Audio and Video

AUDIO

Since February 2021, Laura has worked part-time as the statehouse correspondent for KHOI Community Radio in Ames. She and Dennis Hart recorded more than 100 episodes of the Iowa political news program “KHOI’s Capitol Week,” and since spring 2024, Spencer Dirks has co-hosted the show with Laura. The full archive is available on KHOI’s website.

Laura shares the audio file and a recap of each program every week on her free Substack newsletter, Iowa politics with Laura Belin.

Arnie Arnesen periodically interviews Laura for her podcast, “The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen.” Links for 2025: March, April, June, August, another week in August, and September. Links for 2024: January, February, March, April, May, July, September, and November. Links for 2023: August, September, October, November, and December.

VIDEO

2026

Laura was a regular panelist on the Iowa Down Ballot podcast, which relaunched in January 2026, with a focus on the 2026 legislative session and the upcoming election cycle.

Laura continued to interview state and federal candidates for Bleeding Heartland’s YouTube channel.

Washington Journal, C-SPAN, January 1, 2026

2025

Laura was a regular panelist on the Iowa Down Ballot podcast, which aired from March through June, with a focus on the 2025 legislative session, plus some discussion of the 2026 election cycle.

Laura interviewed many Democratic candidates for state or federal offices, posting the videos on the Bleeding Heartland YouTube channel.

David Nir and Aaron Rupar interviewed Laura in June about the 2026 elections in Iowa for the Nir and Rupar podcast in June.

Laura joined Iowa Starting Line’s Zachary Oren Smith to interview Catelin Drey the morning after she won an important special Iowa Senate election in Sioux City.

On behalf of Bleeding Heartland, Laura accepted the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Partner Organization Award, which recognized the website’s “significant commitment to keep Iowans informed with a vital free press, an essential part of a strong democracy.”

2024

Laura was a regular panelist on the Iowa Down Ballot podcast, which produced sixteen episodes focused on the 2024 state and federal elections.

2023

Podcast by George, February 2023 (focus on proposed changes to the Office of Consumer Advocate, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s quiet pursuit of an extreme anti-abortion agenda, and the Iowa House approving a bill designed to protect speech from frivolous lawsuits)

Podcast by George, April 2023 (focus on the Iowa Supreme Court’s ruling in our open records lawsuit against the governor and how Iowa Senate Republicans have shattered another state budgeting norm)

Podcast by George, May 2023 (focus on my reporting about how the Republican budget will shortchange Iowans with disabilities)

2022

Podcast by George, January 2022 (focus on a Koch-funded group getting involved in Iowa Republican legislative primaries)

Podcast by George, February 2022 (focus on Governor Kim Reynolds being chosen to give the GOP response to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address)

Podcast by George, March 2022 (focus on my exclusive reporting about Reynolds using a state building for free for her response to the State of the Union)

Podcast by George, May 2022 (focus on a Republican state senator spreading a notorious hoax about public schools)

Podcast by George, August 2022 (focus on the recent abortion referendum in Kansas and my exclusive reporting about the governor’s appointments to an important state board)

Podcast by George, November 2022 (focus on my exclusive reporting about Gannett using the Des Moines Register’s plant to print fake newspapers and Governor Reynolds’ closing campaign tv ad)

Podcast by George, November 2022 (with Gerald Posner, focus on John F. Kennedy’s assassination)

Washington Journal, C-SPAN, November 24, 2022 (focus on Iowa after the 2022 elections, starting around 1:57:30)

2021

Podcast by George, January 2021 (focus on Randy Feenstra replacing Steve King in the U.S. House)

Podcast by George, February 2021 (focus on the governor and other top state officials appearing in a PR video for a private company)

Podcast by George, March 2021 (focus on a new voter suppression law, Iowa’s upcoming redistricting, and my reporting on CARES Act money being approved to pay for computer software upgrades in the governor’s office)

Podcast by George, July 2021 (focus on my exclusive reporting about the governor approving the use of CARES Act funds to pay for office tech upgrades)

Podcast by George, July 2021 (focus on the governor sending state troopers to the southern border in Texas)

Podcast by George, August 2021 (focus on Reynolds administration transparency problems)

Podcast by George, September 2021 (focused on a recent press conference and the governor’s approach toward COVID-19 in schools)

Podcast by George, September 2021 (focus on State Medical Director Caitlin Pedati’s impending departure)

Podcast by George, October 2021 (interview with a local UAW leader about the John Deere strike)

2020

Washington Journal, C-SPAN, February 2, 2020

Podcast by George, August 2020 (focus on my exclusive reporting related to the state medical director’s 45 percent raise)

Podcast by George, August 2020 (focus on other exclusive reporting I did related to the COVID-19 pandemic)

Podcast by George, September 2020 (focus on my scoop about Governor Kim Reynolds using federal COVID-19 relief funds to pay some of her permanent staffers’ salaries and benefits)

Podcast by George, October 2020 (focus on absentee voting in the 2020 election)

Podcast by George, October 2020 (focus on an indirect payment scheme used to conceal the use of CARES Act funds to pay governor’s staff salaries)

Podcast by George, December 2020 (focus on my follow-up reporting about the governor’s use of CARES Act funds to pay staff salaries)

Podcast by George, December 2020 (focus on the state of Iowa finally adjusting its COVID-19 death reporting to be more accurate; I had highlighted that problem a few weeks earlier)

2019

Washington Journal, C-SPAN, January 1, 2019

The Steele Report, KWWL, Waterloo, Iowa, March 17, 2019

Washington Journal, C-SPAN, May 12, 2019

Washington Journal, C-SPAN, September 2, 2019

Iowa Press, Iowa Public Television, November 22, 2019

Moderated presidential candidate Julian Castro’s town hall in Des Moines, C-SPAN, December 10, 2019