PHAWKER.COM – Curated News, Gossip, Concert Reviews, Fearless Political Commentary, Interviews….Plus, the Usual Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll

POLITICO: Nate Kleinman, the Occupy Philadelphia protester who is running for Congress against Representative Allyson Schwartz, will have to head to court to defend his right to stay on the ballot. Last Tuesday, Kleinman’s campaign submitted more than 1,500 signatures to the election board, meeting the 1,000-signature requirement for entry in the race. But Schwartz’s office is contesting those signatures, and with them Kleinman’s right to run for Congress. “We’re going to court,” Kleinman’s deputy campaign manager Patrick Morgioni told me minutes after Schwartz’s office filed its papers this afternoon. “But I’m very optimistic,” he added. “Case law — and […]

BY COLONEL TOM SHEEHY Bruce Springsteen was a hoarder; he kept things. Whether it was press clippings, leather jackets, album cover mock ups, guitars, reviews from Crawdaddy magazine, or posters and flyers made for some of the earliest gigs he ever played, it seems as if he held on to everything. And now, many of the dozens of Boss artifacts which Springsteen accumulated over the years have been gathered together for the world to see in From Asbury Park to the Promise Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen, currently on display through September at the National Constitution Center. […]

DAILY NEWS: His life threatened by a “dissident group of Black Muslims,” Malcolm X found himself guarded by a phalanx of city police on his arrival for a late-night radio broadcast with WDAS DJ Joe Rainey on Dec. 29, 1964. It had been a year since Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam, and numerous threats had been made against him, including that night at the station, said Wynne Alexander, the daughter of WDAS’ then-general manager Bob Klein. About 75 cops, armed with shotguns and police dogs, combed through the woods around the station, then housed near Fairmount Park, on […]

Today AP explains one of the most vexing mysteries of our time: why is food so delicious?

BY ZIVIT SHLANK JAZZ CORRESPONDENT Philadelphia-based trombonist, composer and local jazz scene advocate Ernest Stuart is a man of ambition and passion.  He’s been an in-demand fixture on the jazz, funk, R&B, neo-soul and hip hop scene for years having played with the likes of The Roots, Billy Paul, Jaguar Wright, Captain Black Big Band and Red Baarat, among others. In addition to maintaining a manic performance schedule, he released his first independent CD last year called Solitary Walker, and produces and arranges for artists including Philadelphia vocalist Chrissie Loftus. Ernest has been co-spearheading an effort that could have immeasurable […]

We have to go up NYC to interview Norah Jones (more on that later), and we shant be posting today. We cordially invite you to enjoy the many, badass-if-we-do-say-so-ourselves Q&As that have gone up on the site in recent weeks, including: Anne Rice, undisputed doyenne of high Goth; ex-Philadelphia Police Captain turned OccupyWallStreet protester Ray Lewis; spectral Portlandian indie-folkie Laura Gibson; Man Man’s main man Honus Honus; Delocated‘s Jon Glaser; online privacy expert Lori Andrews; Caustic comedienne, fearless actress, incisive social critic, enemy of narrow minds and all-around envelope-pushing cultural provocateur, Sandra Bernhard; Pere Ubu/Rocket From The Tombs frrontman/main Brain […]

This morning Naked Philadelphian blogger Laura Goldman  posted the following to her blog and Business Insider: “Just ran into former Governor Ed Rendell on Locust St near 15th. He said, “I don’t think that we will buying.” His thin skinned buyers group probably could not take the negative publicity on their bid from Buzz Bissinger, the New York Times, and others. Bissinger, who compared Rendell to Randolph Hearst, worried about the journalistic conflicts of interest with such an investor group. The New York highlighted a censored a blog post about rival bids on Philly.com.” MORE   We asked Rendell spokesperson […]

BY ZIVIT SHLANK In Arabic, an ‘amir’ is a commander or chieftain, in other words a person who leads with authority. Trumpeter, composer and singer Amir ElSaffar lives up to his namesake. Born into an Iraqi-American family, his parents and sisters encouraged a love of music early on. He’s had a love-loathe relationship with the trumpet since age nine, intrigued by its power and potential, but discouraged by forced lessons and initial limitations. Despite that, Amir immersed himself in the intimate study of both classical and jazz trumpet and he was drawn to the emotional honesty of jazz. Couple that […]

BY MEREDITH KLEIBER If you’ve felt yourself being transported  back in time while at a Delco Nightingale show, you are exactly where they want you. The four-piece band — composed of singer Erin Berry, guitarist Greg Phoenix, upright bassist Brendan Skwire, and drummer Eddie Everett — evokes a 1940s-era sound combining elements of swing, rockabilly, and jazz fusion that they top off with a bit of punk-rock grit. If you haven’t yet had the privilege of witnessing the fierce energy delivered by the band during one of their live performances, coif your hair into your best pompadour and get your […]

FRESH AIR This interview was originally broadcast on April 14, 2011. Michelle Williams just received a Best Actress nomination for her performance in My Week With Marilyn. Kelly Reichardt’s frontier drama Meek’s Cutoff opens in the year 1845, on the wide-open plains of Oregon, where a wagon team of three families has set out on a journey along the Oregon Trail. After their guide, a suspicious man named Stephen Meek, tells them about a shortcut across the Oregon desert, the settlers, led by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano, become lost. Williams joins Fresh Air‘s Terry Gross for a discussion about […]