Video games encourage creativity, problem-solving, and are an immersive way to tell a story. In other words, they’re a perfect fit for libraries! These titles were a couple of my favorites from last year. You can check them out today at the Iowa City Public Library. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a first-person […]
Arts & Entertainment
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Fully Booked at DMPL: Dystopian tales taking on new meaning in 2025
Recently, I’ve found myself falling back into my middle school routine of reading every dystopian book I can find. Whether it’s prompted by the dystopia-themed escape room I’ve been working on at Des Moines Public Library, or the fact Parable of the Sower was one of the most requested books at DMPL in January — […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: A family flails as a 50-year marriage fizzles in ‘Grand Horizons’ from Iowa Stage Theatre Company
The crowd’s perspective of the play shifts to the unfamiliar when the man coyly bends over to reveal his skimpy thong. Don’t get your hopes up; the near-nudity ends there.
The Iowa Stage Theatre Company recently presented Bess Whol’s Grand Horizons at the Stoner Theater in the Des Moines Civic Center from March 14 to March 23, 2025.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
This weekend in Iowa: Trans Vibrations, Metal Madness and master throat singing.
Established 2001 | Always free! There is a lot to celebrate and come out in solidarity for this weekend. Iowa City’s Trumpet Blossom hosts a night of music and resistance via a fundraiser for Iowa Trans Mutual Aid. Cedar Rapids again proves it’s a metalhead destination with the March Metal Madness show at The Ideal […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: ‘The Great Gatsby’ is a haunted memory in Mirrorbox Theatre’s ‘These Gilded Souls’
These Gilded Souls, the Great Gatsby adaptation/continuation by playwright Aly Kantor, is currently playing at Mirrorbox Theatre in Cedar Rapids, starring Seth Hoffman as Nick Carraway. Nick has returned to West Egg to scatter the ashes of the wife whom he married and lost in the years following the events of the novel.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Moscow Puzzles — ‘Vast Space of the Interior’
Vast Space of the Interior by Moscow Puzzles Instrumental rock music has always been a little underground. From its origins in surf rock to the many post-rock bands of today, there have been few moments where it has reached the attention of the mainstream music fan, which makes playing in a post-rock band a true […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
DSM Book Festival returns with four headlining authors, each with an Iowa counterpart
In an increasingly digital world, connecting over a common interest in real life is even more meaningful. “It’s person to person. It’s getting recommendations. It’s finding out from your friends or people you admire what they’re reading,” said C.J. Box, the author behind the Western mystery series Joe Pickett. “You just got to get out […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Far From Broken’ by Kelsey Bigelow
According to the back of the book, Kelsey Bigelow’s Far From Broken (2024) collection is “an expansion of her spoken word album Depression Holders and Secret Keepers” which was released in advance of the book. I haven’t heard Bigelow’s work aloud, but I can say that there were several poems which seemed so clearly meant […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
This weekend in Iowa: a Dark Agenda at Gabe’s, Tejano country-rock at Wooly’s and the Macks bring Portland to the Raccoon Motel.
Established 2001 | Always free! We don’t care if there’s snow or strange dirty-brown rain (which is a thing now) we’re catching one of these shows this weekend. Trumpet Blossom has a trio of performers slated for Friday night. Mars Hojilla and emily the band visit from Illinois while Allegra Hernandez takes a break from their Girls […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
From basements to grand stages, Mission Creek Festival has nourished Iowa City culture for two decades. This year marks the end of an era.
Mission Creek Festival’s namesake is a ghost river in San Francisco. It once connected the center of the city to Mission Bay, though during the past two centuries it has largely been filled in and redirected through subterranean channels. Over the years, parts of the land that Mission Creek ran through have experienced soil liquefaction, […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Little Big Screen: Michelle Monaghan movies to watch after this week’s episode of ‘The White Lotus’
Is Michelle Monaghan the most actress-y actress? She’s been an actress playing an actress for Shane Black, Sofia Coppola and Mike White on this season of “The White Lotus.” Monaghan, evidently the very essence of a Hollywood lead, grew up in Winthrop, Iowa of all places.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Indigenous art meets comic books, children’s toys and mythology in Cara and Diego Romero’s “Tales of Futures Past” at the Figge
Artists Cara (Chemehuevi) and Diego (Cochiti) Romero’s traveling exhibition Tales of Futures Past premiered this month at the Figge Art Museum in Davenport. Cara and Diego Romero are indigenous artists who work in different mediums exploring the diversity and impact of indigenous identity.
