PLAY LIST

Dear Indy, It’s Christmas Eve. And today we’re bringing you the best gift of all: a combined newsletter from Ryan and Jennifer!  Today’s special edition contains a holiday song video, ideas for celebrating Hanukkah with the whole family, a Kwanzaa meditation and, yes, a Culture Journal from Old Saint Nick.  Get more Indianapolis arts and culture coverage at MirrorIndy.org/Arts . You can also subsc...

Here’s what a year of Mirror Indy’s Culture Journals looks like. When Mirror Indy launched last December, I set out to find people who wanted to share what a week in their cultural lives looks like.  A year later, we shared a total of 31 culture journals from people who eat, dance, organize, love, dream, read poems and novels and make art and music in Indianapolis.  We now know that Indy Fever pla...

From the looks of it, you have a sweet tooth and like to know what’s up in Indy.  Can you believe it? We’ve been sharing arts and culture content with you for a full year now. More than 50 writers and artists have told us about Indy’s music scene, food offerings, places to be and people to know. Together we lived, we laughed and we loved.   While planning for 2025, I wondered what stories our read...

We’re laughing because there’s so much to do. It can be easy to get caught up in the holiday whirlwind to the point that some of the joy gets squeezed out.  Caring for ourselves and others is a delicate balance! So consider our lists of “things to do” as ideas for mindful celebrations of our neighbors, students and local businesses.  When we celebrate local talent, resilience and creativity, we he...

Dear Indy, Happy Thanksgiving! We have two gifts for you today: Mirror Indy’s Holiday Gift Guide and a cartoon by artist Brent Aldrich. Let’s get to it. Get more Indianapolis arts and culture coverage at MirrorIndy.org/Arts . You can also subscribe to get the Play List email newsletter .

Zines, why LongShot closed, and farmers market vendors you need to know... Dear Indy, We searched and we found. You can pet a reindeer, watch a spin-off of “The Nutcracker,” see holiday concerts and celebrate Festivus — all for $25 or less.  From now until who knows we will have an ongoing list of things to do for the holidays that won’t break the bank.  If you are the type that holds off thinking...

See the full newsletter here. Dear Indy, We’re about to launch into a season of indoor extravaganzas: holiday concerts and art shows, combinations of sparkle and jingles, anthropomorphic animals and snow creatures.  And while things ramp up, they’ll also be winding down, in countdowns and nostalgic lookbacks. We will look forward to a clean slate: a new year with new challenges.  At Mirror Indy we...

See the full newsletter here. Dear Indy, A few days ago Mirror Indy did a call out for photos of foliage. After seeing what readers sent , we imagined a poet might have something to say, so we commissioned writer Autumn Pryor to create something for the moment. Here’s what she wrote: Aubade for Turning Leaves It’s 81 degrees on October 28th I had to remove my sweater in the voting line nothing wil...

Not to stress you out, but even though it feels like Halloween happened already, it hasn’t. And after those kids come knocking to take your candy (bowl included) you’ll have to drive for a few days through “Swift City” (which will be great for local businesses), then watch the map change colors on TV for the 2024 elections.  And before you know it, it’s Thanksgiving and then the other holidays fol...

Hello Indy, I was working in the newsroom late one night when my eyes beheld an eerie sight — for my monster typos from my laptop began to rise. And suddenly, to my surprise, they did the Monster Mash. (I’m sorry. I’ll show myself out.) Today’s Play List is extra weird with cemeteries, bloody marys, trick-or-treating and great music you can only listen to at a funeral home (sort of). And, don’t sk...

Hello Indy, It’s official. The chrysanthemums are out and the trees are either changing color or totally naked. All signs point to the sweet spot known as “sweater weather.”  For some, this transition to colder days with less sunshine also means feeling a little down.  Wherever your enthusiasm falls, we hope that today’s Play List stories get you out exploring the city in new ways. As always, we h...

Dear Indy, Today’s stories celebrate the heroic spirit of dancers that risk it all — even if for a short moment — to make us feel alive by showing us what is humanly possible.  We’re also highlighting poets, an arts community that wants to see their local art museum thrive and the abundance of music in our city right now. Lastly, we have a ticket giveaway! See the email version of this newsletter...

Today’s newsletter is read to you by Kan-Kan Cinema’s cult classic movie host and infamous drag entity Vanity Rex. Over the weekend, “Will & Harper” was released on Netflix. The film follows comedian Will Ferrell and his longtime collaborator and best friend, Harper Steele, on a cross-country roadtrip following Steele’s coming out as a trans woman.  One of their stops was Indianapolis, where t...

Although there’s only 36 more sleeps until Halloween, we have 32 ideas for things to do . Each night, a precious opportunity for eating candy, dreaming spooky, and hanging pretend spider webs in honor of the season’s favorite critter. How do you celebrate? Send us your photos and show us. Today’s Play List has stories about the power of change: what is possible when one person decides they want to...

Jennifer Delgadillo is off on a cool art adventure in Michigan, so this is Amanda Kingsbury, filling in.  In this week’s Play List, we are on the lookout for two things: The elusive pawpaw fruit known as the “Indiana banana” and the real history of country music in Indianapolis.  Plus, Ebony Chappel has me thinking thoughts about … fictional postal worker Cliff Clavin??? (Thanks, Ebony.) And Arian...

You've heard of the Vonnegut Museum. But did you know the famous science fiction author Ray Bradbury has a museum in Indianapolis, too? Mirror Indy's westside reporter Enrique Saenz visited the Ray Bradbury Museum, a hidden gem at IU Indianapolis, to learn about the author's ties to the Midwest. Read Enrique's full story at MirrorIndy.org . Learn more about The Ray Bradbury Mus...

Here’s a taco haiku inspired by our Indy Taco Fest pictures :  Tortilla in hand — a spicy ticket to the world. Delight, bite and dream. This week’s newsletter has stories about the kind of women books are written about: brave artists, truth-telling activists and living hip-hop legends.  We also have more ideas for what to eat from our friends at a beloved westside cultural institution.  Get more I...

We have a cause for celebration: Rapper Reckless Rhymacide was our first reader to submit a memory for our Time Machine section. Did you know you can send your arts & culture scene memories to Ariana Beedie at arianna.beedie@mirrorindy.org ? All you have to do is include a photo with 3-4 sentences. And, because the Indiana Fever is playing the Los Angeles Sparks, we also resurfaced our WNBA Cu...

Feeling like you've failed? Good. We can help with that. Also, Newfields gets a new CEO, fall theater picks, and BUTTER BUTTER BUTTER. Get more Indianapolis arts and culture coverage at MirrorIndy.org/Arts . You can also subscribe to get the Play List email newsletter .

Chreece is coming up this weekend, so we're excited to share this special interview with festival director Jane Sun Kim.  Before Jane Sun Kim started taking photos at the Chreece hip-hop festival in Fountain Square in 2018, her plan was to become a doctor. Now, six years later, she helps make Chreece possible as the festival’s director.  Mirror Indy's Ariana Beedie and Breanna Cooper spe...

This Play List edition has cooler weather, a Chreece audio story, lemon shake-up sounds, theater events to attend, creative classes to enroll in, more photos of people dancing and a photo of my dad. Get more Indianapolis arts and culture coverage at MirrorIndy.org/Arts . You can also subscribe to get the Play List email newsletter .

Old people pep rally (back-to-school season). Plus, tips from your fav bookstores, Chreece things, Indiana Authors Awards and IndyFringe. Get more Indianapolis arts and culture coverage at MirrorIndy.org/Arts . You can also subscribe to get the Play List email newsletter .

In this edition, Dill Pickle Pizza, line dancing and free movies. Plus, Chinese feminism and a marching band playlist. Get more Indianapolis arts and culture coverage at MirrorIndy.org/Arts . You can also subscribe to get the Play List email newsletter .

We're in Gen Con shadow period. Plus, Chef Oya's The TRAP, the last day of Disability Pride Month and Etheridge Knight's workshop. Get more Indianapolis arts and culture coverage at MirrorIndy.org/Arts . You can also subscribe to get the Play List email newsletter .

Ice-T, a wrestler, the pope's cobbler and reporter Sophie Young walk into a forest.  Get more Indianapolis arts and culture coverage at MirrorIndy.org/Arts . You can also subscribe to get the Play List email newsletter .