Citizens of the Week

Mt. Airy Family Commons Founders

Parenting infants and little children can be incredibly lonely. Hannah Fenlon, Linda Joy and Hannah Newman have a solution in a co-op that already includes 80 families

By Courtney DuChene
Citizen Recommends

Celebrate PA’s 250th at Carpenters’ Hall

Sure, the nation’s turning 250 this year. But so is our state’s most vital document — and Pennsylvania’s Constitution is, in many ways, the ultimate bulwark of your freedoms

By Courtney DuChene

The Kendrick Vs. Drake Proxy War Jay-Z Is Talking About

A two-year-old Citizen story is at the heart of a hip hop debate between the music mogul and a bestselling author and public intellectual.

By Michael Eric Dyson
The Citizen Recommends

The Ministry of Awe

The immersive art experience transforms a long-vacant Old City bank into a maze of installations, performances, and strange encounters.

By Laura Swartz
Big Rube’s Philly

The Musical Artist Edit

The legendary marketing guru, chef and photographer shares some favorite photos and stories of Jay-Z, Snoop, DMC, Rakim, Biz Markie and other musicians he’s worked with, befriended and captured on camera

By Reuben Harley
The New Urban Order

Are Cities Finding their Footing — Or Losing it Again?

Six years after Covid, nationwide, urban recovery is real, but it’s uneven — and newly at risk. What cities are doing it right?

By Diana Lind
Guest Commentary

Same Street, New Story

The Ramblas effect: Philadelphia's experiment in pedestrian-first streets — by the woman who made Open Streets happen

By Prema Katari Gupta

History Floats

Ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary, the historic tall ship Gazela celebrates getting to 125 — with a little help from her friends

By Isaac Pollock
Guest Commentary

Taking the Stage that Trump Set

When The Wilma Theater set out to put on plays to challenge how we view the country’s 250th anniversary, they never imagined how prescient they were being, says the theater’s co-artistic director

By Lindsay Smiling

An Unexpected Happy Ending

Filmmaker Rah Crawford’s short documentary tells a hidden Philly history about 1800s slave ships — and a family of descendants who call the city of brotherly love home

By Dr. James Peterson