The Gist
Episode: Art Cullen on Iowa's Corn Gospel, Cancer, and Capture
Date: October 31, 2025
Host: Mike Pesca
Guest: Art Cullen (Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, author, Iowa newspaper editor)
Episode Overview
In this episode, Mike Pesca interviews Art Cullen about his new book, Dear Marty, We Crapped in Our Nest: Notes from the Edge of the World. The conversation dives deep into Iowa’s agrarian identity—specifically, the dominance and destructiveness of corn farming—"the Corn Gospel" Cullen calls it. The two discuss the environmental, economic, and public health fallout for rural Iowans, the capture of politics by agribusiness, high cancer rates in the state, and the complex local and national political forces shaping Iowa today.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The “Corn Gospel” and Iowa’s Agro-Economic Trap
[09:34] Art Cullen:
- The central theme of his book is how Iowa’s rural life is dominated—and poisoned—by corn. Corn is both spiritual (“the holiness of corn”) and destructive (“the stalk of the book”).
- “We have engineered it and engineered a petrochemical base in which to grow corn. Everything revolves around corn and hogs in Iowa. It's strangling us. We're choking on corn, and we're killing ourselves from toxicity.”
[10:51]
- Historical context: Nearly all of Iowa (97%) is under cultivation, mainly for corn.
- Despite generations farming corn, prices have fallen in real terms since the Civil War, forcing farmers into an “economic burial hole.”
[11:57]
- The transformation from healthy agriculture to industrial growth is likened to a fall from grace—post-WWII, discovering anhydrous ammonia, using ever-more fertilizer and manure.
- Environmental consequences:
- “The Raccoon river is toxic. It's one of the filthiest rivers in North America because of ag fertilizer runoff. ... creating a huge hypoxia zone, a dead zone that's killing all the shrimping industry down there.”
2. Agri-Corporate Capture of Iowa Politics
[13:49] Art Cullen:
- True power lies not with farmers but with “an agribusiness cabal”—entities like Koch Enterprises and Bayer ensure every acre is farmed for chemical and profit.
- “It's a one-party state, it's a Republican state. ... If you're going to farm, you're going to do it their way or hit the highway.”
[15:00]
- Big business profits not just from growing crops but from supplying chemicals (“fertilizer, Bayer’s Roundup”) and from subsidizing cheap livestock feed.
- The policy of cheap food conceals its true environmental and health costs.
3. Environmental & Public Health Crisis (Cancer Rates)
[15:29] Art Cullen:
- Northwest Iowa (the 4th Congressional District) has “the highest breast cancer rate and the highest prostate cancer rate.”
- Coincides with “the densest concentration of livestock in North America ... seems to me that's more than a coincidence.”
- Cullen reveals his personal and family struggle: “I will undergo surgery Nov. 4 for prostate cancer. All my brothers have been treated for prostate cancer and my sister was treated for breast cancer.”
- Cullen’s family has no documented genetic predisposition; Mayo Clinic genetic testing confirmed it’s “an environmental illness.”
4. Racial, Cultural, and Political Dynamics
[17:15] Art Cullen:
- The region’s history of racial homogeneity made it susceptible to fear-mongering about immigrants.
- “It's easy to make stupid conclusions about things you know nothing about. ... They forget who's actually feeding them. And it's Latinos in large part. ... You brew this toxic brew of evangelical religion and meld it with the corporate farm bureau thing ... That's how we end up with a Steve King.”
5. The Democratic Dilemma in Iowa
[19:50] On winning back rural voters:
- Cullen: “Quit leading with cultural issues. ... In rural areas ... it's not especially wise to lead with abortion. We should be talking about ... how can we make rural communities prosperous.”
- Explains how conversations are misdirected. Issues blamed on immigrants or social issues obscure the economic realities:
- “The Mexican didn't bust the union. ... Ronald Reagan did. ... The people who stole your franchise are not Mexicans ... They're corporate CEOs.”
[22:24] On national Democratic politics:
- National party meddling is counterproductive:
- “Chuck Schumer should keep his mitts off the Senate race ... The DNC ... killed the Democratic Iowa caucuses. ... That's one hell of a way to reach out to rural voters ... throw them in the ditch.”
[23:21]
- Iowans voted for Obama twice—“there was a time when the Iowans voted for hope and change, and then hope and change didn't come, so they said, screw it, let's vote for ... just give me a tax break.”
[24:20]
- Cullen still believes in pluralism on wedge issues:
- “My views on abortion are probably not in tune with Chuck Schumer's, but ... I realize we're in a pluralistic society. ... But they aren't even attempting to talk to these voters.”
[25:35]
- Good economic arguments have not been compelling enough, but:
- “Tom Harkin did very well in Iowa for a long, long time ... with the right messenger, you can sell that economic argument. But first you have to get your ass to Northwest Iowa ... and speak to them.”
6. Failure to Deliver and Lost Trust
[27:32] Art Cullen:
- Democratic policies failed to deliver for Iowa. Money meant for sustainable ag mostly went to big corporations like Cargill, not farmers.
- “There's no cover crops, there's no conservation work ... We didn't get any infrastructure money. ... They didn't deliver and neither did Obama.”
7. Memorable Closing Exchange
[28:41]
- Mike Pesca: “Thank you, Art.”
- Art Cullen: “It ain't the end of the world, but you can see it from here.” (28:41)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
“We’re choking on corn, and we're killing ourselves from toxicity. We're suffocating the Gulf of Mexico. We have corn coming out our ears, and ... we're poisoning ourselves. It's nuts. It's crazy.”
—Art Cullen [09:34] -
“It’s this agribusiness cabal that actually controls the strings in Iowa. They own the legislation. ... They’ve stacked the Iowa Supreme Court, and there’s just no way around it.”
—Art Cullen [13:49] -
“I will undergo surgery Nov. 4 for prostate cancer. All my brothers have been treated for prostate cancer and my sister was treated for breast cancer.”
—Art Cullen [15:29] -
“There are almost as many inactive voters in Buena Vista county where I live, as there are active voters.”
—Art Cullen [25:17] -
“It ain’t the end of the world, but you can see it from here.”
—Art Cullen [28:41]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- Word of the Year banter, show intro: 00:00–09:00
- Interview Begins – Corn Gospel: 09:10
- Environmental Catastrophe, Cancer Rates: 15:25
- Race, Rural Politics, Radicalization: 17:15
- Democratic Party’s Rural Woes: 19:50–27:32
- Conclusion, Memorable Sign-off: 28:41
Tone & Approach
Pesca’s style is conversational, irreverent, and frank—unafraid to critique both left and right, often with a sharp wit. Cullen speaks as a pragmatic progressive, focused on policy and real-world consequences, rooted in his experience and pain as an Iowa native.
Use this summary to quickly grasp how industrial agriculture, environmental collapse, and political alienation have reshaped Iowa, and why the path out is so fraught—for both farmers and the Democratic Party.