Morning Almanac · Philadelphia

Thursday, September 24, 2026
POEM OF THE DAY

Fragment 168B

Sappho

The moon has set, and the Pleiades;
midnight is passing, the hour goes by,
and I lie alone.


A THING TO SEE

Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America

Barnes Foundation

September 20, 2026 – January 10, 2027


A THING TO READ

The Golden Road

William Dalrymple

A sweeping history of ancient India's cultural and economic influence across Asia — the must-read non-fiction title of the season.


LONGREADS

The 2026 National Book Awards Longlists The New Yorker

The full longlists across five categories — your map to the best books of the year.

Tom Brady's Endgame Jennifer Wilson, The New Yorker

A new biography argues the quarterback's divorce was his biggest fumble.

The Long Doomsday of A.I. Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker

The most concerning thing about A.I. regulation isn't the problems — it's that there are no guaranteed solutions.

Proverbs from Purgatory Lloyd Schwartz, Paris Review

A poet's dispatch from the in-between — sharp, elegiac, and quietly devastating.


ON SCREEN

FILM In the Hand of Dante

Streaming

A literary thriller about the rediscovery of Dante's manuscript — cerebral, atmospheric, and one of the summer's most talked-about streaming arrivals.

TV Silo

Apple TV+

Underground dystopia done right — Rebecca Ferguson carries the weight of a world built on lies.


A PLACE TO EAT

Bastia

Fishtown

A hip Corsican-inspired spot that's been the talk of Fishtown all year — Mediterranean plates, natural wine, and a room that hums.


WHAT'S ON

Jenny Odell at the Penn Museum

The author of How to Do Nothing speaks this evening at 5:30 PM — a rare chance to hear one of the most original thinkers on attention and place.

Art Battle Philadelphia

Live competitive painting at Spin Philadelphia — twelve artists, three rounds, one winner, and a room full of energy. September 25.

A Federal Job in the Arts: CETA and Philadelphia in the 1970s

An exhibition at Creative Philadelphia's City Hall gallery documenting the forgotten federal program that put artists to work — closing September 30.


A LINE TO CARRY
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.— Marcel Proust