LV at 25 is an occasional series about the history of Little Village, as the magazine 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 […]
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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 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
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 […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Hancher announces a new multi-venue spring music fest in Iowa City, Stop/Time Festival
Hancher Auditorium, lead by executive director Andre Perry, announced that they are producing a new music and arts festival scheduled for this coming Spring. The Stop/Time Festival is billed as a “two-day, multi-venue, multi-artist spring festival devoted to innovation and independence in contemporary music and the arts.”
The first edition of Stop/Time Festival launches Friday, April 3 through Saturday, April 4 in Iowa City.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Patricia Holly — ‘Satin Sashes’
With a stage name like Patricia Holly, a Christmas album seems to be a no-brainer. Name synergy aside, the Des Moines-based jazz and Americana artist is wholly up to the task of a new holiday effort; her signature vintage sound glides effortlessly between dazzling big-band-style orchestrations and a jazzy, moody piano bar, guided by a […]
Posted inFood & Drink
An Iowa State grad co-invented the Rice Krispie Treat (then never made them again)
Marshmallows, Rice Krispies, a little butter and your mom’s best 9”-by-13” Pyrex baking dish — the only ingredients needed for that ubiquitous, always-welcome fixture of the Midwestern potluck, the Rice Krispie Treat. The alchemist who helped turn Rice Krispies from a mediocre, snap-crackle-popping milk-sponge cereal into a dessert icon was Iowa State University grad Mildred […]
Posted inCommunity/News
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 […]
Posted inCommunity/News
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 inDear Kiki
Dear Kiki: How would you approach a couple about swinging?
Dear Kiki, How would you approach a new couple about swinging? Dear Seeking Swingers, The first and most important answer to your question is: together! Don’t succumb to the temptation to divide and conquer. Get to know them individually, sure, but no floating the issue to one or the other of them separately to “feel […]
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 […]
