Comedian John Hodgman Englert Theatre — Friday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. The characters of “John Hodgman” include resident expert, deranged millionaire, and stockpiler of mayonnaise and urine for the […]
Melissa Zimdars
Melissa Zimdars is a doctoral student in Communication Studies at the University of Iowa, specializing in all things television.
The Tube: Losing the stigma, not the weight
As excited as we are for our annual respite from the cold, the heat of summer—also known as “swimsuit season”—can bring with it anxiety, and for some, feelings of shame. […]
Feminist Police Procedural: ‘The Fall’ successfully avoids crime show cliches
American television is known for being especially violent against women, or for depictions of sexual violence. Crime shows like CSI, Criminal Minds, Stalker and True…
How to Mission Creek: A guide to Saturday and Sunday
Hopefully, you’ve been Mission-Creeking-it-up all week (seriously, Amen Dunes! Silver Apples! Real Estate! Freddie Gibbs! How to Dress Well! Foxygen!), but if not, there’s still enough music, film and literature to satiate your soul for weeks — all happening in just one weekend.
How to Mission Creek: A guide to Thursday night
Here, Little Village‘s Tube columnist, Melissa Zimdars, offers her recap of last night at Mission Creek, and her plans for this evening. I know only nerdiest television columnist would fact-check […]
How to mission creek: LV’s Melissa Zimdars shares her plan of attack
Little Village television columnist Melissa Zimdars offers her plan of attack for Mission Creek week. Follow her updates online throughout the week on Little Village…
The Tube: TV shows for hibernating
The following list of must-watch TV shows got started when the air outside my apartment felt like negative 35 degrees, and I wanted something to look forward to besides the […]
Opinion: Stop over-funding the bloated UI administration
Recently, the University of Iowa has been making some questionable decisions in the name of finances. Courses are being cut in Intermedia (despite waiting lists and TA’s ready to teach […]
The Tube: Bridging TV’s caricature gap
A couple issues ago, I put the ABC sitcom Black-ish on the list of new fall TV to skip. I rarely admit to something like this, but I was wrong. […]
Regents proposal offers no wage increase for grad students, slashes reimbursement for quarter-timers
Within the last 10 days both the Campaign to Organize Graduate Students (COGS), the University of Iowa’s Graduate Employee Union and bargaining representatives…
The Tube: Rectify’s slow and deliberate pace makes for one of the most unique shows on television
“I can’t quite get a handle on the concept of time yet.” These words by Daniel Holden (Aden Young) in the first episode of Rectify describe both his experience…
Student Debt: Graduate students are finding that the world of academia is shutting them out
Denied for student requirement.” This is what a teaching assistant at the University of Iowa, who prefers to remain unnamed, was informed by the Iowa…