So The Inquirer’s Dugan Arnett, previously of the Boston Globe, went north to investigate. What followed was less a travel story and more a historical audit.
The Battle of Bunker Hill wasn’t actually fought on Bunker Hill. Plymouth Rock probably wasn’t where the Pilgrims first stepped ashore. Paul Revere never completed the ride he’s famous for. Even Ben Franklin’s grave turned out to be a replica. That’s a tough box score.
None of this is to say Boston isn’t one of America’s great historic cities. It is. The Freedom Trail is worth walking, and the city has every right to celebrate its place in the nation’s founding.
But if you’re going to challenge Philadelphia to a history contest, your greatest hits probably shouldn’t come with so many asterisks.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia is just over here with the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and enough actual founding history that Nicolas Cage based an entire movie around stealing it.
Philadelphia didn’t have to make a case for itself; Boston made it.
A young boy runs through the spray from the fountains at LOVE Park on a hot summer day on July 1. Temperatures are expected to break a bit Saturday into Sunday as the heat wave finally moves out of the region.
The Fourth of July heat: D-
If there were ever a week for Philadelphia to catch a break from the weather, this was it.
Philadelphia has spent years preparing for this once-in-a-generation celebration. The city can’t control the weather, but the weather doesn’t particularly care about 250 years of planning.
Hopefully, the forecast proves just pessimistic enough to keep everyone safe without putting too much of a damper on the festivities. Because nobody wants to spend America’s birthday wondering whether it’s too hot to light the grill.
Cam Gorman, 23, of Gilbertsville, Montgomery County, cheers with Philly Sports Guy at the FIFA Fan Festival on June 19 as the USA beats Australia.
To be fair, Boston only ever planned to keep the festival open through the group stage. Meanwhile, we’re still going.
As the tournament moves into the knockout rounds, Philadelphia still has a Fan Festival, another World Cup match, and America’s 250th birthday celebration all packed into the same week.
So for one more week, Philadelphia still feels like the center of the soccer world.
At a Wednesday news conference, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker outlines public safety and transportation plans for the July 4 concert expected to draw thousands to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
If it wasn’t broken: C-
Philadelphia didn’t need to reinvent its Fourth of July celebration.
You can spend years planning a wedding, but you can’t plan for 300 Croatian soccer fans.
A Philadelphia couple stepped outside City Hall for the classic wedding photos last week and instead found themselves in the middle of a sea of red-and-white checkered print, singing and dancing. The celebration quickly became one of the most joyful viral moments of the World Cup.
The funny part is that the newlyweds weren’t the ones who got crashed. They were the ones who accidentally wandered into Croatia’s party.
The fans serenaded the couple, posed for photos, declared them honorary Croatians, and are now trying to raise money to send them to Croatia for a future trip, Billy Penn reported.
It’s hard to imagine a better advertisement for Philadelphia hosting the World Cup.
Last week, Woodmere director William R. Valerio stood in front of six vibrant works in Woodmere’s Charles Knox Smith Hall’s Antonelli Gallery.
Behind him were two works by Philadelphia painters Francis Coates Jones and Thomas Hovenden, both depicting an elderly Black person named Sam, who lived in the Germantown/Chestnut Hill area, enjoying moments in nature. Another work, a Dox Thrash etching of a man holding a banjo, suggests he’s more than an entertainer; he’s also an introspective thinker.
Woodmere director William R. Valerio discusses the “Arc of Promise” exhibition, featuring the work of Philadelphia artists who portray Black people with humanity. A number of the works are from the Civil War era.
Contemporary artist Allan L. Edmond’s lithograph, America’s Bicentennial, features luminaries Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, and Barack Obama alongside scenes of African American struggle and achievement.
What if America in the 19th century — when many of these works were made — embraced Black men’s humanity? Valerio asked, sparking my own questions.
What if we came to terms with how unfair treatment of women, minorities, and immigrants in the past impacted our lives today?
Would America be a different place?
These questions find answers in every nook, cranny, and inch of Woodmere’s “Arc of Promise” exhibit. Each painting, ceramic, map, or mixed media collage speaks to how Philly artists — from the 17th century through today — envisioned the idea of America.
From left to right, “Untitled,” 1874; by Charles V. Brown; Francis Coates Jones; “The Fifteenth Amendment (or Civil Rights), George Bacon Wood, 1875; “Left in Charge,” 1882; Thomas Hovenden, “I’s So Happy,” 1882; Dox Thrash, “Played Out” c. 1937; “American Bicentennial,” Allan L. Edmunds. These photos show the humanity of Black men during an era when art didn’t portray them as such.
But there are also several important works on loan including protest photography by Harvey Finkle and a mixed-media necklace by Teri Hislop, a member of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. Henry Bermudez’s Miss America, completed in 2019, offers a layered vision of America through migration, mythology, and identity. It sits next to sculptor Hiram Powers’ “America,” in which 19th-century America is depicted as a Greek goddess.
There is a lot of pomp, circumstance, and sparkle in this lively retrospective. The must-see gallery, however, is the Schnader Gallery Hall because it includes a pristine collection of refurbished American landscapes by local 19th-century artists Frederic Edwin Church and James Hamilton featuring many a Schuylkill waterfall. Think of this gallery as a place to retreat after a bustling Fourth of July weekend.
“Arc of Promise” takes its name from watercolor artist Jerry Pinkney, a longtime friend of the Woodmere who used the term as a way to speak to an America of unfolding potential, despite its past unequal treatment of Black people, immigrants, and women.
“Arc of Promise” runs through Nov. 2, 2026, Woodmere’s Smith Hall is located at 9201 Germantown Ave.
— Elizabeth Wellington
Actor John Clarence Stewart as the titular character in “Basil Biggs” at the Wilma Theater.
Excavating history with ‘Basil Biggs’
There is something so powerful about seeing someone grapple with their personal experience of American history. As Semiquincentennial fanfare reached a fever pitch in Philadelphia, this workshop of a developing play by actor/playwright Anna Deavere Smith was a deeply moving performance about her great-great-grandfather, Basil Biggs, a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Smith learned of him in an episode of Finding Your Roots; even then, she knew his story was worthy of a play, though she didn’t start writing until a decade later.
Biggs was a veterinarian and farmer in Gettysburg during the Civil War, a free Black man who helped fugitives escape slavery and who buried the tens of thousands of soldiers who died in the war’s bloodiest battle. The Biggs family house still stands today, and Smith visited the grounds, as well as the Adams County Historical Society, while she researched the time period. There was little historical documentation about her family, so this work is narrative speculation, based on her research of the time period, much like groundbreaking scholar Saidiya Hartman’s critical fabulation: In the absence of records about African Americans, visionaries use archival materials to imagine the lives of those largely erased from written memory.
Smith crafted a riveting world that showcased fierce resilience, disarming humor, and profound empathy during a painfully divided time. The story is fueled by original music from actor/violinist Edward W. Hardy. It was an honor to experience one of the earliest presentations of this play, which will likely grow into a major production. It’s the kind of honest work about this nation’s bloody, conflicted history that feels like essential viewing for anyone who calls themself a patriot.
“Basil Biggs” ran June 26-28 at the Wilma Theater as part of ArtPhilly’s What Now: 2026 festival.
— Rosa Cartagena
Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie. The band’s new album is “Livin’ in the U.S.A.”
Romping, stomping, piano-pounding resistance with Low Cut Connie
Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie has stressed that the band’s eighth studio album, whose release is timed to America’s 250th birthday, is an act of resistance.
Shortly after becoming one of the first artists to cancel at the Kennedy Center after the Trump administration’s takeover of the D.C. institution in early 2025, Weiner recorded what became the title song.
As he explains in an explanatory note that accompanies the album, it addresses “the atrocity of ICE, authoritarianism, racism” and led to a full set of songs “about the times we are living through in America 2026.”
But while Weiner’s political stance is unequivocal — “I made this album to say f— you to this regime, to the brutality, and inhumanity of our tech leaders,” he writes — his music is much more subtle.
Many of the titles like “Oh Yeah” and “Get Down” on Livin in the USA are essentially party songs: romping, stomping, piano-pounding, and saxophone-wailing celebrations of diversity and sexuality that aren’t the slightest bit preachy or pedantic.
Singing a gospel of self-liberation, Weiner is accompanied by the touring LCC band, which includes singer Amanda “Rocky” Bullwinkel,” guitarist-sax player Kelsey Cork, and drummer Jarae Lewis. Occasionally, as in the grinding “Human Condition,” the songs are overt in their condemnation of life during Trump time, which he likens to “living in a house of detention.”
But in general, he heeds lessons learned from favorite albums like Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA and Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On. When delivering a heavy message, always keep the groove going and the rock rolling.
“Just because the world is collapsing,” Weiner writes in his Livin album note, “doesn’t mean we can’t go skinny dipping this weekend.” “Can’t Be Wrong” is perhaps the most grabby earworm in a tight, 10-song set whose energy never flags. In that song, the prospect of “gettin’ naked in the afternoon, or maybe later underneath the moon” leads to an obvious conclusion: “Oh babe, you know it can’t be wrong.”
“Livin in the USA” releases July 3
— Dan DeLuca
Remembering LGBTQ+ activists
Resting in peace can also mean resting in pride and power. A new Gayborhood mural provides a tribute that does exactly that.
In Pride, In Power, In Memory is located on the side of Voyeur Nightclub at 1221 James St., a prominent spot amid Philadelphia’s queer nightlife.
The mural is located outside of Voyeur Nightclub in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood.
Painted by artist Santiago Galeas, the mural displays portraits of Gloria Casarez, Michael S. Hinson Jr., Tyrone Smith, Nizah Morris, and Dawn Munro; all LGBTQ+ activists who called Philadelphia home.
Each figure is accompanied by a flower symbolizing the person’s life and identity; Casarez’s portrait is adorned by Mexican marigolds, for example, as a nod to her heritage. The faces were all drawn referencing photos of them looking hopeful and optimistic.
The mural is strikingly bright, with vivid shades of purple and yellow illuminating the portraits.
These trailblazers pursued several kinds of activism in their lives, including AIDS awareness, trans rights, and community organization to rally for queer rights. Without them, the status of Philadelphia’s acceptance of the queer community may have looked completely different today.
“In Pride, In Power, In Memory”is located on the side of Voyeur Nightclub at 1221 James St.
NEW YORK — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where actor Adam Sandler was the surprising officiant at a star-packed ceremony.
The super-secretive buildup to the nuptials culminated when a marquee outside the Midtown Manhattan arena proclaimed “JUST&T MARRIED” once the deed was done.
Taylor Swift fans hold signs outside Madison Square Garden ahead of the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding on Friday.
The couple did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen, instead opting for Swift’s brother to serve as her man of honor and Kelce’s brother, longtime Eagles great Jason Kelce, serving as his best man, Swift’s publicist Tree Paine said in an email.
The bride and groom’s outfits were designed by Christian Dior Haute Couture and its designer Jonathan Anderson with shoes custom-made by Christian Louboutin. She wore Cartier jewelry.
The wedding between the superstar singer and NFL star took place as fans and spectators gathered outside MSG in the blistering heat, eager to be part of the occasion, even though the event was almost entirely hidden.
The long anticipated union of sports and song brought hype to new heights at a venue made more for historic NBA games and bucket-list concerts.
Singer Camila Cabello, actors Hugh Grant, Ethan Hawke, and Jason Sudeikis, and model Karlie Kloss were among those who arrived. Running back Kareem Hunt was among Kelce’s Chiefs teammates in attendance. Seattle Seahawks receiver and recent Super Bowl champ Cooper Kupp, New York Giants receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, NFL announcer Joe Buck, and Jenny Han, author of the The Summer I Turned Pretty series, also entered the arena.
In a culture obsessed with famous couplings, it may be the apex celebrity wedding, with perhaps only royal unions getting more attention. Holding such a ceremony in a huge, iconic space that sits at the center of the U.S. media universe while keeping all the details secret made for a surreal scene, but it was a mix of hype and hush that is not out of character for Swift.
An Associated Press camera outside the arena showed a long line of black SUVs dropping off wedding-goers in tuxedos and evening gowns, surrounded by New Yorkers in shorts and Swifties amassing for the occasion.
Celebrities, athletes, and friends were posting on social media about getting ready or about to leave for a black-tie event, including Brandon Borders, producer of the New Heights podcast starring Kelce and his brother Jason; Beau Allen, a retired defensive lineman for the Eagles; and actress Jessica Chastain.
There was a notable lack of social media posts from guests once they had entered the arena, after reports that phones would not be allowed. Rain began falling soon after the marriage was announced.
Weddings have been a constant subject in Swift’s songs since she was a teenager, and her actually walking the aisle for the first time at age 36 adds to the drama. It would also be a first marriage for the 36-year-old three-time Super Bowl champ Kelce, who could have been one of the jock characters in Swift’s early hits.
Sandler, star of The Wedding Singer and many other hit comedies, can’t have been high on anyone’s betting list for who would marry the couple, though he’s become an increasingly warm and paternal cultural figure with age. The email announcing the marriage described him as “a friend” of the couple. Kelce was one of the many athletes who appeared in Sandler’s recent sequel Happy Gilmore 2.
Outside the arena, some frazzled tourists joked that it was a bad weekend to visit as they navigated strict road and sidewalk closures, but others appeared happy to sneak a peak at the spectacle. Police cut off most access where guests were being dropped off, but a few patrons gathered in nearby businesses and peered out windows.
Diana Warshavsky, who lives in New York, decided to head over to MSG on Friday to celebrate Swift and Kelce’s wedding with fellow Swifties and “send her good vibes.”
“We’re relatively the same age, I’m a year older than her and I just got married this year as well,” Warshavsky said. “I’m just so happy for her.”
The relationship of the pop star and the football player has continued to thrill and fascinate millions around the world — particularly the Swifties, the pop star’s enormous and ardent fan base — ever since the pair first started dating in 2023.
At the Benjamin Franklin look-alike contest at Independence Hall, which was supposed to end early, the crowd enthusiastically shouted, “One more Ben, one more Ben.” Latecomers — men and women dressed like the famed Founding Father — walked through the crowd to the front.
It wasn’t a catwalk, per se, but the Franklin stroll.
Kiya Burgess, 25, was crowned the victor of the Franklin free-for-all.
Elena Jackendoff, 32, a student at Johns Hopkins University studying public health, organized the event.
“You have to make the event you want to see in the world,” she said.
She organized the lookalike on a lark, making the flyers after her last final exam and pasting them across the city. She expected to see a few of her friends, not hundreds of people.
Many of the Franklins — like Kara Peterschmidt, 25; Kyra Feinauer, 25; and Lauren Zwetzig, 24 — didn’t even have to go out to buy a costume. The friend group had hosted a Constitution-themed housewarming a while back and came dressed in the same white wigs and tops.
Asked about the truest Ben Franklin expression, Peterschmidt said, “It’s definitely a mog.”
One of the contestants shows off their legs.Each contestant had to say why they were the best Ben Franklin.Gene Backus (left) and Maria D’Agostino (right) of Anchorage, Alaska take a selfie with Ben Franklin (Gabriel Meyer) of Levittown.Contestants pose for the cameras. Contestants are all smiles in the Ben Franklin lookalike contest.Footwear worn by some of the contestants.Contestants explain why they were the best Ben Franklin.The crowd cheers for the contestants.Mitchell Kramer holds up the arm of contest winner Kiya Burgess of Philadelphia.
For years, I and many others have looked forward to this week in Philadelphia, to be here in the city where our Declaration of Independence was written as our nation marks its 250th anniversary.
But Mother Nature had other plans: She reminded us that we are not as independent as we’d like to think.
Amid a 100-degree-plus heatwave, which was forecasted to continue through Saturday, numerous Seminquincentennial events were canceled. Yet locals and visitors persisted — with that consummate underdog Philadelphia spirit — and found small ways to come together to celebrate our ongoing American experiment.
I first got the feeling things weren’t going to go as planned as I walked the streets while out reporting on the Red, White & Blue To-Do Thursday and noticed something missing — people.
The crowds along the Red, White & Blue To-Do parade route were light and the audiences at WXPN’s music series — which featured 28 musicians playing at 11 historic venues — were even lighter. I was one of a dozen or so people in attendance at the Arch Street Meeting House for a free performance by the legendary poet and recording artist Ursula Rucker.
Students from Dance4Life School of the Arts in Delaware perform during the Red, White, & Blue To-Do Pomp & Parade on Thursday.
Not since the pandemic have I seen the sidewalks of Philadelphia as empty as they were Thursday, especially as the hours passed and the Salute to Service concert with Queen Latifah was canceled on Independence Mall.
To the smart alecks on my social media feeds who responded to my observation with comments like “It’s 100 degrees! Of course they are empty you raging soup fork” — I know it was hot, spork, I was out there.
I don’t blame anyone for not going outside in 103 temps, but that doesn’t mean I can’t feel bad for Philly, for those who did brave the heat, and for the visitors who came here to enjoy the festivities.
And I know it must have been heartbreaking for officials to make the call to cancel Friday’s Salute to Independence Parade, which was to be the country’s largest Semiquincentennial parade featuring more than 240 elements and marching bands from across the country.
Floats that were to be in the Salute to Independence Parade are pulled through Old City.
People planned for years for the 250th. It was supposed to be the biggest week here since Pope Francis’ visit in 2015. We weren’t going to flub this Independence Day celebration up like the Bicentennial; Philly was going to bring it this time.
But this time, it wasn’t our fault. The one factor nobody can control, Mother Nature, decided to control us.
‘Rough and gritty experiences’
In May of 1776 it was so hot in Philadelphia that John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail: “The Affairs of America, are in so critical a State, such great Events are struggling for Birth, that I must not quit this station at this Time. Yet I dread the melting Heats of a Philadelphia Summer, and know not how my frail Constitution will endure it.“
Not only did Adams’ frail constitution endure the heat, which dropped to 76 degrees by July 4, 1776, the other Founding Fathers and the people of this fledgling nation braved far worse to declare this country’s independence and create a new and monumental Constitution. Neither the people nor the product were perfect — and they still aren’t today — but they aspired to be something bigger and better.
The sun sets behind the Philadelphia skyline.
In Philadelphia, we still believe in things bigger than ourselves. Sure, a large majority of the time it’s the Eagles, but not always.
We believe in each other. I see it everyday in small interactions between strangers. We believe in truth, even when it’s painful. I saw it as volunteers put up handwritten signs Thursday to replace the ones removed at the President’s House. And we believe we are capable of big things. I saw it in the planning of our 250th events.
It wasn’t just officials who were invested in the Semiquincentennial, more than 10,000 Philadelphians volunteered to undergo training and be “Phambassadors” for the 250th events and the World Cup. These may be divisive times, but it was clear we, the people, still wanted to come together.
Even after Friday’s parade was canceled, people persisted and came together in informal gatherings, because that’s what we do. Marching bands, color guards, and dance troupes from across the country held informal pop-up performances at air-conditioned locations across the Historic District and colonial reenactors staged an unscheduled parade near the Liberty Bell.
With the Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade cancelled reenactors muster near Independence Hall.
Just because Mother Nature decided to show her hand and remind us who’s boss — which she is totally within her right to do (thanks so much for not hitting us with an astroid!) — doesn’t mean it was all for nothing. We still had those small moments with each other, and while they’re not as flashy as the big ones, in the whole of existence, they’re still pretty unlikely and special too.
I had one of those moments during Rucker’s show at the Arch Street Meeting House. It felt like a gift to be part of such a small audience as I listened to her beautifully explore what it means to be a human and a Philadelphian.
Philly legend and poet Ursula Rucker performs with Miles Orion for a crowd of about a dozen people at the Arch Street Meetinghouse Thursday as part of WXPN’s Red, White & Blue To-Do Music Series.
“At the core I love us,” she said. “We show mutual aid. We don’t judge. We have rough and gritty experiences.”
This heat wave — temperatures were forecast to reach 104 Friday and just short of 100 Saturday, with a 60% chance of storms at night — is one of those rough and gritty experiences Philly will get through. The cancellation of events, while disappointing, is about mutual aid and concern, not just for those who would attend the celebrations, but for those who have to work them too.
Instead of cursing Mother Nature for ruining our big birthday party, maybe Philly and the country can take heed and make a new declaration that we’ll become a leader in reducing factors that lead to global warming.
I know, a girl can dream, but respect and deference to the one thing that truly governs us all seems like a pretty self-evident truth.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce may or may not be getting married this weekend. But the pop singer and Kansas City Chiefs tight end are celebrating their impending nuptials with some philanthropy.
The couple donated $26 million to 20 charities across the United States on Thursday — including one in Swift’s hometown of Reading. Helping Harvest, a food bank that serves “seniors and adults experiencing food insecurity” in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, received $1 million from the couple.
The donation was unexpected, Helping Harvest said in a statement on Thursday, but greatly appreciated.
“The $1 million that Ms. Swift and Mr. Kelce donated to us today will be used and the impact will be exponential in allowing us to rescue more food from waste and provide more food to people in need,” Helping Harvest president Jay Worrall said to The Inquirer. “[Swift] has done the people in her home community a great service, and we thank her for it.”
Taylor Swift performs during the first of three Eras Tour performances at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Friday, May 12, 2023. .
Swift has a history of donating to food banks, particularly when on tour. During the “Eras Tour” in 2023, Swift donated to Three Square Food Bank in southern Nevada, Food Lifeline in Seattle, and Second Harvest of Silicon Valley in San Jose, Calif., among others.
One of Helping Harvest’s largest expenses is its infrastructure, such as cold storage and refrigerated trucks for food distribution. The donation, Worrall said, would likely be invested in additional trucking or warehouse space that would allow them to store more food.
“There have been substantial reductions in federal resources for food banks over the past few years, compounded by the reductions to the SNAP programs that are being enacted right now,” he said. “The state has tried to step up in some ways, but the increase in state funding has been modest compared to the reductions in federal funding.”
Last year, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration invested $459,000 in Helping Harvest’s new community kitchen, which provides culinary training and is where meals are prepared for people in need.
In the last two years, Helping Harvest’s federal funding has decreased by a little over a third. The organization received $2,687,166 in grants awarded under federal programs, compared to $4,240,293 in 2024, according to a recent audit for the 2025 fiscal year. The organization anticipates distributing over 14 million pounds of food this year, up 3 million pounds from 2024.
A spokesperson for Swift did not immediately respond to The Inquirer’s request for comment about the donation to Helping Harvest.
While there has been no confirmation from the couple, Swift and Kelce are reportedly tying the knot on Friday at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, where Swift was most recently seen cheering on New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.
Celebrity news publication Page Six released a video of large Sysco-branded boxes of food being brought into the venue, including lobster meat, french fries, andchicken. The Associated Press has reportedly obtained a copy of a city permit for a “special event” taking place at the venue on Friday night.
The article has been updated to include details about Swift and Kelce’s reported wedding. Staff writer Beatrice Forman contributed to this article.
Bill Wine, 81, of Philadelphia, three-time Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award-winning film and TV critic, retired tenured associate professor of TV and film at La Salle University, onetime freelance TV critic for the Daily News, freelance writer, playwright, and popular lecturer, died Sunday, June 14, of complications from Parkinson’s disease at his home in Chestnut Hill.
The son of two part-time amateur actors and a lifelong devotee of theater, film, TV, writing, and teaching, Mr. Wine was a film critic for WTXF-TV, Channel 29, for 12 years and KYW radio for 17 years. Known for his pithy, witty, and often acerbic reviews, and a breezy conversational style of writing, he worked at Channel 29 from 1990 to 2002 and KYW from 2001 to 2018.
“Bill Wine was a character out of a Neil Simon comedy, more Oscar than Felix,” said Carrie Rickey, former Inquirer movie critic. “You didn’t have to wait long for the punchline.”
Mr. Wine’s film reviews on Channel 29 were often funny and entertaining.
At Channel 29, Mr. Wine was nominated for eight regional Emmy Awards for commentary and writing, and won three. He appeared regularly on the station’s Ten O’Clock News, in primetime movie preview and review programs, and later on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on Good Day Philadelphia.
By 1990, he had already written hundreds of freelance film reviews for the Daily News and Courier-Post, done radio reviews for WPEN, and taught a variety of classes about film and writing for a decade at La Salle. So, despite no previous TV experience, he was hired at Channel 29 over 60 other film critic applicants.
“I had never been on TV, but I wasn’t nervous,” he told the Daily News in 2001, “because I had been standing in front of 100 students for 10 years.”
Mr. Wine worked at at WTXF-TV, Channel 29, for 12 years.
He started at KYW radio in 2001 and usually aired reviews and reports on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Sometimes, he watched three movies in one day. He left Channel 29 in 2002 and KYW in 2018 only after both companies eliminated their local film critic position.
“When I started [writing film reviews], it was before the internet,” he told The Inquirer in 2018. “A lot of people [now] feel like, ‘Who the heck is a movie critic to come on in a minute and to dismiss something that took hundreds of people and millions of dollars to create?’”
In the 1970s and ‘80s, he wrote articles and reviewed films, TV shows, books, and plays for WPEN, The Inquirer, Courier-Post, Philadelphia Magazine, and other outlets. In 1975, he wrote dozens of freelance TV columns called “On the Air” for the Daily News.
Mr. Wine wrote dozens of columns as a freelance TV critic for the Daily News in 1975.
He spent three years in California in the 1970s working on plays and film and TV scripts. He hobnobbed with famous writers, producers, and actors in Los Angeles, staged one of his own plays, and was a winning contestant on a new TV game show.
He wrote 11 plays over the years, and several made it to the stage. “Now the people who disagree with my reviews can come and find out if I’m as dumb as they think I am,” he told The Inquirer in 2002.
He aired reviews on WIP radio and lectured often at libraries, schools, community centers, theaters, and other venues about his favorite films, adapting books to film, and other topics.“He could be wickedly funny, especially when delivering a pan of a movie,” his family said in a tribute. “One of his favorite quotes was: ‘I had a bad seat. It was facing the screen.’”
Mr. Wine was a prolific playwright who enjoyed table readings with family and friends.
Mr. Wine earned a bachelor’s degree in math at Drexel University and a master’s degree in communications at Temple University. He helped design La Salle’s nascent Communication Department in the 1980s, and school officials called him one of their “Founding Fathers.” He also taught briefly at Drexel, and came close to earning a doctorate at Temple.
In 2001, he was featured in a Daily News story about “celebrity professors” and said: “You have to remind yourself that this is television, not the classroom. You mention, say, ‘film noir’ on TV, and you get a memo.”
William David Wine was born June 21, 1944, in Germantown. He grew up in West Oak Lane and Cherry Hill, attended Central High School, and graduated from the old Cherry Hill High School.
A story and this photo of Mr. Wine about his time as a professor at La Salle appeared in the Daily News in 2001.
As a boy, he devoured newspaper movie reviews and fell in love with film after seeing Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller Rear Window. He got positive reviews of his own freelance movie review when he was at Temple, and he knew then, he said later, that writing about movies was his creative niche.
He married Dina Lichtman, and they divorced later. He married Suzanne Monsalud in 1981, and they had daughters Simone and Paulina, and lived in Germantown, Wyncote, and Chestnut Hill.
Mr. Wine and his wife, Suzanne, married in 1981.
Together, Mr. Wine and his family traveled to Paris and London, and he and his wife honeymooned in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He doted on his daughters and sometimes took them to his La Salle classroom, the Channel 29 TV set, and movie screenings.
Friends, former colleagues, and former students called him “a force of nature,” “smart and gifted,” and “a rare combination of kindness, professionalism, and humor.” His daughter Simone said: “His humor, warmth, and presence made life brighter.”
Mr. Wine played tennis, third base on adult softball teams, and pickup basketball into his 70s. He followed the Phillies, 76ers, and Eagles closely, and hit tennis balls with Hall of Famer Rod Laver at a publicity event in Los Angeles.
Mr. Wine and his family made memorable trips to Paris, London, and elsewhere.
“He was a wonderful father and a dedicated teacher,” his wife said. “He was a real Philadelphian, and we complemented each other.”
His daughter Paulina said: “Dad, I think you cracked the code. We’ll see you at the movies.”
Editor’s note: This story contains spoilers for season one of “Task.”
The cast and crew of the HBO crime drama Task will descend on Manayunk next week to begin filming Season 2, according to notices posted around the neighborhood and on a local Facebook group.
The company Random Productions wrote that filming is scheduled for July 7-9, when certain streets will be closed to accommodate trailers, equipment vehicles, cast, and crew members. Parking restrictions, however, will begin earlier on specific blocks, starting Sunday, July 5.
“We will try to keep these closures as minimal as possible and will not prevent residents from accessing driveways or parking lots,” the notices state.
Actors Tom Pelphrey (left) and Mark Ruffalo, from HBO’s “Task,” do interviews before the Philadelphia Eagles game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Philadelphia.
What fans need to know
The Mark Ruffalo-led series from Mare of Easttown creator and Berwyn resident Brad Ingelsby will again center on the dogged and empathetic FBI agent Tom Brandis, this time as he spearheads a new task force where, as the logline reads, “the deeper the operation runs, the harder it is to tell who’s the target.”
Brandis’ rival this season will be Philadelphia DEA agent Eddie Barnes, played by Mahershala Ali, the Oscar winner who starred in Moonlight, Green Book, and the 2019 HBO crime show True Detective. (Season 1 saw Brandis face off against robber Robbie Prendergrast, played to critical acclaim by Ozark actor Tom Pelphrey, who grew up in Howell Township, N.J.)
Joining Ali as fellow DEA agents are Pillion and Harry Potter actor Henry Melling, who will play a hothead named Brennan Boylan; The Assassination of Gianni Versace star Edgar Ramirez, cast as second-in-command Miguel Contreras, described as a “devoted family man … torn between duty and guilt”; and Star City actor Adam Nagaitis, playing loyal agent Luke Clemmons.
On the FBI side, 1923 actor Aminah Nieves will play Nataly Zamora, who Deadline described as “a no-nonsense FBI agent and dedicated young mother who fights hard to protect the community that raised her.”
It’s not yet clear whether other cast members from Season 1 will return. That includes Silvia Dionicio and Phoebe Fox, who played Brandis’ daughters, and Andrew Russel, their incarcerated brother who killed their mother accidentally during a schizophrenic episode. The emotional and bittersweet finale concluded with Brandis testifying at his son’s trial and affirming that he would be welcome home whenever he’s released.
Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) hugs his family after his son Ethan’s parole hearing in the “Task” finale.
Season 1 received millions of viewers — and, of course, a strong Philadelphia following — with the finale alone reaching an audience of 4 million in the U.S. within three days of airing. HBO has said that Task was one of its “top three fastest-growing, debut seasons.” Viewership overall outpaced Ingelsby’s Emmy-winning Mare of Easttown, which broke HBO viewership records in 2021 and may return for a second season. (It’s likely that Task, too, will receive Emmy Awards attention when nominations are announced July 8.)
Returning to Task behind the scenes are South Philadelphia native Jeremiah Zagar, who was a director and executive producer on Season 1; the son of late Philadelphia mosaicist Isaiah Zagar will serve as executive producer. Ruffalo will again executive produce the show, alongside Ingelsby and others, including Mare of Easttown executive producer Mark Roybal.
The first season of Taskfilmed in and around Philadelphia, including Delaware, Montgomery, and Chester Counties, and further out into rural Pennsylvania. Creator Inglesby has proudly said that the show is a Delco story, and his team aims for authentic portrayals of the region, down to the signature Delco accent.
Part of that effort means hiring local crews and background actors. In Season 1, the production hired 777 Pennsylvanians as cast and crew for 177 days, investing $230 million in the regional economy.
Actor Mark Ruffalo (right in black suit) shoots for the HBO series ‘Task’ at the Delaware County Government Center and Courthouse on June 17, 2024.
Last fall, Task received a record-breaking $49.8 million tax credit from Pennsylvania, the highest amount the state has ever granted a single production. HBO estimates that Season 2 will bring some 3,700 jobs to the state and the studio expects to invest an estimated $194.1 million in Pennsylvania’s economy as it pays for local crews and hotel accommodations, among other expenses.
Kensington-based casting agency Heery Loftus has led local casting efforts for the show, most recently announcing a call for “Latino men who can portray organized crime figures” and “men and women of all ethnicities who can portray law enforcement personnel.”
A premiere date for Season 2 has not yet been announced.
“Task” showrunner Brad Ingelsby and star Mark Ruffalo on set.
What Manayunk residents need to know
Per two notices from Random Productions, “No Parking” signs will be posted on these streets during these dates:
Sunday, July 5 at 6 p.m. to Wednesday, July 8 at 11 p.m.:
Cresson Street between Cotton Street and Gay Street
Monday, July 6 at 6 p.m. to Wednesday, July 8 at 11 p.m.:
Grape Street between Silverwood Street and Cresson Street
Levering Street between Cresson Street and Silverwood Street
Cotton Street between Cresson Street and Main Street
Main Street between Cotton Street and Levering Street
Grape Street between Main Street and Cresson Street
Levering Street between Main Street and Cresson Street
Wednesday, July 8 at 6 p.m. to Thursday, July 9 at 10 p.m.:
Dupont Street between High Street and Smick Street
Baker Street between Dupont Street and Green Lane
Baker Street between Dupont Street and Mallory Street
These streets will be closed during these dates and approximate times:
Tuesday, July 7 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Wednesday, July 8 from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.:
Grape Street between Silverwood Street and Cresson Street
Cresson Street between Cotton Street and Gay Street
Thursday, July 9 from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.:
Dupont Street between Smick Street and High Street
Please note: This breakdown of parking restrictions and street closures may not be comprehensive as the company released multiple neighborhood notices.
Some donors who intended to give money to a bipartisan effort to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary were, instead, steered to a White House-backed initiative under false pretenses, House Democrats allege in a report released Thursday morning, citing whistleblower interviews and newly obtained documents.
The donors meant to give money to America250, a congressionally chartered initiative to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial, according to Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee. They instead were given routing and account numbers that directed their funds to Freedom 250, which President Donald Trump established last year to organize anniversary events, the report says.
The report does not identify the donors. In interviews, Democrats said they needed to protect the identity of whistleblowers who worked with the panel. But they said their report — which includes other allegations of Freedom 250 officials and allies explicitly steering money away from America250 and toward projects shaped by Trump — shows how the president transformed a bipartisan celebration of the nation’s anniversary into an initiative that benefited him and his allies.
“I’m a lawyer, and I know better than to pronounce that a crime has been committed,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D., Calif.), who oversaw the report as the committee’s top Democrat. “But I do know the elements of fraud, and there is evidence of all those elements here.”
The White House referred questions to Freedom 250, which denied that donors had been misled by its fundraising activities and criticized Democrats for the timing of their report.
“This so-called ‘report’ is nothing more than a partisan smear from politicians who would rather manufacture division than celebrate America’s 250th birthday alongside the rest of the country,” Freedom 250 spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.
Alvarez also criticized America250, saying that the bipartisan organization — which Congress established in 2016 — “had nothing to show” for its 10 years of planning and spending.
“Freedom 250 was created because the American people deserved better,” Alvarez said.
America250 declined to comment on the specific allegations in Democrats’ report.
“America250 will continue to focus on the values-based programming approved by our bipartisan Commission at the local, state, national and international levels, including once-in-a-lifetime celebratory moments during the 4th of July weekend,” Rosie Rios, who chairs America250, said in a statement. “We are supportive of the many other organizations planning events for the 250th at the federal, state and local level, so all Americans have ample opportunities to join in the celebration.”
Trump has extolled Freedom 250 in public remarks, saying that the initiative has organized multiple special events. The public-private partnership, which the White House launched in December, has overseen a flurry of high-profile announcements, including some from the Oval Office.
“We’ll have a Freedom 250 Grand Prix right here in Washington around the Capitol,” the president said last week in remarks kicking off the Great American State Fair on the National Mall — another Freedom 250-backed event.
The Trump-backed initiative has overtaken some efforts led by America250, which is directed by a bipartisan board created by Congress a decade ago.
America250 originally applied for and received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for so-called Freedom Trucks, mobile museums inspired by the American Freedom Train that crisscrossed the country from 1975-1976. The institute is a federal agency that provides financial support for museums and libraries.
Officials have said the grant was later voluntarily transferred to Freedom 250, which is now operating Freedom Trucks that provide a sanitized version of the nation’s founding, according to administration critics.
America250 officials have said they reoriented their initiative to organize events outside Washington, while Freedom 250 focuses on events in the nation’s capital. But the dueling organizations and approaches have confused some corporate leaders and lawmakers, and tensions between the groups have grown, the Washington Post reported earlier this year.
The Democratic lawmakers’ report offers further examples of how the two groups have come into conflict.
Some donors and sponsors interested in donating to America250 were told by the Trump administration that they lacked a “green light” to do so, according to the Democrats. The report also claims that administration officials pressured donors to redirect donations from the bipartisan effort to Freedom 250, with the Trump-backed group conducting outreach to America250 sponsors with donation requests.
Some corporate executives did not understand the difference between the two organizations and were confused by this process, the report says.
Freedom 250 officials also worked to deprive America250 of money, the Democrats charge, citing new examples of Trump allies pressuring donors to reallocate funds away from the bipartisan initiative. They also allege that Trump allies worked to shift public financial support away from America250, including $75 million of congressionally allocated funds that America250 leaders were expecting to receive. The remaining funds are likely to be kept by the White House, the report says.
The reduced funding posed challenges for America250 to execute planned programming, according to the report, including grants, educational initiatives, and volunteer programs. Redirected federal funding created “significant headwinds” for this programming, the Democrats said, though the group still sought to execute all planned events through additional private fundraising.
Though America250 is still organizing anniversary celebrations in large cities across the country, its programming has been overshadowed by that of Freedom 250. The Trump-backed group helped organize last month’s UFC fight on the White House lawn, this week’s opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota, and a Trump rally and fireworks show scheduled for the evening of Independence Day.
Freedom 250 also employs many former U.S. DOGE Service officials and harvested users’ data for political purposes, according to the report.
Huffman said that if Democrats retake the House this fall — and obtain the power to issue subpoenas — they will open broader investigations into Freedom 250.
“If and when we have more tools at our disposal to do investigation and oversight, perhaps in the next Congress you will see a lot more information on this, I’m sure,” he said.
Fireworks rise, shortly after midnight, from behind the Art Museum during the New Year’s Eve concert and fireworks display, at the Oval on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026. The event, featuring LL COOL J, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Adam Blackstone, hard rockers Dorothy, and Technician The DJ was a first for the City of Philadelphia and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.
As the nation marks its 250th anniversary, Philadelphia and the surrounding region are packed with celebrations, concerts, and fireworks displays.
Arts intern Morgan Ritter rounded up the best places to watch fireworks across Philadelphia, the suburbs, South Jersey, and the Shore, while I have everything you need to know before heading to the city’s free July 4 concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
This year’s One Philly: Unity Concert for America features Christina Aguilera, Jill Scott, Will Smith, Meek Mill, The Roots, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Seal, and more before the city’s official fireworks spectacular.
The interior of the First Bank of the United States is pictured on Monday, June 29, 2026 in Philadelphia. The bank reopens this week following a $27 million restoration project.
💸 Cha-ching!: Before the New York Stock Exchange was established, Philadelphia was the financial capital of the nation. This week, you can explore that history with the reopening of the First Bank of the United States. It’s open to the public for the first time in 50 years.
🖼️ A revolutionary time: Stop by the Museum of the American Revolution for guided gallery tours, reenactment performances, printmaking demos, and other fun activities through Sunday.
🎸 The sounds of freedom: Imagine Benjamin Franklin fronting a rock revolution. That’s the premise of The Sound of America, an electrifying musical that features 23 original songs, a walking tour, and a special remote cameo by Sir Roger Daltrey.
The biggest America 250 events from now through Independence Day
Members of the The Mattatuck Drum Band participate in the Salute to America Independence Day Parade, at Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, on the 4th of July, 2019. JESSICA GRIFFIN / Staff Photographer
The city has already been buzzing with activity this summer, and it’s about to get even busier for America’s 250th birthday.
Mr. Edison, the new restaurant at the Bellevue from Jeffrey Chodorow, in Philadelphia, June 23, 2026.
📽️ Latino film on display: A celebration of Latino filmmakers and creatives continues through Sunday, as part of the annual Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival. The event, now in its 15th year, includes a lineup of feature films, documentaries, shorts, online series, and more visual projects.
🎭 Dear, theater lovers: Sunday is your last chance to catch the six-time Tony Award winner, Dear Evan Hansen, at Arden Theater. Grab tickets while they last, or miss out on this emotional story about an anxious high schooler forced to confront a harrowing lie.
🍸 New restaurant opening at the Bellevue: Thomas Edison designed the original lighting inside the Bellevue, so it’s only fitting that the hotel’s newest culinary offering honors the inventor. The newly opened supper club-inspired restaurant, Mr. Edison, is worth exploring.
🥊 Philly’s true heavyweight champion: While fictional boxer Rocky Balboa has three statues in his honor, Philadelphia’s true undisputed heavyweight champion is finally getting his just due. A 12-foot bronze statue of boxing legend Joe Frazier was unveiled at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Staffer picks
Here’s a list of the best concerts happening this week.
Christina Aguilera performs “Cuando Me De la Gana” at the 23rd annual Latin Grammy Awards at the Mandalay Bay Michelob Ultra Arena on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
🎸 Thursday: Just before the July 4 weekend festivities kick into full gear, Old City will host the Red, White & Blue Music Series that includes 28 local bands and groups spread across 11 museums.
🎷 Friday: Saxophonist Ikechi Onyenaka will lead the Friday Night Jazz Series at Spruce Street Harbor Park.
🎤 Saturday: The One Philly: United Concert for America will be a star-studded affair, featuring performances from Christina Aguilera, Jill Scott, Will Smith, Meek Mill and other notable stars.
🎸 Sunday: Paul Simon is bringing his “A Quiet Celebration” tour to the TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann to close out the celebratory weekend.
❓Pop quiz
What year did the first Independence Day celebration take place in Philadelphia?
a) July 4, 1776?
b) July 4, 1777?
c) July 4, 1780?
d) July 4, 1781?
Here’s the answer to last week’s question: When did the Lit Brothers building first open? Answer:1871
Ask Earl anything
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Many of you have questions about each week’s listings, and others about Philly’s arts, culture, and entertainment scene.
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Alright, folks! That’s all for this week’s edition of Things to Do. And if you couldn’t tell, it’s a celebratory moment — not only for the city, but for the nation. Enjoy this historical moment to the fullest.
