While completing their degrees, some Iowa Writers’ Workshop students can only dream of coming back to Prairie Lights Books as the featured author of the night. For graduate Jill Bialosky, it will become...

John Edwards, Tom Vilsack, and Dan Savage — these three men have very little in common. Edwards and Vilsack are prominent politicians, while the last rose to fame as a sex-advice columnist. The connecting...

It appears as if today, pure, unadulterated heavy metal is absent from the popular music scene. But it’s the “power of the riff” that propels John Hopkins and the rest of the Horde members, who said...

The band Family Groove Company isn’t a family. It’s not a company, either. But the band members got one word in their name right: groove. The Chicago four will bring their funky sound to the Yacht...

American music festivals have grown immensely in popularity over the last couple decades, with new ones popping up in every part of the country each year. On Friday, five Iowa City bands will compete to...

Thanks to public libraries, books are free for anyone with a laminated card. Accessible books are a community service in Iowa so ingrained that envisioning life without them is next to impossible. But...

There is never a normal night at the Alley Cabaret. Walk through the dark hall, onto the stage of the Englert Theatre, and expect to see anything from juggling to classic plays. This weekend, the 1920s-inspired...

Most people associate scars with visible markings on the skin. But not every wound is such a noticeable reminder of pain. Deep emotional scars, which leave no trace of pain to the naked eye, are often...

With the cold winter weather dragging into March, we’re all becoming anxious for summer. Grilling is synonymous with the hot season, where foods such as burgers, potato salad and baked beans are staple...

Here’s a riddle: What’s hotter than a naked James Franco in a Jacuzzi? To this girl, the answer is the unmatchably sexy man animals known as McDreamy and McSteamy (doctors Derek Shepherd and Mark Sloan)...

When I spoke with bassist Brian Cook of Seattle’s These Arms Are Snakes, the rest of the band was in the middle of a sound check at the first stop on the group’s current national tour. As such, nearly...

Obi Mediocre Obi Best: Capades Obi Best is a lot like teenager Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid: the band has the potential to take the indie music scene by storm, but it needs a Mr. Miyagi and a kick-ass...