Stay sharp as protests grow.

Last Saturday, many members of the BSR community joined the third nationwide No Kings Day march, at events in Philly, Delco, and Wilmington. Were you able to join a rally? What did you see there? I tackle a fake image of the Philly protest that went viral over the weekend: how you can tell it was AI, and why it matters to spot this stuff and stop spreading it, even if it promotes a positive narrative. BSR writers add their voices to give you the No Kings scene from across our region.

This week's stories

This week, the James Ijames party continues with The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, running at the Wilma through this weekend. Critic Cameron Kelsall's take on the production (and the play) is mixed, but he says we need this play in 2026. Pamela J. Forsythe heads to a new exhibition at the National Constitution Center, which confronts us "with the questions British subjects faced as they contemplated becoming American citizens."

Meanwhile, Anndee Hochman tackles The Ministry of Awe, which she says dissolved her threshold for strangeness. And as spring arrives in earnest, essayist Julien Suaudeau asks what is lost when we can't walk around in our own city, whether that's due to ice, or ICE.

The readers decided

Yesterday (March 31) marked the close of our inaugural Readers Decide campaign. And wow, did you decide. You raised just over $11,000 in the month of March -- a record for our tiny organization. We're celebrating with a lowkey virtual event on April 8. BSR donors, look out today for your free promo code by email. But the event is still open to anyone who wants to donate. Our first Readers Decide campaign is finished, but that doesn't mean you can't support BSR anytime you're able. It all goes to help keep us publishing.

Coming soon...

Looking ahead in April, we've got another roundup of 250th-themed events coming soon, plus reviews of PTC's Wilderness Generation, Opera Philadelphia's Sleepers Awake, and TONS more. Darnelle will be interviewing Broadway star and Lin-Manuel Miranda collaborator Mandy Gonzalez on the BSR pod ahead of her April appearance in Philly, plus one of our favorite guests over the years, James Ijames. In short, stay tuned!

Alaina Johns
BSR editor-in-chief