Historian Kevin Boyle’s new book, “The Shattering,” has no surprises, major revelations and no sappy stories. Instead, it is packed to the brim with tales of courageous individuals who stood for justice and truth. “The Shattering” is a straightforward look at the tumultuous decade of the ’60s, and how it shaped the course of United States history. more

Ten Pound Fiddle announced yesterday that it is postponing all weekly concerts until early March. The announcement comes after its board of directors unanimously voted to postpone all concerts due to the increasing number of Omicron variant cases. more

Joseph Dickson is an actor, director and head of a theater company that closed over two years ago.  Flying has been a way to keep creative while the stage is dark. more

The snow on the sidewalks is getting dirtier by the day. An uncertain new year is off the chain, waiting for you like a tricky hyena in a zoo after midnight. more

A new store in the Lansing Mall eliminates the single biggest barrier between the under privileged and necessary items like a new jacket or a pair of shoes: money. The Fretail Store invites those in need to come in, shop and take whatever they need, free of charge.  more

Amid the mass casualties, bomb blasts and dancing dictators of the mid-20th century, the dark art we now call “processing” trauma was perfected by Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich. more

Willow Tree Family Center is a community space that hosts a variety of groups in Greater Lansing. It serves families through the pregnancy process and provides birthing, baby, and holistic services in one location. Willow Tree primarily houses peer-to-peer support groups for parents and connects families to professional services. Its space also houses a free store for baby and maternity items and is home to Molly Massage. more

As comic artist Ryan Claytor sat down to begin work on his latest graphic novel, “A Hunter’s Tale,” he revisited the poetry of his late grandfather. The poems lifted Claytor off into a nostalgic trance and in his mind’s eye he sees his grandfather. He’s trudging through woodlands — rifle in tow; his loyal dog by his side. The calm November air is as crisp as the freshly fallen leaves on the ground and the wind’s bittersweet bite heightens his senses.  more

If you love Strange Matter Coffee, you’re going to be overjoyed about two major recent announcements: its downtown Lansing coffee shop is getting much bigger and a whole new location is coming to Old Town. more

The 2021 area theater season had some yang, but it was mostly a whole lotta yin. more

Several of the multiple intertwining facets of Lansing’s arts and cultural scene managed to come back in quite a big way in 2021. While the worsening pandemic news throughout December proves we still have a frustratingly long way to go before the pandemic can be declared over, those who were vaccinated, took proper precautions when necessary and were otherwise not immunocompromised, had a lot to enjoy this past year if they wanted to get out of the house. more

While some local music venues bravely soldiered on throughout 2021 — like The Avenue Café, The Green Door, The Robin Theatre and UrbanBeat — some other classic Lansing venues have either disappeared or are reworking their operations. Here are a couple of big changes that have already left a sizable dent in the scene. more

Public art is finally coming to Dimondale. The Village of Dimondale Art Commission announced that the village’s inaugural art sculpture will be installed this summer on the corner of South Bridge Street and East Jefferson Avenue. more

New Year's Day is fast approaching. Whether you had a rough go in 2021, or a vast improvement over the disastrous 2020, it is still a cause for celebration.  more

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane! It’s art from six highly creative Greater Lansing artists!  more

“Bored of Being Kind,” the new album from Crawl Spaces, is a murky, moody blast of electronic punk. It’s a twisted, avant-garde trip that blends a handful of genres into an ethereal dose of outsider music. The group is a collab between Bilal Baeza and Jaxon Kolhoff. In this week’s edition of “Life Changing Albums,” where locals talk about seminal records in their collections, Kolhoff talks up a vital influence to his diverse collection —a 1993 compilation LP of provocative, Texas-made skatepunk.  more

While reading “Vivian Maier Developed: The Untold Story of the Photographer Nanny,” by Ann Marks, I couldn’t help but thinking what would’ve happened if Maier had lived long enough to use an iPhone 13 Pro and send her photos to the Cloud. Likely, the incredible photography of Maier would’ve been lost forever. more

A light in the darkness is as strong a signal — and symbol — of humanity as you can find. more

Michigan State University’s Broad College of Business has a deep network of successful alumni that have gone onto to work with major companies like Google, Ford and Valvoline. For those hoping to follow in their footsteps, a brand-new podcast might be able to help. “Marketing Spotlight,” taps graduates of the MSU business college for advice and valuable insight into an industry that can often be very difficult to wrap one’s head around. more

Imagine yourself walking down Clemens Steet in Lansing’s eastside neighborhood and through the crisp air you hear the sound of a rowdy garage rock band pouring out of the windows of a nearby home. You check it out, and suddenly you’re at a living room rock concert. Afterword, you learn of another show just a couple blocks down the way where artists ranging from rappers to folk singers will perform.  more