Cover Story
The Humana Festival of New American Plays, a leader in playwright diversity
[Only in LEO, read below about how the 42nd Humana Festival of New American Plays has long sought equality and diversity, and also check out the entire list of new plays and summaries here.] Look closely at the newly-released lineup of the 2018 Humana Festival of New American Plays from Actors Theatre of Louisville. You’ll…
LEO Podcast #58: Aaron Yarmuth on UofL Men’s Basketball
Executive Editor Aaron Yarmuth talks about this year’s UofL Men’s Basketball Team, including who’s been impressive in the first few games. Plus, he discusses the last two years being plagued by controversies, Brian Bowen’s status and former Cardinals currently in the NBA.
A #metro #metoo story — Social media and the law
[Editor’s Note: For more on this issue, pick up Wednesday’s edition of LEO Weekly] As the national media gave voice to four (now nine) women last Tuesday who were accusing Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexually abusing teenage girls, hundreds of local Facebook users saw a local bar owner at the center of…
10 things to do under $5 this week in Louisville (11/20)
MONDAY Community Yoga Tim Faulkner Gallery $5 suggested donation | 6-7 p.m. The Kentucky Yoga Initiative, which strives to create “possibility and empowerment in each person’s life,” is bringing a community class to Tim Faulkner Gallery. This power yoga class will give everyone an opportunity to “stretch, build strength, have fun and empower your life!”…
NPR: Social media posts may complicate prosecution of sexual assault
As allegations of sexual assault sweep through Louisville and across social media, here is a story from NPR on the risks of posting such claims:
LEO Presents: Soft Self Portraits, live in studio
For the latest LEO Presents, our video series where we ask local musicians to stop by our studio to play three songs, Soft Self Portraits brings dreamy, melancholy indie that’s reminiscent of the layered, atmospheric music from the mid-‘00s. Watch every past episode of the series here.
Listen to the Zach Longoria Project’s new single, ‘Space’
“Space,” the first single from a forthcoming album, sees the Zach Longoria Project turning to a big, dark, atmospheric track that clocks in at just under seven minutes. Listen to the song below.
10 great hiking trails within an hour drive of Louisville
As a resident of Louisville for more than 26 years, I got bored with city attractions like Churchill Downs a long time ago. But what does keep my interest in the region is all of the hiking available within an hour drive from Louisville. So as a self-appointed expert in local, nature-based escapism, I’m going…
5 Things To Do This Weekend in Louisville (11/17)
FRIDAY An Evening for the People’s Acupuncture Clinic Kaiju Suggested donation $7 | 6 p.m. To raise financial support and awareness for the Healing Team of Black Lives Matter and the People’s Acupuncture Clinic, Kaiju is hosting one hell of a show with music, food and general bizarreness. Live music will be provided by The…
Only in LEO: The 2018 Humana Festival of New American Plays lineup
Only in LEO, check out the entire list of new plays and summaries below, plus read how the 42nd Humana Festival of New American Plays has long sought equality and diversity here. “God Said This” by Leah Nanako Winkler Directed by Morgan Gould Feb. 28 – April 8 Bingham Theatre With her mom undergoing chemotherapy,…
Can Bardstown Road be fixed?
Bardstown Road is a lovable mess, isn’t it? I remember first moving to the city and being utterly bamboozled by the lane lights, unsure of when they would light up and why. Even though I live a block off Bardstown, I avoided driving it for a while. Turns out it is unique in the country…
Thorns & Roses: The Worst, Best & Most Absurd
We agree? | Absurd It pains us to say, but we agree with U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and senatorial candidate Roy Moore, who each say the other should step down. Conflict and contradiction | Thorn Metro Council President David Yates led the botching of the Councilman Dan Johnson debacle. Meanwhile, Yates, a lawyer, is suing…
‘My life is power chords’: Rej Forester of GRLwood
Self-identifying as a “gay-ass duo,” GRLwood, a guitar-and-drums garage-rock band, is as unflinching as you’d imagine. At a recent show in Cincinnati, the pair were confronted with a battery of ugliness, starting with a male crowd member repeatedly trying to grope a female attendee, and ending with an angry neo Nazi shouting bigoted epithets. GRLwood…
The Black Heart Procession revisits their first album
For more than two decades, The Black Heart Procession has leaned into a tender, yet angst-ridden darkness, and now, they’re reaching back to the beginning, touring in celebration of their first album, 1. “Somehow the album has stood the test of time,” Pall Jenkins, who founded the band with Tobias Nathaniel in 1997, said. “Usually,…
St. Vincent on ‘Masseduction’ and false idols
If the first five albums from St. Vincent (the moniker of Annie Clark) didn’t convince you that she was one of the most important artists of our day, the recently-released Masseduction should have sealed the deal. Balancing huge hooks with unannounced detours, both musically and lyrically, it’s at once one of the catchiest and craziest…
Sonic Breakdown: James Lindsey — ‘Rainbows’
[LEO’s biweekly Sonic Breakdown column deconstructs a single song from a Louisville musician or band.] “Could there be a song about hardship that you could play in the club?” That’s the question James Lindsey, and his producer Joshua Nicholson, asked themselves before embarking on the creation of the song “Rainbows.” With a clever, bouncing beat…
Comic Book Reviews: ‘Moon Knight’ and ‘Kid Lobotomy’
‘Moon Knight’ No. 188 Writer Max Bemis, Artist Jacen Burrows Review by Meredith Harris, Great Escape Louisville In one of the most compelling reads from Marvel in a long time, “Moon Night” No. 188 feels like quicksand. You get drawn in deeper and deeper without even realizing it. Max Bemis, singer for Say Anything,…
Frank Bill’s Appalachian, Midwestern noir
This Saturday’s notable literary event west of town is a release party for the latest from Frank Bill, who’s landed on best-of-the-year lists with the likes of “Crimes of Southern Indiana.” He’ll appear at the Beef O’Brady’s in his hometown Corydon for a reading/signing to introduce “The Savage.” (Destination Booksellers of New Albany will have…
Rita Mae Brown at Kentucky Book Fair
The Kentucky Book Fair this year has moved further east, to Lexington — but consider the quality of attending writers. For instance, Rita Mae Brown. Her standing in American letters over the last few decades is rich, but her path has been varied. Her early 1970s debut “Rubyfruit Jungle,” centered around young lesbian Molly Bolt,…
Tandoori Fusion masters science of fusion… culinary style
When I first heard about Tandoori Fusion, the new Indian restaurant in The East End across the way from Costco, my imagination leapt up. I know that the tandoor, the iconic Indian clay oven, can reach temperatures upward of 900º F, a searing fire that does something magical to meats and flatbreads too. But Tandoori…
Intervene, or be complicit
I was bartending at a lovely wedding last week for a happy couple, obviously in love, and a slew of their friends and family. Just as the couple had exchanged their “I dos” and embraced in their new marital proclamation, many of the guests hurried to the bar for a celebratory libation. Two men converged…
An analysis, Louisville’s sophisticated taste
When Scott Lykins got involved in Louisville’s craft beer scene, it was as a consumer. He was a regular at the former Bluegrass Brewing Co. production brewery’s taproom — now Goodwood Brewing — at the corner of Clay and Main streets. That was around 2007. As time went by and his involvement with local breweries…
Savage Love: Orpheum Theater
I was honored to appear with Esther Perel at the Orpheum Theater in Vancouver, BC, a few weeks ago to discuss her new book, The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity. Questions were submitted on cards before the show—some for me, some for Esther, some for both of us—and we got to as many as we…
Quit jacking around
In what has become a regular feature of the weekly news cycle, several women have alleged they were sexually assaulted by a wealthy, white man with power, privilege and a predilection for predatory, if not perverse, behavior. Under no circumstances can we normalize these revelations and their outcome if we expect to function as a…
No more charity for racial insensitivity
Jefferson County Public Schools are out of control, and it isn’t the kids. Allegations of child abuse by preschool teachers. A principal with poor boundaries and loose lips. Police abusing and aiming weapons at students. With so many adults in the Jefferson County Public School system in trouble, I have one question: Who is taking…
Burying our heads in the weeds
We have a weed crisis in this country. Weed needs to be legalized as soon as possible. Nationally, sure. But in Kentucky, a poor state with a pension crisis, there should be no hesitation in mining this (green) gold rush. For the first time, real data proves that the weed industry is an emerging economic…
