A new short documentary, '40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic,' examines a movie that tells one story of Philadelphia. Are we writing a new history this month? Stephen Silver considers.
The second season of Hulu's hit drama series 'Ramy' follows an Egyptian American family in New Jersey. Ramy Youssef's protagonist makes a compelling anti-hero navigating violence, bias, and …
Actor, comedian, and writer Jenny Slate's Little Weirds, a vulnerable and tender collection of offbeat essays, explores friendship, self-love, divorce, freedom, and just being a total weirdo…
Silence is complicity. But what happens when you're Black and you've been silent? What are you being complicit about? Kyle V. Hiller considers a different kind of silence.
'Identidad (As We Are),' screened online at the 2020 Philadelphia Latino Film Festival, reflects on Peru's tumultuous history leading up to its 2018 return to the FIFA World Cup. Christina A…
In a class on combatting conspiracy theories and misinformation in the era of COVID-19, I teach teenagers to recognize dangerous distractions from reality. But what about the conspiracies th…
America is reckoning with its racist institutions, including police forces that disproportionately target Black people and people of color. But what about the officers working inside this sy…
OperaDelaware made its first foray into pandemic-era performance with 'Drive-Through Arias,' a three-performance program featuring a trio of singers bringing opera's greatest hits to the par…
Non-profit arts funding can be confusing and daunting, especially as City Council debates eliminating the Philadelphia Cultural Fund in a COVID-19 austerity budget. But there are possibiliti…
'Storm,' a performance of the Works & Process Artists Virtual Commission Series, packs emotional punch into a short solo dance now streaming free on YouTube. Melissa Strong reviews.
In his new biography of late Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay, longtime local baseball writer Todd Zolecki shows how even the best athletes are facing more struggles than you know. Stephen Silv…
Readers respond about Gerald Levinson's 'Now Your Colors Sing,' The Crossing's 'Carthage,' escaping Periwinkle Park, and 'Mrs. Maisel.'
Especially when our city is in crisis, BSR is a team. This is not the beginning of the work for editors Alaina and Kyle. And it's far from the end.
Michael Showalter's 'The Lovebirds' debuted last month on Netflix after its originally scheduled premiere at SXSW and theatrical release were canceled. Is it a harbinger of the post-pandemic…
Conference veterans and networking mavens Neil Bardhan and Marta Rusek have your guide to organizing virtual gatherings that don't suck (unless they involve Dracula).
Roz Warren is grateful for her CARES Act-boosted unemployment check since she was furloughed from her job at her local library. But there's something else she wants even more.
What was so bad about camping, anyway? After two and a half months of stay-at-home in South Philly, Alaina Johns tries to remember.
If a demigod burns and no one hears about it, does it make a catharsis? Walter Bilderback investigates a pandemic-era production of 'The Women of Trachis' at Swarthmore dubbed "theater witho…
If a demi-god burns and no one hears about it, does it make a catharsis? Walter Bilderback investigates a pandemic-era production of 'The Women of Trachis' at Swarthmore dubbed "theater with…
'Carthage,' the latest recording from The Crossing, dwells on spirituality and doubt and musical riches. Gail Obenreder reviews.
Stephen King wrote 'The Stand' and Camus wrote 'The Plague.' They're not the first or the last to mine rampant sickness for human meaning. Anndee Hochman wonders how our storytellers will ma…
A new double album from Swarthmore-based composer Gerald Levinson is a retrospective of a leading light of the Philadelphia new-music scene and beyond, bursting with bright hues and grand so…
Doylestown native and national pundit and author Michael Smerconish staked his career on a middle ground in an increasingly polarized world. 'Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right' c…
As states reopen before the coronavirus is contained, Kyle V. Hiller considers how a stressful Sunday stroll served as a preview of what life will be like post-quarantine.
Film critic Stephen Silver has been arguing for years that Philadelphia's movie theaters are insufficient. What he wouldn't give to get back to them.