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  • The Academy of Natural Sciences museum is closing, but all eyes are on its specimens — all 19 million of them

    The Academy of Natural Sciences museum is closing, but all eyes are on its specimens — all 19 million of them

    Philadelphians reacted with outrage when Drexel University and the Academy of Natural Sciences announced the closing of its museum on the Ben Franklin Parkway earlier this month.

    But the museum is only a part of what the academy does. And while most Philadelphians think of dinosaurs and dioramas, the main business of the academy — its “beating heart,” as one board member calls it — will continue, even if it has often escaped the notice of the general public.

    Housed backstage beyond the museum walls is one of the world’s largest repositories of natural specimens: bird carcasses, fish, mollusks, minerals, and bones of various kinds — millions of them amassed over more than two centuries.

    And now, amid reports that the academy’s building may be sold and the collection moved, all eyes are on the fate of this trove.

    “It’s not just the scope of the collection that’s so important — 19 million specimens representing every aspect of the natural world,” says Robert McCracken Peck, curator of art and artifacts and senior fellow emeritus of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. “The collections are not only important because of their associations with historical figures like Lewis and Clark and Thomas Jefferson.

    “But these collections were made at specific times in history. We can never go back to collect more of these voucher specimens. They tell us how our world is changing.

    “It is by definition irreplaceable.”

    Microalgae too numerous to count

    Among its peers, the academy’s group of species collections is one of the most significant in the world, and is perhaps unrivaled in certain areas of concentration and historical importance.

    More than 220 plant specimens collected by Lewis and Clark on their landmark 1804-06 expedition between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean are housed at the academy. Among the institution’s corresponding members over the years were Thomas Jefferson, John James Audubon, and Charles Darwin. The American Medical Association was founded here in 1847.

    Ned Gilmore, collection manager for vertebrate paleontology, pulls out a drawer filled with bones from the Academy of Natural Sciences’ “Hadrosaurus foulkii.”Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    The plants and fungi collection holds 1.4 million specimens of algae, lichens, fungi, and slime molds and includes some of the oldest and most important plant collections in the Americas. The invertebrate paleontology collection is the oldest such collection in the United States.

    The number of diatoms in that collection is unknown, says Laura Aycock, manager of the academy’s hoard of the single-celled microalgae that are neither animals nor plants, though the academy has around 300,000 slides, with some slides containing upward of a hundred thousand diatoms.

    “I’m not going to attempt to calculate that,” Aycock said.

    Laura Aycock, collection manager of diatoms at the Academy of Natural Sciences. The diatoms serve as a time capsule.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    The diatoms captured at the academy — which go back to the 19th century and come from around the world — serve as a time capsule.

    “You can actually look at water quality and monitor how it’s changing and biodiversity of the diatoms looking at our slides,” says Aycock. “So people will reach out wanting to see, ‘Hey, can I see a snapshot of what this river looked like X many years ago?’”

    The academy’s collections are a magnet internationally, says Ted Daeschler, professor emeritus, curator, and chair of vertebrate zoology at the academy.

    “It’s a stopping point for people studying a wide variety of different things,” says Daeschler. “Every time I talk to any mollusk person in the world who’s done research, they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been to the academy. I’ve done research there.’ Talk to anybody working on crickets and grasshoppers — ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been to the academy.’ People working on Devonian fish, they all came through at one point or another.”

    Ted Daeschler in 2023 with a model of “Tiktaalik roseae,” a 375-million-year-old beast whose discovery by Daeschler, Neil H. Shubin, and Farish A. Jenkins Jr. established a new link between fish and land creatures.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    The academy has seen some novelties over the years: an albacore tuna shipped to the institute from Ernest Hemingway in 1934, fingernail samples from now-retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer collected in 2010, and two red-eared sliders donated in 1977 by Sylvester Stallone as souvenirs from the original Rocky film.

    Hemingway’s tuna remains. But Breyer’s fingernails were tested for stable isotopic composition of carbon and nitrogen to determine the justice’s diet and then discarded, and the turtles Cuff and Link are no longer with us, a spokesperson said.

    A key to the ‘next pandemic’?

    If some of the collections work and research going on at the academy seems esoteric, there’s no way of knowing what might become urgently relevant at some point.

    “We all lived through a pandemic recently — pretty much hell on earth for most of us,” says Jason D. Weckstein, curator of the academy’s ornithology collection and professor at Drexel University College of Arts and Sciences.

    “Understanding the ecological interactions that lead to those kinds of events is part of this kind of research. So why are some parasites specific to some hosts, whereas other ones can jump between hosts easily, and there are ecological characteristics that allow that?”

    Jason Weckstein, curator of orninthology, holds a warbler at the Academy of Natural Sciences.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    “You just never know when something’s going to happen in the world,” says Weckstein, “and then it turns out there’s something here. We have tissue samples from all over the world. It’s possible we could discover something in those samples that is important for understanding the next pandemic.”

    That’s possible, in part, because in the future, specimens might be tested for characteristics whose existence is beyond our current base of knowledge.

    Paul Callomon, the academy’s collection manager for malacology and general invertebrates, says that when the first snails entered the academy, “We had no idea what an isotope was. Nobody knew anything about that. But we had an unshakable faith that if we preserve and stabilize these things, as time goes on, they’ll become more important to more people. And so it’s turned out to be. And now of course, with climate change and with this enormous Anthropocene influence on the natural system, the number of ways in which our specimens are going to help tell that story is enormous.”

    Each specimen functions as an irreplaceable snapshot in time. Organic materials in their environment are continually breaking down and becoming something else. But when a bird or fish is plucked from its environment, it becomes a permanent record — of itself, but also of the world as it existed at that particular moment.

    Biological specimens are often called upon to help solve certain mysteries.

    “There are examples in the world generally of new pharmaceutical products being developed from the study of mollusks and their venoms,” says Callomon, “or closer to the academy, we provided shells that were material evidence in the lawsuit against BP for the gulf [Deepwater] Horizon oil spill — historical specimens that proved there was oil in the gulf’s waters before any drilling started, but that it was of a very low level.”

    There’s a bigger role now for the academy’s species collection to play, Callomon says.

    “The real world is on fire. And the real natural world, the natural ecosystem that sustains all life on Earth, is undergoing enormous changes at the moment. And the only place that you can find material evidence for what it was like before that started, or what it was like at an earlier stage of that process, is natural history collections, and they are mostly housed in museums.”

    Several hundred Academy of Natural Sciences supporters came out to protest the decision by Drexel University and the Academy to close the Academy’s museum, Sept. 8, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    ‘Profound concern’

    Curators and scientists say that as the academy has arrived at a vulnerable juncture, its collections and research are more critical than ever given the march of climate change, microplastics contamination, biodiversity loss, and other crises.

    The scientific powerhouse’s own future is a question mark at the moment. Drexel is facing deficits and a challenging enrollment environment, and, in a cost-cutting move a decade and a half after a partial merger of Drexel and the academy, the two groups announced last week that the academy museum will end its nearly two-century run at the end of the month.

    The aim now is to move the collection and sell the building, according to a source close to the situation who asked not to be identified. This raises questions about the fate of the academy’s historic building and the critical mass of the Parkway’s cultural attractions, as well as concerns for the future of the collection and the academy’s historically significant library and archive, whose holdings span five centuries.

    “Profound concern” is how a group whose board includes the largest and most important natural history and science centers in the U.S. has expressed its apprehension over the future of the academy.

    “As the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the United States, the academy is a globally important natural history collection and center for biodiversity research,” the Washington, D.C.-based Natural Science Collections Alliance wrote in an April statement after news of a potential schism between Drexel and the academy.

    “Any administrative or structural changes at the Academy must prioritize the integrity of these collections. The destabilization of the institutional support or the specialist staff required to maintain these specimens for active use in research would represent an immense loss to the city of Philadelphia, the state of Pennsylvania, and the global scientific community.”

    The NSCA’s concerns remain, said president Trina E. Roberts this week, and while “we’re glad to see that the importance of the collection has been acknowledged in public statements,” she said, the closing of the museum was an unwelcome surprise.

    “Education, research and collections are all part of a truly functioning natural history museum. It would be wonderful if the academy can find a way to maintain all of those,” she said.

    Academy leaders say they will work to find “new and financially sustainable opportunities for the public display of elements” of its collections, but have not specified any details.

    In a statement last week, the two institutions affirmed their attention to the trove of specimens, library, and archive.

    “The stewardship of the Academy’s collections and their use to advance scientific knowledge will be the focus of our work for the near future,” said a statement from Drexel president Antonio Merlo and academy board chair Suzanne Biemiller.

    A Drexel spokesperson this week said there were no immediate plans to move the collection, and, regarding a potential sale of the building, “no decisions have been made regarding its future disposition.”

    “The academy’s home will continue to house its collections, library, archives, and laboratories while Drexel and academy leadership consider potential pathways forward,” said Britt Faulstick.

    Should relocation become part of a future plan, Faulstick said, “maintaining appropriate access to the collections for research [during a move] would be an important consideration in that process.”

    Robert McCracken Peck, curator of art and artifacts and senior fellow emeritus of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.HEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

    ‘A recipe for disaster’

    Moving the collection would be expensive and time-consuming, says Peck, who, with Patricia Tyson Stroud, co-authored A Glorious Enterprise: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Making of American Science.

    Peck says that in the 1970s, parts of the collection were moved into the former Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co. building on Pennsylvania Avenue now occupied by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and then, a short time later, were moved back.

    “I imagine it would take a couple of years,” he says of a potential move now of 19 million specimens, “because that’s how long it took to move our collections to and from the Art Museum area, and they didn’t even move them all.”

    A partial mandible from an American mastodon from the Thomas Jefferson Fossil Collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    “It can be done, and it can be done in a professional and careful way that maintains the integrity of the collection, but you can’t do it in a hurried way,” says the NSCA’s Roberts. “That is a recipe for disaster for a collection of this size and importance. They need to plan for a year before they move any specimens out of the building.”

    Collections like these require a specific kind of care, says Roberts, who is also associate vice president for collections at the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County.

    Specimens can degrade over time if not maintained properly, she said.

    “We rely on good temperature and humidity control depending on what kind of specimen you have. A dinosaur bone that is basically stone is a lot less sensitive than a plant specimen that is a dried leaf. We’re also concerned about the curatorial and collections expertise that’s represented by the staff.”

    Much of the academy’s collection is digitized, and a certain amount of information can be gleaned online, but for some purposes, the actual specimen must be available, which happens either by a visit to Philadelphia or a loan.

    “DNA research is just exploding in natural history collections because it turns out that we have this resource we’ve been building for hundreds of years that can still be used for DNA,” says Roberts. “So a plant specimen, an insect specimen, a mammal specimen in a natural history collection from 100 years ago, you can get DNA out of that, and that’s an amazing resource. You absolutely cannot do that from a digitized record.”

    It’s possible now, she says, “to look at actual gene expression patterns in different environments — for example, what genes are turned off or turned on in cold vs. hot conditions. That might be something important in an era of climate change if we want to understand how something like plant communities and animal communities are going to respond to that.”

    The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University on the Ben Franklin Parkway.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    ‘It changed their minds completely’

    The academy-Drexel partnership, 15 years in, was much in evidence during a several hour visit in early August. In one room at the academy, a group of students was removing organs from birds, and in another, Drexel environmental sciences undergraduate Ean Geller-Nocella was examining a freshwater drum, an invasive species that’s recently turned up in local waters, to see what the fish has been eating.

    “I’ve been cutting them open, taking out their stomachs and removing the stomach contents. All that is mussels — freshwater mussels,” he said, referring to a small cluster of crushed up shells.

    Another invasive species is being looked at by the academy.

    Ean Geller-Nocella, Drexel University co-op student, inspects the contents of the stomach of a freshwater drum in the fisheries department at the Academy of Natural Sciences.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    “Ten years ago in Tinicum, snakeheads weren’t there and we got a picture of what the diet was for the resident fish,” said David Velinsky, senior scientist of the Patrick Center for Environmental Research and professor at Drexel University College of Arts and Sciences. “They’re now there, so we’re doing a study. We already have the samples collected, analyzing on the mass spectrometer how the food web changed, and this gives us an idea of what needs to be protected or not protected.”

    Weckstein recently had a Drexel undergraduate student who sequenced the genomes of the parasitic lice living on vultures.

    Having students working there “just adds a vibrancy to the place,” says Velinsky.

    Says the malacology department’s Callomon:

    “I think the role that I’m proudest of our collection’s playing is when Drexel undergrads come here on their co-op and we have successfully diverted careers in medicine, the law, and engineering in favor of working in our part of the world, in our part of science, because of the experience. They came and did a six-month co-op here and it changed their minds completely. It changed their minds because it moved their hearts, and your heart is what drives your mind. But they had no way of previously knowing.”

    One persuading factor: at the academy, students have direct, hands-on contact with specimens in the collection.

    “Other places use photographs,” says Peck. “Drexel students, thanks to the academy, get to work with real specimens, which dramatically enhances their interest in and understanding of the natural world.”

    Just another reason, advocates say, that the academy’s treasures must be kept intact and accessible to all.

    “My greatest concern is over keeping the collection together,” says Peck. “It needs to be cared for, for reasons that extend well beyond Philadelphia and the academy. These are collections we hold in trust for the world.”

    Staff writer Susan Snyder contributed to this article.

  • 25 essential songs that didn’t make the Philly 76 song list

    25 essential songs that didn’t make the Philly 76 song list

    Only 76 songs to encapsulate the history of the boundlessly rich and impossibly varied sound of Philadelphia?

    That wasn’t nearly enough.

    Earlier this year, in time for the approaching Philly 250 celebration of the nation’s Semiquincentennial, and with the help of my classical music colleague Peter Dobrin, I compiled a list of 76 songs made in the city — or about the city, or by people from the city or region — that are essentially Philadelphian.

    I’m not complaining. It was fun and sent me on journeys of discovery to learn stuff I didn’t know about the bottomless depth of Philly soul, the city’s enthralling jazz history, or the range of indie rock that’s become a calling card this century.

    But list-making is a difficult, fraught process, and I made lots of choices that I immediately had second thoughts about. Like cutting Grover Washington Jr. to make way for the Trammps, or leaving Sister Sledge or Jazmine Sullivan or personal favorites like Go To Blazes off the list. Or including the Soul Survivors’ “Expressway To Your Heart” but leaving “I-76” by G. Love & Special Sauce parked on the side of the road.

    Were those stupid decisions? Possibly. So this list that follows — 25 more essential songs of Philadelphia — is a chance to make room for those shoulda-coulda selections and bring the total number up to a more reasonable 101. Which, quite frankly, will still be an inadequate number for any true Philly music lover.

    Some ground rules: Artists who were included in the original 76 were ineligible this time. So while the initial list featured the O’Jays’ “Back Stabbers,” I ruled out another undeniably iconic O’Jays song, “For the Love of Money,” to make way for other artists.

    And I didn’t consider holiday songs, which belong in a separate category. So apologies to the Philly Specials’ “Fairytale of Philadelphia” and Alan Mann’s “Christmas on the Block.”

    Also, these songs are numbered in reverse, but I thought of them more as a playlist than a worst-to-first ranking. They’re all worthy additions to the original 76.

    The Fugees reunite as Lauryn Hill (middle) is joined by Pras Michel (left) and Wyclef Jean during the Roots Picnic Philadelphia at the Mann in Fairmount Park on June 3, 2023.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    25. The Fugees, “Ready or Not”

    The Fugees are not a Philly band — they’re from Haiti and North Jersey. But the hip-hop trio of Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michel recorded for Ruffhouse Records, the Conshohocken label founded by Chris Schwartz and Joe “The Butcher” Nicolo, which also released Hill’s 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, as well as albums by Cypress Hill, Kris Kross, and Ben Arnold. “Ready or Not,” from the Fugees’ 1996 album The Score, represents Ruffhouse because its chorus is based on a Philly soul classic, the Delfonics’ “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love),” written by William Hart and Thom Bell.

    24. Mark Knopfler, “Sailing To Philadelphia”

    “Sailing to Philadelphia” is a song about surveyors. Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler was making his way through Thomas Pynchon’s 1997 novel Mason & Dixon, about Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, the Englishmen who drew the boundary line that became recognized as the United States’ free states and slave states when he wrote what he once called a “two-minute take on a two-ton book.” (The lovely narrative ballad, which is a duet with James Taylor and the title cut of Knopfler’s 2000 album, is actually five and a half minutes long.)

    Indie rock harpist and “Wawa By the Ocean” composer Mary Lattimore. Scott Troyan

    23. Mary Lattimore, “Wawa by the Ocean”

    Philly’s favorite convenience store and the Jersey Shore, all in one song title? Indie rock harpist Mary Lattimore’s sparkling, transporting instrumental was inspired by a Wawa steps away from the beach on Long Beach Island.

    22. The Wonder Years, “Came Out Swinging”

    The lead track from the Lansdale-born band the Wonder Years’ 2011 album Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing reps Philadelphia’s central role in this century’s pop-punk and emo scene, which includes bands like Modern Baseball, Algernon Cadwallader, and Marietta.

    Singer Dan “Soupy” Campbell is frank about struggling with his mental health on the song’s coda, repeated three times: “I came out swinging from a South Philly basement, caked in stale beer and sweat under half-lit fluorescents,” Campbell sings (and shouts). “And I spent the winter writing songs about getting better, well, if I’m being honest, I’m getting there.”

    21. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, “The Skin Of My Yellow Country Teeth”

    To be honest, I didn’t like this song by the Philly band led by Alec Ounsworth when it came out in 2005. There’s the unappealing title, and I never understood the Talking Heads comparisons, other than a vocal similarity to David Byrne.

    But with its driving, hypnotic rhythm, it’s aged well and is a great example of a Philly band at the center of a moment in music history. It’s a “blog-rock” success story from a time when the internet seemed like a wide-open, not malignant place. Bands like CYHSY could make their music available for free download on MP3 blogs and create a buzz that spread like wildfire, resulting in a career still going strong two decades later. Those were the days.

    20. Go To Blazes, “New Morning Sun”

    Hard-hitting Philly roots-rockers Go To Blazes made a series of bruising blues- and country-infused albums in the 1990s, each one marked by high-quality songwriting by singer Ted Warren and guitarist Tom Heyman that, in retrospect, was ahead of the Americana boom to come. This swaggering song from 1996’s Eric “Roscoe” Ambel-produced Waiting Around for the Crash faces the day after a restless night: “I can’t sleep, for the things I know I had done.”

    19. Phyllis Hyman, “Old Friend”

    Written by 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Linda Creed — who died of cancer months before the song’s 1986 release — “Old Friend” is a melancholy ballad by the statuesque Philly soul singer on her first album for Philadelphia International Records. A modest hit, it became a sentimental fan favorite, particularly after Hyman’s death in 1995 at age 45.

    18. Bill Haley & His Comets, “Rock Around The Clock”

    With his kiss curl and clean-cut image, Bill Haley presented as more palatable to middle America than subversive 1950s sorts like Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Chuck Berry. But that doesn’t mean Haley didn’t have a sizable pop-cultural impact. With 1954’s “Rock Around The Clock,” which was written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers, the singer and bandleader who transitioned from Western swing to rock and roll and grew up in Boothwyn in Delaware County, scored the first rock-and-roll song to top the pop charts in both the U.S. and the U.K.

    The Three Degrees.Courtesy of the artist

    17. The Three Degrees, “When Will I See You Again”

    My first exposure to this Gamble and Huff composition with a lead vocal by Sheila Ferguson and support from Fayette Pinkney and Valerie Holiday came from an episode of the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son in which the Philly soul vocal trio guest-starred as themselves. Another fun fact: In the ‘70s, the Three Degrees were the favorite group of the now-king, Charles III, and performed at his 30th birthday party at Buckingham Palace in 1978 when he was known only as Prince Charles.

    16. Benny Golson and the Philadelphians, “I Remember Clifford”

    Hard-bop saxophonist Golson — with a band that included his fellow Philly natives Percy Heath, Lee Morgan, Ray Bryant, and Philly Joe Jones — paid tribute to Delaware trumpeter Clifford Brown, who died in a car accident in Pennsylvania in 1956 at 25. The song has been covered by dozens of artists, including Ray Charles and Sonny Rollins.

    15. Sylk 130, “The Reason”

    Philly DJ, producer, and Blacktronika professor King Britt put his own 1990s house music spin on classic Philly soul with his Sylk 130 project. Jafar Barron’s haunting trumpet and Vicki Miles’ seductive vocal add a touch of class.

    14. The Jacksons, “Enjoy Yourself”

    Yes, Michael Jackson recorded in Philadelphia. In the years between the Motown era with the Jackson 5 and his partnership with Quincy Jones, Michael and his brothers recorded as the Jacksons at Sigma Sound Studios on both 1976’s The Jacksons and 1977’s Goin’ Places. On the former, the songs were written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The upbeat “Enjoy Yourself” was the biggest hit from the Jacksons’ Philly years, and the one song from the era that points forward to the unstoppable alchemy that Michael and Jones would find starting with Off the Wall in 1979.

    13. Jimmy Smith, “Walk on the Wild Side”

    Norristown native Jimmy Smith revolutionized the Hammond B-3 organ as an instrument central to jazz and was the leading light of the long lineage of Philly organists that includes Shirley Scott, Charles Earland, Jimmy McGriff, Trudy Pitts, and Papa John DeFrancesco and Joey DeFrancesco.

    “Walk on the Wild Side” is not the Lou Reed song. It’s an instrumental version of the Brook Benton song from a 1962 film noir. Later that year, Smith — whose music would later be sampled by hip-hop artists including the Beastie Boys, Nas, and Gang Starr — scored an unlikely hit from his album Bashin’: The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith.

    12. Dee Dee Sharp, “Mashed Potato Time”

    A 1962 dance-craze song by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe that borrowed from the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman.” The Orlons sang backup vocals on the No. 1 hit from the American Bandstand era, when Philadelphia was the center of the pop music industry until Dick Clark moved the show to California in 1963.

    Nina Simone performing at the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969, featured in the documentary “Summer of Soul.” / AP

    11. Nina Simone, “Mississippi Goddam”

    Nina Simone grew up in North Carolina as Eunice Waymon, the name she went by when she moved to West Philadelphia in 1950 with a plan to study at the Curtis Institute of Music. Her application was denied, which she attributed to racism, a characterization the Curtis and many historians have disputed.

    But her failure to gain acceptance spurred reinvention: She adopted the stage name Nina Simone while playing piano and singing at the Midtown Bar & Grill in Atlantic City. A great career as an artist and civil rights activist followed. There are many songs to choose from — “Sinnerman,” “Feeling Good”— but I’m going with her most urgent and arresting, written in part as a response to the murder of Medgar Evers in 1963.

    10. G. Love & Special Sauce, “I-76”

    It might not be the best advice, but it does rhyme: “If you want to get downtown real quick, the only way to go is I-76.” Garrett Dutton’s ode to the Schuylkill Expressway from the hip-hop bluesman’s 1997 album Yeah, It’s That Easy includes shout-outs to Sixers players and the mascot from the 1983 championship year: “Big Shot, and Mo Cheeks and Moses Malone / Julius Erving called Philly his home.”

    The Philadelphia rock band the A’s in the late 1970s. Left to right: Terry Bortman, Rocco Notte, Rick DiFonzo, Richard Bush, and Mikey Snyder. Courtesy of the A's

    9. The A’s, “After Last Night”

    A ripping power-pop masterwork that showcases the magnetism of Richard Bush, the lead singer of the A’s, the New Wave-era band that energized the Philly club scene before breaking up in 1982. One of two killer A’s singles written by Bush — who performs locally with his band the Peace Creeps — and songwriting partner Rocco Notte, along with “A Woman’s Got the Power.”

    8. Laura Nyro, “Gonna Take A Miracle”

    “Gonna Take A Miracle” is a case study in how Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Thom Bell, and Sigma Sound Studios founder Joe Tarsia turned Philadelphia into a music mecca in the early 1970s.

    Nyro was a New York songwriter three albums into her career when she came to Sigma Sound in 1971 to record an album of cover songs with Labelle — the trio of Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash, who would explode in popularity with “Lady Marmalade” three years later.

    The Gonna Take a Miracle album was produced by Gamble and Huff, and featured the MFSB Sigma house band, with horn and string arrangements by Bell and Bobby Martin. And the title cut, originally a hit for the Royalettes in 1965, is cowritten by Teddy Randazzo, one of Bell’s musical heroes.

    7. John Legend and the Roots, “Wake Up Everybody”

    For their 2010 collaborative album Wake Up!, mostly made up of covers of socially conscious R&B songs, Penn grad Legend and the Philly hip-hop band picked a winner. Sure, Legend isn’t equal to Teddy Pendergrass, who sang the original version of the John Whitehead-, Gene McFadden- and Victor Carstarphen-penned title cut from Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ 1975 album. But then, who is?

    6. The Tymes, “So Much In Love”

    Swoony street corner harmony from 1963, written by Tymes singers George Williams and Roy Straigis with producer Billy Jackson, who voices the spoken intro. A hit on the Cameo-Parkway label in pre-Beatles doo-wop era, it was later a hit for R&B vocal group All-4-One in 1993.

    In 1983, Robert Hazard filmed a music video for his song “Change Reaction” at what was then J.C. Dobbs.File Photograph

    5. Robert Hazard & the Heroes, “Escalator Of Life”

    Along with the Hooters and Tommy Conwell & the Young Rumblers — whose “I’m Not Your Man” is a near miss on this list — Robert Hazard was one of the most-likely-to-succeed faces of Philadelphia rock in the 1980s. The son of a Philadelphia Opera Company tenor wrote and recorded “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” in 1979, four years before Cyndi Lauper turned it into a megahit. Hazard was in heavy rotation on FM stations WMMR and WYSP with this echoey electro-pop hit and “Change Reaction,” from his self-titled 1982 EP.

    4. Grover Washington Jr., “East River Drive”

    “Just The Two of Us,” Washington’s 1980 team-up with Bill Withers, was the much bigger hit. Will Smith repurposed it for a different song of the same name on 1997’s Big Willie Style. And “Mister Magic,” the nine-minute jazz-R&B jam that’s the title cut from his 1975 album is another Grover contender. But I’m going to go geographical on this smooth-jazz mood piece from the Philly saxophonist, who cruised down what is now Kelly Drive on his 1981 album Come Morning.

    Kathy Sledge from Sister Sledge performs with the Roots at the July Fourth concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    3. Sister Sledge, “We Are Family”

    “You couldn’t find room for Sister Sledge’s ‘We Are Family’ on a list of 76 songs?” was a refrain I heard in various forms. In excluding it I might have given too much weight to the fact that “We Are Family” became closely associated with Pittsburgh after the Pirates used it as their theme song on the way to winning the World Series in 1979.

    In any case, “We Are Family” endures, well beyond its origins as a 1979 disco hit that was the first song penned by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards outside of their own band, Chic. Kathy Sledge delivered a stirring version of it with the Roots at the One Philly concert on the Ben Franklin Parkway, and just the other night, I heard it at a Phillies game.

    2. Maze, “Before I Let Go”

    Frankie Beverly grew up in Germantown and didn’t hit his stride as a purveyor of smooth, sensual soul music until moving to San Francisco in the 1970s. Over time, songs like “Joy and Pain” and “Before I Let Go” sung by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ favorite musician became essential to Black culture, as “the soundtrack of cookouts and summer music fests … and that kind of bliss that is sweet and peaceful,” as novelist S.A. Cosby put it when Beverly died in 2024. Beyoncé covered “Before I Let Go” at Coachella in 2018, and Questlove has called the song “the happiest breakup song ever” and “the national anthem.”

    1. Jazmine Sullivan, “Pick Up Your Feelings”

    The standout track from Sullivan’s 2021 tour de force Heaux Tales is full of soaring, swooping vocal runs and staccato syncopations. Along with other hits like “Bust Your Windows,” it demonstrates why Sullivan is the premier contemporary embodiment of the grand Philly soul tradition of great vocalists like Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, and Russell Thompkins Jr.

  • Skeletal spectacles, Rubber Band Gun’s ‘Bloodwork,’ and a P.T. Barnum takedown are our favorite arts picks this week

    Skeletal spectacles, Rubber Band Gun’s ‘Bloodwork,’ and a P.T. Barnum takedown are our favorite arts picks this week

    Rubber Band Gun’s ‘Bloodwork’: More musical gems from Historic New Jersey

    Kevin Basko has a suggestion: Music might make everything better.

    “If you don’t know what to do because you’ve never been this sad before,” Basko sings. “You don’t feel those problems when you’re singing the songs you love.”

    That lyric about music’s comforting and healing power is from “Songs You Love,” the closing track on Bloodwork, the winning new album by Rubber Band Gun, Basko’s primary vehicle for the many, many songs he loves to write.

    It’s been a good year for Historic New Jersey, the label that — somewhat confusingly — is based in South Philadelphia and whose emergence is one of the most heartening indie rock stories of 2026.

    Five people in a South Philly basement studio are making a whole lot of indie music

    Basko and his Historic NJ pals Emily Moales, who records as Star Moales, and sibling act Sam and Louise Sullivan have been producing a steady stream of retro-leaning but wholly in-the-moment high-level songcraft for a few years now.

    Emily Moles (center), known as Star Moles, passes a guitar to longtime collaborator Kevin Basko inside the Historic NJ studio in South Philadelphia on Friday, July 10, 2026.Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer

    Since the spring, the national and international music press has caught wind of what makes Historic NJ special, praising the warmth and camaraderie that comes through on Star Moales’ Highway to Hell and the Sullivans’ Love & Devotion.

    Now, it’s Basko’s turn. Rubber Band Gun’s Bloodwork, like all of the other Historic NJ projects, was recorded and produced at Basko’s home studio in South Philly, with Moales and the Sullivans contributing musically and vocally.

    The newest of the dozens of streamable releases on Rubber Band Gun’s Bandcamp page showcases Basko’s canny, inviting songwriting. Tunes like “Love Me Dawg” and “Money on My Mind” consistently offer subtle surprises and are never merely clever, even when Basko is punning on Rihanna and Rage Against the Machine lyrics while singing about feeling out of place in America in “Zombie in the Country.”

    — Dan DeLuca

    Julia Baccellieri as Joice Heth in “Strange Root, or the Murder of P.T. Barnum by Joice Heth.” Elizabeth Wellington

    A Fringe Festival performance gives agency to enslaved member of P.T. Barnum’s 19th-century circus troupe

    In 1835, showman, businessman, and politician P.T. Barnum bought an elderly enslaved woman, Joice Heth, from a Kentucky enslaver, added her to his circus, and falsely claimed she was George Washington’s 161-year-old nursemaid.

    His advertisements described her as weighing 46 pounds and being blind and toothless — supposed evidence of her extreme age.

    To reinforce the trope of the frail, subservient, illiterate Black person, Barnum insisted she use a poor, Southern dialect to regale the audience with stories about her relationship to Washington.

    Heth died in 1836 at 80 and Barnum even exploited her in death, charging circusgoers 25 cents to see her dead body, an experience he marketed as a public autopsy.

    A Philadelphia Fringe Festival performance underway at Crane Arts’ Icebox Project Space is running hot hula hoops around Barnum’s narrative of Heth. Strange Root, or the Murder of P.T. Barnum by Joice Heth stars Chicago-born circus performer and acrobat Julia Baccellieri as Heth and New York-based actor and teaching artist Lex Alston as P.T. Barnum.

    Baccellieri created the work.

    Baccellieri doesn’t portray Heth as a weak woman beaten down by her circumstances. Instead, they use dance trapeze, aerial apparatus, Chinese pole, and hula hoops to give Heth power, agency, and beauty.

    The music is contemporary and soulful, weaving in Nina Simone’s jazz with Kendrick Lamar’s bars. Baccellieri dons a clown mask during the performance. They affix it as the audience listens to Maya Angelou read Paul Laurence Dunbar’s 1896 poem “We Wear the Mask,” which speaks to Black Americans’ dual consciousness.

    Alston’s portrayal of Barnum as a buffoon gives voice to the stupidity of racism, speaking truth to power: Racists who refuse to see the evil in their actions will cause their own demise.

    Strange Root is short — it runs under 45 minutes — but it’s powerful.

    “Strange Root, or the murder of P.T. Barnum” will be Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6:30 p.m., Crane Arts building, 1400 N. American Street. Tickets are $25. Ticket information is here.

    — Elizabeth Wellington

    “Tejedora (Weaver)” from Puebla, Mexico, artist Ivette Chaires is on view at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens as part of her solo show, “Living Through Death,” through Nov. 8.Rosa Cartagena

    Skeletal spectacles

    South Street’s Magic Gardens are often packed with tourists and fans walking through the outdoor mosaic labyrinth of mirrors, glass bottles, clay sculptures, and ceramic tiles lovingly built by South Philly legend Isaiah Zagar. Inside, though, the building hosts rotating exhibits from other artists; currently on view is “Living Through Death” from Puebla artist Ivette Chaires, who spent time working in Philadelphia as part of the Julia Zagar Residency for Women Artists.

    Using papier-mâché, Chaires crafted 36 skeletal figures in the Mexican tradition of cartonería, often seen during Día de los Muertos celebrations. Her skeletons are strikingly animated, decked out in funky modern clothing and thick-rimmed glasses or posing cheekily. There’s a Frida Kahlo figure and an Edgar Allan Poe — and a football fan with an Eagles cap. Several works depict the Zagars, like one with Isaiah and Julia wearing colorful mosaic outfits. The show debuted five months after Zagar died, making it a powerful tribute to his legacy.

    Each delightfully spooky sculpture contains incredible layers. Tejedora (Weaver) features a bony woman bending over a loom attached to a tree trunk on one end and wrapped around her waist on the other. The details are so carefully crafted, from her twisted belt to her intricately woven gold earrings. Nearby stands a sweet little chicken with a living head and a dead underbelly. It was a fascinating, fully-formed scene that accomplished Chaires’ goal — for the viewer to feel deeply connected to the dead.

    “Living Through Death: Works by Ivette Chaires” is on view through Nov. 8 at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, 1020 South St., Philadelphia, 215-733-0390 or phillymagicgardens.org.

    — Rosa Cartagena

  • The PPA gives money back, Philly has an $88 potato, and the Eagles go 12-5? | Weekly Report Card

    The PPA gives money back, Philly has an $88 potato, and the Eagles go 12-5? | Weekly Report Card

    The PPA is giving money back: A+

    Somewhere in Philadelphia, thousands of people are about to experience something they never thought possible: getting money back from the PPA.

    The Parking Authority voided 23,195 speeding tickets and is refunding $1.25 million in fines after discovering that a required speed-camera warning sign was missing from a stretch of North Broad Street. A construction crew had knocked it down, and somehow it took about three months to get a new one up.

    To be clear, the drivers were still speeding. The PPA would very much like everyone to know that. But state law requires a sign warning drivers about the camera, so the tickets had to go.

    There is something deeply satisfying about this. Philly drivers have spent generations feeding parking meters, sprinting back to expired spots and discovering orange envelopes tucked under windshield wipers. The PPA is usually where your money goes, never where it comes from.

    So check the mail, 12,214 lucky speeders. Somewhere out there is a refund from the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

    And really you should frame the check, this may never happen again.

    SEPTA bus passengers direct bus driver to drive through wet concrete
    Video: SEPTA bus passengers direct bus driver to drive through wet concrete

    Philly’s respect for construction barriers: D

    A SEPTA bus got stuck in freshly poured concrete outside Termini Bros. last week, just two minutes after city crews finished pouring it.

    How did it get there? Two passengers hopped off the bus, moved the street-closure barricades themselves, and then helped direct the driver around the construction. Shockingly, that did not go well.

    It gets even better when you learn that the pothole-turned-sinkhole had been there for 14 months, long enough that it had started swallowing traffic cones. The city finally showed up to fix it, poured the concrete, and blocked off the street at 7:21 p.m. The 47 bus drove into it at 7:23.

    Fourteen months waiting for a repair, and it took two minutes to ruin it.

    And to once again make this story even better, it happened outside a century-old Italian bakery, the bus was covered in Top Dog Law ads, and when city workers returned the next morning to fix the fix, Joey Termini brought them cannolis.

    An updated rendering of the new Flyers arena released Thursday appears to show more women fans following backlash this week against the original rendering.Courtesy of the Flyers

    Our new sports home comes into focus: A

    We’ve known for a while that the Sixers and Flyers are getting a new arena in South Philly. Now, we finally know what the thing is supposed to look like.

    The first renderings dropped this week, and there’s plenty to like: a facade inspired by the old Spectrum, a huge outdoor plaza, food and drink pavilions, and a giant screen outside.

    But the coolest part might be seeing three teams attached to it. When the doors open in 2030, the Sixers and Flyers will be joined by Philly’s still-unnamed WNBA team, which will begin play that same year.

    Four years away suddenly feels a little more real. Now, we just need a name for the team (and, eventually, the building).

    Eagle Saquon Barkley runs the sidelines during an open Eagles practice at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    The Eagles go 12-5, according to science: A

    The Eagles season starts Sunday, which means this is the last beautiful moment when absolutely anything can happen. So Mike Sielski did the responsible thing and predicted all 18 weeks — mostly through song lyrics and increasingly unhinged scenarios.

    His forecast has Jalen Hurts doing the macarena on the first play of the season, Vic Fangio throwing up on a Dollywood roller coaster, Aaron Rodgers blaming a loss on Anthony Fauci and the illuminati, and Brandon Graham once again considering coming out of retirement. Somehow, amid all of this, the Eagles finish 12-5 and win the NFC East for a third straight year.

    And you know what? Wouldn’t that be great? Twelve wins, another division title, football at Christmas, and several months spent planning Sundays around the Birds again. After an offseason of roster moves, coordinator questions, and endless predictions about what this team might be, we finally get to watch actual football.

    And if we get to keep the 12-5 season, Hurts doing the macarena would just be the cherry on top.

    The baked potate loaded with lump crab au gratin and a caviar “blackout” at Mr. Edison in the Bellevue costs $88.Kiki Aranita / Staff /

    An $88 potato?!: F

    There are certain things an $88 potato should be able to do. Like maybe change your life or fix your credit. At minimum, make you briefly forget you just spent $88 on it.

    The baked potato at Mr. Edison in the Bellevue starts at an already pricey $48, stuffed with nearly half a pound of crab au gratin. Add a “blackout” of caviar and suddenly you’re sitting in front of an $88 spud.

    And according to Inquirer food writer Kiki Aranita, it wasn’t good.

    An $88 potato should be so delicious that you spend the next week becoming an annoying person who tells everyone, “OK, but you have to try the potato.” Instead, Aranita described hers as “all mush” and pointed out that better baked potatoes can be found a few blocks away for a fraction of the price.

    Caviar or no caviar, at the end of the night, it is still a potato.

    Temple’s $55 million gift disappears: F

    Less than a year ago, Temple was celebrating the largest donation in university history: $55 million from alumnus Christopher Barnett. This week, the school announced it was terminating the gift, removing Barnett’s name from its College of Public Health and other programs, and accepting his resignation from the board of trustees.

    The reason is quite a turn. Barnett’s company, ABA Centers of America, is under federal criminal investigation over allegations including money laundering and wire fraud. Investigators allege the autism-services provider improperly billed insurers, including for treatment while clients were napping or watching television. Barnett has not been charged and “strenuously denies” the allegations.

    There is a small piece of good news buried in this mess, though. Temple hadn’t gotten any of the $55 million yet, which makes it a lot easier to give the money back.

  • Rachel Blau DuPlessis, experimental poet, literary scholar, and Temple professor emerita, has died at 84

    Rachel Blau DuPlessis, experimental poet, literary scholar, and Temple professor emerita, has died at 84

    Rachel Blau DuPlessis, 84, of Philadelphia, experimental poet and essayist, literary scholar and critic, Temple University professor of English and creative writing emerita, mentor, artist, and world traveler, died Wednesday, Sept. 2, of respiratory failure at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.

    Professor DuPlessis was an eclectic experimental poet who grew up in New York, lived in Swarthmore and Philadelphia for more than 50 years, and taught a variety of writing and women’s studies classes at Temple from 1974 to her retirement in 2011. She wrote hundreds of poems — she called many of them “drafts” — about feminism, modernism, connectivity, imagery, and consciousness.

    She was an expert on cultural poetics and told The Inquirer in 2002 that her poems generally reflect her “awe at the universe, grief at the barbarity of modernism, and sense of how it was to be in the world.” She enjoyed poetic wordplay, reviewers said, and tinkered freely with conventional syntax, sound, tone, and form.

    “Reading her is an adventure,” reviewer Robert Long said in The Inquirer in 1997, “and poets this adventurous must be cherished.”

    Her poems were published in more than 30 books and in several languages, and also appeared in The Inquirer, other newspapers, magazines, journals, and anthologies. In tributes, fellow poets praised her “unique combination of erudition and exuberance” and her “generosity, brilliance, expansive thinking, and attention to so many possibilities of writing and art.”

    “From what I can tell, DuPlessis doesn’t write poems so much as build them,” reviewer Andrew Ervin said in The Inquirer in 2005. “The manner in which she does that is what makes the Temple professor one of the most exciting and inventive writers of our time.”

    She told the Oxonian Review in 2015 that “being a poet is not only writing poems. It is an address to the whole apparatus of and the traditions of poetic practice.”

    A book publisher said: “She brought such intelligence, generosity, and curiosity to everything she did.” Penn professor Al Filreis told Professor DuPlessis’ husband, Robert: “It’s hard to imagine the Philly poetry world without Rachel in it.”

    Professor DuPlessis read her poems to people around the world. Courtesy of the family

    At Temple, Professor DuPlessis helped establish women’s studies classes and the school’s graduate program in creative writing. She mentored students and other professors, and the English department’s DuPlessis Lecture in Poetry and Poetics is named in her honor.

    “She loved being a mentor to people, to encourage them,” her husband said. “She loved being a poet and an academic. She prepared incredibly for her classes and was connected and attentive to her students.”

    Earlier, she taught briefly at what is now the College of New Jersey and Rutgers and Columbia Universities. She spent several of her research and study leaves from Temple working with students and colleagues at universities in the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and elsewhere.

    She was named a resident poet and distinguished visitor in Italy and New Zealand. She and her husband, a professor emeritus at Swarthmore College, visited every continent except Antarctica, and she spoke French and Italian as well as English.

    This article featured Professor DuPlessis and appeared in The Inquirer in 1999.Newspapers.com

    She earned fellowships from the Pew Center, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National Humanities Center in North Carolina, and other groups. “She was constantly creating things,” her husband said. “She never stopped.”

    Professor DuPlessis also wrote and edited books and articles about writing and poetry, and she reviewed books for The Inquirer and other publications. She read her poems in public, was interviewed often, and earned achievement awards from Temple, the University of California in San Diego, the old Fund for Poetry, and other admirers.

    Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer’s obit writer?

    She created a comprehensive website, rachelblauduplessis.com, and made collage art that she augmented with poems. Thomas Devaney, a Philadelphia writer, called her “an important figure of American experimental poetry.”

    She told the Oxonian Review: “Poetry is an ethical practice as well as an aesthetic one. Just even thinking about what this means and how it is instantiated is a useful task.”

    Professor DuPlessis enjoyed time with her husband, Robert, and daughter, Kore.Courtesy of the family

    Rachel Maia Blau was born Dec. 14, 1941, in Brooklyn. She grew up in Queens and the Bronx, and earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Barnard College in New York in 1963 and a master’s degree and doctorate in English and comparative literature at Columbia in 1970.

    Her father was a professor, her mother a librarian. She met fellow Fulbright scholar Robert DuPlessis on a boat to France in 1966, and they married in 1968 and had a daughter, Kore.

    What do poets do for a living?

    Professor DuPlessis enjoyed yoga, museums, art history, and long walks with her husband. They went to see and hear the orchestra, the opera, the ballet, and the theater.

    She doted on her daughter and grandchildren. “She always read me stories and sang me songs at night before bed,” her daughter said. “I would hold on to her leg because I didn’t want her to leave.”

    Professor DuPlessis started writing poems when she was 12, she said in an interview. “She was determined, hardworking, witty, and a lot of fun,” her husband said. “She was definitely intense.”

    Professor DuPlessis said she started writing poems when she was 12.Courtesy of the family

    In addition to her husband and daughter, Professor DuPlessis is survived by two grandchildren and other relatives. A sister died earlier.

    A memorial service is to be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Temple University’s Charles Library, 1900 N. 13th St., First Floor, Philadelphia, Pa. 19122.

    Donations in her name may be made to Planned Parenthood, Online Services, Box 96771, Washington, D.C. 20090; Philabundance, 3616 S. Galloway St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148; and the American Civil Liberties Union, 125 Broad St., 18th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10004.

  • Construction began on the installation of the Rocky statue atop the Art Museum steps

    Construction began on the installation of the Rocky statue atop the Art Museum steps

    Rocky Balboa started his new era at the top of the Art Museum steps Friday.

    City crews officially began the installation of the 8-foot-6-inch Rocky statue, which is slated to be completed over the next two weeks and cost roughly $150,000 to install, according to Creative Philadelphia, the city arts office behind the proposal. The statue should be fully installed by the end of September.

    Access to the fictional Philly boxer will be closed off to the public for the duration of the work. However, the bronze Italian Stallion will still be visible from behind barricades — tourists just won’t be able to touch him.

    Visitors take photos in front of the Rocky statue while a fence surrounds the statue before its installation begins in Philadelphia on Friday. Access to the statue at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps will be temporarily closed for the duration of the work. Rocky will remain visible throughout construction, but will be secured behind barricades limiting access.Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer

    The statue, commissioned by Sylvester Stallone for Rocky III, in which it also appeared, depicts the famous moment in the first Rocky where Stallone thrusts his fists in the air as he takes in the city skyline after a rigorous training montage. An estimated four million tourists visit the statue each year to reenact the moment that inspired fans globally.

    Since 2006, the statue has sat at the bottom of the Art Museum steps. Before that, Rocky moved between the museum and the South Philly stadium complex at least six different times since the statue was originally revealed in 1981.

    Before the installation began Friday, the original statue had been housed inside the Art Museum for the exhibit “Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments” since March. The statue that welcomed fans throughout the summer and cursed World Cup teams whose fans put merch on it is from Stallone’s private collection and will be returned.

    The original statue will be placed on a pedestal around 14 feet back from the edge of the top step, next to where Rocky shoe prints are embedded into the walkway. At the bottom of the steps, where the bronze Balboa had been since 2006, now sits a statue of real-life Philly boxing legend “Smokin’” Joe Frazier.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, Frazier family members, boxers, and other dignitaries unveil the new home for its statue of heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier on June 29. The statue is installed at the base of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art where a statue of fictional boxer Rocky Balboa once stood.Jessica Kourkounis / For The Inquirer

    Placing Rocky at the top of the steps is contentious, though. In an Inquirer survey last fall, 46% of respondents said there shouldn’t be a Rocky statue at the top of the steps, but rather it should stay at the bottom where it had been for more than a decade. One out of five respondents said the city shouldn’t have a Rocky statue at all. Even when the statue was revealed more than 40 years ago, some local officials called it “unnecessarily strident.”

    Still, that doesn’t stop the millions of people who visit the Art Museum steps just for a glimpse of the bronze boxer. Soon, they’ll be doing it again at the same spot as the movie scene.

    Staff writer Nick Vadala contributed to this article.

  • Meek Mill’s Dream Chasers Summit returns to Temple University after 13 years

    Meek Mill’s Dream Chasers Summit returns to Temple University after 13 years

    Hundreds of students darted from School District of Philadelphia buses and climbed Temple University’s Liacouras Center steps on Thursday, anticipating the arrival of multiplatinum artist Meek Mill.

    The North Philly native, who grew up just blocks away from the venue on North 18th and Berks Streets, was equally excited to hit the stage. But there was no concert or setlist on the agenda.

    Instead, Meek welcomed high school seniors and Temple students to the Dream Chasers Sports & Entertainment Summit, a daylong event of moderated discussions with industry leaders across sports, business, and entertainment.

    North Philly native and rap star Meek Mill pictured at the Dream Chasers Sports & Entertainment Summit at Temple University’s Liacouras Center on Sept. 10, 2026.Courtesy of Earl Hopkins

    Thursday marked the second iteration of the summit; the first was at Temple in 2013. “It feels good to be back in the city,” Meek said in the media room, hours before his keynote address.

    While he said this could’ve easily been a rap show, Meek was determined to put on an event that combined youth engagement and education.

    “I was looking at the events and things that were going on, and I [didn’t] see a lot of these types of events taking place,” he said. “I wanted to do this just to add another type of motivation to the city. We need more inspiration here in Philadelphia, and I thought this would be the right thing to do.”

    Speakers included Temple athletics director Arthur Johnson, Live Nation Urban president Shawn Gee, D.C. United president of business operations Danita Johnson, SDP superintendent Tony B. Watlington, Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast host Wallo267, and others through the day.

    Attendees ranged from teens to Temple students and administrators, who remained engaged from the event’s opening until the ending “Dreams and Nightmares” session featuring Meek, Wallo267, and Larry Miller, chairman of the Jordan Brand Advisory Board.

    The themes of their discussions were based on popular Meek records such as “All Eyes on You,” “Dreams Worth More Than Money,” “Respect the Game,” and others. For second-year Temple student Amira Haynesworth, the summit offered more than just musical references.

    Sports agents David Mulugheta and Tory Dandy are pictured with motivational speaker and podcaster Wallo267 at the Dream Chasers Sports & Entertainment Summit on Sept. 10, 2026.Courtesy of Earl Hopkins

    Haynesworth, who grew up in North Philly, said hearing Meek, Wallo, and other speakers retrace the obstacles they faced in their journeys gave her and other attendees a sense of self-empowerment.

    “They came from such hardship and still made a name for themselves,” Haynesworth, 19, said. “Being young, people tend to doubt themselves, and many feel like they’re not going to make it somewhere high in life. But they didn’t let that define them.”

    Meek said recruiting a mix of sports leaders, music executives, justice reform advocates, and athletic department heads was paramount, given how transformative this time period is in their young lives.

    “[The summit] is for everybody, but these people are already in that direction, so that was important,” he said. “When I was 17 and 18 years old, those were the most important years of my life when it came to decision-making. I just thought that we have to make sure we touch on the kids first or the younger adults.”

    That was the mission that inspired Meek to develop the summit, and inspired Temple leaders to partner for a second iteration.

    Temple athletics director Arthur Johnson, who helped steer the summit’s return to Temple, said Meek’s mission aligns with the university’s goals for student success and place-based impact for those who are integrated in both the Temple and North Philly community.

    “We’re the wind underneath the wings of all of our students who come and chase their dreams and their goals,” Johnson said. “Helping them understand they can be accountants, attorneys, a compliance person, CFOs, and explore many different careers and opportunities is important.”

    Motivational speaker and podcaster Wallo267 at the Dream Chasers Sports & Entertainment Summit on Sept. 10, 2026.Courtesy of Earl Hopkins

    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who greeted event speakers, attendees, and media members throughout the summit, said Meek’s decision to bring the event to North Philly speaks to his commitment to change young people’s lives in his community.

    “It shows the resiliency of Meek Mill, in terms of who he is as a person, the things that he has overcome, but most importantly, his heart and his passion and commitment to giving back,” he said.

    Arthur Johnson said the goal is to bring the summit back to Temple next year and to attract a wider swath of students whose upbringings and career ambitions mirror those shared by Meek and the other speakers he recruits. “Next year, I need double,” he said. “But we’ll plan for it. We’ll have a whole strategy around how do we do that.”

    Sports agents David Mulugheta (far left) and Tory Dandy (far right) are pictured with motivational speaker and podcaster Wallo267 (second from left) and Philadelphia City Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. at the Dream Chasers Sports & Entertainment Summit on Sept. 10, 2026.Courtesy of Earl Hopkins

    While Meek intends for North Philly to remain the home base for future summits, he wants to expand its attendance and impact, as long as students leave with an endless sense of possibility.

    “My whole brand is Dream Chasers, like chasing a dream to live a better life,” he said. “If you could take something from here that could get you to the next level, or get your ideas sparked in your mind, that’s good enough for me.”

    While a concert wasn’t advertised for the day, Meek decided to surprise the crowd with a brief performance. Students descended onto the arena floor, pulling out their phone cameras and rapping the lyrics to Meek’s “Dreams and Nightmares.”

    “If you want it, you gotta see it with a clear-eyed view,” students yelled at half-court, bringing Meek’s message full-circle.

    North Philly native and rap star Meek Mill pictured at the Dream Chasers Sports & Entertainment Summit at Temple University’s Liacouras Center on Sept. 10, 2026.Courtesy of Earl Hopkins
  • Meta’s new AI logo looks like an AI version of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s logo

    Meta’s new AI logo looks like an AI version of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s logo

    Meta released its new personal AI agent on Tuesday and named it Muse (like this bot is going to inspire humanity to write the next great tragedy and not relegate us to become the lead characters in one).

    Of course, Muse could refer to the act of thinking about something very carefully, but that would be even more ironic, given that some experts in the field have sounded alarm bells that AI is advancing faster than humanity is prepared for.

    Admittedly, I didn’t hear about the launch until two days after its release (I’m not a tech reporter and still keep a paper calendar), but I was surprised by how it did come to my attention.

    In a post on Threads, user @rpennone pointed out how similar Muse’s stroke-like “M” logo is to the logo of one our city’s most beloved institutions, Mural Arts Philadelphia.

    View on Threads

    I pulled up the two logos on my computer, put them side-by-side, and it painted a pretty clear picture.

    Part of our DNA

    Typically an “M” is two sets of arches, sometimes with a little rat tail on the upper left side for flair. But both of these Ms have three peaks and valleys with little rat-tail flairs at both ends. Granted, Muse’s logo is blue, while Mural Arts’ is typically purple (though like Gritty’s belly button, it can change colors), and the former’s logo also has more fluid lines, while the latter’s are more rigid. Still, the resemblance is enough to make you go “hmm…”

    View on Threads

    Given how much people are worried about AI copying everything we create, this isn’t going to help the situation. Maybe nobody outside of Philly would catch it, but Mural Arts is a part of the very fabric of this city, part of its DNA, and someone here was bound to notice the similarity and defend its honor. Nobody paints our baby into a corner.

    The 150-foot “Welcome to Philly” mural by artist Alloyius McIlwaine on the 1000 block of Market Street. The mural was a collaboration between Mural Arts Philadelphia, the Center City District, Comcast, HBSE, and the ownership group of the 76ers.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    For its part, Mural Arts was very diplomatic about the matter. Spokesperson Frank Luzi told me there’s no concern on the nonprofit’s part about copyright infringement and there are no plans for legal action.

    “They feel like they are two very different organizations,” he said.

    Designed by artist Chenlin Cai, “The Past Supporting the Future” mural in Chinatown was collaborative project by the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, Mural Arts Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    ‘Definitely a resemblance’

    Here’s the interesting thing, Muse’s logo was designed by a human who “cut my creative teeth in Philadelphia,” according to her website.

    Jessica Hische is a lettering artist and author specializing in “typographical work for logos, film, books, and other commercial applications,” whose previous clients include companies like Target and Hallmark and people like Barack Obama and Wes Anderson. Based in Oakland, Calif., she graduated from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in design and illustration.

    I reached out to ask her about the similarities in the logos. In an e-mailed statement, she said Meta contacted her after doing its own sketch of an M inspired by a pen stroke or scribble. She said she refined the design by “playing with the stroke angles, end treatments, and vertical rhythm.”

    Hische sent me a screenshot of the “M” Meta provided her and 30-plus variations she worked on until she landed on the final version.

    I had to squint pretty hard to detect the differences, but lettering isn’t my field of expertise. Meta’s initial version does look more rigid and even more like Mural Arts’ logo, while Hische’s is more fluid.

    Mural Arts Philadelphia lead teaching artist and muralist Jamee Grigsby (left) and an apprentice continue painting a mural focused around what accessible justice looks like, at the Mayfair Athletic Club in Russo Park on Edmund Street in Philadelphia on July 30, 2024.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Hische said she was familiar with the Mural Arts program from her time in Philly but hadn’t seen its logo, which was created by J2, a Philly-based branding company, and debuted in 2016.

    “There’s definitely a resemblance (and it would have been even closer had we landed on the brushier versions of the “M” I had explored!) but ultimately what Meta hired me to do was to make the mark they had created less rigid and more fluid,” Hische wrote. “The rigidity, regularity, and perfect symmetry are defining qualities of the Mural Arts M (along with the brush stroke treatment), and it’s a great logo.”

    Common threads

    I appreciated Hische’s response and recognition of the resemblance. It’s not the first time logos have looked similar (Korean Air’s logo looks more like the Pepsi logo than the Pepsi logo does). It’s unclear where or how Meta came up with the original “M” logo Hische was asked to fine-tune. Meta did not return my requests for comment.

    The logo for Korean Air bares an uncanny resemblance to Pepsi’s logo. Lee Jin-man

    Later in the day, I saw Hische was catching flak online from people in her field for a completely different reason.

    Because the digital world is a creepy stalker, as I was scrolling on Threads that evening, my feed suddenly become flooded with posts about Hische from people I don’t follow. Users on Threads — which is owned by Meta — were both condemning her for working on Meta’s AI project and defending her for working on it. Hische also penned her own nine-part Thread explaining her rationale, which includes the line “I have literally been touching grass more because of AI” and ends with a pitch for her latest children’s book.

    I couldn’t help but wonder if this is right where Threads wanted me to end up. Why did that initial post about the logos from someone I didn’t follow pop up in my feed? Why did it also end up in the feed of an editor who sent it my way, confirming for me I should write this piece?

    I thought I was pulling a thread, but maybe Threads was pulling me all along.

  • Nick Foles was a standout during Netflix’s 49ers-Rams blowout

    Nick Foles was a standout during Netflix’s 49ers-Rams blowout

    Nick Foles has a tendency to shine in the spotlight.

    He did it in 2018, when he led the Eagles to an unlikely Super Bowl victory against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. And it did it again Thursday night during his debut as an NFL analyst for Netflix.

    The Birds legend was loose and informative during a pre- and postgame show sandwiching the San Francisco 49ers’ 27-7 blowout of the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia.

    With Foles, Elle Duncan, Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, and former Green Bay Packers defender Clay Matthews III, Netflix shed the blatant self-promotion that dominated its early sports broadcasting attempts and put the focus on the game and its setting.

    That being said, it’s still a pregame show with lots of time to kill. Foles seemed comfortable mixing it up with his new colleagues. He took the opportunity to troll Irvin a bit about the declining popularity of the Dallas Cowboys.

    Putting his hand on Irvin’s shoulder, Foles praised “America’s team — the Philadelphia Eagles.”

    To his credit, Irvin didn’t trash the Eagles. Instead, he devoted some time to defending Jalen Hurts, who has been a frequent target of critics (including on Philly sports talk radio) despite leading the Birds to two Super Bowl appearances and a championship during his five-year tenure as the team’s starting quarterback.

    “You wrap his accomplishments around Trevor Lawrence, they’d be the happiest team in the world,” Irvin said. “For some reason, in the City of Brotherly Love, that brother gets no love.”

    While he didn’t bring a dog mask to Australia, Foles was the only member of the crew to correctly predict the 49ers would win, noting he “loves an underdog.” He also let his hair down a bit and downed an unspecified beverage poured into a boot, an Australian custom known as a “shoey.”

    “Who’s shoe was that?” Foles asked. “I tasted a little foot right there.”

    Netflix’s entire broadcast, which NBC helped produce, was solid. Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly impressed critics during his debut in the booth alongside Noah Eagle. The footage was crisp and clean thanks to Netflix’s 4K ultra HD stream (for those on the premium tier). Even the scorebug drew praise.

    About the only misstep was a Netflix-branded kangaroo hoodie the streamer had Foles, his colleagues, and even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wear. The less written about that, the better.

    But the best moment of Foles’ trek to Australia wasn’t on Netflix; it was on SEN 1116, a sports talk station based in Victoria. Prior to the game, Foles sat with announcer Gerard Whateley and watched his call of the “Philly Special” during Super Bowl LII.

    “When we ran that play, we had no idea what it would represent,” Foles said. “It was aggressive, … we weren’t fearful, and that’s what radiated through our team throughout that 2017-18 season.”

    Foles will be part of all Netflix NFL broadcasts this season, which includes Thanksgiving eve, two Christmas Day games, and a Week 18 matchup.

    “These are primetime games. These are important games,” Foles told The Inquirer ahead of the game. “It’ll challenge me.”

  • Tom McCarthy is off NBC Sports Philadelphia this weekend … and off social media

    Tom McCarthy is off NBC Sports Philadelphia this weekend … and off social media

    A familiar Phillies radio voice will return to NBC Sports Philadelphia this weekend to call the team’s pivotal three-game series against the Atlanta Braves.

    Scott Franzke, the veteran radio announcer in his 21st season calling Phillies games, will take his talents to TV to fill in for Tom McCarthy while McCarthy makes his annual trek over to the NFL.

    Franzke and John Kruk will call all three Phillies-Braves games at Truist Park, beginning with Friday’s matchup. On the radio, pre- and postgame host Gregg Murphy will fill in for Franzke alongside Larry Andersen, who’s making his first road trip of the season.

    Scott Franzke and John Kruk will call this weekend’s Phillies-Braves series. NBC Sports Philadelphia

    While McCarthy’s jump to football isn’t anything new — it’s his 13th season as a play-by-play voice for CBS — the timing is unfortunate. The Phillies have a chance to cut into the Braves’ narrow lead in the NL East, but weren’t helped by Jhoan Duran surrendering a ninth-inning homer Thursday.

    Instead, McCarthy will be about five hours south in Jacksonville, Fla., to call the Jaguars’ Week 1 matchup against the Cleveland Browns. This season he’s paired with a new partner: former Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks running back Robert Turbin, who is in his first season as an NFL color analyst.

    Among other things, the game features the controversial return of quarterback Deshaun Watson, a one-time Eagles trade target who was injured last season and was given the starting job despite criticizing Browns fans who booed him.

    “As the former voice of their preseason, I’m kind of used to it,” McCarthy said of the antics that seem to perennially plague the Browns.

    The rest of the season, McCarthy benefits from a Phillies weekend schedule filled with national broadcasts.

    Last season, Tom McCarthy called NFL games alongside Ross Tucker. CBS

    Next weekend, McCarthy will miss the final two games of the Phillies’ four-game series against the New York Mets. The first two won’t air on NBC Sports Philadelphia — Thursday’s game is being broadcast by Fox, while the Sept. 18 game will be part of the Friday Night Baseball doubleheader on Apple TV.

    He’ll also miss the final game of the season, Sept. 27 against the Tampa Bay Rays, which will feature former Phillies pitcher turned broadcaster Cole Hamels. McCarthy will call the first game of the Rays series Friday, while Saturday’s game will be broadcast on Fox.

    McCarthy’s schedule also benefited from this year’s late Labor Day.

    “It worked out that I’m missing less games this year than I normally do because the NFL season’s starting a week later,” McCarthy said.

    The Eagles are set to appear twice on CBS — Oct. 18 against the Carolina Panthers and Nov. 22 vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers — but McCarthy isn’t in line to call either and has yet to broadcast a Birds game on TV.

    “I would love to do an Eagles game. I think it’d be a hoot,” McCarthy said. “But it’s one of those things where I roll with wherever they send me.”

    Why McCarthy hasn’t been posting on X

    Tom McCarthy gives food to a fan during a broadcast from behind home plate at Citizens Bank Park in June. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    While social media tends to be a hateful cesspool of negativity toward announcers, McCarthy has been a prolific poster for years.

    Sometimes that meant answering a fan’s question about why the Phillies game wasn’t on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Often it was a funny rebuke of a nasty comment. He’s also used Twitter, now X, to defend his allegiance to the Phillies because he spent a couple seasons calling Mets games and his son, Patrick, handles New York’s pre- and postgame coverage on radio.

    But his last post on X was more than two months ago. Why the long silence?

    “I just got to the point between the algorithms and all the negativity and all the stories that were untrue,” McCarthy said. “It wasn’t something I really wanted to be associated with it anymore.”

    If you miss interacting with McCarthy on social media, you can always follow him on Instagram, where he posts photos from the broadcast booth and connects with fans. He also likes that his feed is focused on baseball and golf.

    “I can reset it pretty quickly if I feel like it’s too, let’s say, political,” McCarthy said.

    NL East standings

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    NL wildcard standings

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    Phillies magic number

    That is the combined total of Phillies’ wins and/or losses by the teams on the outside looking in that are needed to secure at least the third wild-card berth and a spot in the playoffs.

    MLB playoff tracker: Phillies wild-card and NL East standings; updated magic number

    Phillies news

    Kyle Schwarber and the Phillies are looking to overtake the Braves in the NL East. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    Remaining Phillies TV schedule

    • Phillies at Braves
    • Phillies at Nationals
    • Phillies at Mets
    • Brewers at Phillies
    • Rays at Phillies