Cornhole Champions Podcast

Months after a deadly shooting in Perry, Iowa, Tyson Foods announced it was pulling out of its plant in the town and taking with it 1,200 jobs. But this month there's some good news. Brazilian meat giant JBS Foods is bringing 500 jobs. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, Zachary Oren Smith, Amie Rivers, and Avery Staker dive into JBS Foods' $135 million sausage facility announcement and what it...

A six-story Davenport apartment building collapsed, killing three people two years ago. And we can finally read an investigation into the fall that the Scott County Attorney tried to keep secret. Inside: cash workers, altered reports, and a runaway landlord. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, Zachary Oren Smith, Amy Rivers, and Avery Staker examine the explosive report. We also dive into Senat...

YouTube | Instagram | Twitter | Bluesky | Threads | LinkedIn On this episode of Cornhole Champions, Zachary Oren Smith speaks with the Pints & Diplomacy duo, Tyler Stewart and Ryan Comer. They’re two folks with deep roots in Iowa. Folks who love it here. And whose love doesn’t mean their deaf to what’s not working. Cornhole Champions is a weekly podcast powered by Iowa Starting Line with music by...

On this episode of Cornhole Champions, Iowa Starting Line's Zachary Oren Smith, Amie Rivers and Avery Staker discuss a federal judge's preliminary injunction against key portions of Iowa's SF 496, the state's controversial "Don't Say Gay" law. The team also explores Republican representative Megan Jones's accusations that the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation used improper surveillance at th...

On this solo episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith breaks down State Auditor Rob Sand's historic campaign launch for Iowa governor. After entering the race with an impressive $8 million war chest, Sand's campaign reported an additional $2.25 million raised in just 24 hours — breaking state records for the most raised on the first day of any gubernatorial campaign in Iowa history....

On this special episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith is joined by Iowa Starting Line's Amie Rivers and Avery Staker for a candid conversation about journalism, the stories the shaped them, and why they believe local reporting matters now more than ever. Plus, a debate about Iowa cuisine: the pork tenderloins, maid-rites, and the "turkey and dressing sandwich" that Avery claims is...

Gov. Kim Reynolds was unsure when asked before Congress whether the Lutheran Services of Iowa was a money laundering scheme. At a later press conference, she clarified that she doesn’t think that the church was up to no good. Now she’s suing the Des Moines Register hoping to withhold the media prep that guided the exchange. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, Iowa Starting Line’s Zachary Oren S...

Governor Kim Reynolds stunned us with her bombshell decision not to seek reelection in 2026, creating the first wide-open Republican primary since 2010. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith is joined by Iowa Starting Line's Amy Rivers and special guest Liz Fleming (a.k.a @LizfromIowa) to discuss how this political earthquake is reshaping races across the ballot. They exam...

Governor Kim Reynolds shocked Iowa politics by announcing she will not seek reelection in 2026. But the governor’s mansion is not the only seat folks are eyeing in 2026. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith speaks with four Democrats who are eyeing a 2026 run against US Sen. Joni Ernst: state Sen. Zach Wahls of Coralville, state Rep. J.D. Scholten of Sioux City, state Rep...

Iowa's economy is in trouble. According to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Iowa's economy shrank by 0.5% last year, making it the second-worst performing state in the entire country. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith speaks with Algona farmer Josh Manske about the impact of President Trump's new tariffs on Iowa agriculture. Manske, a fifth-generatio...

Iowa’s Republican Attorney General wants to defund the police… well the Winneshiek County Sheriff to be precise. Attorney General Brenna Bird filed a lawsuit aimed at stripping Winneshiek County of ALL its state funding. That includes its law enforcement. All because of a — checks script — Facebook post. Sheriff Dan Marx, a fellow Republican, said his office would reject unconstitutional immigrati...

An Iowa state representative distributed a controversial pamphlet throughout the House chamber last week. The pages, which Rep. Brett Barker said in a statement he circulated without reading, attacked women's liberation, LGBTQ rights, Islam, and certain branches of Christianity. This week on Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith talks with with Iowa Starting Line’s Amie Rivers and Avery Stak...

Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota was in Des Moines last week. But while the crowd was excited to see him, they seemed as excited about who didn’t show up. Des Moines sits in US Rep. Zach Nunn’s congressional district, and he’s among a crowd of Republican who are choosing to skip out on public town halls. This week on Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith talks through whats to gain and whats to lo...

Waterloo Schools pulled out of an event focused on promoting Black literacy over fears of losing federal funding under Trump’s new anti-DEI directives. In response, the 1619 Freedom School is stepping in to host its own event this Saturday. On this special episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Waterloo native Nikole Hannah-Jones. S...

Iowa's farmers and food producers are facing a crisis that's been brewing behind the scenes at the US Department of Agriculture. Since President Donald Trump took office and his number two billionaire Elon Musk has been taking a club to federal programs, the consequences have been mounting. And now Iowa food growers are left with the bill. The USDA has frozen nearly $7 million in promised funding,...

The Iowa Capitol is buzzing this week. It’s one of two so called “Funnel Weeks.” These are self imposed deadlines placed on the legislative process. The idea is that we’ve only got 110 days to get through the billbook. They need to focus up or risk being stuck in Des Moines all year. In practice, Funnel Week is a cramming period. Where legislation of all kinds gets put through the committee gauntl...

Iowa’s near-total abortion ban is in effect. Nonetheless, Iowans are still getting abortions. It’s just harder and more expensive, often requiring travel outside the state. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, hosts Zachary Oren Smith speaks with Iowa Abortion Access Fund's Lyz Lenz about the crisis unfolding six months after Iowa's six-week abortion ban took effect. Since July 2024, the number...

You don’t win races you don’t run. And because we’ve made getting involved such a slog, no one wants to run. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, hosts Zachary Oren Smith speaks with Blue Missouri’s Jess Piper about what happens when a party decides not to compete in our rural states. In 2022, over 40% of legislative seats went uncontested. That dropped to just 18% in 2024. Competing isn’t winni...

“I absolutely do not think that Lutheran Services (of Iowa) is a money laundering organization.” Gov. Kim Reynolds took some heat last week after getting asked if she agreed with billionaire Elon Musk that Lutheran Family Services and its member organizations were laundering money. In a press conference, she blamed it on being taken out of context. It took Raygun all of 24 hours to get this on up....

In 2020, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won her seat by one of the closest margins in US history. This past year, she repeated, winning by less than point two percentage points. Leading Iowa political writer Laura Belin to say “there may be no luckier person in Iowa politics” than Miller-Meeks. But apparently getting lucky isn’t enough for our congresswoman. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, h...

Maria Gonzalez was high school student when a neighbor called. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement was conducting a raid at the meat packer her mom worked at. The neighbor said her mom, an undocumented immigrant, got caught in the roundup. “It hit me. Oh my God. How do I protect my mom?’ "Gonzalez said. “I kind of just froze. And I remember turning to look at my brother who is two years younger...

It’s week one of the Trump presidency. If the fat reem of executive orders didn’t bother you, than the 11 trillion dollars dressed as people on the inauguration stage should. These are the people with the president’s ear and the rest of us can’t even get inside to watch the inauguration. On this episode of Cornhole Champions—after making a big to-do about being a local podcast—we’re thinking about...

Once again, Reynolds has been mum about her priorities for the Legislature. The rough strokes of her plan finally got a public recounting Tuesday with the Condition of the State address. To a packed Iowa House floor and repeated standing ovations, Gov. Kim Reynolds rattled through childcare and energy, Medicaid regulations and cancer research. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Or...

Half a million students are enrolled in Iowa’s public schools. And because Iowa charges students for meals, some rack up lunchroom debt and others go hungry. Studies show hunger impacts academic performance, classroom behavior, as well as overall health and even test scores. But so far, the powers that be in Iowa aren’t interested. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith cha...

Politics has a short memory. And consequently, it’s challenging to remember that the movement for reproductive rights does not begin with Dobbs or even Roe v. Wade. People here in Iowa and elsewhere have been locked in a fight for reproductive freedom that far predates any of us. On this episode of Cornhole Champions, host Zachary Oren Smith chats with Dr. Lina-Maria Murillo, a scholar of power an...