One-man band, full-band sound
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Expect the unexpected for Coeur d’Alene musician Thomas Mudrick’s upcoming gig at the 219 Lounge from 9-11 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. Mudrick has played in various bands since...
Tagged: Ben Olson
The Sandpoint Eater: A delicious decade
By Marcia Pilgeram Reader Columnist I’d been having a relatively easy week; Christmas was packed up and tucked away, ideas for this column were half-baked and my recipe for chili rellenos was ready to...
So dumb it squeaks
By Ben Olson Reader Staff I have an itinerant column I trot out every month or so I’ve dubbed “Dumb of the Week,” which highlights the sheer stupidity at work — usually by politicians....
208 Fiction results for 2025
Here we present the winners of the fourth annual Sandpoint Reader 208 Fiction contest, in which we invited writers to submit a work of fiction totaling exactly 208 words for consideration by a panel...
A delivery of hope (and food)
By Ben Olson Reader Staff There’s a theory that sandwiches taste better when someone else makes them. I wonder what the consensus is on delivered meals? Since 2019, the students at Lake Pend Oreille...
Ben’s best albums of 2024
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Let me begin by stating how ridiculous it is that I’m the one writing this article highlighting the best albums of 2024. New music is like penicillin: It might...
Notes on a vicennial deadline
By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff This week marks 20 years since the first edition of the Sandpoint Reader hit the streets on Dec. 23, 2004. That feels like a trick of the calendar —...
Spend ‘Nearly New Years’ at The Hive
By Ben Olson Reader Staff With New Year’s Eve falling midweek this year, The Hive is hosting “Nearly New Years,” a double-header music extravaganza featuring two nights of great regional bands. The fun kicks...
Con artists, armed Boy Scouts and Santa Claus
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Nobody knows who wrote the first letter to Santa Claus, but the practice didn’t catch on in mainstream America until a con artist named John D. Gluck became intertwined...
‘We do what we can’
By Ben Olson Reader Staff Food insecurity is a terrible thing, but it’s especially heartbreaking when it involves children. For the past 15 years, the nonprofit organization Food for our Children has pledged to...
