Cover Story
Homeless In A Pandemic: Fractured Services, A Recent Outbreak
At 10:58 a.m. last Friday, a voice took over the loudspeaker at the St. John Center for Homeless Men, telling the clients that it was time to leave and let the next group in. Because of COVID-19, only 24 men are allowed in the shelter for an hour at a time. Before the pandemic, the…
How To Support Racial Justice, Diversity and Activism This Week In Louisville (1/18)
MONDAY, Jan. 18 ‘Fire and Heart: A Blueprint for Liberation’ YouTube Free | All day This documentary about Louisville and Lexington’s protests against police brutality premieres today on YouTube. Local filmmaker Joan Brannon made the film and interviewed several local activists and Black leaders, including Jecorey Arthur and Hannah L. Drake. The movie debuts at…
5 Things To Do This Weekend In Louisville (1/15)
FRIDAY, Jan. 15 The Bluegrass Bigfoot – LIVE! Zoom Free | 8-9:30 p.m. Is there a Bigfoot roaming the state of Kentucky? Charlie Raymond, the founder of the Kentucky Bigfoot Research Organization, will present the evidence and eye witness testimony at this virtual event. Stick around afterward for a Q&A. SATURDAY, Jan. 16 Drag Queen…
(Un)Known Project announces its sculptor, William Duffy
The (Un)Known Project by poet/author Hannah Drake and IDEAS xLab aims to acknowledge and honor the enslaved African enigmas who sought freedom from the muddy shores of the Ohio River in Louisville. Last year, IDEAS xLab and the Unknown Project put out an open call for artists in Louisville and Indiana. This week, they announced…
Stream “A Boy and His Soul,” the latest one-person play by Pandora Productions
Colman Domingo’s “A Boy and His Soul,” which Pandora Productions is offering in a superb streaming production over the next two weekends, is a one-person play. But that’s really just a technicality of casting: only one actor occupies the stage. But that actor is the brilliant Tony Smith, in a virtuosic turn that confirms him as…
Author Charles Dodd White tackles neo-nazis and rural corruption
How Fire Runs by Charles Dodd White (Swallow Press; 272 pgs., $22.95) Neo-Nazis are setting up a compound in rural east Tennessee. The county commissioners see the threat clearly, but they are nobody’s idea of American heroic paragons. And those new neighbors just love to gain cachet and cash through extortion and manipulation. Of course…
Savage Love: Cum Again
Q: As you can see by my signature, Dan, I’m a linguist. On your podcast you frequently ask researchers “whatchyougot” on all kinds of sex- and romance-related questions, I thought maybe you’d be interested in some expertise on linguistic matters too. And I have some on “cum,” “cumming,” and (shudder) “cummed.” The technical term here…
MaryLiz Bender of Twin Limb is bringing music gloves to a Mars simulation
On Jan. 18, Louisville expatriate MaryLiz Bender is going to Mars… kind of. Bender, who currently lives in Florida, but remains part of the local psych-rock band Twin Limb, is joining the Hi-SEAS Mars Simulation, a Martian habitat located on Mauna Loa in Hawaii. The terrain of the area is Mars-like and is used by…
The magic behind the vegan comfort food at V-Grits
I had a pit beef barbecue sandwich the other day that was so good it made my head spin. And here’s the kicker: This sandwich was vegan, made from vegetables, without a trace of meat. How can this be? This sandwich, so delicious that I can still taste it in my mind’s palate a couple…
The state of COVID in Louisville: A Q&A with Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor
Since March, Dr. Valerie Briones-Pryor has been on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak in Kentucky, running a COVID unit at UofL’s Jewish Hospital. On Jan. 7, LEO caught up with Briones-Pryor to talk about the current status of the pandemic. She spoke about how the hospital’s current wave of patients has been fueled by…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best And Most Absurd (1/13)
Absurd: No one cares, Mitch Sen. Mitch McConnell once rebuffed then-Sen. Joe Biden’s effort to gain his support for a bill by arguing its merits. Former President Barack Obama recounted in his book “A Promised Land” that “McConnell raised his hand like a traffic cop and said, ‘You must be under the mistaken impression that I…
We told you so
It’s been almost five years since my colleagues and I sued then-candidate Trump for inciting violence at his campaign rallies on behalf of three protesters who were beaten up by an angry mob of white supremacists. We lost. This article is addressed to the federal judges who tossed out our case without holding the President…
Chickens always come home to roost. Enjoy the sounds of the clucking.
Wednesday, January 6, I woke up celebrating that voters in Georgia snatched the coveted crown of leadership from Majority Leader (soon-to-be Minority Leader) Mitch McConnell by voting Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff into the United States Senate. It was a glorious day as we also awaited Congress certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win making him the…
The insurrection and the challenges ahead
“America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You’ve gotta want it bad, cause it’s gonna put up a fight,” said fictional President Andrew Shepherd in the movie “The American President.” Last Wednesday, we vividly saw how tough that fight will be. Wednesday was scary. Thursday was scarier, and every day since, as we see and…
Skepticism and hope for Police Chief Erika Shields
The announcement of new Metro Police Chief Erika Shields, understandably, evoked intense feelings of shock, resentment and anger throughout the community. How could the city hire the former-Atlanta police chief who resigned after police in her department unjustly killed a Black person, Rayshard Brooks, in a Wendy’s parking lot? Hearing the news, I shared the…
