Print Edition

A comedy revue that’s basically a live late-night talk show. A new arts and music fest from Andre Perry, the mind behind Mission Creek. A band that presents like an electrical company (sometimes). Three women-owned indie bookstores. A Gen Z vinyl and CD collector. In this issue, explore some of the events, venues, performers and […]

Adult theaters were hip in the ’70s, but few survived the test of time. In this issue, LV explores the history of Iowa’s longest-running XXX cinema — the target of mayoral crusades, a 1997 robbery-murder, swinger parties galore and five decades of big-screen smut in Waterloo. Also inside: An interview with comedian Tom Arnold, who […]

Comical levels of villainy have been unleashed in 2025, but it’s easier than ever to be a hero: just care about something. In this issue, Little Village offers a guide to dozens of Iowa nonprofits doing on-the-ground, in-the-community work to feed, house, clothe, protect, empower, educate and entertain Iowans when the world needs them most. […]

The rapture didn’t arrive in September, as some TikTokers predicted. Nor did arrive in 1979, the year cult leader John Robert Stevens had promised his followers a great tribulation. Society would be reborn in his image, centered out of a compound in southeast Iowa called Shiloh. The prophecy failed, but Shiloh lasted another four decades […]

Add some local art to your autumn with this guide to upcoming festivals, concerts, exhibitions, theatrical productions and more in central and eastern Iowa. Inside: Why Iowa thespians are putting on increasingly provocative plays; Danielle Colby of American Pickers fame discusses her new museum of stripping arts in the Quad Cities; Lene Lovich plans an […]

For the 10th year running, Bread & Butter is back to pick your next meal — or your next year of meals — out in eastern and central Iowa. Browse reviews of more than 40 restaurants, from fresh new spots to well-greased staples, across Des Moines, Ames, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities, Dubuque, […]

In this issue, LV drills into a disturbing imbalance: 80% of Iowans rely on groundwater to drink, but households account for less than half of public well-water usage in the state. Big Ag sops up most of it, all while spilling nitrates into waterways. With a rural water crisis brewing, will Iowa make a plan […]

Is Pride a party or a protest? Are cops welcome? What does it mean to resist? Local leaders with skin in the game discuss what’s at stake as the state clamps down on LGBTQ+ rights. Also in this issue, trans writer Achilles F. Seastrom visits queer-friendly Iowa congregations that were practicing radical inclusivity long before […]

Gov. Kim Reynolds won’t seek reelection, giving her term an expiration date of Jan. 20, 2027. Iowa’s first woman governor has overseen more than 10,000 COVID deaths, rising cancer rates, declining public schools, unprecedented hunger, a near-total abortion ban and culture wars galore. But LV’s Paul Brennan — who has written upwards of 500 stories […]