Lia Ouyang Rusli is a prolific film composer who has scored A24’s Sorry, Baby and Problemista, HBO’s Fantasmas and several other films. She also releases albums as OHYUNG, her ongoing solo experimental project that encompasses pummeling noise, euphoric pop and ambient drones. In March 2026, she released her second ambient album, IOWA, which was inspired […]
Arts & Entertainment
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: OHYUNG — ‘IOWA’
IOWA by OHYUNG My first recollection of meeting Lia Ouyang Rusli was at a Feed Me Weird Things show she performed at as OHYUNG. I had been asked to provide lights and haze. I didn’t completely know what to expect outside of a request for strobes. If you want strobe lights, you’re already after my […]
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An Iowa ukulele player interviews a Hawaiian ukulele god ahead of their show at the Englert
Jake Shimabukuro is a world-renowned ukulele virtuoso whose career spans decades. His playing also became the source of one of YouTube’s earliest viral videos. A user uploaded a vid of Shimabukuro covering “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” in April 23, 2006, a literal year [to the day] after the platforms first uploaded video.
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Fully Booked at ICPL: Stories Between Generations, a pen-pal summer reading program
This summer the Iowa City Senior Center and Iowa City Public Library are partnering to present Stories Between Generations, a program that connects local seniors and school-aged children through a shared reading and letter exchange experience. Think part book club, part pen pal program, all community! Participants will choose a book from the following list […]
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Book Review: ‘Release of Information and Other Linked Stories’ by Kali White VanBaale
For her latest collection of short stories, Kali White VanBaale bolts out of the gates with the attention-grabbing, slice-of-life “Hyatt and the Arch.” She doesn’t slow her literary gait until the final page of the final piece, “Hyatt Pune.” Between these two offerings is a wealth of storytelling, enriched by the interplay and shared context […]
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Searching for ‘something more,’ Sara Routh left L.A. to return to Iowa. Now, making music is a family affair
Des Moines singer-songwriter Sara Routh lives her life with a passion, anchored by her love of music, family and making music with family. She also performs a rad acoustic cover of “Killing in the Name.” Routh shared her story with Little Village with a trademark candor also found in her songwriting and live shows. Talk […]
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Playwright Emily Bohannon on trusting Riverside Theatre with ‘The Fiancé,’ inspired by her broken engagement
After more than a decade, Emily Bohannon, a graduate of the Juilliard Playwrights Program, finally got to see her play, The Fiancé, produced for the first time in Iowa City’s Riverside Theatre. The world premiere capped Riverside’s 2025-2026 season with a run of performances led by two of the theaters founders, Jody Hovland and Ron Clark. LV sat down with the playwright and screenwriter “dedicated to finding the deep humanity in complicated people.”
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A project led by two Iowa City filmmakers, 13 years in the making, is welcome in both art galleries and film fests
Experimentation and chance are at the heart of Homegrown Stories, a 13-year online collaborative media project founded by local photographer and video artist Sandy Dyas and filmmaker LeAnn Erickson.
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The Beyond Fashion Festival returns this weekend to turn downtown IC spaces into runways and boutiques
Building off of their very first fest in 2025, the Wright House of Fashion returns to the streets of downtown Iowa City this weekend for the second Beyond Fashion Festival. The festivities kick off with an alleyway fashion show behind Studio 13 on Friday at 6 p.m. The streetwear fashion show will see a mix […]
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Five questions with FilmScene’s Ben Delgado on the new Aquí y Allá Latin American Film Festival
My favorite interaction regarding FilmScene’s upcoming Aquí y Allá Latin American Film Festival is on an Instagram post promoting the snacks available during the fest. The post sports a cross-section of Latin American snacks found in a tienda near you; Ricolino Duvalín’s, Gansito cakes, Chupa Chups and more.
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Review: Three generations of women lead with heart and humor in ‘The Fiancé’ at Riverside Theatre
On the opening night — and the world premiere — of The Fiancé at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City, among the first things I noted was how the playwright, Emily Bohannon, describes her body of work…
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Josie Nabhan-Warren, a junior at Iowa City West High, is the new Iowa Student Poet Ambassador
Josie Nabhan-Warren of Iowa City West High School has been named the 2026-2027 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador, the highest honor a young writer can receive in Iowa.
