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Emily Mills

Emily Mills is a writer, editor, musician, roller derby-er, and sometimes event producer. They are one half of the punk band Damsel Trash and won Madison’s Favorite Gadabout in Isthmus’ 2014 reader poll—NO BIG DEAL. Emily lives in Madison with their partners and two tiny dogs.

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Emily's Latest Articles

A simple image collage of a book jacket on the left and author portrait on the right. The jacket reads "Hemlock A Novel Melissa Faliveno" in white chalk-like lettering over an impressionistic painting of splintered branches and wood on the ground. The author, Faliveno, wears a dusty grey button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up past her elbows. She folds her arms and looks squarely at the camera lens with a faint but confident smile.
Fear and queer hunger in the Northwoods of Melissa Faliveno’s “Hemlock”
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Culture
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December 15, 2025

The new novel from the author of the "Tomboyland" essay collection finds its footing in the dark corners of Wisconsin's forests.

Emily Mills is shown roller skating during an intro rollout for the Madison Roller Derby home team the Reservoir Dolls. They are wearing a mask, a white helmet, and an all-black uniform. Their shirt, though partially obscured in the photo, reads "Trans Athletes Belong Here." They seem to be smiling behind their mask. They have fashioned the trans flag as a cape, and it's swept up in the wind behind them. One of their hands is clutching the flag's ends together as they skate, while the other is outstretched. They're wearing a white helmet and are in mid-stride, surrounded by a few of their Reservoir Doll teammates.
Roller derby’s beautiful radicalism
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Microtones
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May 9, 2025

The subculture's diversity, gender-inclusion, and democratic system offers a vision of the world we could live in.

The three members of Kat and the Hurricane are seated in a once-white room, with all three members wearing once-white clothes. Both the walls and the members themselves have been splattered with pastel blue and pink paint. The band's members have their arms hooked around each other and are smiling at the camera.
Kat and the Hurricane’s “Got It Out” is a queer/trans battle cry teeming with love
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Music
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May 7, 2025

The indie-pop trio talks us through the creation and impact of their new album.

A mid-motion still frame shows dozens of soldiers and civilians who've gathered outside in a demonstration. Centered in the frame is a young person reaching towards the camera and staring directly into the lens; they're waving what looks to be a cloth flag.
“The Battle Of Algiers” radically confronts the horrors of French imperialism
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Film
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March 10, 2025

UW Cinematheque presents the innovative and still-urgently relevant 1966 film of political upheaval on March 14.

A simple rectangular image collage that features stills from four films. At top left, a man observes the royal treasures of Benin in "Dahomey." At top right, Patrick (Josh O'Connor) and Tashi (Zendaya) share a heated moment at night in "Challengers." At bottom right, Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) observes herself in the bathroom mirror in "The Substance." And at bottom left, gym rats Jackie (Katy O'Brian) and Lou (Kristen Stewart) contemplate something serious in "Love Lies Bleeding."
We contained multitudes: an uncontained year in cinema
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Film
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January 20, 2025

In this inclusive diary compendium, 10 writers share their thoughts and experiences on the 2024 year in moviegoing.

A photo shows a wide view of a protest encampment on Library Mall. Several brightly colored tents are pitched in the center of a concrete plaza, while large groups of demonstrators stand along the edges of the plaza.
What we learned from UW-Madison’s pro-Palestine encampment
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Politics
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May 27, 2024

How this protest fits into recent history, what to carry moving forward, and what to leave behind.

Two women are shown seated in the front seats of a convertible in the film "Desert Hearts." They both wear sunglasses, and stare out ahead into the open road as the asphalt and desert stretch out into the distance behind them.
The revolutionary lesbian gaze of “Desert Hearts”
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Film
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May 23, 2024

Donna Deitch's 1985 road-movie romance screens at the Chazen on May 29 as part of Cat Birk's "Becoming Horse Girl" movie series.

A photo shows a group of demonstrators gathered on Library Mall, two in the foreground holding a large banner that reads "Faculty + staff support our students." One demonstrator in the middle of the photo addresses a crowd of onlookers through a megaphone.
Solidarity and obstinance sprouted anew after a police raid on UW-Madison’s pro-Palestine encampment
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Politics
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May 9, 2024

The protest marked a week of growth and peace, as some local officials showed support and others refused to take the movement seriously.

Envelopes addressed to Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Sen. Ron Johnson, and U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan.
It doesn’t matter that Biden is old. It matters that he’s supporting a genocide.
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Politics
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March 10, 2024

The choice between Trump and Biden will be no choice at all for people of conscience. Age and "political purity" have nothing to do with it.

A 5x4 grid displays the album art for all of the releases included in this list as a banner image.
Tone Madison’s favorite records of 2023
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Music
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January 19, 2024

These albums and EPs helped define what 2023 meant for Madison music.