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  • In Philly music this week, Mariah the Scientist plays the Met. Plus, Jason Isbell, Miguel, Margo Price, Say She She, and more

    In Philly music this week, Mariah the Scientist plays the Met. Plus, Jason Isbell, Miguel, Margo Price, Say She She, and more

    This week in Philly music features a busy week at the Met with Jason Isbell, Miguel, and Mariah the Scientist. Plus, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck’s new supergroup, two dates with Alejandro Escovedo, and ‘Hard Headed Woman’ Margo Price and her country band playing on South Street.

    Wednesday, Feb. 18

    Say She She

    Say She She is the nomadic vocal trio Piya Malik, Sabrina Mileo Cunningham, and Nya Gazelle Brown — who have connections to New York, London, and Los Angeles. The band name is a play on the “Le Freak? C’est chic!” lyric from Chic’s 1978 disco hit “Le Freak.” On Say She She’s third album, Cut & Rewind, tracks like “She Who Dares” and “Disco Life” qualify as subtle protest music as the band members stand up for diversity and express feminist prerogatives while deftly moving listeners to the dance floor. With Katzù Oso. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com

    Say She She plays Ardmore Music Hall on Wednesday. The disco group’s new album is “Cut & Rewind.”

    Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

    Jason Isbell never made it to town on his 2025 tour behind his stark, solo acoustic album Foxes in the Snow. So this full band show will be the first Philly opportunity to hear those break-up songs written after Isbell’s split from then-wife Amanda Shires, played live. They will be mixed in with the impressive body of work that Isbell — a terrific guitarist, singer, and bandleader as well as a masterful storytelling songwriter — has amassed going back to the 2000s with the Drive-By Truckers. 8 p.m., Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com.

    Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit headline the Met Philadelphia on Wednesday.

    The Rural Alberta Advantage / The Barr Brothers

    Fans of Canadian indie bands are facing a Wednesday night dilemma. Toronto’s Rural Alberta Advantage, which tends to rock out, headlines Johnny Brenda’s. The band’s most recent album is 2023’s The Rise & The Fall. Meanwhile at Underground Arts, there’s a show by Toronto’s Barr Bothers, which leans more toward the folk, with singer-guitarist Bad Barr and his drummer brother Andrew. Their new album is Let It Hiss. 8 p.m., Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., johnnybrendas.com; and 8 p.m., Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org.

    Alejandro Escovedo and James Mastro, who will play separately and together in Sellersville and Wilmington.

    Thursday, Feb. 19

    Drink the Sea

    Peter Buck of R.E.M. is a serial collaborator. The long list of the uber-influential guitarist’s side projects have included Tuatara, the Minus 5, the Baseball Project, Filthy Friends, and others. Add to the list Drink the Sea, which is the second supergroup Buck has formed with Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees. The band, which is influenced by global rhythms that reach beyond rock, makes its Main Line debut this week. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com.

    Alejandro Escovedo

    The great Austin, Texas, songwriter Alejandro Escovedo played Philly last year on a solo tour, while working up a theater show that chronicles his 50-plus year music career. Now he’s back, plugged in, and ready to rock with his band Electric Saints. Further good news is that his opening act is North Jersey veteran rocker and Health and Happiness Show leader James Mastro. He will be joining Escovedo for a few songs on stage , just as he did with Patti Smith’s band at the Met last November. 8 p.m. Thursday, Sellersville Theater, st94.com, and 8 p.m. Friday, Arden Gild Hall, 2126 The Highway, Wilmington, ardenconcerts.com.

    Friday, Feb. 20

    Ben Arnold & the 48 Hour Orchestra

    Philly songwriter Ben Arnold, just back from a European tour with his band U.S. Rails, is home promoting his excellent new solo album XL, which he showcased with an impressive show in Wayne back in October. Noon, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org.

    Margo Price

    Margo Price was positioned as a country — or at least alt-country — artist when she debuted with Midwest Farmer’s Daughter in 2016. She then expanded her sound in a rock direction, even adding psychedelic touches in three subsequent albums. Now she’s again focused on country on Hard Headed Woman, the Grammy-nominated collection that will bring her to the TLA on her “Wild At Heart Tour.” Hot tip: Last time she played Philly, Kurt Vile showed up to jam. Pearl Charles opens. 8 p.m., Theater of Living Arts, 332 South St., tlaphilly.com.

    Miguel at the opening night his CAOS Tour in Atlanta on Feb. 10. He plays the Met Philly on Saturday.

    Saturday Feb. 21

    Miguel

    Miguel Jontel Pimentel has been a frequent visitor to Philly, between multiple visits to the Made in America festival in addition to regular tour stops. Now the R&B love man with vocal chops beyond reproach and a frisky, subversive sensibility is headlining the Met on tour for his 2025 album CAOS. 8 p.m., Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com

    Roger Harvey / Roberta Faceplant / Maxwell Stern

    This is another quality multiband bill upstairs at the Khyber Pass pub. Nashville songwriter Roger Harvey is the headliner, with rising Philly acts Roberta Faceplant and Maxwell Stern also playing the Old City venue. 8 p.m., Upstairs at the Khyber, 56 S. 2nd St., khyberpasspub.com

    Mariah the Scientist plays the Met Philly on Tuesday.

    Tuesday Feb. 24

    Mariah the Scientist

    Mariah Amani Buckles was studying to be a pediatric anesthesiologist at St. John’s University before she dropped out to concentrate on her music full time. Thus, she became Mariah the Scientist! The R&B-hip-hop singer — who is engaged to rapper Young Thug — sings about conflicted love affairs, sometimes to chilling effect, on her fourth album, Hearts Sold Separately, which features a sultry duet with Kali Uchis on the hit “Is It A Crime.” 8 p.m., Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com.

  • CBS kills Stephen Colbert’s interview with a Democratic candidate. So why was Josh Shapiro allowed on the show?

    CBS kills Stephen Colbert’s interview with a Democratic candidate. So why was Josh Shapiro allowed on the show?

    A defiant Stephen Colbert blasted CBS on Monday for killing an interview with a Texas Democrat, blaming arcane rules being enforced by the Trump administration.

    “He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert said of State Rep. James Talarico, who is running in the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas.

    CBS issued a statement claiming they didn’t prohibit him from running an interview.

    “The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico,” the statement read. “The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. The Late Show decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”

    The decision comes down to something known as the equal-time rule, a federal requirement put into law in 1934 that requires broadcast stations like CBS to provide comparable airtime to political opponents during an election. Cable networks like Fox News and Comedy Central, home to The Daily Show, are not bound to those rules, allowing them to be as partisan as they choose.

    News programs on broadcast TV (such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation) are exempt from the rule, and the Federal Communications Commission has not enforced it on late-night shows since 2006, when it ruled then-California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno qualified as a “bona fide news interview.”

    But that is changing under the Trump administration. FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who pressured affiliates to take ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air in September, issued a notice to broadcasters last month stating that late-night and daytime TV talk shows may no longer be exempt from the rule, claiming some were “motivated by partisan purposes.”

    The move was criticized by FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat appointed by former President Joe Biden, who called it “an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech.”

    Colbert said CBS prohibited the interview with Talarico from airing Monday night. Instead, it was posted in its entirety on Colbert’s YouTube channel.

    “At this point, [Carr has] just released a letter that says he’s thinking about doing away with the exemption for broadcast for late night. He hasn’t done away with it yet,” Colbert said. “But my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had.”

    Talarico told Colbert that Trump and Republicans ran against cancel culture during the last election, but now the current administration is “trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read.”

    “And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top,” Talarico said. “Corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians.”

    Bill Carter, who covered late-night television for decades at the New York Times and currently writes for the website LateNighter, called CBS’s capitulation “shameful,” especially since the FCC has not moved yet to enforce the rule.

    “Trump’s intention is to mute free speech of his critics, and he’s found the rule in the FCC and decided he can do this,” Carter said. “And he’s got the broadcasters cowed a bit.”

    “Let’s just call this what it is: Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV,” Colbert added.

    How was Josh Shapiro able to appear on Colbert’s show?

    Governor Josh Shapiro announced his re-election campaign weeks before appearing on Colbert’s show last month.

    Despite the FCC’s threat to crack down on networks, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was able to appear on The Late Show last month, using his time to bash Trump’ immigration crackdown in Minneapolis as “pure evil” and Vice President JD Vance as a “sycophant” and a “suck-up.”

    So why didn’t CBS ban Colbert from airing Shapiro’s interview?

    The FCC’s equal-time rule applies strictly to a “legally qualified candidate for any public office.” Despite announcing his reelection campaign in Philadelphia on Jan. 8, Shapiro did not become an official candidate until Tuesday, when the state’s official filing period opened. It runs through March 10.

    Shapiro was able to appear not only on Colbert’s show, but also on ABC’s daytime talk show The View, which has also found itself a target of the FCC under Carr.

    “I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether The View, and some of these other programs that you have, still qualify as bona fide news programs and therefore are exempt from the equal opportunity regime that Congress has put in place,” Carr said in a September interview with conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings.

    It’s also why U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s forthcoming interview with Colbert is still slated to air on the network Wednesday. While Ossoff (D., Ga.) has announced he is running for reelection in Georgia, the window for candidates to officially file paperwork for their primaries does not open until March 2.

    Neither CBS nor Ossoff’s campaign has commented on the interview.

    The equal-time rule also applies to radio broadcasts, where conservative talk shows are among the most dominant formats and regularly feature Republican candidates for office during election years. Then-candidate Trump did multiple interviews on 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia during the 2024 election.

    Carr has said he does not plan to enforce a stricter equal-time rule on radio stations the way he has for television networks, claiming in a news conference last month there wasn’t a similar bona fide news exemption “being misconstrued on the radio side.”

  • Philly bars open past 2 a.m.? A new push for late-night bars amid FIFA World Cup

    Philly bars open past 2 a.m.? A new push for late-night bars amid FIFA World Cup

    A new push to let Philadelphia bars stay open past 2 a.m. is being mounted by local trade groups and bars as the largest global sporting event arrives in the city in June.

    The Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, which represents restaurants, bars, and other hospitality businesses, wants state lawmakers to create a temporary permit that allows Philadelphia bars to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will come to Philadelphia and 15 other cities in North America from June 11 to July 19.

    “When we’re trying to attract tourists from all over the world to a destination in the United States to enjoy the World Cup, we want to make sure that Philadelphia is offering at least the same amenities as the other host cities,” said Ben Fileccia, senior vice president for strategy for the restaurant and lodging association.

    Many of the most popular U.S. host cities allow bars to serve alcohol past 2 a.m., including New York, Miami, and Kansas City. Other popular international destinations, such as Mexico City and Toronto, also allow it.

    Philadelphia officials did not immediately return a request for comment.

    Any changes to bar closing times would have to come from new legislation, as the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board does not have the authority to change the liquor code to allow bars to sell alcohol after 2 a.m., said PLCB spokesperson Shawn Kelly.

    The crowd cheers and celebrates USA’s first goal against the Netherlands in the World Cup at Brauhaus Schmitz bar in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday Dec. 3, 2022.

    Philly’s chance to prove 4 a.m. closing times work

    Fileccia said this permit would allow bars to take advantage of the estimated 500,000 soccer fans expected to stay in Philadelphia for the six matches being played at Lincoln Financial Field.

    Zek Leeper, co-owner of Founding Fathers sports bar in Southwest Center City, does not see this just as a way to earn more revenue with a surge of tourists coming to Philadelphia.

    “This is our chance to prove that 4 a.m. nightlife can work in Philadelphia. Setting up a temporary license also allows the city and state to pull it back, depending on how it goes,” Leeper said. “With the amount of tourists this year, when is this opportunity going to come up again to justify giving this a try?”

    It doesn’t hurt that an estimated 1.5 million people, including the half million soccer fans, are expected to stay overnight in Philadelphia this summer as the city also hosts America’s 250th celebration and the MLB All-Star Game.

    Leeper and other local bar owners feel confident that the crowds will show up for late-night matches. “We host soccer games from leagues around the world, and those fans are committed. They have consistently shown up whenever the game is on,” Leeper said.

    Steve Maehl (left) of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin laughs as Philly Seagulls President John Fitzpatrick and Dan Peck of Brighton, England (right) look on during the supporter meetup, to kickoff the summer series weekend, at Fadó Irish Pub in Phila., Pa. on Thursday, July 20, 2023.

    Philadelphia soccer fans are already known to work deals with local bars to open as early as 7 a.m. Leeper said upward of 50 people will pack into the bar at sunrise to watch games. While there are no games being played in Philadelphia past 9 p.m. during the World Cup, at least eight of the group stage matches in June will be broadcast on the East Coast starting at midnight or 11 p.m.

    With a 90-minute match, plus halftime and added time, there could be a handful of cases where bartenders have to face down a packed crowd of fans and ask them to leave before the final whistle, Leeper said.

    There’s also the element of international tourists coming from cities that do not have a 2 a.m. cutoff, such as London and Tokyo, leading some visitors to find ways to late-night party outside of licensed establishments, Fileccia said.

    Philly bars were allowed to close later during the 2016 DNC

    Lawmakers allowed bars to stay open until 4 a.m. during the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Bars and restaurants with contracts or association with the convention could apply for $5,000 special-event permits to serve alcohol past 2 a.m.

    Fileccia said the details for a similar permit in 2026 are not available yet, as the effort is just underway. But he and others at PRLA want to bring the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, and other stakeholders to the table to find out the best resolution, he said.

    Fans react to the Eagles play the Chiefs in the NFL Super Bowl LIX, in a bar near Frankford and Cottman Aves., Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Philadelphia.

    Will there be enough interest in late-night partying?

    With millions of tourists in Philadelphia this year for the international and national events, there will be increased foot traffic throughout the city, but will there be a late-night crowd to meet the moment?

    That is the question Chuck Moran, executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverages and Taverns Association, is asking despite his support for temporarily keeping bars open later.

    “The one thing that I’ve been hearing across the state is that ever since COVID, the late-night crowds have left,” Moran said. “There could also be issues with finding staff who want to work till 4 a.m. in a bar.”

    Moran said he would rally behind the cause but would look to other measures to maximize revenue for local restaurants and bars, such as allowing liquor-license holders to operate a “satellite location,” letting them serve liquor at a second establishment under their original license. That would open the door to partnerships with restaurants without liquor licenses, Moran said. State Rep. Pat Gallagher, a Philadelphia Democrat, introduced a bill to do just that last June.

    No legislation on keeping Philly bars open later has been introduced yet, but Fileccia hopes to get the ball rolling with lawmakers in the coming months before the first match in Philly on June 14. Even with the window closing on getting new rules passed, Kelly said the PLCB turned around special-event permits in less than two weeks before the start of the 2016 DNC.

  • Stephen Colbert says CBS blocked interview with Texas Democrat over FCC concerns

    Stephen Colbert says CBS blocked interview with Texas Democrat over FCC concerns

    CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert rebuked his own network Monday night, claiming that lawyers for parent company Paramount Skydance prohibited him from airing an interview with Texas State Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, over concerns it would violate the Federal Communications Commission’s equal time rule.

    “You know who is not one of my guests tonight?” Colbert asked his audience. “That’s Texas state representative James Talarico. He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast.”

    In response, the studio audience booed.

    “Then I was told, in some uncertain terms, that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on,” Colbert continued. “And because my network clearly does not want us to talk about this, let’s talk about this.” A representative for Paramount Skydance did not respond to a request for comment.

    Colbert launched into a segment about the FCC’s equal time rule, which requires broadcasters to provide equal opportunity to political candidates. News and talk show interviews have traditionally been exempt from the mandate. But in January, the FCC, issued a public notice saying that daytime and nighttime talk shows would have to apply for a exemptions to the equal time rule for each of their programs.

    “Importantly, the FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption,” the FCC’s notice read.

    At the time, Anna M. Gomez, the FCC’s lone Democrat, called the notice “misleading” and said nothing has changed about the FCC’s requirements.

    In a statement Tuesday, Gomez wrote that CBS’s decision is an example of “corporate capitulation in the face of this Administration’s broader campaign to censor and control speech” and said that the FCC has “no lawful authority to pressure broadcasters for political purposes.”

    “CBS is fully protected under the First Amendment to determine what interviews it airs, which makes its decision to yield to political pressure all the more disappointing,” she said.

    In a statement Tuesday afternoon, CBS defended itself and pushed back against Colbert’s account.

    “THE LATE SHOW was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico,” a spokesperson for the network said in a statement. “The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. THE LATE SHOW decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”

    Colbert is already on his way out of CBS, set to depart the network in May when his show goes off the air. CBS announced over the summer that it is canceling The Late Show, the long-running talk show once hosted by David Letterman, which it claimed is “purely a financial decision.”

    Led by Chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC in President Donald Trump’s second term has remade itself as a speech enforcer tackling perceived liberal bias in the media industry. Carr’s speech agenda has been marked by investigations of media companies and threats to take action against broadcasters that do not follow rarely enforced FCC rules. He has frequently invoked a little-used “news distortion” policy as justification, a practice condemned by a bipartisan group of former FCC chairs and commissioners in a November letter.

    Following on-air comments in September by ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing, Carr suggested on a podcast that the agency could take action against the network and its parent company Disney, which owns broadcast licenses across the country.

    “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr told conservative podcast host Benny Johnson about Kimmel. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” Carr drew bipartisan criticism for his role in the episode, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) likening him to a cinema mafioso. ABC suspended Kimmel for several days in September.

    Last summer the FCC approved an $8 billion deal for David Ellison’s Skydance to buy CBS parent company Paramount after a series of concessions. Skydance pledged to conduct a review of CBS’s programming and agreed to refrain from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. It also appointed an ombudsman with Republican Party ties to handle claims of bias.

    In July, CBS also settled a lawsuit from Trump, who claimed that a 60 Minutes interview with political rival Kamala Harris was “deceitful” in its editing. Colbert claimed the $16 million settlement was a “big, fat bribe.” The network canceled The Late Show three days later.

    Colbert’s criticism also comes amid another corporate pursuit for Paramount Skydance.

    The company is trying to persuade Warner Bros. Discovery to accept its hostile bid to buy the company rather than sell to Netflix. It’s unclear whether the FCC would have a role in such a deal, even if Paramount is involved, because no broadcast spectrum licenses would be changing hands. Still, any deal of this size would need government approval, probably from Trump’s Justice Department, where antitrust chief Gail Slater just resigned.

    In December, Trump has said he would be “involved” in vetting the Netflix-Warner Bros. deal, which has massive implications for Hollywood, movie theaters and streaming. More recently, Trump backtracked, saying he is “not involved” in the deal.

    Talarico, 36, has been a member of the Texas House of Representatives since 2018 and more recently has been a rising star in the Democratic Party. He is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, which is holding its primary contests on March 3.

    Though Colbert’s interview with Talarico didn’t broadcast over the airwaves, it was made available on YouTube.

    “This is the party that ran against cancel culture,” Talarico told Colbert. “Now they’re trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read. And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture — the kind that comes from the top.”

  • Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ tour is coming to Philly

    Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ tour is coming to Philly

    The Boss is coming back.

    Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band is headed out on the road this spring on its first U.S. tour dates in two years. These will be the band’s first performances since Springsteen made news last month with his anti-ICE protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis.”

    Appropriately enough, the “Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour” begins in Minneapolis on March 31 before making its way to the Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly on May 8.

    The itinerary includes east coast dates in Newark, N.J.; Long Island; Manhattan; and Brooklyn. There are 19 indoor arena shows in all, plus a closing night baseball stadium show in Washington on May 27.

    In a statement accompanying the tour announcement, Springsteen said: “We are living through dark, disturbing and dangerous times, but do not despair — the cavalry is coming! Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will be taking the stage this spring from Minneapolis to California to Texas to Washington, D.C., for the Land of Hope And Dreams American Tour.”

    Springsteen and the E Street Band last played Philadelphia with two shows at Citizens Bank Park in August 2024, and in October of that year he performed solo at the Liacouras Center in at Temple University in support of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

    Tickets for the Philadelphia show go on sale Saturday, Feb. 21, at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.

    Bruce Springsteen releases ICE protest song, ‘Streets of Minneapolis’

    “We will be rocking your town in celebration and in defense of America — American democracy, American freedom, our American Constitution and our sacred American dream — all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C.,” Springsteen said in the statement.

    Last year, the Boss made headlines while on tour in Europe for his pointed comments about the Trump administration, which he called “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous” before performing his patriotic song “Land of Hope and Dreams.”

    Trump responded on Truth Social by calling Springsteen “highly overrated” as well as a “dried out prune of a rocker” and “not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK.”

    Last month, Springsteen wrote “Street of Minneapolis” on the day that Alex Pretti was fatally shot by federal immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis and released it three days later.

    Calling out “King Trump’s private army from the DHS,” Springsteen memorializes “two dead, left to die on snow-filled streets, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.”

    Springsteen performed the song as a guest of former E Street Band member Tom Morello at a benefit in Minneapolis in January. This month, he granted permission to filmmaker Robert Greenwald to use his often-misunderstood 1984 song “Born in the U.S.A.” in a short film of that name. The film tells stories of American citizens that have been targeted by ICE.

    “Everyone, regardless of where you stand or what you believe in, is welcome — so come on out and join the United Free Republic of E Street Nation for an American spring of Rock ‘n’ Rebellion! I’ll see you there!,” Springsteen said in the statement.

    Tickets for the Philadelphia stop of Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hope and Dreams” tour go on sale Feb. 21, 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster. The full tour itinerary is at BruceSpringsteen.net.

  • Frederick Wiseman, documentarian behind the Northeast High-filmed ‘High School,’ dies at 96

    Frederick Wiseman, documentarian behind the Northeast High-filmed ‘High School,’ dies at 96

    Frederick Wiseman, 96, the renowned documentarian who chronicled life at Northeast Philadelphia High School in a 1968 film that caused a yearslong controversy in the city, has died.

    Zipporah Films, a company that has distributed Mr. Wiseman’s films for more than 50 years, confirmed the filmmaker’s death in a statement Monday.

    Known for his direct cinema style, Mr. Wiseman started his career as a law professor at the Boston University Institute of Law and Medicine before turning to film. His lengthy filmography stretches back to 1967 with the release of Titicut Follies, a controversial exposé focused on the treatment of the patient-inmates of Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Massachusetts.

    That film was banned in Massachusetts for more than two decades.

    His follow-up, 1968’s High School, a foundational cinema verite documentary filmed at Northeast High School in Philly between the assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was similarly controversial. In fact, Northeast High leaders found it so incendiary that it did not receive a local premiere until 2001 — 32 years after its initial release — for Mr. Wiseman’s fear of legal action.

    At 75 minutes, High School depicted what viewers at the time saw as a bleak vision of life at Northeast High. Contemporary reviews agreed, with Variety writing that it showed the school taught “little but the dreary values of conformity, [and] blind respect for authority.” Newsweek noted that the film showed “high schools are prisons where the old beat down the young.”

    In one scene, a guidance counselor tells a student they may not be college material. In another, a teacher tells a girl her legs are too fat for a dress she sewed. Another shows a dean shutting down a student who was complaining about unfairly receiving detention.

    As early as mid-1969, Mr. Wiseman refused to make a copy of the film available locally, citing “legal repercussions,” according to Inquirer reports from the time. The Philadelphia Board of Education, meanwhile, declared the documentary “biased” and demanded it be shown to students and faculty.

    High School, however, would not receive its first official local public showing until August 2001, at the Prince Music Theater. About 400 people attended, The Inquirer reported, most of whom were faculty or alumni of Northeast High.

    Five days later, it aired on the PBS series POV Classic.

    “I took him to the annual press tour the year we aired High School and never had a funnier, more incisive companion to compare notes with on the state of cinema,” said Cara Mertes, who was then the executive producer of POV Classic. “He was perpetually young, incredibly smart, and did not suffer fools, and still he was always generous with his time and immense talent as one of America’s greatest chroniclers, in any medium.”

    Ten years before, in 1991, High School was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

    “It is everything you need to know about 1968 middle-class America in microcosm,” Mertes said. “So many scenes and characters have taken on iconic status. It captures the tectonic social shifts happening in the most ordinary of exchanges in the day-to-day of a touchstone of American life: the high school experience.”

    “Wiseman pulled a fast one on Northeast,” said English department head Irene Reiter after seeing the film. “It was a setup to attack the educational system.”

    Former students, however, largely seemed to disagree. Andrea Korman Shapiro, a student featured in a scene in which a vice principal admonishes her for wearing a minidress to prom, called it “accurate.”

    “[It’s] a chronicle of the inner life of people not permitted to speak,” she said.

    Even others who had more positive experiences at the school argued the film’s strengths outweighed its shortcomings. As Marilyn Kleinberg, a 1978 graduate, put it: “It felt real to me, even though I had an excellent experience.”

    Shapiro, meanwhile, said it would be wise to view High School as a “trauma model.”

    “A trauma, if it doesn’t get resolved, gets replayed and reenacted,” she said. “There needs to be some kind of learning to let it go.”

    The year High School debuted in Philadelphia, Mr. Wiseman told Current, a nonprofit news organization associated with American University’s School of Communication, that his concerns about legal action over the film were perhaps overblown.

    “This was soon after the Titicut Follies case, and I didn’t want another lawsuit on my hands,” he said. Possible legal threats, he added, were merely the “vague talk of no one particular individual.”

    In 2016, Mr. Wiseman received an honorary Oscar at the 89th Academy Awards for his “masterful and distinctive documentaries” that “examine the familiar and reveal the unexpected.” Making films, he said in his acceptance speech, presented opportunities to “learn something about a new subject.”

    “The variety and complexity of the human behavior observed in making one of the films, and cumulatively all of the films, is staggering,” Mr. Wiseman said in the speech. “And I think it is as important to document kindness, civility, and generosity of spirit as it is to show cruelty, banality, and indifference.”

    The article has been updated with quotes from Cara Mertes.

  • Jill Scott makes her Tiny Desk Concert debut

    Jilly from Philly is on the Tiny Desk.

    On Friday, Jill Scott released To Whom This May Concern, the North Philly singer and songwriter’s first album in 11 years.

    The 19-track stylistically wide-ranging project touches on jazz, hip-hop, R&B, spoken word, and blues. It features guests including Trombone Shorty, Ab-Soul, JID and Tierra Whack, and is produced by DJ Premier, Adam Blackstone, Andre Harris.

    On Monday, the actress and podcast host celebrated her return to music-making with her first-ever performance on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert series.

    The episode was hyped over the weekend, calling Scott “one of the most requested artists on the Tiny Desk.” And Scott seemed thrilled to finally be at the makeshift performance space in the NPR newsroom in Washington, D.C. The series has had over 1,200 episodes since launching in 2008 and is a key promotional vehicle for artists that attracts over 15 million viewers a month.

    Leading a nine-member ensemble that included three backup singers, a flautist and a trumpet player, Scott said, “I gotta knock the nerves off. I‘m so excited to be here. I thought about you so much. I was like, ‘One day I’m going to be on the Tiny Desk!’”

    Scott led off with her signature song, “A Long Walk,” from her 2004 debut Who Is Jill Scott?: Words and Music Vol. 1 before moving soulfully and effortlessly into the new album’s “Beautiful People.”

    The five-song, 28-minute, set also includes a sensuous sing- and clap-along version of Who Is Jill Scott’s “The Way” and “Cross My Mind” from 2004’s Beautifully Human: Words & Sounds Vol. 2.

    Before To Whom This May Concern’s “Don’t Play,” Scott said she got the idea for the song after going down a TikTok rabbit hole watching videos of women complaining about their male partners’ lovemaking skills and thinking” “Let me be of service.”

    The song then addressed insensitive partners with words of admonition and advice — which she repeated a cappella after the song was finished — such as “Baby, don’t close your eyes, you can see and feel at the same time” and “You ain’t no jackhammer, and I ain’t no city street!”

    This album cover image released by The Orchard shows “To Whom This May Concern” by Jill Scott. (The Orchard/ via AP)
  • It has taken Homer Simpson a very long time to realize that Philadelphia is his kind of town

    It has taken Homer Simpson a very long time to realize that Philadelphia is his kind of town

    (Some spoilers ahead!)

    When The Simpsons writer Christine Nangle got a chance to pen the Philadelphia episode that airs Sunday night, the comedian from Oxford Circle knew it was high stakes — and local audiences would be watching closely.

    “It was a lot of pressure. I was joking like, ‘If they hate it, they’re gonna burn my parents’ house down, and if they love it, they’re gonna burn my parents’ house down,’” Nangle said with a laugh.

    The idea originally came from Simpsons producer Mike Price, who grew up in South Plainfield, N.J., and suggested a visit to Philadelphia as a plot premise to Nangle, knowing she was a native.

    The timing worked out serendipitously: Philadelphia is one of the top tourist destinations this year thanks to America 250 and the show is celebrating its 800th episode to air on FOX. Guest stars from Philly were available, too, including Quinta Brunson, Kevin Bacon, and Questlove.

    Co-executive producer and writer Christine Nangle at “The Simpsons” 800th episode party in Los Angeles.

    Last summer, Nangle and Price brainstormed what could bring their beloved cartoon family to the city and they landed on a nod to the National Dog Show. It was partially inspired by Nangle’s own 11-year-old rescue pit bull, Philby, who had just died. (Nangle got a shoutout in the episode with a competition sponsored by “Philby’s Poop Bags.”)

    Titled “Irrational Treasure,” the episode is a spoof of the 2004 film National Treasure. A group of historians believe that the Simpsons’ family dog, Santa’s Little Helper, is a descendant of Benjamin Franklin’s greyhounds, and holds the key to finding the inventor’s long-lost treasure somewhere in the city.

    Before getting to Philly, Santa’s Little Helper gains weight as Homer (Dan Castellaneta) overfeeds and spoils him. When the dog eats Marge’s (Julie Kavner) ambrosia salad full of toxic grapes, they rush to the emergency veterinarian, voiced by The Pitt star Noah Wyle.

    Marge consults with Adrienne (Brunson), a canine nutritionist and trainer who gets the dog working out to “Far From Over,” the ‘80s track by Frank Stallone (Sylvester’s brother). The pair enroll Santa’s Little Helper in competitions to help build agility, and he soon becomes a winner who can qualify for the big dog show in Philadelphia.

    Adrienne (Quinta Brunson) and Santa’s Little Helper in ‘The Simpsons’ episode “Irrational Treasure.”

    “I basically wrote this [Adrienne] role for Quinta, and she said yes, which is awesome,” said Nangle, who’s a big fan of Brunson’s Philly-set sitcom, Abbott Elementary. “When we recorded it, I said to her, ‘Thank you for saying yes, because I didn’t have a second choice, and I don’t know what I would have done.’”

    Though the whole family wants to go to the show, Marge insists that only she and Santa’s Little Helper attend. But Homer has other plans and he manages to stow away in the trunk for the 18-hour drive.

    Actor Kevin Bacon with “The Simpsons” co-executive producer and writer Christine Nangle and executive producer Mike Price.

    “Philadelphia, my kind of town,” Homer says with reverence. “Throwing ice balls at Santa Claus, climbing greasy street lamps. The city Lenny Dykstra learned to be crazy, where every steak is cheesed and every tush is pushed. Even though I’ve never been, I feel like I was born there and I never left.”

    When they arrive — passing a welcome sign calling the city “The Big Scrapple” — a hotel concierge (Bacon) greets them: “Yo! Welcome to the Hotel Philadelphia. We offer 24-hour room service from our full Boyz to Menu. If you need a wooder or any other jawn just ring the Patti LaBelle and we’ll send a jabroni right up.” (Boyz II Men also contributed their own version of The Simpsons theme song for the episode.)

    The “Fresh Prince suite” in ‘The Simpsons’ Philadelphia episode.

    That legendary Philly accent was essential to his character, and Nangle knew Bacon could do it well. “From [hearing] the first ‘Yo,’ I felt homesick, like, immediately,” she said.

    They stay in the graffiti-covered Fresh Prince suite and Marge soon finds Homer’s list of “Awesome things for me to do in Philadelphia,” from head-butting a local, to a Mare of Easttown tour, to ripping off a piece of Jason Kelce’s beard.

    “How is a dirtbag tour of the city supporting the dog?” Marge asks, exasperated.

    The answer? Distraction tactic. The group of historians, who call themselves H.O.A.G.I.E. Men (Historians of America’s Great Inventors and Enlightened Men), ask Homer to take them to Santa’s Little Helper and he lies, telling them his wife and dog are on a tour of the city.

    Cue tourist montage: Homer eats cheesesteaks at Dalessandro’s, Pat’s, and Geno’s, pizza at Down North, Tastykakes at the Navy Yard factory, and cherry water ice on the Schuylkill in front of Boathouse Row. He takes selfies at the Mütter Museum and the Rocky statue, which appears alongside multiple other bronzes memorializing characters from the boxing franchise like Apollo Creed, Ivan Drago, Mickey, and “Hanging Side of Beef.” Of course they stop at Wawa, too — Nangle always makes sure she stops for a soft pretzel when she visits home.

    Homer (Dan Castellaneta) eats a cheesesteak in South Philly in an upcoming episode of ‘The Simpsons.’

    They head to a Phillies game where the Phanatic gives Homer a noogie, and then to a Flyers game where Gritty beats him up on the ice. The mascots then join the group to drink beers and watch The Roots in concert.

    At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the H.O.A.G.I.E. Men don special glasses to show Homer the invisible greyhound in portraits of Franklin, like the 1816 painting Benjamin Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky, who looks just like Santa’s Little Helper.

    “I didn’t want it to just be tourist spots, I wanted to make it places where actual Philadelphians would go,” said Nangle about selecting which locations to spotlight. “It really feels like a balance, because the show is watched worldwide — I want people to get it, but I also want people who are from the area to appreciate it. And not be mad at me.”

    Homer, Marge, Adrienne, and the dog all reunite at a fictional Colonial Firefighting Museum, where Nangle cameos as a security guard (“Get outta here, ya dirts!” she yells.) Turns out the H.O.A.G.I.E. Men weren’t the only ones looking for the special dog — Adrienne reveals that she, too, seeks Franklin’s treasure and she takes Santa’s Little Helper with her to Betsy Ross’ house to unlock the vault.

    Questlove voices a Segway tour guide in ‘The Simpsons’ episode “Irrational Treasure.”

    Marge finally makes the Rocky reference and shouts “Adrienne!” after the dog chooses the trainer over her. She and Homer chase after them, getting interrupted by a Mummers Parade and Segway tour (led by Questlove) that stops to watch a reenactment of “the Battle of Broad Street, also known as the Super Bowl 52 Riot.”

    In the end, Marge and Homer save Santa’s Little Helper from Adrienne, who winds up jumping after Franklin’s key into a crumbling pit while shouting “Go, Birds!” on the way down.

    Nangle had hoped the episode would’ve aired after a second Super Bowl win for the Eagles this year; instead, she was just happy that the Patriots lost. Out of the dozens of Philly references packed into the episode, her favorite joke is the shot of a beautiful dog park called “Michael Vick Reparation Park.” (The former Eagles quarterback was convicted of dogfighting.)

    “I cannot believe we were allowed to do it,” she said. “Of course, as someone who had a rescue pit bull, it’s an issue that I care a lot about, but it was just so fun.”

    A shot from ‘The Simpsons’ 800th episode showing Gritty, Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), and the Phanatic at a Roots concert. Late Philadelphia journalist Dan McQuade is pictured on the top right.

    Out of all the ways to make the episode authentically Philly, there was one more thing that Nangle and The Simpsons team wanted to do: Give beloved Philly journalist Dan McQuade, who died last month, a spotlight.

    Nangle and McQuade met back in high school and he was a big fan of the show and planned to write about the Philly episode.

    “It’s just so sad that he’s not gonna be able to see this episode,” said Nangle.

    Though it was too late to make it into the broadcast version of the episode, the Disney+ version will show an animated McQuade standing behind the Phanatic in the scene at The Roots concert.

    The “Irrational Treaure” episode of “The Simpsons” airs Sunday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Tonight’s NBA All-Star game has Tyrese Maxey, a new format, and a new TV channel

    Tonight’s NBA All-Star game has Tyrese Maxey, a new format, and a new TV channel

    Give the NBA credit. At least they’re trying.

    For the fourth-straight season, the NBA All-Star Game will have a new format when players take the court Sunday night. This year it’s U.S. players versus the world, a debut perfectly timed with the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

    Like the Olympics, tonight’s All-Star Game will air on NBC, with tipoff at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles expected around 5 p.m. Philly time. The early start time will give NBC plenty to time to air its prime-time Olympics coverage at 8 p.m.

    It’s the first time NBC has aired the All-Star game since 2002, moving over from TNT as part of the league’s 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal that began this season.

    Sixers’ star Tyrese Maxey, fresh off being the first Sixers player to compete in the 3-Point Contest since Kyle Korver in 2005, will make his first-ever All-Star Game start Sunday. He’s the first Sixers guard selected to start an All-Star Game since Hall of Famer Allen Iverson in 2010, and it took an unlikely series of events for Maxey to land in Philly in 2020.

    One notable omission tonight is seven-time All-Star Joel Embiid. Despite a turnaround season, the 2023 MVP didn’t make the cut for this year’s All-Star roster. But at least he’ll have extra time to rest his sore right knee, which forced him out of two consecutive games heading into All-Star weekend.

    “He might not be going to the All-Star Game this weekend, but he’s playing at an All-Star level,” wrote columnist Marcus Hayes.

    Sixers rookie phenom VJ Edgecombe also isn’t playing tonight, but put on a show during the league’s Rising Stars competition Friday night. Edgecombe. who was named the evening’s MVP, won both tournament games for Vince Carter’s team, at one point racking up 10 straight points and sinking a game winner in the two-game mini tournament.

    “I just wanted to go out there and show everyone that I can hoop — regardless of stage,” Edgecombe said.

    Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream this year’s NBA All-Star game:

    What time does the NBA All-Star Game start?

    The Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., the home of the 2026 NBA All-Star Game.

    The 2026 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and will air live on NBC from the Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers.

    The All-Star Game will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming platform. It can also be streamed on all the digital services offering NBC, including Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, or YouTube TV.

    In and around Philadelphia, you can also stream NBC10 for free with a digital antenna, though signal strength will vary by your location.

    Calling his first-ever All-Star Game is 29-year-old Noah Eagle, already one of NBC’s top announcers and the son of veteran play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle. He’ll be joined on the broadcast by former NBA stars turned broadcasters Carmelo Anthony and Reggie Miller.

    Zora Stephenson and Ashley ShahAhmadi will report courtside.

    The new NBA All-Star Game format, explained

    This year’s All-Star Game would more accurately be described as an All-Star tournament.

    Three different squads — USA Stars, USA Stripes, and World — will face off in a round robin series. Each team will play at least two 12-minute games, and the best two will face off in a finale at 7:10 p.m.

    “One of the things that didn’t happen last year, there was not enough basketball in the All-Star Weekend because of the format,” Sam Flood, NBC’s Sports’ president of production, said in a conference call earlier this week. “This game and this All-Star Sunday will have a full 48 minutes. If we’re lucky, we might get some overtime as well, so fun times await.”

    Here’s the full schedule. If all three teams end up tied 1-1, the tiebreaker will be decided by point differential:

    • Game 1: Stars vs. World, 5 p.m.
    • Game 2: Stripes vs. Game 1 winner, 5:55 p.m.
    • Game 3: Stripes vs. Game 1 loser, 6:25 p.m.
    • Game 4: Championship, 7:10 p.m.

    How many people actually watch the NBA All-Star Game?

    Despite lackluster effort and nonexistent defense, million of fans tune in each year to watch the NBA’s top stars face off. But the audience has steadily declined in recent years, much like everything else on TV.

    Last year’s All-Star game, which aired on TNT, averaged 4.72 million viewers. That’s down from 7.614 million viewers from a decade ago, mirroring a trend across all television as more people turn to streaming services.

    Expect a bump in the ratings this year, thanks to the return to broadcast television. Over 13 million viewers tuned in the last time the All-Star game air on NBC, way back in 2002 in Philadelphia. Doubtful we’ll hit that mark this time around, but anything north of 6 million viewers would be welcome news for the league.

    The decline also isn’t exclusive to the NBA. All-Star games across different leagues have lost their allure as well-paid players don’t have much incentive to play hard and cross-conference play is the norm.

    Even the all-powerful NFL has struggled to bring fans back to the Pro Bowl, which a decade ago regularly averaged over 10 million viewers. 2026’s version of the reimagined flag football contest drew just 2 million fans on ESPN, second-lowest in the game’s history behind 2021’s tape-delayed COVID game (1.9 million).

    NBA All-Star game rosters

    USA Stars

    • Scottie Barnes, frontcourt, Toronto Raptors
    • Devin Booker, guard, Phoenix Suns
    • Cade Cunningham, guard, Detroit Pistons
    • Jalen Duren, frontcourt, Detroit Pistons
    • Anthony Edwards, guard, Minnesota Timberwolves
    • Chet Holmgren, frontcourt, Oklahoma City Thunder
    • Jalen Hohnson, frontcourt, Atlanta Hawks
    • Tyrese Maxey, guard, Philadelphia 76ers

    USA Stripes

    • Jaylen Brown, guard, Boston Celtics
    • Jalen Brunson, guard, New York Knicks
    • Kevin Durant, frontcourt, Houston Rockets
    • De’Aaron Fox, guard, San Antonio Spurs (injury replacement for Giannis Antetokounmpo)
    • Brandon Ingram, frontcourt, Toronto Raptors (injury replacement for Steph Curry)
    • LeBron James, frontcourt, Los Angeles Lakers
    • Kawhi Leonard, frontcourt, Los Angeles Clippers
    • Donovan Mitchell, guard, Cleveland Cavaliers
    World
    • Deni Avdija, frontcourt, Portland Trail Blazers
    • Luka Dončić, frontcourt, Los Angeles Lakers
    • Nikola Jokić, frontcourt, Denver Nuggets
    • Jamal Murray, guard, Denver Nuggets
    • Norman Powell, guard, Miami Heat
    • Alperen Senguin, frontcourt, Houston Rockets (injury replacement for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)
    • Pascal Siakam, frontcourt, Indiana Pacers
    • Karl-Anthony Towns, frontcourt, New York Knicks
    • Victor Wembanyama, frontcourt, San Antonio Spurs

    Sixers NBA standings

    Despite two consecutive losses against the Portland Trail Blazers and New York Knicks, the Sixers entered the All-Star break in sixth-place in the Eastern Conference and solidly in a playoff spot one season removed from missing the postseason entirely.

    Now the key is holding onto that spot with 28 games remaining, Embiid still dealing with a sore knee, and the front office appearing to punt on improving the team at the trade deadline.

    Eastern Conference standings

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    Upcoming Sixers TV schedule

    • Hawks at Sixers: Thursday, Feb. 19, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Sixers at Pelicans: Saturday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Sixers at Timberwolves: Sunday, Feb. 22, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Sixers at Pacers: Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Heat at Sixers: Thursday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Sixers at Celtics: Sunday, March 1, 6 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
    • Spurs at Sixers: Tuesday, March 3, 8 p.m. (NBC, 97.5 The Fanatic)
  • Castellanos’ paper goodbye, Philly’s Super Bowl cameo, and a 40-degree heat wave | Weekly Report Card

    Castellanos’ paper goodbye, Philly’s Super Bowl cameo, and a 40-degree heat wave | Weekly Report Card

    Nick Castellanos’ notebook-paper goodbye: B

    It was probably time.

    On Thursday, the Phillies released Nick Castellanos.

    Within hours, he posted a four-page handwritten note on Instagram — wide-ruled loose-leaf paper, photographed, and shared as-is.

    Objectively? That part is funny. In a league of polished PR statements and Notes app screenshots, Castellanos went with visible margins.

    In the note, he finally filled in the blank: “Ok apparently I need to address the Miami incident.”

    For eight months, the “Miami incident” hovered over the franchise without much other information. It was a turning point, but no one outside the clubhouse knew why.

    Now we know his side of the story: After being pulled late in a June game in Miami, he brought a can of Presidente into the dugout and confronted Rob Thomson about what he saw as inconsistent standards. Teammates took the beer before he drank it. He apologized. The next day, his starting streak ended. And after that, the relationship was never the same.

    But still, this ending lands with nostalgia.

    This was the guy who turned tragic news cycles into accidental baseball folklore. The timing of his biggest hits was just uncanny. The day I-95 collapsed, or the day a president was shot at, or the day another dropped out of a race.

    Then there was Liam, and the joy of getting to experience Red October with his son in the stands. Back-to-back postseason multihomer games with his kid watching. Whatever else you thought about Castellanos, those nights felt special.

    He was never boring, and that counts for something.

    Philly still found a way onto the Super Bowl field — even without the Birds: A

    No Eagles. No midnight Broad Street mayhem. No pole-climbing debates.

    And yet … Philly was absolutely on the field.

    While the Birds watched from home, two people with Philly ties were part of one of the most-watched halftime shows in history. One was a literal blade of grass in Bad Bunny’s field-of-dreams spectacle. The other helped dismantle that same stage in under seven minutes.

    Northeast Philadelphia’s Delilah Dee walks through Bad Bunny’s halftime show stage at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, on Feb. 8 2026

    An Eagles fan from Fishtown spent weeks rehearsing in a 50-pound grass suit, keeping the secret, grinding through 12-hour days, then waddling past Pedro Pascal and Cardi B on global television. A Northeast Philly marketing pro manifested her way onto the field crew and helped execute one of the most high-pressure seven-minute turnovers in live entertainment.

    The plant story is peak Philly optimism: “The Eagles didn’t go, so I went for them.” That’s delusional in the best way. That’s Broad Street confidence. The field-team story hits deeper. In a halftime show centered on Latino pride and visibility, a Mayfair native who’s built community through Latin culture here in Philly ends up helping pull off the mechanics of the moment.

    Would it have been better if it were an Eagle-and-Benito Bowl? Obviously. But Philly showed up anyway. Grass suit. Stage crew. Go Birds.

    It hits 40 degrees and Philly declares emotional spring: A-

    Forty degrees.

    That’s it. That’s the temperature.

    And yet across the city, sleeves are rolled up, sunglasses are out, and people are acting like they just survived a polar expedition.

    After the biggest snowfall in a decade and an Arctic stretch that froze the leftovers in place like concrete, 40 degrees feels like a personal apology from the atmosphere.

    People are planning vacations, talking about the Cherry Blossom Festival, and declaring the worst is behind us while carefully sidestepping three-foot snowbanks and skating past frozen crosswalks. Someone said, “It’s gorgeous out,” and meant it sincerely.

    Diane and John Davison (back, right), who met here in 1969, laugh with other attendees at McGillin’s on Feb. 3, 2026. Attendees gathered for a book talk on “Cheers to McGillin’s: Philly’s Oldest Tavern.”

    McGillin’s proves love doesn’t need an algorithm: A

    Happy Valentine’s Day, Philadelphia. While the apps are glitching, and someone you barely know is asking your “intentions,” McGillin’s Old Ale House hosts a reunion for couples who met the old-fashioned way: one bar stool over.

    The 166-year-old pub gathered dozens of couples this month who found love under its low ceilings and tinsel hearts. Some have been married 50-plus years while others are newlyweds who matched over wings and Yuenglings. The upstairs bar looked like a class reunion for romantics.

    In a city that loves to argue about everything, this one’s hard to fight: Proximity still works. (Eye contact and beer don’t hurt, either).

    There’s something deeply comforting about the idea that the most reliable matchmaker in Philly isn’t an app. It’s a place with oak tables, framed liquor licenses from the 1800s, and bartenders who’ve seen it all. At some point, the legend becomes self-fulfilling. If everyone believes McGillin’s is where love happens, eventually it does.

    Pennsylvania watching eagle eggs hatch on a livestream: A

    There is something deeply Pennsylvania about thousands of people spending their morning refreshing a live webcam of a bald eagle nest in an undisclosed Lancaster County tree.

    The content is simple: Just two bald eagles, Lisa and Oliver, sitting on three eggs. And people love it.

    More than 100 live viewers at mid-morning, with nearly 700,000 views last year. The chat section is full of viewers who are emotionally invested in avian domestic life.

    There’s something quietly moving about it. Bald eagles were nearly wiped out here with just eight known active nests in 1990. Now there are more than 300.

    Spring is coming. And until baseball starts, this is what we’ve got.

    FILE – His son, and former heavyweight boxer Marvis Frazier (right), and Rev. Blane Newberry from Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church bless a 12-foot-tall 1,800-pound bronze statue of “Smokin’ Joe” Frazier after it was unveiled Saturday, September 12.2015 at XFinity Live in South Philadelphia.

    Joe Frazier heads to the Art Museum: A

    It’s official: “Smokin’” Joe Frazier is moving to the Art Museum steps.

    The Art Commission voted unanimously to relocate Frazier’s 12-foot bronze statue from the sports complex to the base of the museum steps — the spot Rocky has occupied for two decades. Rocky, meanwhile, is headed back to the top.

    On one level, the move feels overdue. Frazier wasn’t a metaphor. He was a real Philadelphian, an Olympic gold medalist, a heavyweight champion, the man who handed Muhammad Ali his first professional loss. Meanwhile, Rocky, beloved as he is, is a fictional character who may have been inspired in part by Frazier’s life.

    There’s something quietly powerful about visitors encountering Joe first, before heading up top to take a selfie with a myth.

    Yes, there are valid conversations about symbolism, especially in Black History Month, about a real Black champion standing below a fictional white character. The city’s explanation is practical: Frazier’s statue is physically larger and not structurally suited for the top. Rocky’s footprint is smaller and easier to manage up there.

    Logistics matter, but narrative does too, and this move reshapes the narrative. You climb the steps for the movie moment, but you pass the real champion on the way.

    World Cup wants 4 a.m. last call. Philly isn’t sure it even wants 2: B-

    On paper, this is easy. The World Cup is coming, and along with it comes half a million tourists and a global spotlight. Other host cities pour until 4 a.m. Philly shuts it down at 2.

    The pitch is simple: if Brazil and Haiti kick off at 9 p.m., and knockout games can run long, why send thousands of fans back to their hotels when Miami and New York are just getting started?

    The last time Pennsylvania tried this, during the 2016 DNC, the response was tepid, reported Philly Voice. Businesses had to deal with expensive permits and confusing rules, and the result wasn’t exactly a citywide bacchanal. And even now, bar owners quietly admit the late-night crowds aren’t what they used to be.

    There’s also the Philly tension underneath this: We want to be global, but we also want to sleep. Would it be cool to say Philly partied like a World Cup city? Sure.

    But it’s also true that if bars will be pouring until sunrise, at least half the neighborhoods would immediately be on 311, complaining about all the drunk and noisy tourists.