Two other places to find Laura Belin's reporting and analysis

I’ve been covering Iowa politics on this website for more than fourteen years, and I can truthfully say this adventure never gets old. But I’ve been meaning to let Bleeding Heartland readers know about two relatively new projects I’m enjoying as well.

KHOI’S CAPITOL WEEK

KHOI community radio in Ames hired me late last year to be the station’s state capitol correspondent. I periodically call in for segments on their Local Talk morning program, but my main role is co-hosting Capitol Week with Dennis Hart. We spend 30 minutes talking about the top news developments related to the Iowa legislature, Governor Kim Reynolds, state government agencies, or campaigns and elections. We also occasionally discuss exclusive reporting I’ve published at Bleeding Heartland.

Since early February, Capitol Week has aired live on Mondays at 7:00 pm. People can tune in at 89.1 FM in the station’s listening area or online from anywhere at khoifm.org. KHOI rebroadcasts each show at noon on Wednesdays, and the full audio archive is available here.

This show was outside my comfort zone at first. I’ve never worked in broadcasting; when I covered Russian politics for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, I was writing for their various online publications. But Capitol Week has been a blast, and I was excited KHOI decided to keep running the show year-round after the legislature adjourned in May. Dennis is fun to work with and more than makes up for my lack of radio experience. He spent decades in radio and television news reporting and has taught journalism at Iowa State University and elsewhere. We cover a lot of ground in each episode and always discuss some important stories I didn’t have time to write about on the website.

I hope readers will give Capitol Week a listen. You should also check out KHOI’s other talk and music programming, a mix of syndicated shows and exclusive local content. If you have spare cash, consider donating to support community radio in central Iowa. KHOI doesn’t air advertising and provides a platform for voices not often heard on commercial radio.

For some time, I’d occasionally heard from readers looking for a way to receive Bleeding Heartland’s Iowa politics coverage via email. Hunter Cross and his technical support team at Ponticlaro helped me create Evening Heartland in March. The free newsletter compiles links to a dozen or so posts recently published here, plus one link to a noteworthy Bleeding Heartland piece from that week in 2020, or some earlier year.

For three featured stories, I provide highlights and background about my reporting process, or explain how I connected with the guest author.

I send the newsletter on Sundays and Thursdays, and occasionally on Tuesdays during busy weeks. Most readers open it when they check their email before bed or the next morning. Many subscribers have told me that although they periodically visit this site and follow my Facebook page and Twitter feed for the latest headlines, they still find some content in Evening Heartland that they’d missed.

You can subscribe to the newsletter here. It’s free, and I will never share your email address or sell it to any third party.

For those who don’t need additional emails in their life, no worries. Every post linked in the newsletter is available on the website, and any web browser can take you to Bleeding Heartland anytime.

I’m committed to keeping all content here publicly available, with no paywalls or subscriptions. For those who have the capacity to donate and want to support my work financially, I accept contributions through PayPal, Patreon, Venmo, or personal check (contact me for the address). Donations help cover reporting costs, web hosting fees, and technical support. They are not tax deductible, since Bleeding Heartland is an LLC.

To avoid conflicts of interest, I don’t accept contributions from Iowa elected officials, candidates, or paid staff and consultants on Iowa campaigns.