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AT A WIDE SPECTRUM OF RUSSIAN LIFE. WE’LL SEE HOW THEY SHOP, HOW THEY FARM, HOW THEY WORSHIP AND HOW THEY LIVE. WE’LL SEE HOW IOWANS VIEW RUSSIANS, AND WE’LL SEE HOW RUSSIANS VIEW RUSSIANS. AND WHEN WE’RE DONE, HOPEFULLY YOU’LL HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THESE PEOPLE. WE ONCE CALLED OUR ENEMY. THAT’S ����vlog REPORTER AND ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR DANA ARDON. HE SPENT YEARS TRAVELING IOWA AND AROUND THE WORLD TO TELL PEOPLE’S STORIES IN THE 1980S AND 90S. HIS EYE ON IOWA SEGMENTS HELPED DRIVE ����vlog. S TRADITION OF STORYTELLING TODAY. DANA IS COMING OUT OF RETIREMENT TO SHARE SOME OF HIS FAVORITE ADVENTURES. DANA, TELL US ABOUT REPORTING IN RUSSIA. WELL, FIRST, IT’S GREAT TO SEE YOU GUYS. STACY, ALWAYS A PLEASURE AND BEEN NICE TO MEET YOU TODAY. YEAH, RUSSIA WAS A BIG SURPRISE TO ME. I GOT A CALL FROM THE STATION SAYING, HEY, DO YOU WANT TO GO TO RUSSIA? I WAS SENDING A FRIENDSHIP FORCE, WHICH IS A GREAT PROGRAM WHERE THEY SEND JUST AVERAGE PEOPLE TO GO MEET WITH AVERAGE PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES, AND THEY EXCHANGE, AND. BUT THIS WAS A YEAR AFTER THE SOVIET UNION FELL. AND SO IT WAS GOING FROM A COMMUNIST STATE INTO THE FREE MARKET SYSTEM. IOWA FARMERS WERE LOOKING AT IT AS A POSSIBLE WAY TO EXPORT MORE BUSINESSES IN IOWA WERE ESTABLISHING OFFICES IN MOSCOW, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WERE THERE. AND SO WE THOUGHT IT WAS A PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO GO THERE AND TO SEE HOW ALL THIS WAS IMPACTING US BACK HOME. SO WE SPENT TWO WEEKS THERE, A WEEK IN SAINT PETERSBURG AND A WEEK IN MOSCOW, JUST TALKING TO EVERYONE AND GETTING AS MUCH INFORMATION AS WE POSSIBLY COULD. WHEN YOU WERE THERE, DID YOU GUYS SHOOT ALL THE STORIES AND THEN TURN THEM WHEN YOU GOT BACK? OR WAS IT SOMETHING WHERE YOU WERE SENDING VIDEO BACK DURING YOUR TRIP? WE DIDN’T HAVE THOSE CAPABILITIES, AND IN RUSSIA, GETTING A PHONE CALL BACK WAS CHALLENGING ENOUGH. SO WHEN WE CAME BACK, WE DID LIKE 14 DIFFERENT STORIES AND DID A HALF HOUR SPECIAL, AND IT WAS JUST REALLY COOL TO BE THERE. AND THAT TIME PERIOD, I MEAN, THERE WAS AN ATTEMPTED COUP, THERE WAS A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS, THERE WAS HIGH INFLATION. THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THEIR FUTURE WAS GOING TO BE. AND TO BE THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT, FOR ALL THE IOWANS WHO WERE THERE, WAS REALLY A SPECIAL TIME. YEAH, IT SURE IS. BUT LIKELY THAT EXTRAORDINARY, BUT LIKELY NOT YOUR FIRST INTERNATIONAL TRIP BECAUSE YOU WERE A NAVY JOURNALIST FOR FIVE YEARS BEFORE THAT. YEAH. SO I DID QUITE A BIT OF TRAVELING DURING THOSE, THOSE FIVE YEARS AS WELL. SO CROSSING THE POND AS YOU WILL, WASN’T THAT NEW, BUT IT WAS. RUSSIA WAS UNLIKE ANY OTHER COUNTRY THAT CERTAINLY I’VE EVER BEEN TO. YEAH. IF YOU’VE COVERED THE MILITARY, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, THERE’S KIND OF A WAY THAT YOU HAVE TO GO ABOUT DOING IT. SO THE BACKGROUND THAT YOU GAINED WHEN YOU WERE A REPORTER BEFORE YOU CAME TO US, HOW DID THAT KIND OF HELP WHEN YOU COVERED THE EXPLOSION OF THE USS IOWA? WELL, THAT’S A GREAT QUESTION, BECAUSE THE USS IOWA, AS PEOPLE MAY KNOW, THE GUN TURRET ON TURRET NUMBER TWO EXPLODED IN 1990. NO. 1989 AND 47 SAILORS IN THE GUN TURRET WERE KILLED. AND BECAUSE OF THE USS IOWA, HAS SUCH A HISTORIC PAST AND SUCH A CLOSE CONNECTION TO THE STATE THAT THEY SENT US TO FIRST PUERTO RICO TO COVER THE SHIP COMING IN. WELL, IT DIDN’T MAKE IT THERE BECAUSE THE PIER WASN’T DEEP ENOUGH FOR THE SHIP TO ACTUALLY PULL IN THERE. SO THEY WENT TO NORFOLK. SO WE WENT TO NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, AND FOR A WEEK WE COVERED THE STORIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE IMPACTED BY IT. IN NORFOLK, THERE ARE SCHOOLS THAT HAD ADOPTED THE USSR WHERE WE TALKED TO THEM AND WE TALKED TO A US SAILOR ABOARD THE IOWA WHO SOUGHT US OUT BECAUSE HE WANTED TO TELL THE STORY THAT AS SOON AS THE EXPLOSION HAPPENED, HE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST FIREFIGHTERS THERE TO ATTACK THE FIRE AND PUT IT OUT, KNOWING HIS BEST FRIEND WAS IN THE TURRET AND KNOWING THAT 46 OTHER OF HIS COMRADES WERE WERE IN THERE. SO HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY KNEW THE DEDICATION OF THOSE PEOPLE HAD. AND HE ALSO FELT THAT THE NAVY WAS NOT WAS COVERING UP STUFF. SO THEY WERE REPAINTING THE TURRET BEFORE THE SHIP EVEN PULLED IN, AND THEY WERE THROWING EVIDENCE OFF THE SIDE. AND HE CAME FORWARD AS A BRAVE SAILOR, SAYING, THIS ISN’T RIGHT. YOU NEED TO KNOW THE STORY. WOW. EXTRAORDINARY MOMENTS IN HISTORY FOR SURE. AND DANA, YOU ALSO HAD THIS WONDERFUL SERIES, THE EYE ON IOWA SERIES, AND COVERED THE STORIES OF KIND OF EVERYDAY IOWANS. TELL US MORE ABOUT THAT. WELL, IN THE BUSINESS, WE CALL THEM FEATURE STORIES. BUT THEY WERE MORE THAN THAT. IT WAS MY JOB, AND I FOLLOWED A GREAT TRADITION OF KEVIN COONEY AND RICK SWALWELL AND OTHERS BEFORE THEM, WHOSE JOB WAS TO GO OUT AND TELL THE STORIES OF IOWA, WHO WE ARE AS A PEOPLE, HOW WE, YOU KNOW, HOW WE LIVE AND HOW WE CELEBRATE AND HOW WE LAUGH AND HOW WE CRY. AND IT’S SUCH A BIG, IMPORTANT WAY TO TELL THESE STORIES OF, OF OF IOWA AND TO GIVE US THE BIGGER PICTURE OF WHO WE ARE. AND IT WAS FUN. WE COVERED ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT STORIES FROM PEOPLE WHO HAD PETS, YOU KNOW, POT BELLIED PIGS AS PETS. ONE THAT’S STILL VIRAL OUT ON THE INTERNET IS A STORY I DID CALLED FROZEN NUTS CLUB, WHERE PEOPLE, WHEN IT WAS 20 BELOW, WOULD GO UP ON TOP OF THE OLD WIDE MCA BUILDING AND THEY WOULD SUNTAN, OH MY GOSH. THE THINGS YOU COULD GET AWAY WITH ON TV BACK THEN, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE CRAZY AS WHAT THEY WERE SAYING. OH MAN, THAT’S A LISTEN. WE KNOW WHAT THE TRADITION OF THAT STORYTELLING MEANS TO ����vlog. AND YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT YOU WERE SUCH AN INTEGRAL PART OF THAT, I THINK, IS OBVIOUSLY A FEATHER IN THE CAP. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOLKS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR TIME HERE AND ABOUT ����vlog? WELL, I THINK A LOT OF WHAT I TRY TO DO WITH A LOT OF THE STORIES IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD DO A STORY ON, LIKE, I HAD A STORY IN CRESTON ABOUT AN OLD GYMNASIUM CALLED THE PIT. THAT WAS THEIR LAST GAME, AND THEY BROUGHT IN THE TEAM THAT WON THE TOURNAMENT IN YEARS PAST. AND SO IT WAS ABOUT THE GYMNASIUM, BUT IT WASN’T ABOUT THE GYMNASIUM. ALL IT WAS ABOUT THE FEELING OF COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER, HONORING THE PAST AND LOOKING AHEAD TO THE FUTURE. AND WHEN I THINK ABOUT THAT STORY, I THINK ABOUT ����vlog. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE CAMERAS. IT’S NOT ABOUT THE LIGHTS, BUT IT’S ABOUT THIS SENSE OF COMMUNITY. IT’S ABOUT THIS SENSE OF PURPOSE, OF TRADITION, THE FOUNDATION THAT RUSS VAN -- AND PAUL RHODES CREATED HERE, AND HOW WE CONTINUE THAT FORWARD. I STILL SAY WE AND HOW THAT’S CONTINUED FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE. AND THAT’S WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT. IT’S NOT ABOUT 70 YEARS. IT’S NOT ABOUT IT’S ABOUT THE TRADITION AND THE FUTURE THAT LIES AHEAD. AND THIS IS A FAMILY HERE. AND WELCOME TO THE FAMILY, BY THE WAY, I THINK YOU’RE FINDING THAT OUT, THAT THIS IS MORE THAN JUST BRICK AND MORTAR, THAT IT IS A SENSE OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY. WELL, DANA, I WAS HONORED TO WORK WITH YOU AND FOR YOU, AND I’M SO GLAD THAT YOU ARE HERE TODAY TO SHARE YOUR YOUR STORIES WITH US AGAIN. WELL, I MISS CHATTING WITH YOU EVERY DAY, AND MAYBE I’LL JUST DROP IN AND COME ON BACK. COME ON BACK. WE’RE GOING TO RENAME IT THE LEGENDS CHAIR. THAT’S RIGHT. AN