With a stage name like Patricia Holly, a Christmas album seems to be a no-brainer. Name synergy aside, the Des Moines-based jazz and Americana artist is wholly up to the task of a new holiday effort; her signature vintage sound glides effortlessly between dazzling big-band-style orchestrations and a jazzy, moody piano bar, guided by a […]
Arts & Entertainment
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Album Review: Bootcamp — ‘Time’s Up’
Time’s Up by Bootcamp. Whenever Iowa City hardcore punk outfit Bootcamp sets off for the divey bars and dimmed basement venues of a tour, vocalist Juliette Enloe sets a phone lockscreen to a map of the U.S., with the state of Iowa circled in blazing red. The reason? Non-Midwest audiences never seem to know where […]
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Little Big Screen: Refocus fest highlight ‘Train Dreams’ arrives on Netflix, plus other Denis Johnson adaptations to stream this month
The jangle, hum and hiss of Denis Johnson’s writing, first published when he was a 19-year-old undergrad at the University of Iowa and later stamped with the National Book Award, found me by mistake. “Car-Crash While Hitchhiking,” the short story responsible for Bethany, Missouri’s place in the literary canon, wasn’t supposed to be there. But […]
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Book Review: ‘The People are Kind: A Religious History of Iowa’ by Bill R. Douglas
As a student of history, political activist and an award-winning freelance historian, Bill R. Douglas brings his diverse, rich background to bear on a question that tugged at his soul: Why hasn’t anyone written a comprehensive history of Iowa’s religions? He decided to answer it himself with The People Are Kind: A Religious History of […]
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FilmScene is highlighting a 30-year-old French film inspired by the murder of an immigrant by police
In April of 1993, in the 18th arrondissement of Paris, Makomé M’Bowole, along with two of his friends, was chased down at 4:30 a.m. carrying 120 cartons of Dunhill Cigarettes. His friends were released later in the morning, but M’Bowole was not. Twelve hours after his arrest, inside the 18th Arr. Police Precinct in Paris, he was dead. Director Mathieu Kassovitz was 25 years old when Inspector Compain was on trial for the murder of M’Bowole. Kassovitz would have heard the narrative.
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After four decades, the Minnesota Orchestra makes a triumphant return to Hancher Auditorium
The Minnesota Orchestra, under new Music Director Thomas Søndergård, performed at Hancher Auditorium earlier this month, on Nov. 15. The performance saw the return of the ensemble to the University of Iowa, as their last visit came in 1982. Before that, the Orchestra made regular visits through the decades prior, with a a partnership that […]
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‘I’m comfortable here’: Filmmaker Kristian Day makes documentaries in, and about, Iowa
Des Moines-based storyteller Kristian Day has made a name for himself in the world of media production. His bonafides include creating The Last American Gay Bar, a 2024 docuseries for OUTtv covering The Blazing Saddle in Des Moines, and hosting the show Iowa Basement Tapes on KFMG radio, which aims to preserve local DIY music […]
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Fully Booked at ICPL: Timeless gifts for teen readers
A great book gifted by someone special in your life, especially during your formative years, can become a keepsake. I regularly purge décor, art, clothes and, yes, books, but my permanent reading collection is a part of my identity. This list of books for youth in middle and high school runs the gamut of genre and […]
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Fully Booked at DMPL: Books to read when you need to feel something
Reading is a daily ritual for me. I’m a mood reader, gravitating towards genre fiction when I need an escape from reality, but my favorite books tend to be emotionally devastating literary fiction. I love to be moved to tears. To be left gasping at the beauty and heartbreak that humans create with words, reflecting […]
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Album Review: Camp Regret — ‘Camp Regret’
Emerging from the dormant memories of basement shows, DIY venues, crashing on couches and floors on tour and the nostalgia for a more active local music scene comes another supergroup of Quad Cities musicians in the form of Camp Regret. Featuring members of past acts such as Meth & Goats, Ice Hockey and Lazer Mountain, Camp Regret may not be young pups, but they are out to prove that you can teach old dogs new tricks with their debut, self-titled album.
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This weekend in Iowa: Metal Yoga, Taste Test Improv Burlesque and more
Established 2001 | Always free! We live in a world where Timothée Chalamet may or may not be masquerading as U.K. drill rapper EsDeeKid. As we process that news (and try to incorporate “LV Sandals” into our newest merch drop plans) check out these upcoming events in our Weekender. In Iowa City, Brìghde Chaimbeul is at Trumpet Blossom Cafe as […]
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With ‘Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat,’ chef Samin Nosrat boiled cooking down to its elements. At Hancher — and with her new book — she reflects on why we set a table in the first place
If there’s anything we all could use at the end of 2025, it’s comforting food with good company. Helping patrons get into the holiday feasting mindset, Hancher Auditorium hosted a conversation with acclaimed chef and author Samin Nosrat and Iowa City’s own Carmen Maria Machado on Nov. 13. The auditorium, buzzing with food enthusiasts of […]
