John Pemble
Technical Producer, NewsExpertise: 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
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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
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One of the Iowa's most generous philanthropists has died at the age of 79. Richard Jacobson grew up in Belmond. He died today at his home in… -
Fifty years ago this week, students in the Des Moines school district were suspended for wearing black armbands to silently protest the Vietnam War. They… -
My Latest Podcasts
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Bills limiting discussion of gender and personal pronouns in schools that differ from a student’s biological gender listed on their birth certificate are advancing. A House proposal requires parents to be notified if public school staff hear a student is suggesting they are going to change their gender or pronoun. Supporters say parental notification should be mandatory but opponents have concerns this proposal will stop a student from having a safe space to talk about this potentially sensitive issue. Late last year it was quietly discovered property taxes would unintentionally rise higher due to an unforeseen result of various tax law changes. But that information only recently became widely known early this year as cities and counties are finishing their budgets. If a new Senate proposal becomes law, local governments will not have enough revenue to fill their new budgets. -
A proposal allocating more public money to private schools has its day in both chambers. Gov. Kim Reynolds is placing a high priority on a bill that provides more state funding for students to attend private schools. Democrats say the plan has the potential to hurt public schools and that private schools can reject potential new students. But Republicans say public education is a one size fits all approach and families should have the option to have state funding to send their children to a private school. -
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, abortion, and how women politicians in the 20th century were often unfairly treated.
