Dinner with Iowa’s Progressive Talkers

Pick a progressive topic and the Fallon Forum likely has done a show on it. (Check out their podcast archive here). They are on the air, Monday through Thursday from 7:00 PM until 8:00 PM with “the fusion of politics and civility.” The author met Ed during the 2006 election cycle when he was running for governor in the Democratic primary and Lynn was working on his campaign. He recently had dinner with a group that included Ed and Lynn Fallon in Iowa City.

According to their station website, “Lynn Fallon was a stay-at-home mom for 14 years until returning to Grand View University to earn her degree in religion. In 2003 she helped establish The Connection Cafe, a free-meal program for the homeless, low-income and working poor in Des Moines. In 2006 she left to work with Ed in his gubernatorial campaign. She was campaign manager for his congressional campaign in 2008.

Ed Fallon worked a variety of jobs before running for public office, including farming, construction, landscaping, grave digger, peace activist, musician, music teacher and owner and operator of a bakery. He served fourteen years in the Iowa Legislature and ran for Governor in 2006 and Congress in 2008.”

Owning and operating a radio program seems to be a natural extension of their political life together. The success of the Fallon Forum may influence the larger economic recovery. People like Ed and Lynn, as small business owners, are the ones to bring us out of the recession, according to Washington pundits and politicians. We should wish them luck! Talking over dinner together was a reminder of how tenuous the life of an entrepreneur can be. Making the Fallon Forum successful with a group of non-profits and small business sponsors does not seem like a path to wealth. Ed and Lynn don’t seem to be in it for the money.

Unlike the highly capitalized right wing talkers, the Fallons are small scale entrepreneurs with big ideas. The Fallons saw a need for an alternative to right wing radio and stepped in to fill it. Because of its small scale, the Fallon Forum seems a risky venture, but as empty nesters, free to pursue their interests, their hard work has produced a quality product and a growing audience. We hope they will be rewarded for their risk and uncertainty in building a minority voice on the radio spectrum. Entrepreneurial success is uncertain at best and one admires the Fallons for their determination and willingness to take risks to support their ideals.

We met for dinner at Thai Flavors on Burlington Street. The evening’s program was on immigration with members of Iowa City’s Sanctuary City Committee as guests. It was great to discuss the topic matter with local organizers, and practical as well from the standpoint of having a good show. There had been good publicity and we were hoping for a crowd at the nearby First Mennonite Church where the Fallon Forum was live broadcasting.  We wanted to be ready.

Over dinner, we talked about raising chickens inside city limits, the role corporations play in the immigration debate and Ed’s musical talents. Among other things, he is a piano player for hire. Ed and Lynn live close to the means of production, not only in their radio work, but in growing their own food as well. Ed bicycles around Des Moines and is outspoken on the rights of bicyclists. They seemed committed to their ideals and determined to voice them. A natural for radio hosts. Although we disagreed about a topic or two, the conversation was respectful. Lynn mentioned that some of the table leftovers would be fed to their chickens.

Before we knew it, it was time to go. Ed wanted to stop by the Becky Schmitz (Iowa Senate District 45) fundraiser down the street at the Mill. One can expect that the Fallons will stay close to the political world, as the Fallon Forum continues to grow its audience and keep the progressive voice alive on the radio spectrum.  

~Paul
Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend
editor of Blog for Iowa. E-mail Paul
Deaton