Nearly 3,000 people are said to have died 10 years ago in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, perhaps more if some first responder deaths are to be included. That is brutal and sobering and tragic and heartbreaking. TL;DR — Why I believe the pain of 9/11 helped shape NYC for the better. A long history [...]

NPR Fresh Air host Terry Gross interviewed rapper and cultural icon Jay-Z last month and it proved one of the more interesting episodes of one of the best, longest-running radio shows around. Jay-Z was promoting his new book Decoded (about which Amazon has an interesting video interview). You should go ahead and listen to the [...]

In an unexpected collision of various interests of mine, a political celebrity came across and shared the music video of a family friend. Northwest New Jersey school teacher and mother of two Lee-Ellen Pisauro has spent a few years now sharing her experiences and emotions — particularly related to her youngest son, who has Down’s [...]

When my reporting career starts intersecting with World Series baseball — twice — why wouldn’t I keep coming across Phillies theme songs? Ill State of Mind by NeeKo ft. Deanie Marie, as I previously shared. Goin’ Back to Philadelphia, PA- A Tribute to the Phillies by Bobby Burnett This is played in the ballpark after [...]

I helped profile upcoming rapper Asher Roth in the cover story of today’s Philadelphia Weekly. If there’s any truth in Revolutionary Road, American Beauty, Mad Men and the writing of John Cheever—that everyone in suburbia is secretly miserable, living life with crushing boredom or a crippling secret that’s killing them softly—you wouldn’t believe it on [...]

He’s an internationally-recognized DJ and techno producer with the same last name as me, but I never heard of Josh Wink. Until, that is, a source from a completely unrelated story mentioned him. That led to a profile of Wink, who lives in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood, for Philadelphia Weekly. For Philadelphians not of a [...]