John Pemble

Around this time, legislators who have announced they aren’t seeking re-election in the Iowa legislature are granted a “retirement” speech from the chamber floor. Between the House and Senate, around 35 legislators are not running for re-election. A few are seeking to run in the other chamber and th…

The 31st U.S. President, Herbert Hoover, returns to his hometown of West Branch, Iowa on his 88th birthday for the dedication of his presidential library. During his speech, he cautions against allowing the spread of communism across the world.

The 2022 Iowa legislative session ends after many weeks of little to no activity in the House or Senate. During a busy two days, final budget bills are approved. Most come revised from the Senate including the education appropriation that funds the public universities. Also a number of policy bills…

In October 1967, Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Grinnell College, six months before his assassination. King encourages people implores the audience to “remain awake during the revolution.”

On the fifth episode of From the Archives, a member of the Kerner Commission discusses the findings of the report at Grinnell College during a memorial symposium honoring the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

There are many origins to the Black Power Movement, but political scientist Charles V. Hamilton and his colleague Stockley Carmichael elevated it with their 1967 book Black Power: the Politics of Liberation in America. Hamilton says Black Power can organize Black people’s rage and force answers to hard questions.

A new Iowa General Assembly begins with more new members of the majority party in both chambers. In the Senate, there is now a Republican supermajority and a new Senate president, Sen. Amy Sinclair. Republican and Democratic leaders give their opening day speeches with the majority party supporting a proposal allocating public money to education savings accounts to pay for private school education. Gov. Kim Reynolds formally presents this spending proposal during her Condition of the State. She…

Minnette Doderer began her three and a half decades of public service as a legislator in the mid 1960s. She also ran twice for lieutenant governor. In the 1970s and 1980s, she spoke with reporters in eastern Iowa. These rare recordings were recently found in Iowa Public Radio’s storage and used in the 2022 podcast series From the Archives. This Under the Golden Dome episode features an episode from that series. Doderer discusses many topics including public money funding private schools, abortio…

The majority of the legislation during every session is bipartisan and non-controversial. Bills about seizure training, robotic extracurricular activities in the schools and non-prescription birth control pass with ease. But there are the more contentious bills that draw strong responses, including what is known as the bathroom bill, which passes in the House and Senate.

Former Iowa Public Radio journalist Rob Dillard died this week due to complications from pancreatic cancer at the age of 73.