
Josie Fischels
Arts & Culture ReporterExpertise: Performance art, visual art, Iowa life
Education: The University of Iowa
Favorite Iowa Destination: Dunnings Springs, Decorah
Experience:
- Covered local and statewide arts, news, and lifestyle features for The Daily Iowan, The Denver Post, NPR and currently for IPR
- Has written features on Iowans participating in the Hollywood writers’ strike, the nation’s largest historic theatre backdrop collection – housed in Iowa, the reopening of the African American Museum of Iowa and an ‘inside-the-culture’ feature on local drag kings, among others
- Is an award-winning reporter, including a retrospective of Iowa’s first poet laureate, Marvin Bell, following his death in 2021
- Writes regularly for IPR’s internationally award-winning newsletters
- Covered the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, climate and the Kabul takeover by the Taliban in 2021 for NPR’s news desk
- Served as an editor and mentor for multiple projects with NPR’s Next Generation Radio
- Created IPR’s weekly news quiz and launched IPR’s TikTok (follow us!)
My Latest Stories
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There are just a handful of dating services and matchmakers across the state seeking to help singles ditch dating apps.
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Artists from near and far flocked to Washington Park in Dubuque last week for the competition, in which they had four days to create the best snow sculpture. But with all of the city's snow melted by the dates for the festival, how did they pull it off?
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The music festival, which has hosted both Chappell Roan and Noah Kahan, and matched her donation, pledged its support for "access to mental health care for all musicians."
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Des Moines-based artist b. Robert Moore will have a piece, "Lost and Found," displayed at the Brooklyn Museum in New York City throughout the month of February.
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Mins Studios, located in West Des Moines, offers K-pop albums, merchandise, stationery, Korean beauty products and skincare. It's the first of its kind in the state.
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The concert, to be held on Aug. 30, marks a new era for the expanding movie site in Dyersville and solidifies it as an expanded, multifaceted event venue.
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Cobble Hill chef Andy Schumacher is a Best Chef Midwest semifinalist. Simon's, an Italian restaurant in Des Moines, is named for Outstanding Hospitality.
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The Hinterland Music Festival returns this August to St. Charles, Iowa with a lineup that includes the first hip-hop act to headline the festival in its 10-year history.
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While some Iowa business owners relied on the app for sales, others are embracing a shift to other platforms and marketing strategies.
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Planning which live performances you want to see this year? Hadestown, Hamilton and several comedy shows all made our list of shows that Iowa venues say are selling out the fastest.