Culture

Culture

Making space to create: Why Herron’s National Portfolio Day belongs to the whole campus

By Sarah Pinckard | Sept. 10

Herron School of Art and Design will host National Portfolio Day on Saturday, giving prospective students a chance to present their work to art and design schools from across the country accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. The event runs like a college fair, with students meeting representatives from the schools they choose and looking for the place they fit as an emerging artist. 

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Culture

At the Tone fills a 34th Street garage gallery with "I'm Being Serious ..."

By Zeid Alsalloum | Sept. 9

A plush toy stitched with the words "believe me" sits along one wall. Across the room, a bright pink plaster torso of a female figure asks about consent through a wooden speech bubble. The pieces read as childlike at first. A longer look turns them toward sexuality, womanhood and identity.

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Culture

Today is Vulture Awareness Day. Here's why Indiana farmers aren't celebrating.

By Devin Bates | Sept. 5

International Vulture Awareness Day, observed the first Saturday in September, was established in 2006 by the Hawk Conservancy Trust of England and the Endangered Wildlife Trust's Birds of Prey Programme of South Africa. The day exists to draw attention to a group of birds whose diet tends to keep them off most people's list of animals worth saving.

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Culture

Dolly Parton's free books reached every Indiana county in April. She died five months later.

By Devin Bates and Zeid Alsalloum | Aug. 26

Dolly Parton, the singer, songwriter and philanthropist known as the "Queen of Country," died Aug. 25 at 80. "After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones," her representatives said in a statement. She died in Nashville.

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Culture

At Niyyah Coffee, orders come in sign language

By Zeid Alsalloum | Aug. 9

Talha Tufail's Mass Ave shop is Indianapolis' first deaf-owned coffee shop, built as a place where deaf and hearing customers meet over the same counter.

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Culture

Juneteenth marks the long road to freedom

By Salsabil F. Qaddoura and Zariya O’Yanna Burnes | June 19

Juneteenth, shortened from "June Nineteenth," is a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Celebrated on June 19, it honors the anniversary of the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the last enslaved people in the state were free. Widely observed as an African American holiday, Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States.

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Culture

Pride Month spotlights LGBTQIA+ artists shaping music

By Zariya O’Yanna Burnes | June 3

June is Pride Month, a time to celebrate LGBTQIA+ culture, honor the history of the movement and support LGBTQIA+ people and organizations. The monthlong observance honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, widely considered a turning point in the LGBTQIA+ rights movement in the United States. The first Pride march in New York City was held June 28, 1970, on the first anniversary of Stonewall. 

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Culture

Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special: The highs and lows

By Olivia Arnold | April 8

On March 24, 2006, the world met Hannah Montana: a teenage girl living a secret double life. At just 13 years old, Miley Cyrus became the face of one of the most-watched Disney Channel shows of all time. 

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Culture

2016 is making its comeback a decade later

By Raegan Nelson | April 8

2016 is back, baby — so dig out those fake glasses, skinny jeans, beanies and be prepared. As soon as the ball dropped for 2026, it became clear that this year is the new 2016. Instagram was flooded with 2016 throwback photos, TikTok was blowing up catchy sounds from that era and everyone was reminded of the Snapchat dog filter. 

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Music

REVIEW: Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally

By Samantha Stapleton | April 1

Harry Styles continues his streak of love themes with a particular focus on self-love and personal growth in his fourth studio album, “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.” Styles’ lyricism captures the strong emotions felt within the experiences of love and growth from the creative, light imagery seen in “Aperture” to talk of casual relationships in “Are You Listening Yet?” and the complications that come with rekindling emotions in “Taste Back.”

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Film

REVIEW: 'Iron Lung,' an independent film that surpasses big budget

By Devin Bates | March 25

“Iron Lung,” an independent film produced by the Markiplier Studio, has been an anticipated movie for fans of the director. Mark Fischbach, most known by his online persona Markiplier, directed the film and plays the main protagonist, Simon, who is forced to man a sealed submarine on an alien world in a sea of blood. With little knowledge of his task, Simon follows cryptic directions he can only assume will benefit humanity's survival. 

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Culture

Headline: R.L. Stine shares writing inspirations like Ray Bradbury and rules for children’s books ahead of Indianapolis visit

March 17

Headline: R.L. Stine shares writing inspirations like Ray Bradbury and rules for children’s books ahead of Indianapolis visitR. L. Stine has been giving young readers the chills for decades through his iconic “Goosebumps” and “Fear Street” series. Now, Stine will be sharing his best scares ...

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Film

Part two: The 98th Academy Awards predictions – The dark horses, the snubbed nominees and the winners

By Emiliano Magana | March 14

The Academy Awards will take place on March 15, 2026. With the list of nominees being released and Oscar voting being finished, it has left cinephiles with the doubt of who will be the winners in certain categories. Besides the doubt, questions have been raised about the categories, such as: will Paul Thomas Anderson finally get his long-awaited Oscar? Could “Sinners” break another record after beating  “All About Eve” (1950), “Titanic” (1997) and “La La Land” (2016) in the most nominations received by a film in an edition of the Academy Awards? Who will win the newly introduced category of “Casting” in this Oscar’s Edition? With that being said, I have decided to share who I think are the dark horses, who got snubbed of nominations and who will be the winners of some of the major production categories in this Oscars edition. 

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Culture

What's in students' closets for 2026

By Raegan Nelson | March 13

In the 1980s, college students rocked out with fanny packs, bright patterns and scrunchies. In the 2000s, low-wasted jeans and baby tees were lighting up college campuses across America. Now it is 2026, and the question everyone wants to know is “what is in style on the IU Indianapolis campus for 2026?”

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Culture

IU Indianapolis student to release children’s book on Islamic prophets

By Melanie Contreras | March 12

Since August, IU Indianapolis student Tamer Abdul Halim Alsalloum, a sophomore majoring in respiratory therapy, has been writing a book titled “In the Footsteps of the Prophets,” aimed at educating children about the 25 prophets in Islam. The book is set to release on April 1, 2026.  

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Film

Part one: The 98th Academy Awards predictions – The dark horses, the snubbed nominees and the winners

By Emiliano Magana | March 11

With the Academy Awards taking place on March 15, 2026, the acting categories seem to be close to shaping the way for a winner after a competitive award season, in which the Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress had different winners at the Golden Globes, British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards. However, for Best Actress, Jessie Buckley seems to have secured herself her maiden Oscar win after a major sweep in the award season. The unsettled Oscar races have raised questions such as: Will Timothée Chalamet finally get his long-desired Oscar? Will Amy Madigan bring the golden statuette back to the horror genre? Will Sean Penn win his third Oscar? With that being said, I present who I believe are the dark horses, the snubbed nominations and the winners at this Oscars edition. 

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Culture

‘Shades of Us’: Campus Center Cultural Art Gallery showcases LGBTQ+ student artists

By Sophie Barker | March 6

The Campus Center is a space where many IU Indianapolis students spend their free time between classes, studying and snack breaks, as well as a space for the Indianapolis community to discover different facets of the university. This is part of why Sophia DeWitt, the current Graduate Curatorial Fellow for the Campus Center Cultural Art Gallery, chose to utilize the space of the Campus Center Cultural Art Gallery to showcase artworks made by some of IU Indianapolis’ own LGBTQ+ students.

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Music

REVIEW: The bestselling rock album of each decade: ‘60s to 2000s

By Samantha Stapleton | March 2

The bestselling rock albums from each decade effectively show how rock has been influenced and changed over time. From The Beatles to Nirvana, from country rock to punk rock, there is something for everyone within this 50-year range of rock and roll.

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Film

REVIEW: ‘Wuthering Heights’ when creative liberty gets stretched too far

By Olivia Arnold and Nicholas Heck | Feb. 20

With remarkable production design, glamorous costumes, makeup and stellar performances from its cast, “‘Wuthering Heights’” is let down by its tone-deaf and lackluster writing and direction.

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sports

Bad Bunny, the NFL’s decision of a historical halftime show in controversy

By Devin Bates | Feb. 8

The 2026 NFL Super Bowl in Santa Clara, California between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, announced on Sept. 28 that the artist playing their halftime show would be Puerto Rican rapper Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, otherwise known as Bad Bunny.