PAUL CAIN isn’t his real name. Is slender, blond, usually bearded. He wasted his first thirty years as a matter of course and principle; wandered over South America, Europe, northern Africa and the Near East; been a bosun’s-mate, Dada painter, gambler, and a “no“-man in Hollywood. This biographical note for the hard-boiled novel Fast One, […]
Central Iowa
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Diles Que No Me Maten, playing at xBk on Sunday, specializes in improv music, improv studios and sometimes improv accommodations
Formed in 2017, Diles Que No Me Maten is a Mexico City five-piece collective whose music dissolves genre boundaries. Their songs snake back and forth between post-rock atmospheres, experimental spiritual jazz stylings, indie rock drones, and Cuban- and Krautrock-inspired rhythms. “The whole way we move as a band has always been improvised,” bassist Andrés Lupone […]
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Ballet Des Moines’ October show includes the world premiere of a Poe adaptation, dark poetry and a graveyard of ghosts
Stirring the cauldron of creativity, Ballet Des Moines will conjure a captivating evening of dance with its frightfully fantastic Ghost Stories, Oct. 23 and 24. The first official performance of the company’s 2026/27 season after a preview in August, Ghost Stories includes Nevermore, another world premiere from the unbridled imagination of the company’s resident choreographer, […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Grassley tells Iowa Republicans to ‘get people cranked up’ on social media for midterms and ‘get over’ grievances against GOP
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley stumped for Iowa Republican candidates in Iowa Wednesday morning and urged members of the party to amplify their voices on social media to encourage the state’s dominant registered base to vote in November. Grassley, speaking at the Westside Conservative Club, said if there are Republicans who feel Iowa’s current all-conservative delegation […]
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Annastacia Stegall is back in Des Moines with a ‘multimodal’ book inspired by My Scene, childhood games and her own life
What happens when clothing becomes a way to remember?
For Annastacia Stegall, the answer to this question began during her MFA program at Eastern Washington University in 2022. She entered knowing what she wanted to write about, but not necessarily how she wanted to write it. As she continued working, one theme began appearing again and again: clothing and its connection to memory.
“I’m someone who needs a very clear theme with a book,” Stegall said during an interview with Little Village Magazine via Zoom. “I like writing with a theme in mind.”
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Review: Des Moines Symphony highlights a local composer, a veteran journalist, a Jordan Peele collaborator and ‘West Side Story’ in America-centric season debut
The last weekend in September saw the Des Moines Symphony kick off their 89th season at the Des Moines Civic Center with a celebration of American composers: Unity – American Mosaic & West Side Story. The concert began, appropriately enough, with a rendition of our national anthem where Conductor Joseph Giunta welcomed the audience to […]
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How reclusive musician Jandek wound up recording a live album on the Grinnell College campus in 2007
The artist known as Jandek emerged with a divisive singer-songwriter sound in 1978. Dropping the needle on his debut album Ready for the House — which came with no liner notes, nor any accompanying concerts or interviews — you hear the unsettling moans of an acoustic guitar playing atonal, dissonant chords, the plucking of steel […]
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Iowa Stage Theatre Company brings ‘Reefer Madness’ to — where else — the Stoner Theater
In two years, the top-notch talent at Iowa Stage Theatre Company have managed to craft a distinct programming style. From classics (such as the Shakespeare on the Lawn franchise and The Glass Menagerie) to the cutting-edge (2024’s Witch), to their current take on a campy classic, ISTC has gained a reputation for dark, daring, actor-centric […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Des Moines Public Library eliminates Sunday hours amid citywide budget cuts due to new state law
The Des Moines Public Library will eliminate Sunday service hours at two of its largest branches, Central and Franklin Avenue, after Oct. 25, the Board of Trustees decided Wednesday. The change is a direct response to a $750,000 budget cut — part of a broader effort by city officials to cut costs after a new […]
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Union Park is throwing 20 free concerts in one afternoon as PorchFest DSM returns Sunday
PorchFest DSM turns five this year, and has become a regional magnet for music lovers. The dynamic duo producing this capital city happening is Dave and Anne Ducharme-Jones, a husband-wife team originally from Austin, Texas. Their passion for music is an inclusive one. Knowing that a rising tide raises all ships, they envisioned PorchFest DSM […]
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Worth a Rewatch: Soderbergh debut ‘Sex, Lies, and Videotape’ is the kind of slow-burn indie film that’s getting harder to make
Nearly 40 years after its release, Sex, Lies, and Videotape will play at Varsity Cinema in Des Moines as part of the theater’s “Declarations of Independence series: Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary with early films from independent filmmakers.” The film follows a sexless married couple, Ann (Andie MacDowell) and John (Peter Gallagher) — or at least, […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Review: Open Sesame is a dreamy Mediterranean cafe with a rich history in Des Moines
You don’t know unless you try it. It’s cliché, sure, but it’s also the entire premise of Open Sesame, a Lebanese restaurant in Des Moines’ East Village that’s spent nearly two decades convincing Iowans there’s more to eat than pork tenderloin. Imagine going all your life never experiencing crumbly and warmly spiced falafel, fried with […]
