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  • How Shane Blakeney went from deep reserve to Drexel’s leading scorer

    How Shane Blakeney went from deep reserve to Drexel’s leading scorer

    As an incoming freshman at Drexel, Shane Blakeney showcased his potential halfway across the world.

    In the summer of 2022, Drexel played a mix of professional and club teams in Italy as part of an international tournament. In one of those games, Dragons center Garfield Turner found himself under the rim to grab an easy put-back shot. Then, a lengthy freshman swooped in.

    “Out of nowhere, I just see this long arm come behind me and just punch it [in],” Turner said, laughing. “We were joking about that for a little bit. It was his first time Shane dunked on somebody in college.”

    Now, the 6-foot-5, 200 pound junior is leading Drexel (16-14, 10-7 CAA) with a team-high 14.5 points per game, while spearheading the Dragons defense. Drexel is allowing the fewest points per game (65.1) in the conference, and Blakeney has come away with 22 blocks and 35 steals.

    Drexel guard Shane Blakeney is averaging a team-high 14.5 points this season.

    When he first arrived on campus, the guard was 25 pounds lighter. He struggled to get on the court due to his slender frame and had a few lingering injuries, so he was granted a redshirt year.

    “Between high school and college, I went through some injuries, which was rough and kind of put me out of touch with basketball,” Blakeney said. “I hadn’t [gone] a year without basketball ever since I started, so I think transitioning back in that redshirt freshman year was difficult.”

    Coach Zach Spiker added: “He’s playing 38 minutes a night. A guy that wasn’t able to physically get on the floor. Now we can’t get him off.”

    ‘Committed to the work’

    Growing up in Rock Hill, S.C., Blakeney’s parents introduced him to several sports. He played soccer and football — attempted baseball, though he “wasn’t a big fan” — and swam competitively.

    However, basketball was the sport with which his family was most connected.

    Blakeney’s uncle, Charles Kirkland, was a standout at Cheyney University and played professionally in the Netherlands for nearly a decade. His cousin is Jazian Gortman, a former five-star recruit in the Overtime Elite League who played on the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder’s G League affiliates.

    Is Drexel a sneaky NCAA Tournament contender? A big final month will tell the tale.

    At 7, Blakeney started practicing with Bobby “ICE” Isom, a South Carolina-based basketball trainer, and stayed with him throughout high school. When Drexel is on a break, Blakeney will drop by to work with Isom.

    “[Blakeney] was committed to the work and never complained about it either,” Isom said. “I knew he was going to be a special talent at a young age.”

    Blakeney started AAU basketball in third grade, and at age 15 jumped to Upward Stars Southeast, a premier travel team on the Adidas Circuit. There, he met Dylan Williams, now a 5-11 senior guard at Penn.

    Penn’s Dylan Williams and Drexel’s Shane Blakeney played AAU basketball together in South Carolina.

    When Williams was looking to transfer to Penn from Triton College in 2023, his former teammate was one of the first peoplehe called.

    “The Shane then is a different type of build [compared to] now,” Williams said. “He’s more cut, taller, way taller. … We were like the same height [then] because I really haven’t grown since.”

    Isom added: “I think encouragement was what [Blakeney] needed most while he was a scrawny, short kid heading into high school, trying to find his way in the world of basketball.”

    At Legion Collegiate Academy, Blakeney played four years on varsity and surpassed 1,000 career points.

    “South Carolina [basketball] is pretty similar to Philly,” Blakeney said. “I would say probably a little bit more skilled, but toughness wise, you got a lot of athletes down south that bump and bang. They all play football. It’s physical, and if you can’t be physical, you won’t really last.”

    Malik Rose and Bill Herrion turned Drexel into an NCAA Tournament team. Now they’re in the Dragons’ Hall of Fame.

    Spiker also has the same mentality. During a high school practice that college coaches came to visit, Blakeney slugged at the back of sprint lines. The Drexel coach took notice.

    “[Spiker] pulled me into the office afterward and kind of chewed me out,” Blakeney said. “A lot of the people would be like, ‘Oh, this coach is tripping.’ But our family was like, ‘Hold on, this is our values.’”

    ‘Never a dull moment’

    Turner nicknamed Blakeney “motor mouth” because he’s always talking.

    Drexel guard Kevon Vanderhorst described his teammate as a “hilarious dude,” saying there is “never a dull moment with him.” While Spiker believes Blakeney’s personality is “refreshing and genuine.”

    “I think I’m more of a bubbly personality than maybe some other teammates,” Blakeney said. “I like seeing that side come out of them. Talking, having fun, laughing is kind of what life’s experiences are about. … I’ve always been kind of a silly guy, so I had to learn to tone it down in class growing up.”

    On the court, Blakeney is no joke.

    “There’s two different people on the court and off the court,” said Vanderhorst. “I’d say off the court, Shane is funny, he’s very outgoing. On the court, Shane is straight business. Not a guy with a lot of jokes, and not a guy that’s going to take a lot of jokes.”

    Blakeney has emerged on Drexel’s roster. He cracked the rotation in 2023, averaging 5.5 minutes. Then, he stepped into the team’s sixth man role, notching an average of 7.6 points last season.

    “I had to learn to start taking a role of support and doing what you need to do to win,” Blakeney said. “And you don’t do that in high school. High school, you’re the man everybody loves. You go score points and look cool.”

    Drexel starts slow and can’t keep pace with Monmouth

    Now the leader, Blakeney will be expected to carry his team in the conference tournament. Drexel will visit Hofstra on Tuesday (7 p.m., Fubo) in the final game of the regular season. The Dragons are in fourth place in the CAA, and if they can stay in the top four, they will receive a bye in the 13-team tournament.

    “Just seeing the work [Blakeney’s] put in, seeing his growth since we’ve been here, little skinny Shane when we first got here to now our top scorer — it’s great,” Turner said.

  • White House fakes comments by Trump supporter Brady Tkachuk as Team USA controversy lingers

    White House fakes comments by Trump supporter Brady Tkachuk as Team USA controversy lingers

    After a week or so of abusing the clueless 20-somethings for serving as Donald Trump’s latest dupes, it only seems fair to credit the few USA hockey lads for their reluctant mea culpas.

    Several of the players who were involved in the debauched postgame celebration with debased FBI director Kash Patel that devolved into a misogynistic phone call with President Trump have issued a range of regrets in the past few days.

    Good for them, I guess.

    Maybe they’ll think twice next time before laughing about women — in this instance, their Olympic gold-medal counterparts, and the best women’s team ever assembled — being treated as their inferiors.

    Maybe.

    In his congratulatory call after a golden goal win over Canada on Sunday (a call he did not make to the women’s team three days earlier), Trump invited the men to the White House, then said, “We’re going to have to bring the woman’s team. You do know that?” Otherwise, Trump said, “I do believe I probably would be impeached.”

    The men laughed.

    The public raged.

    Count me among the angry masses.

    I took my shots at Team USA midweek, when I noted that any random group of young, white, millionaire American males are more likely than not to agree with Trump, and might have even voted for him, and therefore they innately took little issue in serving as his pawns last Sunday morning and then again Tuesday, when 20 of the 25 players visited the White House and attended Trump’s unhinged State of the Union address. I noted, however, that they shouldn’t realistically be expected to act differently, and that their transgression was far less concerning than, say, Bryson DeChambeau, Trump’s golf mascot.

    It quickly got worse.

    Marcus Hayes: The outrage over Team USA’s connection with Trump is dumb — and it’s what he wants

    Ever eager to distract from his administration’s endless corruption, he could not leave the boys alone. Not even if it meant cannibalizing one of their own.

    The White House used AI to generate a false statement from Trump supporter and Team USA star Brady Tkachuk in a postgame TikTok video:

    “They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating (bleepers) a lesson.”

    The AI fake is part of a post that includes highlights from the game. The post indicates that AI was used in its construction, it does not specify which parts were fake.

    Tkachuk specified which parts were fake on Thursday.

    “Well, it’s clearly fake, because it’s not my voice, not my lips moving,” Tkachuk told reporters. “I know that those words would never come out of my mouth. So, I can’t do anything about it. … It’s not my voice. It’s not what I was saying. I would never say that. That’s not who I am, so I guess I don’t like that video because that would never come out of my mouth and never had that thought.”

    Maybe. Maybe not.

    Despite Tkachuk’s protestations, the White House has not deleted the post. He’s their weapon of the day.

    Tkachuk also denied hollering out that Trump should “close the northern border” during Trump’s phone call. Hard to disprove that one, especially since it took him four days to do so.

    It should be noted: Tkachuk not only plays for a Canadian team, the Ottawa Senators, he’s also their captain.

    This is delicious.

    Marcus Hayes: Megan Keller’s golden goal for Team USA should go down as one of the biggest moments in Olympic history

    It’s hard to feel anything other than Schadenfreude for Tkachuk, or for any of the other players who declined to issue public apologies until public opinion swung so heavily against them. It might have been a week of pure celebration of a historic win. It was the first men’s hockey gold since the Miracle on Ice in 1980, and it was sweet revenge for the 2010 gold-medal loss that, like Sunday’s, was decided on an overtime goal.

    That goal-scorer, Jack Hughes, who sacrificed his smile to a high stick in the game, almost gets it.

    Jack Hughes (86), who scored the Golden Goal for Team USA, celebrates with fans and teammates.

    He attested that the men’s and women’s teams commingle and support each other, which is true … and then, like the sheltered, self-unaware, entitled 24-year-old that he is, Hughes chastised critics of the men’s team thusly:

    “Everything is so political. We’re athletes.”

    Really, Jack? Just athletes, huh?

    Later that day, Hughes and four Team USA teammates posed for a picture with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

    Hughes and two Team USA teammates wore MAGA hats.

    You know. Trump hats. Political hats.

    You can’t make it up.

    Asked this week by reporters if he agreed with some of his teammates’ recent apologies, Hughes replied, “Yeah,” then deflected with drivel.

    Fortunately, other players were more sincere.

    “Looking back at it now, I think it was a mistake,” Senators defenseman and Team USA teammate Jake Sanderson told reporters. “But I think things got blown out of proportion a little bit. You know, we have nothing but the utmost respect for the women. I think if we were to do it again, I think we wouldn’t do that, and we made a mistake. … We love the women.”

    Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman told reporters, “We should have reacted differently.”

    Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said he and many of his teammates were “certainly sorry for how we responded in that moment.”

    Significantly, none of them issued any apology unprovoked. None of them apologized on his own.

    Tkachuk was even less accountable:

    “Honestly, it was just a whirlwind of a moment. Can’t be in control of what somebody says. It just caught us off-guard a little bit, talking to the president.”

    No remorse detected.

    As for the women, they now have twice rejected invitations to visit Trump & Co., both for Tuesday’s circus and another invitation floated later in the week. Their statement:

    “Players are back competing with their professional and collegiate teams and are in the midst of their season. They’re honored and grateful to be invited and any opportunity to visit the White House as a team will be based on their schedules once their seasons conclude.”

    Hall of Fame goalie Dominik Hašek applauded the women’s refusal to be used as political props by a man who not only ignored them, and not only demeaned them, but has yet to apologize: “Your president is a big liar and a fraud who abuses his position to insult and bully his fellow citizens.”

    Eccentric rap star Flavor Flav even invited the women to come party with him in Las Vegas as long as a hotelier and an airline help with travel and accommodations.

    Hey, it’s more than Trump lapdog Kid Rock would ever do.

    As might be expected, the women are dealing with the snub with a measure of grace and resignation that neither Trump nor most of the men’s team would ever be able to muster.

    “With the phone call specifically, it’s not surprising, to be frank,” USA forward Kelly Pannek told reporters Wednesday. “So I don’t know why we expect differently.”

    It’s depressing to realize that the players on arguably the best team in the history of women’s hockey find themselves the victims of Trump’s narcissism, his administration’s piggishness, and much of the country’s indifference to both.

    “I think there’s a genuine level of support there and respect,” between the men’s and women’s teams, Hilary Knight, the women’s captain, told ESPN. “I think that’s being overshadowed by a quick lapse. I think the guys were in a tough spot.”

    It was a spot they did not create for themselves. It was a spot in which they failed the women, their country, and themselves.

    And it is a spot in which many of them have chosen to linger.

  • Penn State’s Dan Barefoot came late to skeleton, but it was worth the wait

    Penn State’s Dan Barefoot came late to skeleton, but it was worth the wait

    Penn State alumnus Dan Barefoot adjusted to a new full-time career when a winter in West Chester, Pa., left him searching for something more. A Google search at age 26 introduced him to skeleton, a sport he would quietly pursue before it carried him to the Olympic stage.

    The 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games were Barefoot’s first time competing at the Olympics, and it was an unprecedented road. He had recently graduated from an intensive five-year landscape architecture program, often resulting in him spending six to eight hours in the studio per day. The transition to post-graduate life in West Chester provided Barefoot with more free time, leading to his discovery of skeleton.

    “I started looking up winter sports, and thank you to bobsled for being alphabetically at the top. I clicked on that, and I read about it, and I was like, ‘Man, I think I could try out for this,’” Barefoot said.

    Isabeau Levito falls during free skate, finishes with total score of 202.80 at the Winter Olympics

    And what began as curiosity quickly became a personal challenge, one he chose to pursue quietly.

    “I wasn’t telling anybody,” said Barefoot, who competed in the first week of the Games but did not medal. “I wasn’t telling my friends, co-workers, or family.”

    Much of what Barefoot relied on in skeleton, he traces back to the habits formed long before he ever touched a sled. The sport rewards sustained focus after the visible action ends, traits he learned through years of detail-heavy academic work.

    “You have to have attention to detail and interest the whole time,” said Barefoot, a native of Johnstown, Pa. “We only go down the track for like a minute, but to get good at that, it’s like hours and hours and hours of mentally doing it. Pretending you’re doing it, lying on a sled, watching YouTube videos from past races, working on your equipment, which is way more time than a lot of people prefer.”

    This progress brought unexpected pressures, and confidence became something to manage as carefully as speed or technique.

    “You can quickly lose confidence in what you’re doing,” Barefoot said. “You can be the same guy, no issues physically, exactly the same, and play completely different from day to day, because it’s all in your head. So it’s balancing all those small pieces [that] is actually the hardest thing.”

    U.S. beats Canada 2-1 in overtime to win Olympic gold in women’s hockey

    As his training progressed, the idea became reality. Barefoot earned enough points to qualify for a tryout at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y., marking the first moment he felt compelled to share what he had been working toward.

    “I just witnessed, I encouraged, and I was amazed the whole time,” said David, Dan’s brother, on his journey toward the Olympics.

    “We only go down the track for like a minute, but to get good at that, it’s like hours and hours and hours of mentally doing it,” Dan Barefoot said.

    For much of his career, that balance was driven internally. But this season, Barefoot noticed a change.

    “This year, the external motivation has ramped up, and I wasn’t really expecting it,” he said. “When I showed up here, it felt more like a win for my community than it was for me.”

    Penn State overseas

    While his family played a central role, the support behind Barefoot extended far beyond them. Two Penn State students express what it means to have Dan Barefoot compete in the Olympics

    “As part of the Penn State community, sports are a huge part of our campus culture. It’s truly inspiring to see an alum compete in the Olympics and watch the community rally in support.” shared Lucas Conlon, a senior. “ It’s thrilling to see a Nittany Lion on the big screen.”

    Nick Harrison, a junior, added “It’s so amazing to see Penn State represented 4,000 miles away from home. I do triathlons, so seeing Dan accomplish this after college is really motivating.”

    For Barefoot, those reactions underscored his unconventional path. He didn’t discover skeleton until after college, a fact he says he hopes resonates with people watching from afar.

    “Oh, I love that,” Barefoot said. “I didn’t even try out until I was 26. It’s never too late.”

    The support extends further. Barefoot’s social media has been filled with messages from co-workers, friends, and even celebrities, including Jason Kelce and Flavor Flav.

    “We’re talking to celebrities, people that you watch growing up, people you see on TV and now they’re dapping you up every time you see them,” Barefoot said.

    Penn State, Dan Barefoot’s alma mater, was well-represented at these Games to watch him compete.

    Beyond the Olympics, Barefoot said he is looking forward to rebalancing time between his work and the people closest to him. The conversation eventually turned lighter, touching on his last name and the unexpected ways it has followed him onto a much larger stage.

    “I feel like it’s one of those names that really would connect,” Barefoot said. “I’ve reached out to a couple partnerships. It’d be awesome.”

    The idea made him laugh, but it also reflected how much his world has expanded through a few minutes of competition built on years of preparation.

    Barefoot arrived at the Olympics expecting to compete only in the men’s skeleton event, where he finished 20th with a combined time of 3 minutes, 49.86 seconds. The result marked the culmination of a journey that began quietly years earlier, far from Olympic ice.

    Then, a day before the mixed skeleton event, his Games unexpectedly continued.

    Paired with Kelly Curtis, Barefoot returned to the track for the mixed competition, where each athlete completed one run and their times were combined. The duo finished 10th, with Curtis recording a 1:01.30 and Barefoot posting a 1:00.13 for Team USA.

    For Barefoot, the extra run offered another marker of how far an unplanned path had taken him.

  • Edmundo Sosa and Adolis García are like brothers, and they’ve been reunited as Phillies with the ‘same goal’

    Edmundo Sosa and Adolis García are like brothers, and they’ve been reunited as Phillies with the ‘same goal’

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — Edmundo Sosa woke up one day in 2019 and decided to get married.

    Sosa was a minor leaguer in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, playing in triple A for the Memphis Redbirds. It was just a random day in July, but he decided he couldn’t wait any longer to tie the knot with his girlfriend, Daira Vega.

    And so that day, Sosa hired a photographer, found an officiant, and decided on a public park in Memphis where they could hold an impromptu ceremony.

    “I just didn’t want to buy any more plane tickets,” Sosa, who is originally from Panama, said jokingly.

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    There was just one call left to make: to Adolis García, Sosa’s best friend and teammate on the Redbirds. García and his wife served as their witnesses for the spur-of-the-moment wedding, with García also acting as Sosa’s best man.

    Now, the pair who consider themselves more like brothers than friends are teammates once again. García, 32, signed a one-year deal with the Phillies this winter to be the team’s everyday right fielder, and is sharing a clubhouse with Sosa, 29, for the first time since that 2019 season.

    That December, García was traded to the Texas Rangers, where he spent the next five years. He won a World Series in 2023 and was named American League Championship Series MVP along the way. Sosa remained in the Cardinals organization until he was traded to the Phillies in 2022, and has developed into a key utility infielder and bench bat.

    García said he called Sosa right away when the Phillies’ offer was on the table.

    “I got very excited at that moment, because I thought and felt that we were going to be close again,” Sosa said through an interpreter. “We were going to be playing together again. So that brought a lot of fun memories that we had back in the years. We trained a lot together.

    “We got better together, both as people and as players.”

    Edmundo Sosa (left) and Adolis García always seem to be near each other at Phillies spring training.

    Field 1

    At Phillies camp, if you see one of Sosa or García, the other typically is not far behind. Their schedules most days are similar, and they have played together in all the same Grapefruit League games so far.

    They remember clearly the day they met. It was at Field 1 at the Cardinals complex during 2017 spring training, and they were in the same hitting group. Sosa was turning 20 that March, and García, who had just defected from Cuba, was turning 24. (Their birthdays are four days apart.)

    “We got along pretty fast,” Sosa said. “I mean, I think it was [former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina] hitting that day, first one in the group, and another guy, and it was us, too. So we just introduced each other, chat a little bit, and then after that, we were just really close.”

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    That season, Sosa started the year in high A, and García had been assigned to double-A Springfield. Sosa hit .285 in 51 games, and earned a call-up to Springfield in June to join García. But it didn’t last long: In Sosa’s first game in double A, he broke his hamate bone. So instead of a grand reunion on the first day, all they did was go out to eat at Qdoba.

    The next year at spring training in Jupiter, Fla., they shared a hotel room. They spent a lot of time hanging out, playing video games, and going to the beach.

    Even after they were on separate clubs, they remained close. In 2021, Sosa wanted to spend the offseason training in the U.S. but didn’t have a place to stay. García welcomed him into his home, along with Sosa’s wife, Daira, who was pregnant with their daughter, Naya.

    García is Naya’s godfather, and they share a birthday: March 2.

    Sosa had to leave for spring training after Naya’s birth, while Daira stayed with García’s wife, Yasmarys, who helped her adjust to motherhood.

    “I have never told him this,” Sosa said, “but I always was grateful for everything he did for my family during that time.”

    Adolis García (right), who signed a one-year deal with the Phillies in the offseason, said Edmundo Sosa has “helped me get acquainted with the guys, and he’s helped let them embrace me too.”

    Reunited

    This offseason, Sosa and García trained together again in Tampa. García has been focused on plate discipline as he seeks to recapture his 2023 form, when he posted an .836 OPS and bashed 39 home runs. Phillies assistant hitting coach Edwar Gonzalez also visited García over the winter.

    Already having a best friend in the clubhouse has helped García as he adapts to a new organization.

    “It’s good for me, it’s good for us, too, because he’s helped me get acquainted with the guys, and he’s helped let them embrace me, too,” García said.

    Don Mattingly could give Bryce Harper’s career a boost with the Phillies. Maybe Harper can reciprocate.

    García has two children as well, and their families are just as close as they are. They often spend time together barbecuing, playing each other in FIFA — Sosa conceded that García is better — and listening to music.

    They will briefly be separated when Sosa leaves this week to represent Panama at the World Baseball Classic. Panama will compete in Pool A in San Juan, Puerto Rico, alongside Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, and Canada.

    It is a big year for both of them, as García and Sosa will be free agents at the end of 2026. Before that, though, they have a goal that would be all the more special if they could achieve it together.

    “We share the same goal right now,” Sosa said. “For me, it is to go back to a World Series as a player, and for him, it is to win another one. I just think of it as a beautiful process that we get to live now, and we’re going to be supporting each other, pushing each other, and trying to make each other better during the season.”

  • The best things we ate this week

    The best things we ate this week

    Bourbon chicken at Ripplewood Whiskey & Craft

    Chef Kenjiro Omori chuckles when asked about his bourbon chicken, a dinner mainstay at Ripplewood Whiskey & Craft in Ardmore. While Omori says he loves the saucy chunks sold at better mall food courts, his bourbon chicken is nothing like that. This rich, homey entree feels ready-made for a cold night.

    He breaks down whole birds, deboning them while keeping the breast, thigh, and drum intact, then lightly cures and air-dries the meat for four days. In tribute to Ripplewood’s extensive whiskey collection, Omori sprays the chicken with bourbon before cooking to give it a lacquered finish. Essentially, this is Peking duck meets dry-aged chicken. Executive chef Biff Gottehrer designed the accompanying set, which changes seasonally. The winter mix includes lacinato kale, sweet potato, broccolini, and a sweet-tart mix of apricot and pomegranate, balancing comfort with cheffiness. Ripplewood Whiskey & Craft, 29 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, 610-486-7477, ripplewoodbar.com

    — Michael Klein

    Oyster House’s seasonal snapping turtle soup, a riff on a historical Philadelphia delicacy that once involved cooking whole turtles.

    Snapper soup at Oyster House

    A friend visiting Philadelphia recently told me she’d never guess that Oyster House has been around for half a century — a feat of longevity celebrated this week by the James Beard Foundation, which named the Mink family’s restaurant an “America’s Classic.” And at first glance, I could understand. The raw bar is alive with diners of all ages, sipping some of the city’s best martinis alongside icy platters of expertly shucked oysters sourced from locales from Cape May to Pemaquid, Maine. There are standard dishes you might find at any tradition-minded fishhouse — a luxurious lobster roll, clam bakes, and creamy chowders. But there are also several modern moves from chef Joe Compoli that would be at home on a creative modern American menu: vibrant crudos, octopus ramen, black garlic-glazed halibut over black rice.

    If you look a little closer, however, you can see ties to local history that make Oyster House a Philadelphia classic, like the museum-worthy collection of antique oyster plates scattered like a gilt-edge porcelain constellation across the whitewashed walls. Key standbys on the menu itself function the same way. The fried oysters and chicken salad is one, a seemingly odd but absolutely delicious combo that dates to at least the 19th century, when the city was saturated with oyster houses.

    Fried oysters with chicken salad from Oyster House.

    But the most iconic (and endangered) of Oyster House’s historical specialties is the snapper turtle soup. This dish has roots in Philadelphia’s colonial past, when 70-pound live green sea turtles would step off ships carrying all manner of tropical produce, just arrived from the West Indies to the city’s docks. Much smaller snapping turtles from the South are the norm now, says third-generation Oyster House owner Sam Mink, but you can still taste the echoes of the Caribbean spice trade — a heady current of allspice and clove — swirling through the mahogany broth the restaurant steeps with whole turtles (shell and all) for nearly four hours.

    There are some other differences in Oyster House’s current snapper soup, which is a cold-weather staple here, and the style that was once standard across Philly in places like the (now long-gone) Bookbinder’s restaurants. Oyster House’s version is considerably thinner than the sludgy brown soup of yore. It’s still enriched with buttery brown roux, but missing the extra cornstarch that once thickened it until a spoon could stand up straight. I can taste all the slow-cooked flavors of this soup even more, as well as the velvety softness of the tender meat, thanks to a habitual splash of dry sack sherry, shaken from the tableside cruet. But traditionalists, no doubt, still complain.

    “Oh, there were certainly more people that grumbled at first in 2009,” when this modified recipe was first introduced, says Mink. “But if we’d kept things so traditional and didn’t move forward with our recipes, at least a little bit, I don’t think we’d be here today.” Oyster House, 1516 Sansom St., 215-567-7683, oysterhousephilly.com

    — Craig LaBan

    The cinnamon bun from Vibrant Coffee Roasters, which also sold at their sister shop Function Coffee Labs.

    Cinnamon bun from Vibrant Coffee Roasters

    Sometimes the only thing that can cure the snowstorm blues is a ginormous cinnamon bun slathered in cream cheese frosting.

    Vibrant Coffee Roasters’ are pretty hefty. They’re roughly 4 inches in diameter and heaped with so much frosting it drips down the side, just the way I like. The key to creating giant and soft buns, according to Vibrant co-owner Ross Nickerson, is to let them merge together on the tray while they bake. That way, you lock in the moisture and avoid a cardinal sin: a dry cinnamon bun that tastes stale once it cools.

    Vibrant uses a hybrid sourdough-brioche dough, and Nickerson said that the staff avoids doing anything too fancy with the filling or frosting. The result is a classic cinnamon bun that’s pillowy, not too sweet, and ultra-comforting. The buns are available at Vibrant’s locations in Rittenhouse and at Sixth and Lombard, plus their sister shop, Function Coffee Labs (1001 S. 10th St.). I’d trek through snow to any of them for chance to get a gooey bun fresh from the oven. Vibrant Coffee Roasters, 222 W. Rittenhouse Square First Floor, 267-534-3608, vibrantcoffeeroasters.com

    — Beatrice Forman

  • Snacktime’s bassist couldn’t imagine living anywhere but South Philly | How I Bought This House

    Snacktime’s bassist couldn’t imagine living anywhere but South Philly | How I Bought This House

    The buyer: Sam Gellerstein, 32, musician

    The house: A 1,344-square-foot rowhouse with two bedrooms and 1½ baths built in 1923

    The price: Listed for $335,000, purchased for $346,000

    The agent: Chris Coulton, BMB Living Real Estate

    Mooshy the dog stands on the steps leading to the basement of the South Philadelphia home of Sam Gellerstein and Sara Sarmiento on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.

    The ask: Sam Gellerstein wanted space.

    He’d been in South Philly for the better part of a decade, and he loved the area. But his one-bedroom off East Passyunk Avenue was starting to feel small. What’s more, after a three-year long-distance relationship, his partner, Sara Sarmiento, was moving to Philadelphia from South Florida. He needed a place big enough for both of them — and big enough to support a future family.

    The one-bedroom “was cool for me as a person living by myself,” said Gellerstein, who cofounded and plays bass for Philly band Snacktime. “But wanting to have a dog and start a family, we wanted to have a nice, big house, and we wanted to be around cool stuff.”

    It was important to stay in South Philly and to be able to have friends and family visit, too — so extra living spaces were a must. He and his partner also wanted something they could make their own.

    “My girlfriend’s an amazing artist, and I like to think I have some style myself, so it was really important to have a place we could put our touches on,” Gellerstein said. “We didn’t want to just hang up the pictures and be like, ‘This is our place.’ We wanted to be able to put our personality into it.”

    Sara Sarmiento sits with Mooshy in the South Philadelphia home on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. She and boyfriend Sam Gellerstein closed on the home in August.

    The search: Their search began last June. Gellerstein estimates that they looked at about 15 houses — pretty much all of them south of Washington Avenue. One, near 13th and West Ritner Streets, seemed promising. “It was a really beautiful house with one of the craziest backyards I’ve ever seen in Philly,” he said. “Really amazing high ceilings. It was really special.” The downside was that it didn’t have central air, and the basement was in need of significant work. So when they submitted an offer and didn’t get it, it wasn’t the end of the world. Not long after, they found The One.

    The appeal: Unlike the previous house, this one had central air as well as a mostly finished basement. They liked that this house didn’t need a ton of work and that the money they’d save on renovations could be used on other things. Gellerstein loved the standalone bathtub. It also had a backyard and was next to Wharton Square Park.

    Sam Gellerstein in the second-floor bathroom of his South Philadelphia home on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. The bathtub was one of his favorite features when considering the home.

    The decision to make an offer was easy. “There wasn’t too much drama in selecting the house,” Gellerstein said.

    The deal: The home had multiple offers, so the couple put in a bid over asking price. Ultimately, they offered $346,000, and the bid was accepted. As part of the negotiation, the couple agreed to informational inspection, and the seller offered $11,000 to help with closing costs.

    Art work hangs in the South Philadelphia home of Sam Gellerstein and Sara Sarmiento on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. They wanted a home that would allow them to put some of their own personality into the space.

    The money: “I had some money that I found in a couple different accounts that I’d been saving up in, and I used some of my old retirement money from a previous job,” Gellerstein said. All told, they put $19,000 down and were able to secure a monthly mortgage payment of $2,375.

    The move: Gellerstein hired movers to take his belongings from the one-bedroom to the new home, and the couple used a moving van to get his partner’s things from Florida to Philly.

    Sam Gellerstein in the kitchen of his South Philadelphia home on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.

    Any reservations? With the exception of a dryer that needed replacing shortly after moving in, “the house has been very good to us,” Gellerstein said. “It held up through these cold winter months, nothing crazy happened, so we’re really grateful.”

    He’s loving the basement, particularly. “We put a [vintage] Herman Miller cubicle down in the basement and separated it off from the den so it almost functions as another little tiny room,” he said. And after years spent working in a cramped bedroom, the added space has been revelatory.

    Sam Gellerstein sits at his basement music work area in his South Philadelphia home on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.

    “It’s really nice to be able to work and write music and compose and get my emailing done,” he said.

    Having a fenced-in backyard has been great for the couple’s new pit bull, Mooshy, on mornings when a long walk isn’t possible. Next on their to-do list is turning an unfinished portion of the basement into an additional bathroom.

    Sara Sarmiento sits in her second-floor office in the South Philadelphia home she shares with boyfriend Sam Gellerstein. She recently moved to Philadelphia from Florida.

    Life after close: They’ve quickly fallen in love with the neighborhood, which they’ve found incredibly welcoming. “The block is super tight,” Gellerstein said. Meanwhile, a collection of nearby restaurants and coffee shops offers plenty to do.

    “We put a lot of work into getting this house that’s perfect for us,” he said. “Who knows what the future might hold? But we don’t view this as a starter house — we view this as our house.”

    Did you recently buy a home? We want to hear about it. Email darnett@inquirer.com.

    A cookie jar and lamp in the South Philadelphia home of Sam Gellerstein and Sara Sarmiento. Purchasing a home that didn’t need significant work allowed them to save money for additions they wanted to make, rather than needed.
  • Potential Eagles targets at the scouting combine: Which top tight end, secondary prospects do Birds have in their sights?

    Potential Eagles targets at the scouting combine: Which top tight end, secondary prospects do Birds have in their sights?

    INDIANAPOLIS — In each of the past two drafts, the Eagles diverged from their typical first-round philosophy.

    In 2024, general manager Howie Roseman ended the organization’s 22-year drought in selecting a defensive back in the first round when he drafted Quinyon Mitchell. Last year, Roseman and the Eagles drafted South Jersey native and linebacker Jihaad Campbell, from a position that had previously not been an early-round priority.

    The Eagles roster needs retooling heading into the 2026 season, and among the potential needs are at safety and tight end. The Birds have never drafted a first-round safety and haven’t selected a tight end that early since 1988.

    2026 NFL mock draft 1.0: What will the Eagles do at No. 23?

    With tight ends Dallas Goedert, Grant Calcaterra, and Kylen Granson, and safeties Marcus Epps and Reed Blankenship all set to be free agents, could Roseman and the Eagles buck another trend?

    Here is what we’ve learned about the Eagles’ interest in draft prospects so far at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine:

    Texas A&M’s Nate Boerkircher (87) could be an answer for the Eagles at tight end.

    Interest in tight ends is real

    The Eagles have spent a significant amount of time speaking with tight ends this week in Indianapolis. Roseman recently talked about needing “more of a diverse skill set at that position” last season.

    The prized player of the group is Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq, the consensus top tight end of this class, but he had not yet met with the Eagles when he held his podium session Thursday afternoon.

    There were several other players the Eagles did meet with, informally and formally. NC State’s Justin Joly, Georgia’s Oscar Delp, Ohio State’s Max Klare, Texas’ Jack Endries, Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers, and Ole Miss’ Dae’Quan Wright were among the players who met with the Eagles this week.

    Klare, Delp, Joly, and Stowers are more like the tight ends the Eagles have drafted in the past, majoring as receivers with deficiencies as blockers, while Endries and Wright are a little more well-rounded as blockers.

    Eagles running backs coach Jemal Singleton coached Texas A&M’s Nate Boerkircher at the Senior Bowl as part of Eagles D-line coach Clint Hurtt’s staff, and Boerkircher met informally with the Eagles this week at the combine. Boerkircher plays a more traditional in-line tight end role and is a physical blocker who revels in doing the dirty work that doesn’t always equate to targets and catches.

    “I think [NFL teams] like my toughness and my high motor,” Boerkircher said Thursday. “I don’t have, you know, crazy stats. So that limited stats thing is brought up a little bit, and we talked about that, but [my film] shows what it needs to show.”

    Ohio State’s Will Kacmarek is one of the best blocking tight ends in the draft class, and while there hasn’t been any reported interest from the Eagles, he would be a welcome addition to a room that needs that type of player.

    Even if the Eagles don’t draft Sadiq in the first round, there are several other players that seem to be piquing the team’s interest.

    Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren could follow former secondary teammate Quinyon Mitchell to the Eagles.

    Another Toledo prospect?

    The Eagles struck gold by drafting Mitchell from Toledo, which continues to churn out NFL secondary talent. And there are three more players from the Rockets program in this class.

    There’s one specifically, though, that the Eagles brought in for a formal interview, and that’s safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. The 6-foot-3 player is explosive, can defend the run, and has short-area coverage ability. He has excellent ball skills to intercept the ball and force fumbles, and was teammates with Mitchell for two years at Toledo.

    “[Mitchell] was a motivation for us, so he just pushed us to be great, pushed us to work hard every day and be the best person we could be,” McNeil-Warren said of his former teammate. “Just coming in [to Toledo], knowing you got a chip on your shoulder, especially for a small school … just the work ethic we put in, we just got to keep grinding.”

    Howie Roseman addresses Jaelan Phillips, Brandon Graham, and other potential free agents ahead of the combine

    McNeil-Warren tested well for his size at the combine, running a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, jumping a 35.5 inch vertical, and a 10-foot, 2-inch broad jump. He is among two other safeties that could go in the first round, which includes consensus top-10 pick Caleb Downs and Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman, who had an outstanding testing session.

    Even with limited reported interest in the position group, the Eagles should strongly consider drafting a safety with a deep group this year. They may be waiting to bring other top safety prospects in for pre-draft visits over the next month.

    Wide receiver Deion Burks (4) is a player the Eagles have met with in Indianapolis.

    Quick hitters

    • The Eagles like drafting edge rushers early and often, and it seems like they’re showing interest in bigger body types. They have met with Penn State’s Dani Dennis-Sutton (6-6, 256 pounds), Michigan’s Derrick Moore (6-4, 255), and Duke’s Wesley Williams (6-4, 256). They also showed continued interest in Western Michigan’s Nadame Tucker (6-2, 247), who was praised by Hurtt during the Senior Bowl, and Central Florida’s Malachi Lawrence (6-4, 253), who received interest from the Eagles at the East-West Shrine Bowl.
    • Could fullback be of interest for the Eagles in 2026 under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion? If he does take elements from Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan’s offense, it could include a plan for the position. The Eagles met with Michigan fullback Max Bredeson at the Shrine Bowl. He’s a former high school quarterback and models his game after Alec Ingold, who was in Mike McDaniel’s Shanahan-inspired offense the last two years in Miami.
    • The Eagles have met with three receivers so far at the combine, and they’re all in the same mold: slot receivers that can win vertically and over the middle of the field. Clemson’s Antonio Williams, Mississippi State’s Brennan Thompson, and Oklahoma’s Deion Burks are among the list, and Thompson could challenge for being the fastest player at the combine. Williams is particularly interesting considering his ability to block and was a versatile weapon in Clemson’s offense last season.
  • Highlights magazine has reached millions of kids over 80 years — straight from the Poconos

    Highlights magazine has reached millions of kids over 80 years — straight from the Poconos

    HONESDALE, Pa. — In waiting rooms all over America, millions of children found something to stave off the impending needles and drills, a magical world of puzzles, games, and stories written just for them.

    For many kids, Highlights was the first magazine they ever read, and, perhaps, the one that mattered most when they look back on their childhoods, decades later.

    Books published by Highlights on a shelf at the magazine’s editorial offices in Honesdale.

    In an era when print circulation — magazines, newspapers, and even the phone book — steadily declines, it’s easy to look back on Highlights, which was first published in 1946, with a glowing nostalgia. Every issue was full of intricately illustrated hidden-picture puzzles, the beloved duo of Goofus and Gallant making disparate decisions, and child-authored “Dear Highlights” questions that were often silly, serious, and tender.

    “I let my friends borrow one of my stuffed animals. She’s going to give it back next time we meet, but I’m afraid she’s going to lose it,” a girl named Ramona, from California, wrote to Highlights.

    The magazine may get some Generation Xers feeling wistful, but Highlights and its handful of offshoots are alive and well and, perhaps, more crucial than ever in an era where children’s attention spans are pulled in every direction. Highlights turns 80 this year, and its editorial offices remain in a cozy pre-Civil War, Italianate house in downtown Honesdale, Wayne County.

    “We are as relevant as we were 80 years ago,” said Marlo Scrimizzi, senior editorial director for Highlights for Children. “Our future is expansion. We want to bring Highlights to more homes and families.”

    Front porch of the Highlights magazine editorial offices in Honesdale Jan. 14, 2026.

    Today, Highlights for Children publishes six magazines, with a combined circulation of one million a month, all while remaining family-owned. It’s still full of old favorites, like Goofus and Gallant, plus dinosaurs, outer space themes, animals, and unicorns, the mythical beast that’s made a big comeback in recent years.

    “Dinosaurs will always be in,” Scrimizzi said.

    Outside of the flagship magazine, which targets children 6 to 12, the company publishes Hello (ages 0-2), Highlights CoComelon (ages 1-4), High Five (ages 2-6), High Five Bilingüe (ages 2-6), and brainPLAY (ages 7 and up).

    On a recent January afternoon in Honesdale, the editorial crew was laying out its latest issue, which featured a Japanese artist who practices kintsugi, the art of repairing broken objects by filling cracks with lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum.

    Highlights magazine editor Judy Burke (left) and editorial director Marlo Scrimizzi at the magazine’s editorial offices in Honesdale.

    In the 1940s, a husband and wife duo from Pennsylvania, Garry Cleveland Myers and Caroline Clark Myers, made an unlikely decision to create a magazine focused on and for children, with the motto “Fun with a purpose.” Garry Cleveland Myers had a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia, and Caroline Clark Myers was a schoolteacher in Wayne County.

    “They really wanted kids to know that they had it in themselves to be creative, to think through problems, to be empowered and have the confidence to really come up with the creative solutions and think through answers to questions,” said Judy Burke, the magazine’s editor.

    The Myerses, who had worked for another children’s magazine before starting their own, had a groundswell of support from parents and built a clientele base through old-fashioned door-knocking. By 1950, however, the business model was lagging.

    “They were editors, not business people, really. They were educators,” Burke said. “They were in really dire straits, financially, and almost had to close, so they kind of rallied some troops.”

    The business didn’t fully take off, however, until their son Garry Myers Jr. quit his job as an aeronautical engineer and took a look at the books. It was Garry Myers Jr. who decided to send the magazine to doctors’ and dentists’ offices, which sparked a rush of subscriptions from parents.

    By 1960, Highlights had a half-million subscribers, and the relationship between the magazine and the waiting room was forever sealed.

    “Parents would see their kids amusing themselves with this magazine in the waiting room and think, ‘What is this product?’” Burke said. “There wasn’t a ton of magazines for kids back then.”

    Dipesh Navsaria, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin, said the competition for children’s attention extends to the waiting room in 2026. Some have arcade games. Others have televisions. Every parent has a phone, he said, which is an easy salve for a sick child.

    Senior production artist Dave Justice looks through proofs of forthcoming Highlights magazines in the editorial offices in Honesdale.

    Still, as a supporter of Highlights, he believes the timeless magazine still matters there.

    “Families should expect and perceive that the most important thing we care about is that child’s health and well-being. That extends to what’s on the walls, in the exam rooms, and the waiting room,” he said. “With Highlights, there’s a long history of trust. Highlights doesn’t have advertising, and parents can know their kids aren’t going to be marketed to.”

    Burke was one of those kids in the waiting room, reading Highlights at a doctor’s appointment 20 miles west of Honesdale.

    “I’d see how much of the magazine I could read before they called me in,” she said. “I didn’t want to miss a page.”

    Highlights magazine editor Judy Burke with a hand puppet at the magazine’s editorial offices in Honesdale on Jan. 14, 2026.

    Decades later, Burke was in a Pennsylvania dentist’s office during a break from college and picked up Highlights again. That inspired her to reach out to the company, and she’s now been there for 31 years.

    “A girl wrote in recently and said, ‘I love your magazine so much, I just feel like I could curl up with it,’” Burke said. “Those words warm my heart.”

    Honesdale has seen an uptick in population and tourism, along with more breweries, artists, restaurants, and short-term rentals moving into the once sleepy Poconos town. Burke, Scrimizzi, and a small crew who anchor the Honesdale editorial offices are in the middle of it all, downtown. Other editorial staff members work remotely, and the company’s business offices are in Ohio.

    A “Can You Find Steve?” duck, the subject of a new book published by Highlights on a shelf at the magazine’s editorial offices in Honesdale Jan. 14, 2026.

    The Honesdale offices aren’t the location of an amusement park, but there’s a large dinosaur head in a meeting area and vintage children’s books that the Myerses wrote for, along with other children’s memorabilia.

    Burke’s office is filled with monster puppets, and just outside it, on a wall, is a large wooden motif of the magazine built by a fan, a testament to how beloved it is.

    Along the staircase, Highlights’ guiding principle is affixed to the wall: “Children are the world’s most important people.”

    Highlights magazine editor Judy Burke in the former mansion that is the magazine’s editorial offices in Honesdale Jan. 14, 2026. The beloved children’s publication began as a small operation in the town in 1946 and the editorial offices are still there, even as it has grown into one of America’s most respected educational magazines for kids.
  • Whiskey history, covered bridges, and mountain luxury in Bedford, Pa. | Field Trip

    Whiskey history, covered bridges, and mountain luxury in Bedford, Pa. | Field Trip

    In the 1790s, a coterie of Western Pennsylvanians rose up against a federal tax on whiskey. Unlike the Boston Tea Party, these protesters had representation in our young nation, but they still didn’t appreciate the taxation on the valuable product made from their excess grain. President George Washington rode in and staged a 13,000-strong militia outside Bedford — a settlement that had already played a vital role in the French and Indian War and was in its infancy as a tourism destination thanks to its salubrious mineral springs — and squashed what became known as the Whiskey Rebellion.

    For such a small town (less than 3,000 residents), Bedford casts an outsize historical shadow in Pennsylvania. Add one of America’s oldest luxury resorts still in operation, robust trout fishing, and pristine wilderness, and you’ve got an ideal spring road trip, about three and a half hours west of Philly.

    Start the car.

    Stay: Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa

    Bedford is a one-horse town when it comes to hotels, but that’s no diss on Omni Bedford Springs Resort & Spa. A bucolic compound of Greek Revival and Victorian buildings, this National Historic Landmark got its start in the late 1700s, when local doctor John Anderson bought the land and began building accommodations around its mineral-rich springs. (Thomas Jefferson was a fan.) Today, it’s a sprawling resort with more than 200 rooms, a botanical-inspired spa, two pools — the indoor one ranks among the oldest in the country — and grand lawns studded with firepits where families gather with s’mores and mountain pies.

    📍 2198 Sweet Root Rd., Bedford, Pa. 15522

    Fish: Yellow Creek

    Dozens of streams and creeks slice through the woods of Bedford County, making it a hugely popular fly-fishing spot in the spring. Yellow Creek, a trout-stocked limestone tributary of the Raystown Branch of the Juniata River, runs 10 miles through Loysburg and Hopewell, just northeast of Bedford. If you’ve got your own gear, you can fish independently, but for more of a guided experience, book a tour with local outfitter Trout Yeah.

    📍Yellow Creek, Bedford County, Pa.

    Cross: Hall’s Mill Covered Bridge

    Historic covered bridges crisscross the waterways of Bedford, and you can visit nine of them in the county’s Covered Bridge Driving Tour. Not officially on the tour but near Yellow Creek, the circa-1884 Hall’s Mill Covered Bridge spans the water in a charming white-and-red Burr Truss design that looks like it could’ve taken out the Maitlands in Beetlejuice.

    📍 196 St. Paul’s Church Rd., Hopewell, Pa. 16650

    Explore: Coral Caverns

    Hundreds of millions of years ago, an inland sea covered this land. When the water receded, it left behind the Coral Caverns, a subterranean limestone labyrinth under the town of Manns Choice, just west of Bedford. The fossil-rich complex includes a little museum on the site’s history and artifacts uncovered in the cave. Tours are private and available by appointment only.

    📞 Call or text 814-977-9570 to book.

    📍 Coral Caverns Private Driveway, Manns Choice, Pa. 15550

    Visit: Fort Bedford Museum

    Opened in 1958 and modernized into an impressive institution between 2015 and 2025, the Fort Bedford Museum presents the history of the titular 1758 fortification (a key site in the French and Indian War), and offers context on the area of Bedford and beyond. A quick walk from the museum takes you to the actual footprints of the original fort, tucked between the historic Anderson House and the river.

    📍 110 Fort Bedford Dr., Bedford, Pa. 15522

    Drink: Whiskey River Pub

    Before dinner, cosplay a thirsty member of the Whiskey Rebellion at the Whiskey River Pub, a low-slung, family-owned tavern that sits right on the water. Locals and tourists sit on swiveling barstools at the long bar, and a mural of whiskey barrels covers one wall. There’s a pool table, live music, and a deep cocktail menu that includes the Whiskey Rebellion Smash, Smoked Old Fashioned, and Bedford Blackberry Whiskey Sour. For a snack, don’t miss the house-made potato chips covered in blue cheese and balsamic.

    📍 537 E. Pitt St., Bedford, Pa. 15522

    Dine: Horn O Plenty

    Horn O Plenty calls itself a “freshtaurant,” which would be incredibly concerning if this old-timey, log-and-stone cabin on the outskirts of downtown were not so dedicated to local sourcing and from-scratch cooking. Many of the menu’s items have a “house” in front of them: house-made sodas (Italian vanilla cream, orange rosemary), house-blended teas, house-fermented kimchi. The beef for the burgers and steaks is pasture-raised. The restaurant uses its own eggs, grows stone fruit, and forages for wild goodies.

    📍 220 Wolfsburg Rd., Bedford, PA 15522

  • How to have a Perfect Philly Day, according to Philly rapper Kur

    How to have a Perfect Philly Day, according to Philly rapper Kur

    Philly rapper Kur turns pain into poetry.

    Since his 2012 mixtape, Straight From The Kur, the Mount Airy native has transformed his past experiences into emotionally raw music that has drawn an impassioned fan base.

    Over the years, his fiery lyrics and hard-nosed delivery have become sharper, and his fan base and influence have grown. After striking hot with street anthems like “Peach Snapple” and an acclaimed release with 2024’s THURL, Kur has become a national mainstay.

    The 31-year-old rapper, born Chauncey Ellison, continues the momentum with his new album ARD, released in late February.

    Kur said the project, which stands for both the Art of Release and Discipline and a shortened version of alright, marks a return to form.

    After 2025’s “Skip Da 8,” North Phjilly rapper Kur releases his newest album, “ARD.”

    “I was super transparent and vulnerable when I first came out. I think as the years went on, I started to put a filter on and shut [fans] out from certain things,” he said. “I think that was a contradiction because people were actually supporting me because I was transparent. I tried to get back to it as much as I could on ARD.”

    He’s peeling back the layers, letting fans in on his own personal struggles, in hopes that the two parties find a path of self-reclamation and healing.

    “When you dig a little deeper, everybody has built up trauma that they’re not releasing. And I think that people don’t hear, ‘Yo, you will be alright or you will be OK.’ Somebody may not have anybody to tell them that they will be OK. I think just to see it may change their perspective. I’m coming from a healing point.”

    We asked him about his perfect day in Philly. Here’s how he’d spend it.

    10 a.m.

    It’s different in the summer than the winter. If it’s summertime, I’m waking up and going to Kelly Drive, then stopping by Rita’s for a mango water ice. Or, I’m going to get a Philly Pretzel Factory.

    Noon

    I had to fall back on cheesesteaks, so I’m going to go to Bistro SouthEast on South Street. It’s not a heavy Philly staple, but that’s my kind of day in Philly.

    2 p.m.

    Look at clothes at Status and Creme on Second and Race Street. Or go to King of Prussia Mall. There’s also a place called Bullseye on 15th and Walnut Street. They have some good stuff in there. And there’s Common Ground [in Midtown Village] and [Center City’s] Lapstone & Hammer.

    6 p.m.

    I go to a smoothie truck in Fishtown and then I usually go to the studio. I’m telling you what I do, so I don’t want to make nothing up. I can’t lie.

    3 a.m.

    I leave the studio at 2 or 3 a.m. I go to Healthy Picks in Center City because it’s 24 hours. It’s the only place in Philly where you can get fresh fruit at 3 a.m. That changed my whole jawn. Nothing against Wawa, but when you go there and you get fruit, it isn’t really how you want it. To have a jawn where they chop it up and it’s fresh and super icy.