PLAY LIST

Greetings Play Listers, If headlines about tech bros, the AI takeover and data centers have you feeling like tossing your phone into a sinkhole, you might find this edition of Play List highly stimulating and helpful.  But first, this Friday is the first day of May and you know what that means: Reporter Mesgana Waiss combed through thousands of events and made a list with 40 events you can only at...

Dear Play Listers, Sharing arts and culture content can be tricky. On one hand, it can mean anything from hot dog shops to pool parties and the latest symphonic choir concert series. On the other hand, it is the only place where some of us get to process and express our feelings about some of the scary stuff happening around us. Mirror Indy checked in with four artists making art about the impact...

Greetings Play Listers, To celebrate National Poetry Month, we invited poet Sam Ferrante to read a poem for us. You can also listen to Sam read her poem by clicking on the audio version of this newsletter. How to Write a Poem  by Sam Ferrante First, every poem is a love poem. You must start with yourself. By which I mean imagine you, but with tiny, sticky hands, your small nose pointed at your own...

What’s up Play Listers, The Black church is where you will find the most stylish people in the world. An impromptu fashion show unfolded in the sanctuary of Witherspoon Presbyterian Church on an Easter Sunday morning. It was led by the Rev. Winterbourne LaPucelle Harrison-Jones. The Adinkra symbol, Guy Nyame, which means “supremacy of God,” was embroidered on his robe. Accessories were the true st...

Play Listers, Let’s get down to business. We have now completed the first quarter of 2026. It was the more difficult one with the cold weather and gloomy skies. Now is when you dust off your open-toe shoes and see if your spring/summer clothes still fit you. If they don’t, you grab something stretchy from your closet and concede that you are not the same you were last year. You are a new you. Who...

Hello Play Listers, We have a delicious snack for you today: an illustrated food tour of the near northside by artist Byron Elliott . Elliott and his wife April have celebrated her birthday for ten years by spending a whole day being tourists in Indianapolis, where they live. They visit restaurants they’ve been wanting to check out and explore areas of the city they don’t often visit. With this co...

Greetings Play Listers, Forreal — drive extra careful this weekend. People will be roaming outside with their noses buried in books. They’ll be alone or with friends, possibly carrying very heavy but very cute tote bags.  Why? Because the 2026 Indy Indie Book Crawl kicks off tomorrow.  Anyone can do it. Simply visit one of the 27 locally owned bookstores participating in this year’s crawl, or any...

Hey-hey PlayListers, Late November last year, I went on parental leave. Now I’m on parental return. That means catching up with you and with all the great arts and culture stories that were published while I was hanging out with a cool little baby. Just like you, I read this very newsletter, written by arts & culture reporter Mesgana Waiss and guest writer Jenny Walton. It was pretty great to...

What’s up PlayListers,  The weather has been fickle here lately, but I’m going to continue to be delusional about the chance of sustained warm spring weather. So, I’m putting together my spring Pinterest board. I want a wardrobe that is fresh and chic complete with funky hair clips, pastel-colored button-down shirts and draped modal-knit tops (hopefully sustainably made from small brands).  Whatev...

Dearest PlayListers, I’m a sucker for stories about people finding their way back to creative passions of their youth. A poet who takes up painting. A clerk who joins a rock band. A librarian who makes zines. And, in the wake of the Winter Olympics, literally any adult out there lacing up skates. Earlier this week, I read about the “Guys and Dolls Sr.” production by Encore: Musical Theatre for Sen...

Dearest PlayListers, I’m usually a little doom-and-gloom about late February and March. By this point, I start feeling like winter might be over any day. Like, it has to be over any day now, right? Even though we’re getting spring-like temperatures this week, I’m here to remind you that it’s not. Terrible news, I know.  But that’s no reason not to enjoy it while it lasts! Find your way into the su...

Dearest PlayListers, On Sunday, I finally made it to a Real Life, Revised reading and open mic. This free series at Indiana Humanities has been on my radar for months, and here’s my honest take: If you like readings, you’ll love Real Life, Revised. And if you don’t like readings, you might still like this one. Each event is edited into a podcast that airs on WQRT . But there’s something magical ab...

你好! (Nǐ Hǎo) Play Listers, January dragged on per usual. I’m exhausted with the winter’s frigid temperatures and skies the color of spoiled milk. I can almost taste spring. According to Punxsutawney Phil, we have only six more weeks of winter.  If you’re feeling similar, let me lift your spirits with my February events guide that features 44 of the coolest things happening around town.  Did you...

Friends, I know I don’t have to tell you, but this cold is brutal. As I write this, the space heater at my feet just shut off — reminding me (again) that it’s on the same circuit as the space heater that was running in the bedroom. I’m taking the precautions I can, and I’m checking in on my neighbors. I’m sure you are, too. And I’m sure many of you are also feeling a little restless, wherever you...

Dearest PlayListers, I don’t know about you, but writer Emily Worrell and I were just talking about how bummed out we feel. Winter — even when it’s not all that cold — makes it hard to catch all the sunlight we need to feel like decent versions of ourselves.  This is about the time of year I find myself sneaking off with a book to the Garfield Park Conservatory over lunch or in the cracks of my we...

Dearest PlayListers, Last Friday night, I stayed home to work on a jigsaw puzzle. Don’t get me wrong, puzzles are the best. But here I am, writing this newsletter, telling you to get out and experience the world. So, in honor of the impulse to curl up, I’m telling you about Booth . It’s a literary magazine curated and produced by folks from Butler University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writi...

When I pitched the idea to write about thrift and vintage stores in Indianapolis , I didn’t think it would take six months to complete.  The main challenge was getting realistic about how many stores I would include. There are over 30 “thrift” shops in Naptown. So narrowing the list was a battle.   In the end, I focused on three vintage store owners and their most prized possessions. Some of them...

Dearest PlayListers, As the final days of 2025 slip through our sugar-coated fingers, many of us are looking back — perhaps a bit astounded by all that we’ve lived through. A lot of life can happen in 365 days.  And all that life is easy to lose track of when you’re doing the same things. Eating at the same places. Sitting on the same couch, gazing at the same screens. Not that there’s anything wr...

Dearest PlayListers, IU beat Ohio State in the Big Ten championship on Saturday at Lucas Oil. Now, before you take me for a football fan, let me clarify: I am simply in love with one. My football fan is an IU alum. His name is Aaron. And I want to tell you about watching the game at Sahm’s Tavern in Irvington. Aaron and I don’t regularly go out for games, but this one felt special. We didn’t know...

What’s up PlayListers,  I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was splendid. Mine started off rough. It took my family and me six hours to drive to Indy from Michigan during the snowstorm. Nothing like a whiteout on I-69 in a small compact car.   On the same day, I hit the road again, this time to Ohio to bask in the music of R&B phenom and multi-instrumentalist Leon Thomas. He’s part Prince and par...

Fellow PlayListers, hello!  I’m Jenny Walton — not to be confused with your regular host Jennifer Delgadillo. I’m in your inbox because I’m constantly asking friends how I can help, and Delgadillo took me up on it. So, here we are. For the next few months you’ll see me most Wednesdays, with an occasional appearance from Mesgana Waiss.  And what luck that we start this new friendship right as we sw...

Greetings PlayListers, Last Saturday, I went to the Los Tigres del Norte concert at Clowes Hall. The regional Mexican band that started in the late ‘60s has a large following with the Mexican and Latin American diaspora.  It was an event filled with parents and their children, grandparents and friends. Some of us were on dates. We all danced at some point. Los Tigres del Norte perform songs about...

What’s up PlayListers,  I’m writing our beloved arts & culture newsletter this week while Jennifer Delgadillo is out.  Are you enjoying the snow? I’m not! I’m kinda upset because it’s been on my to-do list to buy some stylish accessories for the season. I’m talking leather gloves, striped balaclavas and a mean fur ushanka.  Hopefully, I can source some of these much-needed pieces for my winter...

Dear Play Listers, Do you feel the year rolling in on you? Because I do. As I type these words, meat departments everywhere are placing turkey bulk orders. “The Nutcracker’s” mouse army is practicing their ballet steps. Families across our city and beyond are wondering if they should invite uncle hot-button-issue to the holiday table. So I say this to you as much as I say it to myself: Take it one...

Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali once said, "Don't count the days; make the days count,” so we found 48 things to make November count . In November, we get to turn the clock an hour back for daylight savings time (more sleep!). We also get Thanksgiving, Dia de Muertos, Veterans Day and Small Business Saturday. All month, we get to celebrate Native American Heritage Month. And although it’s e...