In many ways, January 2026 was all about firsthand accounts and stories from friends and neighbors in numerous hotspots around the globe.
Including Minnesota. Events in Minneapolis spiraled out of control due to the violent incursion by ICE (alternate acronym: indiscriminate citizen endangerment). Stories arose from the street to correct false narratives hastily issued by federal officials.
A podcast recommendation: A recent episode of “Question Everything,” titled “A Minnesota Dad Takes on ICE,” features Michael Corey, a friend and former data journalist with whom I worked at the Des Moines Register. More recently he was on staff at the Minnesota Star Tribune. In this pod interview he shares disturbing details he witnessed during an ICE arrest, plus plenty of thoughtful perspective on his city’s overall mood.
Corey—with all his journalism experience—also outlines how Signal chat has become the breaking news platform of choice for local residents in a noisy, complicated media environment. Journalists from newsrooms such as the Star Tribune are churning out rigorous in-depth coverage. Cultural icons like Bruce Springsteen are rising to the occasion with “Streets of Minneapolis” and anthems of many other varieties. But we’re in a climate where, above all, the public seems to be directly informing, inspiring, and supporting each other.
I can’t help but think back to the example of the Arab Spring uprisings enabled by tech in the early 2010s, during the euphoric first wave of social media. Today, during this “Minnesota Winter” of the AI era, are we any wiser about the intersection of the digital economy, government, news, and freedom?
Hard to say. But it seems a safe bet that neither smartphones wielded by the public nor body cameras strapped onto federal agents will themselves preserve the just and civil society all of us deserve.
‘Hearts on Fire’ takes the stage
I don’t have a proven remedy to the broad brushstrokes I just splashed across the page. Instead, I offer what I’m convinced is a therapeutic ritual: live public storytelling.
It’s another example of people directly informing, inspiring, and supporting each other—outside the context of protest or a political crisis. I think of live storytelling as a vitamin B12 shot for local communities.
If you’re craving a bright, warm spark in the dead of winter, may I introduce you to the Iowa Storytellers Project and its latest installment, “Hearts on Fire” on Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Hoyt Sherman Place.
Last fall I wrote about how and why I got involved in this revival of the series, after helping to establish the original incarnation a decade ago in Des Moines. It’s almost magical in its simplicity: We spend the night listening to five people take the stage to entertain the audience with nothing more than a microphone and an authentic story drawn from their everyday lives.
The tellers stand up in front of their neighbors to bear witness in deeply personal ways, after having spent hours in coaching and solo practice to reexamine their stories and hone their narrative into a tight 10 minutes.
I had a blast coaching talented Des Moines musician Lani Eclatt in a lineup also including Patrick Albanese (a magician and actor familiar from his stage run in “Triple Espresso”), Ryan Siskow (who teaches at Des Moines Area Community College), Kathryn Fox (one-half of the musical duo Weary Ramblers and a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative), and Rev. Greg Neal (of Grace United Methodist in Des Moines).
I think all the coaches left our rehearsal earlier this week feeling as if this could be the best storytellers night thus far.
As intended, the theme “Hearts on Fire” serves merely as a starting point—not a limitation. Don’t worry, lovebirds: Some romance is woven throughout these stories, considering the proximity to Valentine’s Day.
But the night also will span coast to coast, from Los Angeles to New York.
You’ll visit Miami, Florida. Dallas, Texas. The backroads of Missouri. A legendary dive bar down the street from Hoyt Sherman called Carl’s Place.
In these stories you’ll meet parents, siblings, spouses, an aunt, an uncle—even a collection of pet insects.
In addition to love, these stories are filled with music, faith, grief, comedy, and so much more.
I know it has already been a heavy year in so many ways. All I can offer is this one night where informing, inspiring, and supporting each other may leave you feeling a little lighter, more connected, and hopeful by the time you exit the theater.
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative
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