The Des Moines Art Festival returns this weekend, and with it the Interrobang Film Festival, a free-to-attend, juried show featuring 36 films. One of those films is a new documentary about Muslim chef Kamal Hammouda, based in Grinnell, and his life in food, family and politics. Directed by Nich Perez, Kamal’s blends interviews with Hammouda, […]
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Posted inCommunity/News
RFK Jr. recorded trying to entice Iowa Libertarian to quit House race: ‘I can’t go into specifics because there’s legal prohibitions’
Rick Stewart wasn’t expecting to hear Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s distinctive voice when he answered his phone on June 11. It was an unsolicited call, in which the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary pushed Stewart, the Libertarian Party candidate for Congress in Iowa’s 2nd District, to drop out of the race. Kennedy suggested […]
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Where were the candidates at Iowa City Pride?
By Kate Carroll de Gutes and Laura Julier, Iowa City We’re writing to express our disappointment and, frankly, outrage that Christina Bohannan, Josh Turek, and Rob Sand failed to show up for the Iowa City Pride parade on Saturday, June 20. The Johnson County Democrats and part of each candidate’s team were there waving signs. They even […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Federal judge strikes down Gov. Reynolds’ restrictions on SNAP benefits
On Monday, a federal judge struck down new restrictions on food that can be purchased with SNAP benefits in Iowa and four other states. In her 68-page ruling, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which funds SNAP, lacked the […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
A Quad Cities writers’ conference dating back to the ’70s returns this week with a who’s-who of eastern Iowa poets, novelists and professors
For 21 years, the Quad Cities’ David R. Collins Writers’ Conference has helped writers turn ideas into stories, first drafts into polished manuscripts and creative goals into achievable next steps. The conference returns to Augustana College in Rock Island June 25–27 with expanded programming, new opportunities for writers and its most diverse lineup of workshops and events to date.
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘You Were Never Lost: Poems from the Tallgrass Prairie’ by Suzanna de Baca
Suzanna de Baca instills a subliminal radiance within her debut poetry collection, You Were Never Lost: Poems from the Tallgrass Prairie. Its contents reflect her accumulated experiences from an artist residency at the White Rock Conservancy in Coon Rapids, Iowa. The 5,500 acres of prairie, woodland, pasture and river valley protected along the Middle Raccoon […]
Posted inCommunity/News
After 23 months in ICE custody, Sudanese man seeks release from Muscatine County Jail
A judge has ordered the federal government to state why it has jailed, for almost two years, an immigration detainee now being held in the Muscatine County Jail. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa by Mutasim Ibrahim Abdoulrahman Nour, a citizen of Sudan, against U.S. Immigration and Customs […]
Posted inLetters
Letter to the editor: Local voices matter in the conversation over nuclear power
By Paul Deaton, Solon On June 18, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported the Iowa nuclear task force wrapped up its work, saying, “Task force members reiterated the importance of community education on the topic, noting that residents and lawmakers often have misperceptions about nuclear energy.” But what if community members are already well informed and […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The 2026 Quad Cities Juneteenth Festival celebrated a long-running local tradition in a new location
The sun was shining on Saturday as people gathered on 2nd Street in downtown Davenport for the Quad Cities’ annual Juneteenth Festival. The location was different this year — it’s traditionally been held in LeClaire Park, closer to the river — but the celebration was the same as always, with music, dance, speeches, food and […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘Fidelity’ by Susan Glaspell
Earlier this spring, Belt Publishing — an imprint that focuses on books about Rust Belt cities — put Susan Glaspell’s 1915 novel Fidelity back into print with a new introduction by Sarah Blackwood, professor of English at Pace University. The Iowa-born and -raised Glaspell, as Blackwood argues, is best remembered today for her work as […]
Posted inComics
Momboy — June 2026
This comic was originally published in Little Village’s June 2026 issue.
Posted inCommunity/News
An Ioway map drawn in 1837 offers a treasure trove of historical insight
The Báxoje (Ioway) leaders Na’je Nine (No Heart of Fear) and Ñiyu Mañi (Moving Rain) arrived in Washington D.C. at the end of September 1837 with two sheets of paper, stitched together by hand — careful work with needle and thread meant to create a canvas large enough to hold a world. The leaders, accompanied […]
