Jane Burns
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janeburns.bsky.social
Jane Burns
@janeburns.bsky.social
Journalist who has covered pretty much everything, which is why one day my memoir will be called “Cheese and Basketball: Stories From a Reporter Who Has Covered Everything.” Writing about girls' and women's sports in Iowa at https://janeburns.substack.com
I got a little fed up this week after hearing, yet again, that Audi Crooks isn't all that. Because of her size, of course. So I wrote a thing.

open.substack.com/pub/janeburn...
Crooks navigates the good, the bad and the magic
A 43-point performance sparks conversation - yet again - about the Iowa State star’s game and her talent
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:22 PM
This isn’t new, it’s from last year. But I’ve been thinking about it all week after Audi uncorked that 43-point game. Little girls just love Audi Crooks and it’s so fun to see.
I don’t mind not sitting on press row anymore, especially when I’m sitting by kids. At Iowa State-Drake, these two really love Audi Crooks
November 14, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Good news: I had a brain scan today that told me my brain was unremarkable. Bad news: I had a brain scan today that told me my brain was unremarkable.

(Still dealing with headaches after a bike crash in May. My head hit the curb; yes, I was wearing a helmet.)
November 14, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Reposted by Jane Burns
‘The center’s arrangement with soccer’s international governing body will disrupt its performance schedule, forcing relocation or postponement of several concerts at an institution that has seen a sharp decline in ticket sales since it was taken over by Trump’

www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
FIFA will use Kennedy Center free of charge for World Cup event, contract says
The Kennedy Center booked the World Cup draw at President Donald Trump’s urging. It will occupy much of the campus and displace planned performances.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:15 PM
If Jan Jensen coaching Iowa vs. her alma mater Drake tonight isn’t enough of a connection between the schools, Lisa Bluder coached both and will be the color analyst for the game on BTN.

Just a new twist to this interconnected rivalry, which I wrote about last year open.substack.com/pub/janeburn...
A rivalry that mixes black and gold with blue and white
So many connections between Drake and Iowa make their games a bit of a family reunion
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.

So much work remains to be done.
November 12, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
Journalism *is* standards.
“I’ve been hearing that standards will be eliminated or severely cut back. Bari has told people that she wants to get rid of standards and is shocked that they have so much power. She also asked openly, ‘What’s the point of standards?’” one CBS source said.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
Bari Weiss wants to take down ‘too much power’ CBS News Standards unit: sources
EXCLUSIVE: Internal rumblings within the newsroom come after the S&P head resigned and the network disbanded its vaunted Race and Culture unit.
www.independent.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
This is just sad
Could a quote possibly be more on the nose for Bari, the Ellisons, the Trump movement, or this whole era in American life than "what's the point of standards"? www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...
November 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
One of my favorite photos of my dad. I don’t know if he was shipping out or coming home, but I love that it captures the small-town boy (7 in his graduation class) in the big city. And the photo itself is so Vivian Maier. Possibly, probably, a self-portrait; he did a lot of them as a soldier.
November 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
I AM CRYING THE HAPPIEST TEARS
Remember that little boy who cried uncontrollably because he wanted A’ja Wilson to come to his house??? He got to MEET her and I cannot deal… 🥹😭❤️ #WNBA
November 10, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Pure evil.
Making fun of our neighborhoods and communities is disgusting.

Greg Bovino and his masked agents are not here to make Chicago safer. As children are tear gassed and U.S. citizens detained, they are posing for photo ops and producing reality TV moments. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
Border Patrol Agents Pose At The Bean For Apparent Photo Op
The photo op came after agents tear-gassed a Little Village street and were spotted in the area numerous times. At the Bean, one agent shouted, "Everyone say, 'Little Village!'"
blockclubchicago.org
November 10, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
On Friday, Mick Fleetwood surprised fans by playing “Tusk” with the Trojan Marching Band. But Dr. Bartner, the 85-year-old band director who helped bring it to life and earned USC two platinum, albums also surprised Mick. Inside the very L.A. story of the iconic “Tusk.”
www.espn.com/college-foot...
'It's our tune': How Fleetwood Mac worked with the USC Marching Band to create 'Tusk'
The idea initially sounded so far-fetched band directors thought it was a prank. But the collaboration became a sensation.
www.espn.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:14 PM
A favorite topic I’ve brought with me to Iowa.

And there’s a sidebar at the end. There have been a million stories written about Iowa women's basketball coach Jan Jensen over the years (many by me) but I’m pretty sure no one has written this one before.

dsmmagazine.com/2025/11/05/k...
Kringle all the way
Kringle, the signature Danish pastries, are filled with almond paste or fruit, like apples or blueberries (pictured above). Writer: ...
dsmmagazine.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
Former Iowa player Molly Davis on the current Hawkeyes: ‘They’re really freaking good’
Former player Molly Davis on the current Hawkeyes: 'They're really freaking good'
Women's basketball: Molly Davis, a backup point guard on Iowa's NCAA runner-up teams of 2023 and 2024, serves as a graduate assistant at Evansville.
www.thegazette.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Will be in Des Moines in December. Can’t wait
There has been so much great #music lately. The incredible @dessadarling.bsky.social just released a new two-track EP "Tough Call, Camelot." Dessa's music is always a gut-punch in the best possible way. Insightful, wise, humorous, and self aware. Dessawander.com

#dessa #doomtree #independentmusic
November 9, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
The restored East Wing.
What building should AOC name after Nancy Pelosi when she becomes President in 2029?
November 8, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Watching Wisconsin vs Marquette women’s hoops. What do both coaches have in common?

The Badgers’ Robin Pingeton (St Ambrose) and Marquette’s Cara Consuegra (Iowa) both played for Lisa Bluder.
November 8, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Big fan of this business name that I just saw as I was driving around looking at pretty trees.
November 8, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
New York electing its first Muslim mayor 24 years after 9/11 and rejecting the idiotic racism that would connect those events is actually a legit excuse for American triumphalism, but the people who say they love America the most hate all the best things about it.
November 6, 2025 at 10:41 PM
November 7, 2025 at 10:24 PM
One of my favorite people on one of my favorite podcasts. What’s not to love?
Former Iowa basketball coach turned NBC Sports analyst Lisa Bluder discusses her new role behind the broadcast desk, watching her former players hoop in the pros, her 20+ year career leading Iowa & what it’s like being at the center of the Caitlin Clark commotion.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g...
November 7, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
"World's first potential trillionaire has killed 600,000 people, including 400,000 children" is the only headline that anyone should ever read about Elon Musk
November 7, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Jane Burns
This USA Today reporter, who helped break the story about the LSU sexual abuse scandal in 2020, gets it far better than many of the good ole boys in this state who want to memory-hole things in favor of quickly getting LSU football back on track.
Verge Ausberry was suspended less than five years ago for not reporting abuse cases and skirting reporting policies. Now he’s LSU’s interim AD, tasked with finding the next football
coach.

But tell me again why women don’t report and feel ignored by the system.
Did LSU learn from sex abuse scandal? Apparently not, given interim AD choice | Opinion
LSU elevates Verge Ausberry, who was suspended for 30 days for ignoring abuse complaints and skirting mandatory reporting policies.
www.usatoday.com
November 7, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Reposted by Jane Burns
November 6, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Jane Burns
After the NYTimes published the op-ed "Did Women Ruin the Workplace?", I remembered that a NYTimes Guild report in 2021 found "Overall, median pay for women was $10,000 less per year than for men, meaning women earned roughly 92 percent of what men earned." nytimesguild.org/papers/2021-...
November 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM