Longform
What If You Could Just Take a Year Off?
Nothing draws attention to the passage of time like doing the same thing every year, and nothing marks disruption like not being able to do […]
After Two Years of Pandemic Living, We All Really Need Hobbies
It was one of those cloudless, golden September days, and my husband and I decided to take our son and daughter to Valley Forge National […]
The Body Part You’re Probably (But Definitely Shouldn’t Be) Overlooking
When local pelvic-floor yoga therapist Debbie Brownstein first became aware of her own pelvic floor, she was 30 years old. One year after having her […]
Inside the Ridiculously Vicious and Increasingly Nasty Local Elections in Bucks County
“I realize what I’m doing is very unorthodox,” said Shannon Harris as she stood at the podium holding a ream of handwritten notes, her voice […]
I Tell People I’m From Philly, But I Live in South Jersey. That Counts, Right?
I am an imposter. I have lied, frequently and with forethought, to people online and in person, in the United States and outside of it. […]
Inside Jim Kenney’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year
“There is a finite period of time for each of us to make a positive impact on our city as elected officials,” Mayor Jim Kenney […]
How the Pandemic Brought Campbell’s Soup Back From the Brink
Campbell’s Soup was in hot water. The venerable company, born just across the river from Philadelphia in the city of Camden, was due to celebrate […]
My Dog Is My Life, and One Day, He’ll Be Gone
One day, my dog Joey will be gone. Not today, not tomorrow, but the day is coming — and coming sooner than I’d like. I […]
For Years, People Said There Were No Lenape Left in Pennsylvania. This Group Begs to Differ.
It’s a muggy mid-September Sunday, and kayakers and vacationing families are taking in the calm waters of Mauch Chunk Lake, a small reservoir in the […]
Becoming Bok: From Decommissioned School to South Philly’s Center of Creative Cool
From the outside, the Bok Building looks like an old trade school. From the inside — well, it still looks like an old trade school, […]
How Co-Writing a Book About an Interracial Friendship Helped Strengthen Our Own
In the new novel I co-wrote with Christine Pride, We Are Not Like Them, two lifelong friends — one white, one Black — see their […]
Who Deserves a Statue — And Who Never Did? Philly’s Monument Lab May Have Answers
Just last August, a 34-year-old West Philadelphia painter named Joy Taney went door-to-door in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood and made an unusual request. She wanted people […]
Philly’s Housing Encampments of 2020 Led to a Nationally Celebrated Deal. Then It All Began to Unravel
Edwin Jones spent many of his days riding the El as it hummed over Philadelphia and his nights sleeping in 30th Street Station. Jones, who […]
Todd Carmichael Is Stepping Down as La Colombe’s CEO to Reinvent the Way You Drink Water
What happens when the man who founded La Colombe and forever changed how Philadelphians drink coffee decides he needs a change? He sets out to […]
What’s Going to Happen to All the Crap I’ve Accumulated When I Die?
Not too long ago, we had guests over to the house — a rare event anymore, even as we all slowly reenter the World of […]