Every city has those historical treasures. Those sacred items that are on display for all to see, those great stories that are passed down through the generations. Philadelphia has as much of that sacred, holy architecture as anywhere in America , notably in Gloria Dei Old Swedes Church. Built between 1698 and 1700, Gloria […]
Guy Ciarrocchi: Lessons from the Super Bowl ads
Shamelessly rushing from Dylan Mulvaney to Harrison Ford.
By Guy Ciarrocchi
Kyle Sammin: The Eagles are flying high. Will the city join them?
It’s a crazy thing about the current generation of Philly-area kids: they think our teams are supposed to be good. And more often than not, they’re right. It’s a marked change from the mindset of past generations of Philly sports fans. People my age were born into a city that […]
Thom Nickels: Owen Wister and the ‘Western Cure’
Several years ago while researching my book, Literary Philadelphia: A History of Poetry & Prose in the City of Brotherly Love, I looked into the life of Owen Wister, the author of the western novel, The Virginian. Wister was the only child of a physician father and an actress mother […]
Thom Nickels: Theosophists in Philadelphia
In the 1970s I lived for a time in a second floor apartment in a building that also served as the headquarters for the West Chester, Pennsylvania, Theosophical Society. In a deal with the landlord to lower the rent, I cleaned and swept the offices of the Theosophical Society rooms. […]
Thom Nickels: The plight of men
While having a drink with a friend in a neighborhood bar a few years ago, a distraught-looking woman approached us and started chatting. We engaged in typical barroom banter until she introduced herself as the mother of a guy I had met in the same bar almost two years before. […]
Guy Ciarrocchi: Why Americans are called to give thanks
Unity of purpose. Humility before God. Gratitude for what we have been given. Giving thanks. We are called to give thanks for our great, blessed, albeit imperfect nation. I join Washington, Lincoln, and others in giving my thanks to God. No, this isn’t a history lesson. Nor is my purpose […]
Thom Nickels: UFOs — fact or fiction?
What is a UFO? In the New York Times bestseller, UFOs by Leslie Kean, many government officials and pilots go on the record with reports of sightings, but say that the sightings are not necessarily alien spaceships. While most sightings — nearly 95 percent — are explainable, Kean believes enough […]
Thom Nickels: Who is an artist?
Philadelphia’s varied art scene runs the gamut from professional to dilettante.
By Thom Nickels
Seth Higgins: Brat Beware – What Harris and the Democrats don’t get about the album of the summer
In under two months, Americans witnessed President Biden’s pitiful debate performance, the near assassination of former President Trump, Biden’s withdrawal from the race, the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, the selection of both major parties’ vice-presidential candidates, and Vice President Harris’ lock on her party’s nomination for president. This maelstrom […]