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On a yellow background, a stack of 12 poetry books, including Walt Whitman, Pablo Neruda, Lucille Clifton & Emily Dickinson

Poetry at Payne Tech: Finding the words that show where you’re from

The people who write poems

Writer Anndee Hochman makes space for poetry at a New Jersey school of technology, where students prepare for a national contest, and appreciate the masks they’re tired of wearing.

Anndee Hochman

Jan 25, 2022 Essays 5 minute read

A snapshot of a snowy, small town with a couple of house complexes in the distance under a partly cloudy, blue sky

How working in journalism in rural Pennsylvania opened a new perspective

Learning to serve communities better

Isabel Soisson, a Philly-bred journalist with experience working in New York City, contemplates the differences in rural America that go unspoken and why it's important to capture the whole picture.

Isabel Soisson

Jan 11, 2022 Essays 6 minute read

Two male cast members, in splendid blue 18th-century coats, face each other onstage. One has a quill in his outstretched hand

Surviving New Year’s 2022 means finding the story that’s true for you

This year, Michelle Chikaonda marked the anniversary of her father’s passing with a trip to see Hamilton in Philly, which reminded her that we can’t control life’s chaos—but we can find the right story.

Michelle Chikaonda

Dec 21, 2021 Essays 6 minute read

Cho, Shakir, and Pineda in character walk along an alley with brick walls, a neon sign behind them reads ‘C'est La Vie.’

What Netflix’s short-lived Cowboy Bebop teaches us about chance

The real remake blues

Netflix’s live-action adaptation of the classic anime feels like a missed opportunity, but it might be teaching us a lesson about how we share and create for ourselves. Kyle V. Hiller considers.

Kyle V. Hiller

Dec 21, 2021 Essays 6 minute read

The poster for Maybe This Year. It has a chalk football diagram above a flying eagle with a German Shepherd’s head.

Three films about Philly, family, and Eagles fandom

Finding the real Eagles fans

Game Day and Maybe This Year recently joined Silver Linings Playbook in the movie canon of Philly football fans, but do they really capture our region? Stephen Silver considers.

Stephen Silver

Dec 14, 2021 Essays 5 minute read

A black-and-white photo of 5 women operating a phone switchboard in 1915.

Saving the kindness supply chain

Life in 2021 is hard for everyone—are you making it harder?

Almost two years into a pandemic, life in 2021 is tough for almost everyone. Roz Warren says that every day, you have a chance to make it better—or worse.

Roz Warren

Nov 22, 2021 Essays 4 minute read

The Art Museum, with its giant east stairway large in the foreground. Higher up, people sit in groups on the steps.

Who decides on the outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art?

The right steps for our public spaces

As new plans for a people-friendly Parkway roll out, the Philadelphia Museum of Art remains an important part of Philly’s public space—but do the people on the outside matter? Camille Bacon-Smith considers.

Camille Bacon-Smith

Aug 31, 2021 Essays 5 minute read

A man holding a spray bottle walks down an ornately carpeted stairway, wiping the banister as he goes. He wears a face mask.

As a theater critic, I’m prioritizing coverage of events that require Covid vaccination for all

Getting back to the theater, as safely as possible

As companies in Philadelphia and beyond prepare for a return to in-person performances, theater and music critic Cameron Kelsall knows vaccines are the key to safety, even amidst the Delta surge.

Cameron Kelsall

Aug 23, 2021 Essays 5 minute read

A selfie showing Anndee Hochman in a large mirror on the wall of a freshly orange-painted living room with a leather couch.

Repairing the world takes all kinds of builders, including the ones with words

The tools of tikkun olam

A volunteer stint repairing a Germantown row house reprises Anndee Hochman’s teenage impulse to wield a hammer in lieu of words, and reminds her that all tools can both create and destroy.