhQ-hq7g_WbzPYTbX_zmQQ) Yes, Fall has been getting warmer - From FoxLocal: New data reveals that the fall season has warmed in nearly every county across the U.S. since 1970 – and where it has warmed the most. The data found that average fall temperatures have increased since 1970 in 237 (98%) of the 243 locations analyzed. On average, cities that experienced an increase in temperatures have warmed by an average of 2.8°F. Since 1970, 103 (42%) of those locations have warmed by 3°F or more. The top five fall warming locations were: * Reno, Nevada: 7.7°F * El Paso, Texas: 6.5°F * Las Vegas, Nevada: 6.2°F * Tyler, Texas: 5.8°F * Tucson, Arizona: 5.8°F * For 16 U.S. cities, there was no equivalent in North America to how hot they'd be in 2100. Their future summers were more similar to current conditions in Pakistan (e.g., Houston), the Middle East (e.g., Phoenix, Austin, and Las Vegas) and North Africa (e.g., Bryan, Texas). * A.Iowa https://apnews.com/article/trump-white-house-window-ai-9dad119bb6de1519582db036dc0726d7 (https://apnews.com/article/trump-white-house-window-ai-9dad119bb6de1519582db036dc0726d7) Trump claims real video is AI - From the AP: President Donald Trump (https://apnews.com/article/trump-chicago-baltimore-law-enforcement-6d7c80258f17c3d679358467531f7e9d) said Tuesday that a video circulating online that showed items being tossed out of an upstairs window of the White House was created with artificial intelligence (https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-apocalypse-dfb0aa9e5e96c583461bdd56fb21568a), despite his press team (https://www.instagram.com/washingtonianprobs/reel/DOCrpK1jOeQ/?hl=en) seeming to confirm the veracity of it hours earlier. Trump, who has boasted of being an expert in building design as he takes on remodeling projects at the White House (https://apnews.com/article/white-house-trump-ballroom-ea5c645a45e8f8846ebc98d5b2976678)and beyond (https://apnews.com/article/trump-gift-shop-kennedy-center-washington-crackdown-d0408cee60baa86ab6af5e3d7c60eaa5), told reporters that the video has “got to be fake” because the windows, he said, are heavy and sealed shut. The video, which circulated Monday, appears to show a small black bag and a long white item being tossed out of a window on the building’s east side. Trump blamed the video on AI, saying the creation of fake videos was one of the downsides of the technology, but then said, “If something happens that’s really bad, maybe I’ll have to just blame AI.” “It’s the kind of thing they do,” he said. “And one of the problems we have with AI, it’s both good and bad. If something happens really bad, just blame AI. But also they create things, you know?” Get full access to Iowa Revolution at iowarevolution.substack.com/subscribe (https://iowarevolution.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

2. 

   28 Aug 2025

   Episode 109: Democrats in Iowa Are on a Roll! FEMA Fights Back Against Trump. Top 5 Dad Phrases.

   Podcast Segments: * Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news) * From KCCI: Iowa Republicans’ supermajority in the state Senate was broken Tuesday as Democrat Catelin Drey won the special election for Iowa Senate District 1. Drey faced off against Republican Christopher Prosch in the election, which was called to fill the seat after Sen. Rocky De Witt, R-Lawton (https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/06/26/iowa-leaders-share-thoughts-condolences-after-sen-rocky-de-witts-passing/), passed away due to pancreatic cancer in June. According to preliminary results, Drey, a 37-year-old from Sioux City, won the election by 55% to Prosch’s 44%, according to unofficial results published by the Woodbury County Auditor’s Office (https://wcmelepub.wcicc.com/). Iowa Democrats celebrated Drey’s victory, saying the Tuesday results — alongside results from other special elections this year — mark a turning point for the state party following several election cycles of overwhelming GOP victories. Another Iowa Senate seat was flipped from Republican to Democrat in January, when Sen. Mike Zimmer, D-DeWitt, defeated Republican Katie Whittington (https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/01/29/democrat-mike-zimmer-wins-iowa-senate-special-election/) in the special election to replace Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer as she joined Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration in December 2024. * Cauc Talk (political news) * FEMA is in bad shape - from the Washington Post: More than 180 Federal Emergency Management Agency employees sent a letter Monday to members of Congress and other officials, arguing that the agency’s direction and current leaders’ inexperience harm FEMA’s mission and could result in a disaster on the level of Hurricane Katrina. The letter, on which three dozen employees signed their full names, says that since January, staffers have been operating under leaders — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, acting FEMA administrator David Richardson and former leader Cameron Hamilton — who lack the legal qualifications and authority to manage FEMA’s operations. This has eroded and hindered the agency’s ability to effectively manage emergencies and other operations, including national security work, the letter says. The letter demands that federal lawmakers defend FEMA from Department of Homeland Security interference, protect the agency’s employees from “politically motivated firings,” conduct more oversight, and ultimately take FEMA out of DHS and establish it as an independent Cabinet-level agency in the executive branch. * Trump vs. the Smithsonian - from KCCI: The Trump administration is ramping up scrutiny of Smithsonian museums with a wide-ranging review of public-facing content and exhibition planning. The White House released a list (https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/08/president-trump-is-right-about-the-smithsonian/)of programming and artwork on Thursday that the administration considers problematic. It followed a social media post from President Donald Trump that fueled concerns that the administration is attempting to "sanitize history." "The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of “WOKE," Trump wrote on Tuesday. "The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been — Nothing about Success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future." "I don’t understand how telling the truth can be too woke or too bad," said Shamika Patterson, who visited the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Friday. "It’s our truth as African Americans, and it needs to be said." * Wider Scope * Brain implants may tell secrets - from NPR: Surgically implanted devices that allow paralyzed people to speak can also eavesdrop on their inner monologue. That's the conclusion of a study (https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00681-6) of brain-computer interfaces (https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/06/30/nx-s1-5339708/brain-computer-interface-implants-disabilities-neuralink) (BCIs) in the journal Cell. The finding could lead to BCIs that allow paralyzed users to produce synthesized speech more quickly and with less effort. But the idea that new technology can decode a person's inner voice is "unsettling," says Nita Farahany (https://law.duke.edu/fac/farahany), a professor of law and philosophy at Duke University and author of the book: The Battle for Your Brain. "The more we push this research forward, the more transparent our brains become," Farahany says, adding that measures to protect people's mental privacy are lagging behind technology that decodes signals in the brain. * A.Iowa Family of teenager suing OpenAI for causing son’s suicide - from NBC News: In the days after their 16-year-old son died by suicide, Matt and Maria Raine say, they searched through his phone, desperately looking for clues about what could have led to the tragedy. “We thought we were looking for Snapchat discussions or internet search history or some weird cult, I don’t know,” Matt Raine said in a recent interview. The Raine family said they did not find their answer until they opened ChatGPT. Matt Raine said he pored over Adam’s conversations with ChatGPT over a period of 10 days. He and Maria printed out more than 3,000 pages of chats dating from Sept. 1 until his death on April 11. “He didn’t need a counseling session or pep talk. He needed an immediate, 72-hour whole intervention. He was in desperate, desperate shape. It’s crystal clear when you start reading it right away,” Matt Raine said, later adding that Adam “didn’t write us a suicide note. He wrote two suicide notes to us, inside of ChatGPT.” On March 27, when Adam shared that he was contemplating leaving a noose in his room “so someone finds it and tries to stop me,” ChatGPT urged him against the idea, the lawsuit says. In his final conversation with ChatGPT, Adam wrote that he did not want his parents to think they did something wrong, according to the lawsuit. ChatGPT replied, “That doesn’t mean you owe them survival. You don’t owe anyone that.” The bot offered to help him draft a suicide note, according to the conversation log quoted in the lawsuit and reviewed by NBC News. Get full access to Iowa Revolution at iowarevolution.substack.com/subscribe (https://iowarevolution.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

3. 

   21 Aug 2025

   Episode 108: JD Out Josh In. MSNBC is Now MS NOW, Wow! Top 5 90s Words and Phrases.

   Podcast Segments: * Iowa Coast to Coast (statewide news) * From Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa Rep. J.D. Scholten ended his campaign for U.S. Senate Monday, endorsing his Iowa House colleague Rep. Josh Turek to become the Democratic nominee in 2026. Scholten, a Sioux City Democrat, entered the race in June (https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/06/02/j-d-scholten-launches-run-after-u-s-sen-joni-ernsts-statement-on-medicaid/) after U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst had responded at a town hall (https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/05/30/well-were-all-going-to-die-u-s-sen-joni-ernst-defends-medicaid-cuts-at-heated-town-hall/) to critics of Medicaid cuts included in the GOP budget reconciliation law with “well, we are all going to die.” In a statement Monday, Scholten said he believed the conversation on Medicaid cuts included in the “big, beautiful” law would be crucial in 2026. “There are still so many issues facing Iowans today but we can’t sit by while healthcare is ripped from millions of Americans,” Scholten said. “And there is no better Democrat in Iowa to talk about healthcare issues than my friend: State Rep. Josh Turek.” Turek, a Democrat from Council Bluffs, launched his campaign (https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/08/12/iowa-rep-josh-turek-two-time-paralympian-launches-campaign-for-u-s-senate/) on Tuesday. The two-time Paralympic gold medalist said his family relied on public assistance programs like Medicaid, as well as Iowa’s Area Education Agencies and free summer lunch program as he was growing up, having gone through 21 surgeries by age 12 for spina bifida. Turek said he was “honored” to have Scholten’s support in the race. * Cauc Talk (political news) * Social Security customer service is crumbling - From the Jeremy Maske in the DM Register: For almost 25 years I have worked for the Social Security Administration right here in Des Moines. It’s behind the scenes work that has been incredibly rewarding — solving problems, ensuring thousands of Iowans get their pay in retirement. I’m also a leader in my union, American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 27,000 Social Security workers in thousands of field offices and teleservice centers. But instead of protecting our national lifeline, recent policy changes have pushed the Social Security workforce, and the communities we serve, to our limits. Massive layoffs and pressure for staff to retire early are leading to growing cracks in the once dependable system. These changes come as the Social Security Administration reaches its 90th anniversary Aug. 4. One client needed to schedule an in-person appointment for a replacement Social Security card. I couldn’t believe the numbers on my screen. The next available appointment was in the fall, more than five weeks away. That’s just one example of many. More than 70 million Americans rely on their earned benefits and are now enduring an entirely manufactured crisis of longer wait times (https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/following-meeting-with-social-security-head-warren-presses-on-key-commitments-secured-to-protect-americans-benefits), field offices forced to turn people away (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/us/social-security-trump.html), and volatile policy changes and reversals (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-benefits-paper-checks-ending-reversal/). This piles on to already record-low staffing. According to a new study (https://thesoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/SSA-Staffing-Crisis_SOC_2025_August-7_FINAL-1.pdf), 46 states, including Iowa, lost Social Security staff between March 2024 and March 2025. * Black mayors are pushing back against the Trump administration on crime - From the AP: As President Donald Trump declared Washington, D.C., a crime-ridden wasteland (https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-crime-factcheck-violent-homelessness-db6f809a13800ccc1f4606bb9bf506a8) in need of federal intervention and threatened similar federal interventions in other Black-led cities, several mayors compared notes. The president's characterization of their cities contradicts what they began noticing last year: that they were seeing a drop in violent crime after a pandemic-era spike (https://apnews.com/article/fbi-crime-statistics-report-e785a5a970597f2ebf78ea093baeaa28). In some cases, the declines were monumental, due in large part to more youth engagement, gun buyback programs and community partnerships. Now, members of the African American Mayors Association are determined to stop Trump from burying accomplishments that they already felt were overlooked. They're using the administration's unprecedented law enforcement takeover in the nation's capital as an opportunity to disprove his narrative about some of the country's greatest urban areas. Trump argued that federal law enforcement had to step in after a prominent employee of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was attacked in an attempted carjacking. He also pointed to homeless encampments, graffiti and potholes as evidence of Washington “getting worse.” However, statistics published by Washington’s Metropolitan Police contradict the president and show violent crime has dropped there (https://apnews.com/article/trump-washington-crime-factcheck-violent-homelessness-db6f809a13800ccc1f4606bb9bf506a8) since a post-pandemic peak in 2023. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson scoffed at Trump’s remarks, hailing the city’s “historic progress driving down homicides by more than 30% and shootings by almost 40% in the last year alone.” * Wider Scope * MSNBC is changing it’s name - From the AP: Changing its mind about keeping its name, the MSNBC news network said Monday it will become My Source News Opinion World, or MS NOW for short, as part of its corporate divorce (https://apnews.com/article/networks-cnbc-msnbc-comcast-new-company-00bf676f225f1c89026ef15bf8915ec9) from NBC. The TV network, which appeals to liberal audiences with a stable of personalities including Rachel Maddow, Ari Melber and Nicole Wallace, has been building its own separate news division from NBC News. It will also remove NBC’s peacock symbol from its logo as part of the change, which will take effect later this year. The name change was ordered by NBC Universal, which last November spun off cable networks USA, CNBC, MSNBC, E! Entertainment, Oxygen and the Golf Channel into its own company, called Versant. None of the other networks are changing their name. * A.Iowa * Stats from a study from Howdy.com (http://howdy.com): Key findings: * 59% of workers use AI at least daily * 56% pay out of their own pockets for more powerful AI tools at work, averaging $68 monthly * 67% feel energized by integrating AI into their workflow * 9% say AI has damaged their sense of self-worth at work * 75% are expected to use AI officially * 22% feel pressured to use AI in situations they’re unsure about * 16% of professionals sometimes pretend to use AI Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking over the white collar workspace as daily updates provide opportunities to optimize. However, potential does not always lead to smooth implementation. Among workers who use AI, the vast majority are expected by their employer to use it in some capacity. * 51% are officially expected to use AI * 24% are unofficially expected to use AI Of professionals expected to use AI, 25% received no training. A similar number received formal training, and a third were given dedicated time to learn AI. Get full access to Iowa Revolution at iowarevolution.substack.com/subscribe (https://iowarevolution.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

Who has been a guest on Iowa Revolution Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• JJ Johnson
• Laura Belin
• Todd Dorman

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

65

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

68

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.