Leaders lie, families struggle, rights erode and rivers run sludgy. But you don’t have to scratch far below the surface of our corn-laden state to find something worth preserving—resurrected prairies, cool record shops, priceless art, sandwich innovations, scientific scandals, morbid and mouthwatering roadside attractions, and radical people.
For our second-annual Peak Iowa issue, Little Village staff and contributors explored a new set of Hawkeye State oddities. From Sioux City to Muscatine, Ottumwa to Okoboji, a drudge boat on the Mississippi to a certain murder house in Villisca, not all these strolls through space and time will stoke state pride, but they are fascinating — and distinctly Iowa. Plus: Meskwaki poet Ray Young Bear recounts his face-off with a UFO, Kiki gets real about bad-faith financial advice, Iowa City librarian Candice Smith shares 17 winter book recommendations, and Chris DeLine breaks down the 10 local songs released in 2023 that changed his mind about Iowa music.
