Longform
How Philadelphia Became Obsessed With Twisted Tea
Andrew Payne knew his first leg tattoo would need to be special. His left arm and shoulder were already filled by the city skyline, with […]
Philadelphia Lost More Than 50,000 Residents During the Pandemic. Now What?
Since the dawn of the current millennium, city boosters have celebrated the reversal of Philadelphia’s five-decade-long population slide. The 2010 census showed the city had […]
I Wasn’t Ready For My Parent’s Dating Drama
I knew what was going on months before anyone else did. My father-in-law had been acting shifty, shooting up to New York for days at […]
I Hosted a Podcast on Artificial Intelligence. Then My AI Doppelgänger Showed Up
Sometime in the winter of 2021, I went to check my long-neglected LinkedIn but couldn’t find my password. Rather than go through the rigamarole of […]
Meet the Bad Boy of Philly Antiquities
When I find W. Graham Arader III in his stunning 26-room pre-Revolutionary suburban mansion last summer, he’s eating from a clear plastic tub — the kind […]
Inside the Epic Search for Philly’s Next Tuba Master
A young man sits alone in a room, a tuba on his lap, and blows it hard, huffing and puffing to play Snedecor’s Low Étude […]
Horseshoe Crabs Are About to Have an Orgy on Delaware Bay Beaches. Here’s Why — and What’s Threatening It
When the tide comes under May’s full moon, an extraordinary, almost magical event occurs on Delaware Bay beaches: Like an invasion of small prehistoric tanks, […]
Why Is It So Hard to Get a Doctor’s Appointment in Philadelphia?
I’m sitting in an armchair in a brightly lit room, my hands gripping my knees, head bowed as if I’m deep in prayer, when I […]
Is This the John Fetterman Pennsylvania Elected?
I’m on the phone one recent afternoon, having what had been a civilized conversation with a longtime Pennsylvania political insider, when he suddenly starts screaming. […]
Four Years After the Pandemic Began, Are We All Just Awkward Now?
My mom is a retired therapist. When I was growing up, one of my favorites of her mantras about her profession was this: “Most people’s […]
Yes, Philadelphia Is Safer Than They Say on TV
There are many memorable scenes in Martin Scorsese’s dark but gorgeously filmed 1976 movie Taxi Driver, in which Robert DeNiro plays a New York City […]
The Great Name Awakening: Inside the Audacious, Lucrative World of Baby Naming
It’s a random Tuesday night, and my husband, Christian, and I are doing what we typically do: bingeing a TV series du jour as we […]
Who Killed the Philly POPS?
It was a cold night in November 2022, and a brass quintet from the Philly POPS was performing a gig. The musicians, in heavy coats […]
The Brewers Building a Better — and Less Toxic — Philly Beer Scene
In May of 2021, it was like a rapture took place in the City of Philadelphia. The buildings remained in place, and so did the […]
Ben Kirshner’s Plan to Transform How Pennsylvania Does Business
In February of 2022, Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel broke ground on one of the most advanced steelmaking facilities ever built in North America. When it begins […]