I didn't see it coming

Like, I'm sure, a few hundred other people, I've had many reasons over the past couple months to think about texting something to Dan McQuade, but none hit me so hard as wanting to ask him if he knew where I'd look for a picture of the All In The Family strip club that used to be on Locust.

a short story about Philadelphia accountability from my block

Messages found all around Philly: ICE OUT.

this is how I learned the name of the man I would marry, after seeing him backstage interviewing Stephen Malkmus

November 1992

Good morning! I have a new piece about the 1986 Texas women’s basketball team, which 40 years ago became the first women’s bball team to go undefeated and win the championship. How hard it was to do and how great this team was that did it. www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

If, instead of making everyone bottleneck at security, they gave passengers a choice of going ahead and taking their chances on a flight with no TSA screening, how many do you think would go ahead and do it? I would guess north of 60% www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

“Does having stickers and zines and being part of a bookclub holding antifascist ideologies make her a terrorist?”

Happy 3/11 everyone youtu.be/SUFSB2plwzM?...

And you can come see it next month with a lineup of more great horror by locals: cinemaphilly.com/screening/un...

we screened this in December and it's terrific!

Philly Mag let me write about a genuinely funny (and gross) zombie movie with a provocative premise. Made by a Philadelphia filmmaker, of course. www.phillymag.com/news/2026/03...

what a bunch of chumps!!

I think Adam Silver did the right thing, a valuable institution like Magic City shouldn’t have to deal with the cultural baggage of the Hawks

Instant Philadelphia classic

Good crowd out for a 5 pm showing of a documentary about Philly's trash system -- the people crave infrastructure deep dives www.lightboxfilmcenter.org/events/in-ex...

Obviously the important part is this ridiculous law, but the photo made me double take at the resemblance of Kansas graphics to the Screamadelica guy (nonbinary)

Philly: I have an extra ticket for tonight's Dan McQuade memorial at the Pen and Pencil, you can meet me there: www.eventbrite.com/e/rememberin...

did not realize this was now a $500 book on my shelf ... will that stop me rereading it? no

A fun and dare I say spicy update: Alice Little, the sex worker quoted in my story as opposing the union effort, is starting work at Sheri's Ranch next month, something she did not disclose in our interview, or an in op-ed she just published. We've updated our story to reflect this new-to-me info!

Are we getting a Philadelphia/New Jersey version for the games here? hmm "Philadelphia, New Jersey" does have a certain ring to it

Can't stop laughing about Action News going to South Philly's beloved Taco Heart and putting this on the footage

That’s Dan❤️‍🩹🦅

I regret not getting the opportunity to know Dan better- we recently connected bc he was to write ab our ep where the Simpsons visit Philly, &he reminded me that we had actually crossed paths in HS! His passing is a tremendous loss. I dedicate the episode to him. 🎁 : share.inquirer.com/qwdHeh

Good story on FIRE in the Inquirer that covers how they still care about free speech when it comes for woke and why there's skepticism towards them on the left www.inquirer.com/news/a/fire-...

I got into it a little over dinner a couple months ago with Jason's (very nice) old friends who live in Noe Valley and like Newsom and I said something like "I don't think he's much better than, say, George W," and they were RILED.

I get irrationally annoyed by "midnight ballerina" probably because to me it sounds like something a corny manager would have coined...someone tell the dancers about "being a model in the shoe show" or "ecdysiast"

The insult of hearing the ice cream truck jingle in these conditions. It's 30°

😏

Just seeing that the sex workers at Sheri's have filed for a union election www.nlrb.gov/case/28-RC-3...

are they trying Venezuela stuff there?! this is crazy.

And if you've enjoyed my work with @leahsottile.bsky.social, I hope you'll consider supporting us over at thewesternedge.media and @thewesternedge.bsky.social. No matter how hard it gets, we're still here to file records requests and take names.

This is easily the hardest thing I've ever had to write.

It's really something that I've lived in the places with the best summer (Portland/Pacific Northwest) and the worst summer (Austin/Texas), and now the places with the best winter (Montana/the Rockies) and the worst winter (Philly/an East Coast city)

“I have learned from past mistakes and am now introducing the brand new All Porn Washington Post.”

I'd be less pissed off about the state of the city in regards to transit and the conditions for walking if I hadn't seen how quickly everything got done for the Super Bowl parade last year

“Without Dan’s voice, Philly Mag wouldn’t be Philly Mag. And, I’d argue, Philadelphia wouldn’t quite be Philadelphia.” Dan’s editor here, Brian Howard, on what our friend meant to this magazine and, more importantly, this city.

A couple of us at the magazine were just talking about this. Dan wrote funny blogs, yes, but he also literally changed the course of conversation for an American icon.

I know I’m a homer but this was the most quintessentially McQuade story. Perfect idea, perfect execution. Dan was the only person on Earth who could’ve written this.

FUCK. man this sucks so much.

Not to get all conspiracy-minded about the Streets Dept., but if *my* union got bullied by the mayor during a strike this summer, I would not expect to see its members rushing around after the next big snowstorm

So a week ago when I was in Austin visiting, I got to pull my year out of the bag of slips and this is what I came out with

My bestie Jennifer who runs ATX Zine Fest is putting together a semiquincentennial mega zine: contributors throw in $5 and randomly get assigned a year 1776-2025 & a template for a mini-zine to fill with the content of their choice, and then Jen will bundle them into a mega zine bit.ly/USAat250

ripe for another band with a journalist member to cover/ reimagine... perhaps @ekkoastral.bsky.social

Still waiting for a band to cover "The Badge Means You Suck" youtu.be/oUvm7GfB6zc?... I wrote about it 5 years ago--the singer/lyricist was a journalist who covered HPD www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta...

NEW: Publishers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announce they are shutting down the newspaper on May 3, 2026. Hours ago, the Supreme Court of the US declined to extend a stay on a court order for the paper to pay its journalists following the end of a 3-year strike.

insane phrase to use in food writing...shameful to do Popeye's like that www.inquirer.com/food/best-th...

and then another was seeing a preview of the first Magic Mike in Austin on like a 102° day with a theater full of women primed for it, hooting and hollering. while I maintain XXL is more fun, that crowd ruled.