Ideas We Should Steal Festival 2023

Troy Carter

The ahead-of-his-time West Philadelphia native, music mogul, early tech investor and school voucher advocate will talk about what’s next for Philly kids on November 17

By Larry Platt
The Fix

Same Old City Council?

Hours of debate on an Israel/Hamas resolution? Doubling down on councilmanic prerogative? Here, some ideas for remaking Council into an actual governing body

By Larry Platt

The War Comes to the Penn Boardroom

Wealthy Jewish donors in revolt. Pro-Palestinian students shouting vile things. A university President embattled. Isn’t this just what the terrorists want?

By Larry Platt

Really? Republicans Are Philly’s Biggest Problem?

Amid the handwringing over the Council campaigns of Working Families Party candidates Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke, few have asked them: What’s the political rationale for their insurgency?

By Larry Platt

“No Moral Equivalence”

Despite what the pro-Palestinian Rittenhouse Square protestors claim, the terror attack on Israel ought to prompt in us the moral clarity of 9/11 and Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine

By Larry Platt

It’s Time to Declare War on Disorder

Looting. Unprosecuted shoplifting. ATVs running amok. A judge dismissing charges against a killer cop. Drag racing in the dead of night. Can we reverse the message that rules no longer apply?

By Larry Platt

The Election Whisperer

The Main Line’s Rich Thau is the nation’s sole conductor of monthly swing voter focus groups in presidential battleground states. And he’s got some advice for both Biden and Trump

By Larry Platt

The Most Radical Reform Philly Could Make?

Changing the way we elect our City Council president could be a way to return your city government to you.

By Larry Platt

Why Does Everyone Want to Shut Everyone Else Up?

The canceling of books by local authors Elizabeth Gilbert and Buzz Bissinger are just the latest examples of a new American mantra, regardless of political ideology: Free speech for me, but not for thee

By Larry Platt
Memo to Madam Mayor

Forgive Medical Debt, Grow the Economy

Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh are doing it. You want to create a pathway to the middle class? Forget student loans. Medical debt is where it’s at

By Larry Platt