Essays
1094 results
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Can you pass this quiz on the first 100 days of Trump’s second term?
See how your knowledge stacks up before education is banned in the US
Essayist Anndee Hochman challenges those of us who may need a break from the news with this quiz about our current federal government.
Essays
5 minute read
If it "didn’t accomplish anything" last time, why do I keep marching?
“We’re gonna keep on moving forward”
Anndee Hochman has spent years protesting for human rights. This year, some people are discouraged. A friend told her it doesn't make a difference. So Anndee shares the reasons she isn't going to stop marching.
Essays
5 minute read
Remembering Carrie Gorn, Philly theater publicist extraordinaire
The woman who powered Philly theater from behind the scenes
For more than 10 years, theater critic Cameron Kelsall heard from publicist Carrie Gorn each week, tirelessly pitching clients’ work with her distinctive joy for the art form. Here at BSR, it’s painful to imagine our job without her.
Essays
4 minute read
Remembering beloved WRTI jazz announcer Bob Perkins
The coolest cat in the world
Composer Kile Smith worked with Bob Perkins in the studio at WRTI. He remembers the legendary Philly jazz announcer as an unwitting mentor who imparted the knowledge and the feeling of great music for 25 years at the mic.
Essays
5 minute read
I met James Earl Jones when I was six, on TV together thanks to our shared language
In the lap of James Earl Jones
By the time she started grade school, Anndee Hochman was known as the girl who learned
to read when she was three—and whose talent landed her (literally) in the lap of iconic actor James Earl Jones.
to read when she was three—and whose talent landed her (literally) in the lap of iconic actor James Earl Jones.
Essays
5 minute read
I won’t turn my back on Chinatown: Black and Asian people must stand together in Philly
A Black elder protests the proposed Sixers arena
As a woman in her 70s, West Philly native Constance Garcia-Barrio finds protest marches challenging, but she knew she had to turn out for Chinatown at the No Arena in the Heart of Our City rally on September 7, 2024.
Essays
4 minute read
I loved Les Misérables as a teenager. Now it’s back in Philly, and I want to rediscover it.
Singing the desire for a better world
Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer spent her teen years devoted to big books and theater. Seeing Les Misérables all by herself in Philly in 1988 was a formative experience. Now she’s going back to explore what it still means to her.
Essays
6 minute read
Remembering BSR writer Margaret Darby
Musician, linguist, writer, librarian, and beloved friend
Cameron Kelsall remembers BSR writer Margaret Darby, who died in April. She was a musician, linguist, and librarian; an astute yet generous journalist and critic; and a beloved colleague and friend.
Essays
3 minute read
Alamo Drafthouse theaters have a new owner. It’s time for them to come to Philly.
The need for screens
The popular Austin-based movie-theater chain Alamo Drafthouse (recently acquired by Sony Pictures Entertainment) has spread to cities across the country, but never to Philly. Stephen Silver asks if it’s time to change that.
Essays
3 minute read
The hardest thing about stuttering isn’t stuttering at all: it’s how people react to it.
If I want your help, I’ll ask.
Samuel Dunsiger has a speech disability, but the hardest part about talking to others isn't his stuttering; it's the assumptions people make.
Essays
4 minute read