Brian Geihl is no stranger to working through changes. He has been passionate about creating art and drawing all his life, but when he started at St. Cloud State University, he wasn’t in the studio right away. Following his love for the outdoors, he decided to pursue a degree in meteorology. But, after taking several … [ Read more]
12 Nights of Freedom: A Political Jazz Playlist
July 30, 2020 by
Alright, this summer has our attention. All this social turbulence—a kind our nation hasn’t witnessed in generations—has a long tradition behind it. Revisiting some of our nation’s most treasured protest songs can help remind us that this fight isn’t new. This list is a soundtrack of freedom expressed through jazz—Afro-America’s great art form to the … [ Read more]
Post-quarantine Comedy: Comedy clubs adapt to provide laughs
July 24, 2020 by
Just a few short weeks after being told comedy clubs could open once again, Khadijah Cooper was onstage in front of a sold-out crowd at The Comedy Corner Underground. But it didn’t quite look the same as it used to. “The room seats like 70, so the new capacity is like 30,” she explains of … [ Read more]
Artist Profile: Illustrating a moment in history with Andres Guzman
July 2, 2020 by
What began with yet another horrifying act of police violence against an unarmed black man has grown into an international social revolution. And with that came an explosion of public art. Starting at the corner of 38th and Chicago in South Minneapolis, murals memorializing George Floyd have spread as far as Berlin, Nairobi, and a … [ Read more]
Culture Club: A Month of Introspection and Self-Education on Racial Justice
July 2, 2020 by
Welcome to The Growler’s Culture Club, where the editors share the best of what they’ve been listening to, reading, and watching. Over the past few weeks, each of us at The Growler has been working to better educate ourselves about the issue of systemic racism, thinking critically and deeply on our roles in the fight … [ Read more]
Culture Club: When in doubt, go British
May 28, 2020 by
Welcome to The Growler’s Culture Club, where the editors share the best of what they’ve been listening to, reading, and watching. James Norton, Food Editor “Giri / Haji” No television show about a bloody international Yakuza war has any right to be this funny, this beautifully shot, and this stirringly human, but there you have … [ Read more]
Introducing The Growler’s Culture Club
May 14, 2020 by
Welcome to The Growler’s Culture Club, where the editors share the best of what they’ve been listening to, reading, and watching. It seems fitting that we should kick off Culture Club in quarantine, where we’ve been consuming an unprecedented amount of entertainment to keep us within reach of sanity. While not everything we’ve taken in … [ Read more]
Artist Profile: Sam Soulek found his calling through design
April 3, 2020 by
Cover artist Sam Soulek’s interest in graphic design was born on a fateful summer afternoon from an unexpected source: a TV ad for an art school’s video game design program. “I didn’t know design was even a thing,” he says. “But I knew video games were a thing, and I had to have this stupid … [ Read more]
Claiming Space: Two artists from war-torn countries find a place and a voice in Minnesota through music
April 3, 2020 by
I have a friendly neighbor/she wanna be my savior/her daddy always warns her about my family’s behavior/she wonders ‘bout my flavor/those chocolate coated layers” Dua Saleh sings on their 2019 single “Sugar Mama.” Their voice sluices through the verses, and you too will find yourself with that the uneasy feeling in your stomach is actually … [ Read more]
The Growler’s Tourism Guide 2020: Road Trip Worthy Podcasts
April 3, 2020 by
Find more great travel ideas in The Growler’s Tourism Guide 2020 When you’re behind the wheel watching the interminable flat expanse of the Great Plains slowly roll past your window, hit play on an audio adventure that will fill the silence and get those neurons firing on all cylinders again. Here are some titles to … [ Read more]
Dubh Linn Brew Pub helps Duluth, Minn. stake its claim as Comedy Capital of The North
March 6, 2020 by
By now you may have heard that the Twin Cities comedy scene is a pretty big deal these days. But north of Minneapolis, Dubh Linn Brew Pub has been the epicenter of comedy in Duluth for nearly 10 years. Brothers Mike and Seth Maxim were born and raised in Duluth and opened the pub over … [ Read more]
Ladies First: How Desdamona and Maria Isa set the stage for women in Minnesota’s hip-hop scene
February 27, 2020 by
Rapper and spoken word artist Desdamona has shared stages with Wyclef Jean, Bahamadia, and Saul Williams. But when she first moved to the Twin Cities in 1995, she couldn’t find anyone to give her the opportunity to perform. “When I tried to get into the hip-hop scene, it was very difficult,” said Desdamona. “There … [ Read more]
Mythical Stories for the Modern Age: A collection of short fiction
February 24, 2020 by
Legends never die—they just take on new meaning in changing times. What follows are excerpts from three original short stories by Minnesota writers who draw their inspiration in equal parts from the distant past and the present day—be sure to click the link to find the full stories. Heikki Lunta Sinks a Ship Late one … [ Read more]
“The Lake Monster” – A Short Story
February 24, 2020 by
There was a recent sighting of the Lake Monster so Christina and I drove to Pepin and rented a boat to see if we could find it. “Log, log, another log,” Christina says, her eyes up to his binoculars, scanning the water. “So many stupid goddamn logs that kind of look like lake monsters.” Last … [ Read more]
Artist Profile: Breathing new life into Native legends with Marlena Myles
February 24, 2020 by
Though she may appear a mythical being on the cover, Zitkála-Šá was a flesh-and-bone Dakota Sioux translator, writer, musician, teacher, and activist. Taken by missionaries from her home in 1884 on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota to a Quaker boarding school in Indiana, she became one of the first of the Dakota Sioux … [ Read more]
