"Office Lounge" call this Friday at noon

a perk for paid subscribers

The last Friday of the month approaches, which means the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative is holding its monthly lunchtime Zoom meeting for paying subscribers. We call this the “Office Lounge,” named after a downtown bar that was a popular hangout for Des Moines Register staff back in the day. Robert Leonard is our host this month. I’ll be there at noon on August 30, and so will several other writers.

If you pay to subscribe to any of our columnists—we have more than 60, including our newest member, Ty Rushing—you are invited to join this virtual meeting. It’s a chance to interact with writers and readers who are part of our community. The meeting runs from noon until 1:00 pm, and we always leave plenty of time for questions or suggestions.

If you are a paying subscriber to this newsletter, you’ll find the Zoom link at the bottom of this message, after the full list of columnists. If you have donated to support my work in a different way—using a credit card, PayPal, Patreon, Venmo, or a personal check—email me for the Zoom link, and I will send it to you.

If you’re a free subscriber to this newsletter but pay to read a different columnist, you should receive the link from that writer.

If you can’t make it to our “Office Lounge” but have any questions or thoughts to share, please post a comment in this thread.

I’ve been busy this week writing Iowa political stories that Bleeding Heartland covered first (GOP primary challenger Kevin Virgil urging supporters to vote for a Democrat for Congress), covered in the most depth (the guaranteed Democratic pickup of an Iowa House seat in Davenport, the impact of an independent candidate in the second Congressional district), or was the only news organization to cover (an Iowa OB/GYN’s remarks about abortion bans and rural health care).

Although I share some Bleeding Heartland articles on Substack (most recently my top ten list from the DNC), consider subscribing to my other free email newsletter to keep up with everything posted at the main site, from CO2 pipeline news to Iowa wildflowers.

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The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative now has more than 60 members. Sign up here for our free Sunday morning roundup, curated by Julie Gammack. And check out Ty Rushing’s debut post.

We are proud to have an alliance with Iowa Capital Dispatch.

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Roster

Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center

Rekha Basu: Rekha shouts and whispers, Des Moines

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 Brown, My Integrated Life, Des Moines

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Jane Burns: The Crossover, Des Moines

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, Roundup

Rachelle Chase: Reading with Rachelle, Ottumwa

Steph Copley: 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 Millenial Mindset, Sioux City

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Randy Evans: Stray Thoughts, Des Moines via Bloomfield

Daniel 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

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Dennis Goldford: Let's Talk Politics, Clive

Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny

Avery Gregurich: The Five and Dime, Marengo

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilia

Phoebe Wall Howard: Shifting Gears, Detroit area (Michigan)

Iowa Capital Dispatch, an alliance with IWC

Dana James: Black Iowa News, Iowa

Chris Jones, Chris’s Substack, Iowa City

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Letters from Iowans, Iowa

Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural, Calhoun County

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Alison McGaughey, The Inquisitive Quad Citizen, Quad Cities

Kurt Meyer: Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Vicki Minor, Relatively 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, Ty's Take, Iowa City

Steve Semken, The Pulse of a Heartland Publisher, 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: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Bill Tubbs: Impressions, Eldridge

Jason Walsmith, The Racontourist, Earlham

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

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines