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1 month ago | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
Long Bright River, the new TV series based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Philly author Liz Moore, will debut on the streamer Peacock this Thursday, March 13. In advance of the premiere, stars of the show joined showrunner Nikki Toscano, Moore, and Philly-based consultants like Savage Sisters Recovery founder Sarah Laurel for two panel discussions at FringeArts. Moore’s novel follows Mickey, a young mom and Philadelphia police officer patrolling modern-day Kensington.
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1 month ago | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
I was deeply moved by Anndee Hochman’s recent essay about her answer to a friend who claimed that there’s no point in protesting anymore now that Trump is back in office. To me, that is an astonishingly short-sighted view, especially for a Philadelphian. Our city’s history is full of people who fought for their entire lives to give us the rights we have today. They did not give in to grief. Will we? Let’s briefly meet a few of them—particularly those whose legacies have been neglected today.
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2 months ago | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire, edited by Alice Wong. There is, of course, plenty to say about ableism and the politics of desirability in the world of dating, sex, and romance. But this collection digs much deeper than romantic partnership. In paradigm-shifting vignettes, we explore friendship, parenting, caregiving, kink, art-making, activism, and academic research as vital forms of intimacy. Like the disability field itself, this collection touches all of us.
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2 months ago | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
BSR publishes on a weekly schedule, with an email newsletter every Wednesday and Thursday morning. There’s no paywall, and subscribing is always free.
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2 months ago | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
As Trump’s first wave of executive orders activate MAGA promises to harm women, immigrants, trans people, and others under explicit threat from the new administration, you might feel overwhelmed with gloom and dread for yourself, your loved ones, or your community members. Now all MAGA leaders need is our cooperation. Will we give it? That was the question before City Council last week.
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Jan 21, 2025 | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
I am open about living with bipolar disorder—an experience that informs BSR’s mission for disability justice in arts journalism. For me, one of the hardest things about the last year is a sense that the most painful aspects of my own inner world are becoming objective external realities. I think people who don’t share my diagnosis might be starting to understand some aspects of my experience, just because we live in America together in 2025.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
On Monday, speakers at a City Hall press conference included Parker, 75 Devcorp leader David Adelman, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Sixers managing partner Josh Harris, City Council president Kenyatta Johnson, and Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts. They entertained only a handful of questions from reporters, some of whom tried to raise the implications of this shameless corporate slalom.
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Dec 23, 2024 | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
I happen to like reading books more than almost anything else; other people don’t, or they have less time, attention, or access than I do for reading. Maybe you have read only one or two books this year; other people have read more than twice as many books as I have. It’s fine. Let’s also toss the idea of contests for art, including books. I loved Emma Copley Eisenberg’s year-end book roundup over on her Substack, Frump Feelings.
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Dec 23, 2024 | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
BSR publishes on a weekly schedule, with an email newsletter every Wednesday and Thursday morning. There’s no paywall, and subscribing is always free. Build your 2025 lists with personal tips from the BSR team Dec 23, 2024 | | 8 minute read Welcome to the 2024 BSR Year-End Recommend!Obviously, we wouldn’t be here without our community of readers, so we want to include you on the recommendations that our team loves trading with each other.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
broadstreetreview.com | Alaina Johns
The day after the election, I spoke on a panel about arts, journalism, and politics hosted by CultureWorks (you can access a captioned recording here). Both there and in my limited forays online since the election was called, I see a theme that I find both generous and troubling: many liberals and progressives are deeply chastened and openly ashamed by the “bubble” that left us reeling at the outcome of the election.
