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Hard to believe it has been almost two months since the publication of the Afghanistan Papers, the confidential reports obtained by the Washington Post that described, in stunning new detail, the mismanagement of a war that has now spanned three decades and three U.S. administrations.

HARBOR SPRINGS — As singer and guitarist Tai Jaxx Drury puts it, The Marsupials revel in a sound that’s “refreshingly free-form and uncompromising, yet classic and familiar in the best possible way.”

BELLAIRE — Valentiger is so impassioned about its music — as well as the tantalizing covers that it plays — that it’s willing to play eight straight hours without a break.

GLEN ARBOR — Sleuths are invited to help solve a murder at the Homestead Resort this weekend.

A walk to the library. Sidestepping on Fifth Avenue on a day of frigid cutting brine air typical of New York City. Past the great marble lions named Patience and Fortitude by redoubtable Mayor Laguardia during the Great Depression.

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When accepting the best foreign-language film award for “Parasite” earlier this month at the Golden Globes, the Korean director Bong Joon-ho said through an interpreter: “Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

TRAVERSE CITY — Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream – and so do the children of Traverse City.

ELK RAPIDS — Most would associate weaving with thread of some sort, but not jewelry artist Cathy Brown.

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TRAVERSE CITY — When the Jammie Awards for best regional music of 2019 are doled out in mid-February, several Traverse City artists will be in the running for a big night.

2020 is here and along with it, the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest geniuses and humanists the world has ever known.

New Year’s resolutions — promises made to improve one’s well-being — seem to be a thing of the past. I can’t think of anyone who actually makes such commitments anymore. Yes, it’s true, we could all eat better, work out more, and step out of our comfort zones more often. I personally don’t a…

SUTTONS BAY — When Chris Bahle drives through Suttons Bay, there’s a certain set of shining lights that means more than others.

Like many latecomers to “Schitt’s Creek” — the Canadian comedy series that’s lately become a sleeper streaming hit — I had been hearing for years how good it was, but could never muster enough time or interest to seek it out on its home channel of Pop TV, because what is that, exactly?

As Savannah Buist of Traverse City’s The Accidentals puts it, things are not always what they appear to be for the successful, acclaimed touring band.

TRAVERSE CITY — Founding a professional theater company in Traverse City 10 years ago was a risky venture for Kit McKay and Erin Anderson Whiting.

In a New York Times story leading up to the release of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” director J.J. Abrams said, frankly, “I’ve never been great at endings” — precisely the sort of confidence you want to hear from the person tasked with wrapping up a blockbuster nine-film saga that has …

TRAVERSE CITY — Fleda Brown’s book of Elvis Presley-centric poetry came out in 2004, so when Bob Chelmick reached out asking to use her work in an episode of his radio show, it was a surprise.

A new year, a new decade and a new calendar. It’s a clean slate ahead. How are you setting your course this year? Are you going big and targeting a life-changing shift? Are you committed to doing more? Being more adventurous? Expanding your mind? Getting involved in the community?

Meg Ackerman never would have thought to seek out an improv class, but when a colleague mentioned she was thinking about holding some classes, it sounded like fun.

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We’re announcing our new season today, marking 10 years of “great stories/great conversations.” It feels like the right time to share with you the skinny of just how we come up with our author line-ups.

TRAVERSE CITY — Before there was Electric Forest, there was the Rothbury Festival — a star-studded affair that drew more than 30,000 music fans to the Double JJ Resort in 2008 for four days of frolicking in the Michigan woods and meadows.

I found Honey the way anyone finds anyone — while scrolling mindlessly through my phone. When you start telling people you’re interested in adopting a dog, social media suddenly inundates you with shelter animals looking for homes.

TRAVERSE CITY — It was at a surprise book party celebrating Doug Stanton’s completion of a national book tour for “Horse Soldiers” that the idea sparked to life.

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Oceans will rise, cities will burn, empires will collapse and one day a ceaseless wind will erode the rubble of humankind’s achievements and follies into a fine dust. And yet, in the empty vastness of the cosmos, a disembodied voice will ring out. “I don’t want a lot for Christmas,” it will …

ELK RAPIDS — Patty Greiner didn’t know where her digital camera was, but daylight was fading fast and so she used her cellphone to take pictures.

TRAVERSE CITY — For Ann Arbor guitarist-singer Laith Al-Saadi, the national exposure and aftermath from the splash he made as a finalist on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2016 has had its ups and downs.

TRAVERSE CITY — Each fall, Anna Buell and her husband make their way from Old Mission Peninsula to Arkansas to dig for quartz crystals.

As everyone has their holiday hats on, and “ELF, the Musical” is closing a super successful run, my thoughts and energy have already moved forward toward the first quarter of the new year. I will be directing the marvelous and moving play “Silent Sky.”

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TRAVERSE CITY — There is a connection between fabric and family, especially to people whose family is gone or not close by.