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These exclusive tips for you, our subscribers, let you know where our team is heading on the Philly scene this month. There are three sections: FIND US, Neil’s Nod of the Month, and Recommended Reading. If you’d like to step up and support our work, a donation of $10 or more helps us pay our writers. Friends of BSR and Local Media Champions receive additional updates with insights on our coverage and exclusive recommendations from our team. Friends of BSR sign up for an automatic monthly donation of $5 (or make a one-time donation of $60). We think $5 a month is a pretty sweet price to keep Philly arts journalism alive! Local Media Champions support us with an automatic donation of $20/month.

FIND US (but please don't)

WHEN: July 31 through August 17, 2025
WHERE: Offline!
WHY: Broad Street Review takes a break from publishing two weeks a summer, and here we are! We’re resting up to take on the fall season, so don’t look for activity from our outboxes or on the site itself. Consequently, this month's In The Wild brings you some works we're consuming off the clock and a smattering of in-person activities, too.

FIND ALAINA

Preparing for the 2025 Philadelphia Fringe Festival (Sept 4-28). With a cohort of about two dozen festival writers and more than 300 shows on deck, this is one of the biggest projects our editorial team handles each year. As Fringe coverage fades out of most other outlets, especially reviews that help readers decide which shows to see, our work each September has only become more important not only to our readers, but to the artists who deserve public discourse about their work. Once the editors are back from our break on August 18, our writers will have chosen most of the shows they want to cover, and we'll get down to business with the calendar. From there, it's a lot of late nights throughout September, usually without any days off.

I'm going to be sticking close to home for the next few weeks, as I rest and gear up for the start of the 2025-26 season. So instead of my live arts destinations, I'll offer you some movie, TV, and book recommendations to finish out the summer with.

MOVIE:

As a child of the 90s, I have marched myself to most of the Jurassic Park sequels. The original movie is one of my all-time favorites. I was 10 when it premiered, so I never saw it in the theater, but I taped it with our VCR (as one did) when it finally aired on TV, trying my best to stop and start the recording so it cut out the commercials. I didn't quite succeed, but I watched that janky, TV-edited version over and over on VHS for years.

The franchise's later films, alas, have increasingly jumped the shark (or mosasaur?), but I was pleasantly surprised by the newest film, Jurassic World: Rebirth. It takes its time setting up the characters, some of whom are genuinely surprising and charming, before unleashing intense dino attacks on everyone by sea, land, and air. Yes, the anti-capitalist theme shoehorned into the action is laughably simplistic (especially alongside the film's ubiquitous corporate product placements) but it still adds to the movie's overall charm. And the many visual references to the original film feel like a love letter to childhood fans like me. Don't see this movie because it'll make you smarter. Just go enjoy it if you like Jurassic Park and want a little dinosaur awe and terror to distract you from the news for a few hours.

TV:

The Empress on Netflix for its slow-burn family and historical political drama and the stunning costumes. Watch two seasons now and be ready for the premiere of the third and final season.

The new season of The Bear on Hulu continues the patient, emotionally compelling narrative detours that glued me to previous episodes. The characters' profane, irascible, bone-deep loyalties will make you laugh and cry. I'm glad there's another season coming, and I don't have to say goodbye yet.

Speaking of great TV, here are four series you should put on now if you haven't already: What We Do In the Shadows and Atlanta (Hulu), and Somebody Somewhere and Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max). These are the tenderest, funniest, most surprising TV shows I've ever seen. They have concluded (as all good things must), so once you begin, you can enjoy the whole arc as a late-summer treat.

NOVELS:

Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman is definitely the scariest book I've read all year, and maybe ever. Its unique perspective combines with a perfectly paced sense of foreboding and a knack for simple yet deeply terrifying imagery. It's told from the point of view of a little girl who meets a creature in her closet who asks the girl to call her "Other Mommy." I get chills just thinking about it.

Woodworking by Emily St. James is so well-characterized that while I was reading it, I dreamed that I was one of the people in the novel. It follows the prickly, heartfelt, surprising friendship between two trans women at a South Dakota high school in 2016. It's a page-turner that is also deeply felt, challenging, and beautiful.

Some of Neil's recent book acquisitions. Which should he start with?

FIND US!

FIND NEIL

Malai x Sheetal Sheth, A Family Friendly Ice Cream Party!
WHEN: August 3, 2025, 2-3:30pm
WHERE: Malai, 260 S. 18th St., Philadelphia
WHY: I've fallen hopelessly in love with the ice creams at Malai, a new shop in Rittenhouse. The flavors draw on founder Pooja Bavishi's childhood: South Asian foods along the East Coast of the US. This weekend's book event combines ice cream (naturally), the official Malai cookbook, and a celebration of a kid's book, Anjali Can! I'll buy at least the book for my daughter and maybe, just maybe, some treats for myself while I'm there.

Philly Bookstore Crawl fans packed Children's Book World in 2023

FIND US AND FRIENDS

The Philadelphia Bookstore Crawl
WHEN: August 23, 2025
WHERE: Various locations
WHY: Philly author-agent Eric Smith, a valued colleague of BSR, created this now-annual tradition that celebrates the region’s bookstores. Nearly 50 bookstores are on the list of participants. Some have giveaways, some have readings, and some are business as usual. Check the Crawl website for updates and specifics in the coming weeks and the official Crawl Instagram account for last-minute info.

Neil's nod of the month

Sarah Knittel, whom we've previously referred to at BSR as an "avant-garde necromancer" is whipping up a nice guide to weird Fringe offerings late in August. Look for that!

Associate editor Kyle Hiller gets depressed in the summer. He wrote an essay about this phenomenon in 2019, and I think of it often, so I'm sharing it here. The past few months have been hot, wet, and downright frustrating to be a Philadelphian. I hope Kyle and folks like him get some relief soon. I hope we all do.