Hey folks, welcome back to Little Big Screen: On the Big, Big Screen, where film columnist Benjamin McElroy recommends five screenings happening at Iowa’s independent movie theaters. Keep scrolling for the full list of this month’s big screenings. The Holiday (2006) Directed by Nancy Myers Kate Winslet is approached by more mothers and more daughters […]
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LV at 25: How did Little Village get its name?
In 2026, Little Village celebrates its 25th year in print. What’s in a name? In Little Village‘s case, a little bit of chaos sparked decades before its first issue appeared around Iowa City in July 2001. As LV’s 25th anniversary approaches, this seems like an appropriate time to explain how this publication got its title. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
This Iowan is the voice of competitive marble racing
The number-one marble racing entity on the internet is Jelle’s Marble Runs. The Netherlands-based YouTube channel has 1.5 million subs, nearly 800 videos, dozens of “teams” and race “venues,” surprisingly elaborate lore, and a sheen of professional quality rivaling any ESPN sportscast. Part of that quality comes from the stellar commentary of Iowan Greg Woods.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret photographed presidents, everyday Iowans and her own son’s birth. But her legacy goes well beyond the lens
In 1951, Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret was fired from her job as a photojournalist at the Cedar Rapids Gazette. The reason: she was pregnant. She responded by photographing the birth to her son — an audacious proposition at the time. The photos — mostly shots of the doctors, nurses and newborn Artie from her POV on […]
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Factory farms in Iowa generate 110 billion pounds of manure per year. No one tracks where it’s going.
More than a thousand hogs grow fat in the enclosed shed-like structures on Gene Tinker’s farm in northeast Iowa, while a few hundred cattle pace in open feedlots. His farm is one of nearly 8,000 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Iowa. But the 64-year-old is not an average Iowa pork producer. Less than a […]
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New president of the Iowa Board of Regents opposes ‘woke left stuff,’ ‘the homosexual agenda’ and Maya Angelou in schools
Robert Cramer was unanimously elected president of the Iowa Board of Regents by his fellow regents at a special meeting on Wednesday. Cramer was appointed to the board by Gov. Kim Reynolds two years ago. The special meeting was called after Sherry Bates, who had served president of the Board of Regents since February last […]
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Why do we live in a ‘shithole’? A new docuseries on Iowa’s 50-year decline seeks answers
“I keep asking, why is it we’re living in a shithole?” Art Cullen says in What’s Eating Iowa?, his new documentary series launched Tuesday. The first episode, “Water,” is now available on YouTube. It’s the damaged state of Iowa’s water, and the damage that water is doing, that prompts Cullen’s question. Cullen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Bootcamp — ‘Time’s Up’
Time’s Up by Bootcamp. Whenever Iowa City hardcore punk outfit Bootcamp sets off for the divey bars and dimmed basement venues of a tour, vocalist Juliette Enloe sets a phone lockscreen to a map of the U.S., with the state of Iowa circled in blazing red. The reason? Non-Midwest audiences never seem to know where […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Little Big Screen: Refocus fest highlight ‘Train Dreams’ arrives on Netflix, plus other Denis Johnson adaptations to stream this month
The jangle, hum and hiss of Denis Johnson’s writing, first published when he was a 19-year-old undergrad at the University of Iowa and later stamped with the National Book Award, found me by mistake. “Car-Crash While Hitchhiking,” the short story responsible for Bethany, Missouri’s place in the literary canon, wasn’t supposed to be there. But […]
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Iowa and three other states agree to give Homeland Security access to driver’s license records
Four Republican states have agreed to help the Trump administration gain access to state driver’s license data through a nationwide law enforcement computer network as part of the administration’s hunt for alleged noncitizen voters. The Trump administration said as recently as October that federal officials wanted to obtain driver’s license records through the network. The […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Book Review: ‘The People are Kind: A Religious History of Iowa’ by Bill R. Douglas
As a student of history, political activist and an award-winning freelance historian, Bill R. Douglas brings his diverse, rich background to bear on a question that tugged at his soul: Why hasn’t anyone written a comprehensive history of Iowa’s religions? He decided to answer it himself with The People Are Kind: A Religious History of […]
Posted inAstrology
Astrology forecast — December 2025
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Some seeds can remain dormant for centuries, waiting for the right conditions to germinate. The oldest successfully germinated seed was a 2,000-year-old date palm seed. I suspect you will experience psychospiritual and metaphorical versions of this marvel in the coming weeks. Certain aspects of you have long been dormant but are […]
