“Helplessly watching your child experience pain changes you at a basic level,” writes Troy Maynard in his column, My Dad Voice. But overprotective parenting, he says, makes children less prepared for the real world. How does a parent endure watching their child suffer? A pair of pink socks has pulled Maynard through. Heavy sigh. Click here to read the full story.
Researchers of infant development at IU say we — and artificial intelligence — can learn a lot from babies. And some have teamed up with the staff at WonderLab to create exhibits and activities tailor-made for young patrons, writes Jennifer Richler. While genes explain some of the differences in the rate at which kids develop, the environment does too — and that’s where places like WonderLab can help. Click here to read the full story.
In 1948, President Truman signed an executive order that desegregated the U.S. military. While protests against segregation had occurred for years across the country, a nonviolent act of disobedience by 100 African American officers at an Army base in Seymour, Indiana, reportedly contributed to Truman’s decision. This protest, writer Paul Bean says, is often mischaracterized as an “uprising” or “mutiny.” Click here to read the full story.
More than thirty years ago, artist Edwin Fulwider wrote a memoir about growing up in Bloomington in the early 1900s. The memoir portrays a “rich landscape of local art, life, and history” of a bygone era, writes Michelle Gottschlich. Fulwider’s perspective is especially insightful because he grew up in several different neighborhoods. Click here to read the full story.
“I realized that I could use my photography to help women feel empowered and confident, and to renew their self-love,” says Samantha McGranhan, owner and founder of UNVEILED Photography. McGranahan and her team are true to this ethos. By exuding positivity and openness, they create an intimate and authentic boudoir photography experience that encourages clients to celebrate their bodies. “It was all me and I looked like a model. It was so uplifting,” says client Amanda Allen. Click here to read more about UNVEILED’s photo sessions and philosophy.
While the city’s biking infrastructure leaves much to be desired, Bloomington has plenty to back its claim as the Biking Capital of the Midwest, argues writer and avid biker Sean Starowitz. Whether it’s gravel, road, trail, or mountain biking, Bloomington is the hub of some of the best riding around. Click here for more, including Starowitz’s suggestions for routes, clubs, and more.
With all the world music being performed this week at Lotus, at least two acts have powerful messages for our own country. Raye Zaragoza’s music often conveys political, social, or environmental messages folded into song, while Making Movies portrays the struggles of immigrants, writes Sara Sheikh, marketing director of the Lotus Education & Arts Foundation. Click here to read the full story.
Blood Moon Celebration — a scientific look at a cultural phenomenon. Every year after the Harvest Moon of September comes the Blood Moon of October. Why the intrigue surrounding and inspired by the moon? What does it represent culturally, scientifically, emotionally? Come to WonderLab After Dark: Blood Moon on Saturday, October 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. Click here to learn more about this modern twist on this ancient moonlit, late-autumn celebration.
Francis Shok Mweze spent six weeks this summer in IU’s Mandela Washington Fellowship. Now back in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, he hopes to make his hometown a “visual arts capital in the region.” Limestone Post asked Mweze about his ambitions, his stay in Bloomington, and about the photos he took while here. Click here to read our Q&A with Mweze and to see some of his photos of Bloomington.
How do people with similar values unite when their methods of action conflict with each other? Writer and organizer Alexandria Hollett says this question is illuminated by “the difference between organizing campaigns on the one hand and symbolic activism on the other.” Hollett speaks to several local activists about “building the world we all deserve.” Click here to read the full story.
A busy night in Bloomington offers a lot of art and performances to choose from, and theatre-goers may sometimes find themselves pulled in different directions. Two of the larger companies in town, Cardinal Stage and the Bloomington Playwrights Project, are working together, not only to coordinate their calendars, but to also share a staff member. Click here to read more about this unique collaboration between these local organizations and about their new Technical Director, Tien-Yin Sun.
Cristian Medina, a poet, cook, IU researcher, and chess leader from Arica, Chile, has found plenty to keep him busy since moving to Bloomington in the mid-2000s. LP columnist Michael G. Glab talks to Medina about his hometown — bordered by ocean, mountains, and desert — geology and climate change, his work founding Cardboard House Press, and more in the latest Big-Mike’s B-town. Click here to read the full story.
Marc Summers, host of the gameshow Double Dare, is back in town for the screening of the documentary On Your Marc at IU Cinema. Writer Jennifer Pacenza talked to Summers and BPP’s Chad Rabinovitz about “Summers’s deeply personal story” and the 2016 BPP play, Everything In Its Place, during which much of the documentary was filmed. Click here to read the full story.
Since 1965, Bloomington Valley Nursery has been serving local gardeners, from the seasoned green thumb to the “greener” grower. As we head into fall, retreat south of town to enjoy Bloomington Valley Nursery’s walking paths, greenhouses, and the bounty of native species and cool-season plants awaiting planting and find succulents and other houseplants awaiting a home. Click here to learn more about the nursery’s history, plant selection, and community programming.
If you’re looking to escape the weekend crowds this month, two massive festivals in two tiny towns might just be the ticket. Writer Patti Danner guides us through what you can expect from the White River Valley Antique Show (Sept. 6-9) and the Lanesville Heritage Weekend (Sept. 13-16). Each are chockfull of authentic Hoosier heritage and late-summer fun. Click here to read the full story.
The MidWay Music Festival is back in B-town with more than 30 women-featured acts. But this year it’s more than just a series of concerts. It’s a nonprofit organization, MidWay Music Speaks, that celebrates and connects women in music and fights for gender equity on stage. Writer Rachel Glago has the score. Click here to read the full story.