One of the top picks for the weekly Chinese Bilingual Storytime at the Iowa City Public Library (Fridays at 10:30 a.m.) is The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and […]
Arts & Entertainment
Book Review: ‘For a Second, In the Dark’ by Alec Hershman
For a Second, In the Dark is a distinct collection of poems in which Alec Hershman takes us on a daunting yet humorous journey through reality. Released in October 2023 […]
Album Review: William Elliott Whitmore — ‘Silently, The Mind Breaks’
If you’ll permit a strained simile, Will Whitmore is like Iowa’s basketball phenom Caitlin Clark. He’s never been anything short of ridiculously excellent, and he makes it look — or […]
Album Review: Dandelion Stompers — ‘Whirlwind Sessions Vol. 1’
Whirlwind Sessions Vol. 1 by Dandelion Stompers Recently, John Kenyon — executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization and one of our area’s most insightful arts […]
Comedy helped ‘tough guy’ Felonious Munk grow into a family man, actor and stand-up star on the rise
What does comedian, actor and social commentator Felonious Munk want Des Moines to know before his show at Teehee’s Comedy Club on Feb. 3? “My comedy is designed to make […]
Book Review: ‘The War Begins in Paris’ by Theodore Wheeler
As a reader, I have largely ignored the historical fiction genre. The War Begins in Paris (2023), by Theodore Wheeler, shows me that I have been remiss. Through it, I’ve […]
Rush Cleveland, elder statesman of Iowa blues, will celebrate a banner year in Cedar Falls Saturday before competing in the International Blues Challenge
At every step in roughly six decades of making music, Rush Cleveland’s remained true to himself. He doesn’t use a setlist, preferring instead to read the audience and go with […]
Little Village’s 2024 Comics Issue
What’s in store for 2024? Little Village’s January Comics Issue includes strips from 20 local comic artists inspired by their fears and hopes for the year ahead. Sarah Allen Reed […]
Three Saturdays, nine performances, one stage: The Englert’s Local Showcase Series returns Jan. 17
The Englert Theatre’s Local Showcase Series returns in 2024 with three nights of performances featuring exclusively local artists. The goal of this series, spanning January and early February, is to […]
The brief time when Iowa City was in the Guitar Hero business
For a brief time in the ’00s, Guitar Hero was the king of party games. And for an even briefer time, some entries in the bestselling series were developed in […]
The million-matchstick masterpieces of Iowan Pat Acton
If you’re visiting Gladbrook in Tama County, it’s probably for Matchstick Marvels. And the nice people of Gladbrook know it — they’ve put “Home of Matchstick Marvels” on both of […]
Ten music releases from 2023 that changed my mind about Iowa music
As an outsider looking in, Iowa might be mistaken for a cultural desert. As someone who’s lived most of their life outside of the state, that’s largely how I viewed […]