 In December 2011, Bloom wrote an essay entitled "Observations From 20 Years of Iowa Life" for "The Atlantic", characterizing Iowans in terms of his assessment of economic and social challenges facing the state, and questioning whether Iowa's status as the first-in-the-nation caucus is justified.In an e-mail to a fellow faculty member, Bloom said that he submitted the column to more than 40 publications before "The Atlantic Online" accepted it; among those that rejected it were Politico.He also hoped to appear on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report and John King's show on CNN, appearances that never materialized.