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Seen from above, tiny brown poodle wears a purple coat, standing on leash with two polka-dot boots visible at bottom of frame

Puppies, love, and chocolate: how to live on life’s knife edge

Love here, love now

Anndee Hochman was never a dog person … until her daughter brought home a poodle puppy who got into the chocolate. How do we live and love when catastrophe is always waiting?

Anndee Hochman

Jan 31, 2023 Essays 5 minute read

Danie leans on a bridge’s railing during a walk in the green outdoors. They are smiling & wearing purple pants & blue hoodie

Black, queer, disabled self-love is a necessary act of rebellion and healing

The power of equanimity

Writer and musician Danie Ocean Jackson has learned how hard it can be to sense the world from the inside out rather than the outside in, but it’s more necessary than ever.

Danie Jackson

Jan 31, 2023 Essays 5 minute read

A wide, shady, mossy path disappearing into an early autumn forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.

Here’s how I embraced the path out of my eating disorder

Hungry for authenticity

By the time she was 26, Daralyse Lyons had been hospitalized for her eating disorder 18 times. But she was finally finding her path to recovery, and knows that others can, too.

Daralyse Lyons

Jan 31, 2023 Essays 5 minute read

Photo of Blavat, in tan baseball hat, with Schaefer, in a red-patterned scarf. They’re smiling with an arm around each other

Legendary DJ Jerry Blavat spun a whole new world for Philly teens in the 1960s

Local music icon Jerry Blavat, a South Philly native, passed away on January 20, 2023. Susan Schaefer remembers how a whole new world opened up when she danced to Blavat’s tunes at Wagner’s Ballroom in the 1960s.

Susan Schaefer

Jan 24, 2023 Essays 5 minute read

A gleaming, low-slung orange Lamborghini with black interior and wheels, parked on a shiny white surface.

I love Greta Thunberg — but why is it ok for her to mock guys with small dicks?

Fame is no excuse for body shame

Misogynist influencer Andrew Tate deserved to be burned on Twitter by climate activist Greta Thunberg, but Roz Warren says it's time to stop the body-shaming.

Roz Warren

Jan 09, 2023 Essays 4 minute read

9 actors pose in a human sculpture at a crosswalk under a big bridge, hands touching each other's backs.

When I faced a cancer diagnosis this year, I had to get honest and get help.

We take care of us

When a crisis like cancer hits, it can feel easier to keep it to ourselves. But humans are not meant to cope alone. Vulnerability is where our real strength lies. Alaina Johns shares her experience.

Alaina Johns

Dec 20, 2022 Editorials 6 minute read

A selfie of Melissa, a white woman in her early 40s, by a pond. She wears a puffy coat, glasses, and a blue hat.

Spending the winter holidays alone? You’re not the only one.

The joy of going solo

We often make solo holidays sound like a problem to be solved, instead of an opportunity for personal enjoyment, reflection, and renewal free of others’ expectations. Melissa Strong shares her traditions.

Melissa Strong

Dec 19, 2022 Essays 4 minute read

A nighttime photo of Broad Street packed with hundreds of baseball fans, many wearing red. A flag flies above the crowd.

This year’s World Series run reminded us what Philly needs—and what we deserve

We all know the feeling

The Phillies had a miraculous run to the 2022 World Series, and nowadays, you don’t have to be a baseball fan to relate to the need to hold onto heartbreak alongside the joy. Kyle V. Hiller was watching.

Kyle V. Hiller

Dec 13, 2022 Editorials 5 minute read

A bell tower with thick brown wooden posts and cross-pieces and a small tiled roof, against summer greenery and a cloudy sky.

One man, his van, and 18 hours: Journey to an orphanage in Kyiv

“I drove and got them.”

Philly composer and essayist Kile Smith was traveling in Germany when he met an electrician with an extraordinary story in the months following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.