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Happy Wednesday and welcome to Cornhole Champions. Iowa Starting Line’s weekly podcast where we throw bags at the state’s biggest stories. I’m Zachary Oren Smith.
If you’re reading this, it’s because my baby girl has just dropped. I’m going to be in and out over the next few weeks while I figure that out… I’m sure I’ll have mastered fatherhood by then. In the meantime, I’ve got a run of interviews that I think you’re really going to like.
There's something humbling about watching someone who's been at the top of their game willingly become a rookie again. That's exactly what Ty Rushing did when he left his role as a veteran Iowa journalist to become an assistant professor of practice at the University of Iowa. In this episode of Cornhole Champions, Rushing reflects on it's like to go from being "one of the top dogs" back to "the bottom of the pecking order."
The transition hit him in ways he didn't expect. Listening to Rushing talk about his students—how they keep him young, roast him mercilessly, and have zero idea who Mike Jones is—you hear someone who's found something he didn't know he was looking for.
Write in and let me know about a time you had to start over in something you thought would be easier.
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Cornhole Champions is a weekly podcast powered by Iowa Starting Line. This podcast is produced by me and edited by Rebecca Steinberg. Our music is by Avery Mossman and our show art is from Desirée Tapia.
Your friendly neighborhood reporter,
Zachary Oren Smith
Political correspondent
Iowa Starting Line










