Running Joke By Ellie Medea-Kapp Did you know that you’re a running joke? Yet when he grips my hands till they crack I want to run, it seems that we see you, wherever we go, we always see you, you see, I wasn’t there when you pulled that knife, but whenever I hear your name […]
Emma McClatchey
Posted inCommunity/News
After years defying United Methodist rules as an openly queer chaplain, Iowa City’s Anna Blaedel is out of the church and proud to be a ‘spiritual misfit’
Rev. Anna Blaedel is a chaplain, public theologian, writer and a graduate of the University of Iowa’s Religious Studies program. They earned a Masters in Divinity at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, and have been chaplaining students on the UI campus since 2014. Affiliated with the United Methodist Church (UMC) for 109 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Photos: ‘Keith Haring and Iowa City’ exhibition at the Stanley features iconic paintings, local lore
It’s been a month since the exhibition “To My Friends at Horn: Keith Haring and Iowa City” debuted at the University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, but the arrival of Pride Month and the Downtown Summer Gallery Walk are sure to bring new visitors this Friday, June 7. More than a brief escape into […]
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When the Iowa women’s basketball team packed Carver — in 1985
For most of her 62 years, “nobody cared about women’s basketball,” Lisa Bluder has said, especially when compared to the phenomenon it is today. Athletic scholarships were practically nonexistent before 1972. Attendance could range from a few dozen to a few hundred. Uniforms and facilities were often less than ideal. But the sport still had […]
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While taking the world by storm, Lisa Bluder’s team has given Iowans some precious pride of place
Modern life can be isolating. Kurt Vonnegut said as much during a graduation address at New York’s Hobart and William Smith Colleges on May 26, 1974. “What should young people do with their lives today?” asked the Indianapolis-born author. “Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the […]
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When the Saints went marching through southern Iowa
Long before I-80 cut a clear path through the state — and before any asphalt, rubber tires, railways or virtually any infrastructure existed to aid westward travelers — crossing the roughly 310 miles between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers was a long, arduous journey. The native landscape, wildlife and bacteria familiar to generations of indigenous […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Pour things from Iowa breweries to imbibe this Oscar season
We’ve paired a pair of Iowa-made beers with each of this year’s Best Picture contenders so no matter who wins, you’re golden. American Fiction Bankrupt On Selling fruited sour6.4% ABVLua Brewing, Des Moines Mummer Saison-style mumme6% ABVQuarter Barrel Arcade & Brewery, Cedar Rapids Lua’s Bankrupt on Selling is packed with blackberry, pineapple, cinnamon and nutmeg. […]
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Founders of Elkader, Iowa named their town after an Algerian freedom fighter, forging a 175-year tie to the Muslim nation
By all accounts, it’s the only U.S. city named after a Muslim hero. And it’s right here in Iowa. More than 100 years before the Geneva Convention codified in international law the rights of prisoners of war and civilians to humane treatment, 19th century Algerian freedom fighter Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhyi al-Din, the leader of […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Keith Haring left his mark on Iowa City. Thirty-five years later, it will go on public display for the first time.
From kindergarten through sixth grade, I spent countless hours staring at a wall in the Horn Elementary School library, daydreaming while an adult read a book to the class. Far more compelling than a fire alarm or a poster of LeVar Burton, I would fixate on a massive mural mounted on the wall of the […]
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Every book removed from Iowa schools (so far) in response to SF 496
Gov. Kim Reynolds signed SF 496 into law in May, after it was pushed through the Iowa Legislature with only Republican votes. Among the bill’s provisions is a requirement that school districts remove all books with “descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act” except for approved science or health class texts. It also prohibits […]
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Self-styled ‘Iowa witch’ Kari Lake is hoping her MAGA mission from God will lead to D.C.
These days, Iowa-raised Trump ally Kari Lake is best known for losing — and refusing to concede — her 2022 bid for Arizona governor. But in May 2016, Lake was putting her journalism degree from the University of Iowa to good use, and even scored an interview with President Barack Obama. “I don’t remember at […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Five questions with Julia Jessen, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art’s new lead curator
Since she started as the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art’s lead curator in July, Julia Jessen has been exploring their 8,000-piece permanent collection, scouring shelves, drawers and boxes in preparation for her debut exhibition, “Surprise!” Little Village caught up with Jessen to see what’s catching her eye. Tell me a little bit about your background. […]
