Singer Robert Jon grew up watching his father play different instruments. He said his dad loved music and loved playing it. The musician credits his father, now a retired teacher, for inspiring him. Jon’s...

Combine the colorful magic of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with indie-rock music, and you have the basis for what is now Jake Dilley and the Color Pharmacy. Dilley came up with the band’s...

A network of six homes sprouted in 1971 in Iowa City; the founders intended to house disabled children in an non-institutional environment. Thirty-nine years later, the human-resources agency Systems Unlimited...

In a room off Dubuque Street, there is a rack full of floor length dresses — or galabias — decorated in vibrant pinks, reds, yellows, and blues and embroidered with flowers that creep down the neckline. On...

Nick Flynn doesn’t wait for a revelation. “For me, it’s just like, you do it,” he said. “You just sit, and there’s inspiration all around, and then you allow it to have a container for those...

A career in music wasn’t in the cards for Caleb Hawley — that is, until he realized he would never become a professional athlete. While he wasn’t born with the physical stature of a linebacker or...

In 2006, Sprint showed us the power of cell phones with crime deterrent — steal people’s wallets, and they’ll chuck their phones at your face. Two years later, Pepsi made women everywhere wish that...

What Joshua Ferris is looking forward to the most during his visit to Iowa City is eating pesto pizza at the Sanctuary and making a stop at Record Collector. Ferris will also read from his most recent...

Rob Zombie is bloody, scarred, and pissed off on the cover of Hellbilly Deluxe 2, which is a good indicator for what’s in store for the listener on the new disc — it is his most aggressive and consistent...

Tonight, an award-winning playwright is among us. After considering the countless accolades Tony Kushner has received — a Pulitzer Prize for drama, an Emmy Award, two Tony Awards, three Obie Awards,...

Jerald Walker escaped his high-crime neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, came to the world-renown Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and stayed for 10 years. He and his wife still have strong feelings for...

** 1/2 out of ***** One of Hollywood’s most controversial figures, Mel Gibson, has been absent from major pictures since his anti-Semitic tirade during a DUI arrest in July 2006, but now he returns...