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Little Village
@littlevillage.bsky.social
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Iowa news & culture, online and in print. Always free. Independent and locally owned. Est. 2001. LittleVillageMag.com
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The Centennial Building includes one of the largest labor history archives outside of Michigan or New York City, occupying 8,000 feet and including 1,200 oral history interviews with workers across dozens of fields.
littlevillagemag.com/peak-iowa-jo...
Retired archivist Mary Bennett tells visiting union members about the labor history collection at the SHSI Iowa City research facility, Dec. 10, 2025. — Paul Brennan/Little Village Bill Gerhard holds the Iowa City SHSI archive's copy of the 1974 proclamation Gov. Robert Ray issued after signing the bill recognizing the collective bargaining rights of public employees. Behind Gerhard is Rep. Dave Jacoby. — Paul Brennan/Little Village The Centennial Building at 402 Iowa Ave.in Iowa City, Dec. 10, 2025. — Paul Brennan/Little Village
December 11, 2025 at 11:16 PM
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ON STANDS THIS WEEK: The 2025 Peak Iowa issue, featuring 28 tales of uniquely Iowan icons, oddities and infamy. 🐌

📍 Find a copy: bit.ly/lvlocations (distribution begins Dec. 4)
🌐 Read online: littlevillagemag.com/lv-december-2025
📬 Subscribe for home delivery: littlevillagemag.com/subscribe
Cover illustration by Dan McCurley
December 3, 2025 at 4:54 PM
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ON STANDS NOW: Little Village's November 2025 issue

📍 Find a copy: bit.ly/lvlocations
🌐 Read online: littlevillagemag.com/lv-november-2025
📬 Subscribe for home delivery: littlevillagemag.com/subscribe

Cover photo by Sahithi Shankaiahgari
November 4, 2025 at 8:37 PM
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"He was a brave man who will be missed as a tireless voice and leader for the vulnerable," said @sanders.senate.gov in a statement on Father Guillermo Treviño's death. The pair rallied together against the ICE deportation of an Iowan in West Liberty this August. littlevillagemag.com/father-guill...
Father Guillermo Treviño and other participants at the World Meeting of Popular Movement in Rome, October 2025. — courtesy of the Dicastry of Promoting Intergal Human Development. Father Guillermo Treviño holding a sign with the message “No one is illegal in God’s land” in Spanish, during a protest in Cedar Rapids, July 29, 2025. — Paul Brennan/Little Village Father Guillermo Treviño and protesters call for the return Pascual Pedro Pedro in a protest in downtown Davenport, July 10, 2025. — Shale Sage/Little Village
November 4, 2025 at 7:39 PM
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Some Cronenberg heads might accuse Violet Lucca of being contrarian, but she considers 'M. Butterfly' and 'Map to the Stars' two of the director's best. The film critic from Cedar Rapids examines many David Cronenberg deep cuts in her new book.
littlevillagemag.com/interview-cr...
John Lone as Song in Cronenberg’s M. Butterfly (1993) — Warner Bros.
October 29, 2025 at 10:04 PM
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The word “unprecedented” was used often during the pandemic, but Northeast Iowa Food Bank director Barb Prather said the current moment feels “worse to some degree."

“Food banks can’t make up the difference in SNAP or WIC or any of those government programs."
littlevillagemag.com/food-banks-p...
Workers hang banners of President Trump’s face on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (which administers SNAP) in Washington D.C. on May 14, 2025, in preparation for USDA’s birthday celebration. — Christophe Paul/USDA
October 24, 2025 at 4:07 PM
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Browse photos from three No Kings Day rallies in Iowa: littlevillagemag.com/no-kings-bre...
A view of the No Kings Day of Peaceful Protest on the UI Pentacrest from the steps of the Old Capitol, Oct. 18, 2025. — Paul Brennan/Little Village (left to right) Laura Castro holding her infant, Eva Castro and Alejandra Escobar of Escucha Mi Voz at the Iowa City No Kings Day of Peaceful Action, Oct. 18, 2025. — Paul Brennan/Little Village An inflatable amphibian protester holds a U.S. flag at the Davenport No Kings Day of Peaceful Action, Oct. 18, 2025. — Kevin Richard Schafer/Little Village Protesters at the Davenport No Kings Day of Peaceful Action, Oct. 18, 2025. — Kevin Richard Schafer/Little Village
October 21, 2025 at 8:12 PM
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Meanwhile, Rep. Zach Nunn has left Des Moines-based retailer Raygun on read after owner Mike Draper agreed to hold a "Discussion of the Century!" with him for tonight. It all began when Nunn criticized Raygun on X for a shirt design he said promotes violence.
littlevillagemag.com/when-hell-fr...
U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn was joined by House Speaker Mike Johnson for a “get out the vote” rally in West Des Moines Oct. 18, 2024. — Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch
October 17, 2025 at 6:27 PM
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Early voting has begun! Here's the info you need to vote in:

🗳 Johnson or Linn County: tinyurl.com/ybvfe3t5
🗳 Polk or Story County: tinyurl.com/2t6ht2t8
🗳 Black Hawk, Dubuque or Scott County: tinyurl.com/3uj8cr5x
An "I Voted Today" sticker on a person's sweater. — Zak Neumann/Little Village
October 16, 2025 at 8:18 PM
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Members of Ian Roberts’ legal team spoke at a town hall meeting in Des Moines last night. They plan to tackle the firearms charge first before working to resolve Roberts' immigration status.

"The government filed a complaint against him. It’s not an indictment," Alfredo Parrish pointed out.
October 3, 2025 at 11:55 PM
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Little Village has been publishing This Modern World since issue 001. 🫶 If you'd like a fancy bound version of the comics you've seen in LV the last five years, plus many more, artist Tom Tomorrow is taking orders this month!

Here's our issue 345 strip:
October 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM
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“We were always being asked for money and time and work and donations,” said ex-member Scott Barker.

They battled "the poverty mentality," not poverty.

“Forget about the Sermon on the Mount. Forget about the loaves and fishes. Why would going and feeding somebody be a way of redeeming your soul?”
Scott Barker’s parents, Doug and Laurie, pose with friends at the Shiloh compound in the 1980s. Laurie died in 2013 after choosing to treat her ovarian cancer with alternative treatments recommended by church leaders. — photo courtesy of Scott Barker The Living Word Fellowship followers sing during a worship service. Most “Words” delivered by church leaders were recorded on video and/or audio, then sold to followers. — photo courtesy of Scott Barker A camper vacuums the hallway with headphones on at Shiloh in the ’90s. — photo courtesy of Kesha Lozinski
October 1, 2025 at 6:59 PM
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Gary and Marilyn Hargrave took up Stevens' torch, founding a farm in SE Iowa (maintained in part by child labor) and selling health supplements.

“Are you going to believe in medicine, or are you going to have faith? Which one is it? Because the only one that really works is faith," Gary preached.
A portrait of Gary and Marilyn Hargrave from the 1990s. — courtesy of Scott Barker Marilyn Farms, a Living Word Fellowship business located adjacent to its Shiloh compound in Iowa, sold many “natural health” supplements to followers, who were encouraged to be skeptical of mainstream medicine. — photo courtesy of Scott Barker A line of plastic vitamin supplement bottles with Marilyn Farms labels. The Living Word Fellowship’s farm adjacent to its Shiloh compound in Iowa sold many “natural health” products to followers, who were encouraged to be skeptical of mainstream medicine. — photo courtesy of Scott Barker
October 1, 2025 at 6:59 PM
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ON STANDS NOW: Little Village's October 2025 issue 🔥

📍 Find a copy: bit.ly/lvlocations
🌐 Read online: littlevillagemag.com/lv-october-2025
📬 Subscribe for home delivery: littlevillagemag.com/subscribe
September 30, 2025 at 5:08 PM
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Iowa Stage Theatre Co. premieres Sam Shepard's surreal 'Buried Child' on Oct. 17.

“Why are these people still near each other after all they have put each other through? That’s something worth pondering over with this show," teased Alex Wendel. "Maybe you can’t just bury it all in the backyard?”
Brittny Rebhuhn and Alex Wendel, artistic directors at Des Moines' Iowa Stage Theatre Company, do some stage fighting. — Tyler Erickson/Little Village Brittny Rebhuhn and Alex Wendel of Iowa Stage Theatre Company do some stage fighting. (Pelican mask by Zoe Webb) — Tyler Erickson/Little Village
September 26, 2025 at 7:12 PM
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“We want to do campy fun shows, musicals, more solo shows, dramas, the whole gambit,” said Michael LaDell Harris of Des Moines' new About Time Theatre, “but all through the perspective of ‘why this show now?’”
littlevillagemag.com/iowa-profess...
Maggie Jane Tatone, Nick Strickland, and Marnie Strate of About Time Theatre Company pose for a theatrical portrait. — Tyler Erickson/Little Village Maggie Jane Tatone, Nick Strickland, and Marnie Strate of About Time Theatre Company pose for a theatrical portrait. — Tyler Erickson/Little Village
September 26, 2025 at 7:12 PM
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Initial blowback has subsided, Green said, though some keyboard warriors have called to harass Johnson County officials in other states.

But some critics in the Iowa GOP have promised to strip local control over flag protocol in the next legislative session.
littlevillagemag.com/jon-green-jo...
September 19, 2025 at 8:01 PM
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After her intimate show tomorrow at Lefty's Live Music, "Lucky Number" singer Lene Lovich and her band will join Devo and the B-52s on tour.
littlevillagemag.com/lene-lovich-leftys-des-moines
Jude Rawlins & Lene Lovich perform in Paris, France. — photo by Emilie Mauger, courtesy of Lene Lovich
September 15, 2025 at 5:35 PM
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🔥 IT'S LITTLE VILLAGE'S 13th ANNUAL R🥵AST OF IOWA CITY 🔥⁠
📚️The annual interrobang on the Iowa City Book Festival📚️⁠
✨️Sponsored by Romantix✨️⁠ and hosted by Karen Vásquez
⁠
Sunday, Oct 12, 6-8 p.m. at ReUnion Brewery on the Ped Mall. Food, drinks, comedy, Dear Kiki Live! and FREE ADMISSION!⁠
September 11, 2025 at 6:42 PM
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This Modern World by @tomtomorrow.bsky.social from LV's September issue: littlevillagemag.com/this-modern-world-september-2025/
September 9, 2025 at 3:57 PM
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ON STANDS NOW: Little Village's 2025 Fall Arts Preview

📍 Find a copy: bit.ly/lvlocations
🌐 Read online: littlevillagemag.com/lv-september-2025
📬 Subscribe for home delivery: littlevillagemag.com/subscribe
Cover photo by Tyler Erickson, featuring actors from Iowa Stage Theatre Company and About Time Theatre Company. Sun mask by Zoe Webb for Iowa City Joy March.
September 3, 2025 at 7:46 PM
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"This is erasing our history," said former special collections coordinator Mary Bennett, who estimates only 40% of Iowa City's 34,700 cubic feet of archival materials will be able to be accommodated in Des Moines.
littlevillagemag.com/save-iowa-hi...
The State Historical Society of Iowa's research center in Iowa City occupies the Centennial Building, itself historic. It's scheduled to close on June 30, 2026. Photo by Jordan Sellergren/Little Village
August 20, 2025 at 11:39 PM
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ON STANDS NOW: Little Village's 2025 🌽 Bread & Butter 🍄 dining guide

📍 Find a copy: bit.ly/lvlocations
🌐 Read online: littlevillagemag.com/lv-july-2025
📬 Subscribe for home delivery: littlevillagemag.com/subscribe

Cover art by Ben Minniear
August 5, 2025 at 9:33 PM
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The Harlan, Iowa native is best known for his nonprofit work rebuilding homes in Cedar Rapids after the 2008 flood, and establishing Iowa's first urban farm and pay-it-forward cafe to address local food insecurity.
littlevillagemag.com/clint-twedt-...
Matthew 25 volunteers perform home repairs during Transform Week in 2019. — courtesy of Matthew 25 Matthew 25 executive director Clint Twedt-Ball discusses the Healthy Neighborhoods campaign to rebuild Cedar Rapids, saying the steering committee has spent the last two years working and “dreaming about what this could be.” April 20, 2021. — Izabela Zaluska/Little Village
July 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
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Ben Millett's pieces are inspired by everything from the film 'Midsommar' to the hanky code of '70s gay cruising culture.

"I’ve been out for 11 years now, and I’m still figuring things out," Millett told LV. "As I work on quilts, I use a lot of that time to process my own thoughts.”
Ben Millett models his quilted sweatshirt ‘Midsommar (Dani).’ — courtesy of the artist Ben Millett’s ‘Hanky Code’ — courtesy of the artist 'Say GAY!', a quilted sweatshirt by Ben Millett. — courtesy of the artist
July 15, 2025 at 3:19 PM