Comedian Dante Powell presents the Midwestern life in a hilarious and delightfully new way on his debut album The Squirrels Get Fat. Powell has lived in Iowa since 2012, after moving from Louisiana for a relationship that didn’t last long once he arrived in the Hawkeye State. Much of The Squirrels Get Fat is about […]
Articles by Austin J. Yerington
Musicians dive deep into complex industry topics on Crumbs

With so much uncertain right now in the music industry — musicians, both world-renowned and local, canceling all their live events; venues around the globe postponing or canceling events as far out as September and beyond — musicians and industry professionals Ryan Joseph Anderson and Brian Johannesen have started a new livestreamed talk show that […]
With 50th anniversary celebrations suspended, UAY continues focusing on youth well-being online

Fred Rodgers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” During the current global pandemic, there have been countless helpers both internationally and locally, and Iowa City’s United Action for […]
The Actors’ Gang brings the huddled masses to Hancher, Tim Robbins talks mythic courage and national identity

“… cries she / With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …’” — “The New Colossus,” Emma Lazarus The New Colossus, directed and co-written by Academy Award-winning actor, Tim Robbins, was created in collaboration with the Actors’ Gang, the 39-year-old, Los Angeles-based company where he […]
Book Review: ‘Real Life’ by Brandon Taylor

In his debut novel, Real Life, released Feb. 18, Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum Brandon Taylor follows the story of Wallace, a science graduate student in the Midwest who is in search of what he really wants. The book is set over the course of just three days, and it’s filled with betrayals, new romance and […]
Music weaves through all aspects of life for poet-critic Hanif Abdurraqib

Music critic, poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib has made a career writing about music in both a critical and poetic way. The two aspects that aren’t often mixed, but Abdurraqib has seen renowned successes with his four books. He’ll be reading from them at Prairie Lights on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. […]
Strong performances ground the chaos in ICCT’s ‘God of Carnage’

Iowa City Community Theatre opened ‘God of Carnage’ on Jan. 24 to an amused and unsettled audience. The play takes viewers on a journey that goes from domestic bliss to untethered chaos. “I believe in the God of carnage,” Alan Raleigh, played by Trent Yoder, said. The line echoes in the ears of Iowa City theater-goers as they watch
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