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John Pemble

Technical Producer, News

Expertise: Audio recording and production, hosting, reporting

Favorite Iowa Destination: The many trails in the Central Iowa Trails Association

Experience:

  • Has set up and recorded, mixed, and edited audio from studios and at events across Iowa
  • Has developed expansive technical knowledge with various audio recording and broadcasting gear
  • Has covered arts and culture, including opera, video gaming and the Iowa State Fair, as well as history and other topics as a reporter
  • Serves as a substitute daytime host, and has hosted jazz, classical and contemporary instrumental music programming
  • Produced IPR's award-winning Caucus Land podcast, and has hosted an produced IPR's From the Archives and Under the Golden Dome podcasts
  • Multi-award-winning journalist and producer, including two first place Eric Sevareid awards for podcasting with Caucus Land and a first place Feature Reporting award from the Iowa Broadcast News Association for "Video Game Places Player in a Cancer Drama"
  • Served as a mentor for NPR’s Next Generation Radio in Iowa
  • Served as an adjunct professor with Iowa Central Community College
My Favorite Stories and Episodes
  • The space probe Cassini has been exploring Saturn since 2004. One of the instruments on the two story tall spacecraft is from the University of Iowa…
  • Presidential candidates have been rewarded in the Iowa caucuses for spending a lot of time traveling the state and meeting with voters. That strategy doesn’t seem to be working for those running against former President Donald Trump in 2024. A runaway victory for the former president could mark a major shift for campaigns and could spell even more trouble for the future of the Iowa caucuses.
  • World heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali was at the top of his game in the 1960s. After Ali refused to serve in the Vietnam War for religious reasons, he was arrested and convicted of draft evasion, facing five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. His boxing license was suspended, and he was barred from leaving the country. With his boxing career on hold and his future uncertain, the champ began speaking at college campuses around the country, including in Iowa City.
My Latest Stories
My Latest Podcasts
  • The Department of Corrections director lays out the condition of the prisons to a committee that determines its annual budget. The House reduces one budget item, makes it up with money from a previous fiscal year, then allocates 7 million new dollars for fiscal year 2023. The House passes a bill allowing midwifery to be licensed in Iowa, but the bill is derailed in a Senate committee. And a bill changing how Iowa’s four decades old container redemption system operates advances from a subcommittee. It would collect millions of dollars in unclaimed deposits, but when coming to the full committee an entirely different version of the bill advances.
  • Two of the governor’s priorities advance at the Capitol. First, a bill creating scholarships for private schools advances from a committee. It also requires teachers to publish online everything that will be used in the classroom. And, the Senate passes a bill banning transgender girls from playing on female sports teams at K-12 schools, colleges and universities in Iowa. The governor signs the bill into law. In the House, two drug-related bills pass. One is about experimental treatments for people on ventilators. It would allow for drugs like ivermectin to be used during treatment. And the other increases penalties for having smaller amounts of heroin. It targets drug dealers but opponents say it doesn’t help drug addicts.
  • There are state requirements for staff levels at child care facilities. A bill comes to the full Senate for debate that increases the ratio of staff for young children. In the House there are bills involving interests with Israel, including one related to Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. And a ban on transgender girls and women playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams passes the House.