Phil Gentry
@pmgentry.bsky.social
musicologist at the University of Delaware, citizen of West Philly.
http://instagram.com/philipmgentry
Current projects:
-250 Years of History and Performance in Philadelphia
-Anti-Communist Blacklisting in the Music Industry, 1945–1960
http://instagram.com/philipmgentry
Current projects:
-250 Years of History and Performance in Philadelphia
-Anti-Communist Blacklisting in the Music Industry, 1945–1960
One of the charms of seeing a movie in my neighborhood is there are good odds that when the camera pans to reveal post-coital Elpheba and Fiyero, a teenaged girl with her face painted green will shout out to the theater, “oh they fucked goooooood.”
November 26, 2025 at 11:34 PM
One of the charms of seeing a movie in my neighborhood is there are good odds that when the camera pans to reveal post-coital Elpheba and Fiyero, a teenaged girl with her face painted green will shout out to the theater, “oh they fucked goooooood.”
The deep WASP shame I have that my dining room table only seats 8, and I have to add a card table and mid-matched tablecloth to get everyone in tomorrow.
November 26, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The deep WASP shame I have that my dining room table only seats 8, and I have to add a card table and mid-matched tablecloth to get everyone in tomorrow.
Not to be a snob, but not sure that Wicked: For Good counts as “the best of independent, foreign, and documentary film”?
November 26, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Not to be a snob, but not sure that Wicked: For Good counts as “the best of independent, foreign, and documentary film”?
One does not feel confident that the OU administration has their faculty member’s back…
November 24, 2025 at 10:51 PM
One does not feel confident that the OU administration has their faculty member’s back…
Appreciate @wbender99.bsky.social for continuing to tug on the threads of this complicated but also obviously tragic situation. www.inquirer.com/news/phil-pu...
Landlord Phil Pulley transferred ownership of West Philly apartments days before suspected arson, records show
Property records show the notorious landlord signed a deed transfer two days before the June 2025 fire. The new owners are now demolishing the building.
www.inquirer.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Appreciate @wbender99.bsky.social for continuing to tug on the threads of this complicated but also obviously tragic situation. www.inquirer.com/news/phil-pu...
Gonna put a link to this in the “policies” section of my syllabi.
Don't let AI do your homework, Pope Leo tells US youth reut.rs/48tKTYY
Don't let AI do your homework, Pope Leo tells US youth
Artificial intelligence may be a useful tool for learning, but don't use it for your homework, Pope Leo told about 15,000 U.S. youth during a question-and-answer session on Friday.
reut.rs
November 23, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Gonna put a link to this in the “policies” section of my syllabi.
As a college sophomore, on a whim I did a library catalogue search for “gay+music” and sat down in the stacks to read “Musicality, Essentialism, and the Closet.”
November 22, 2025 at 10:11 PM
As a college sophomore, on a whim I did a library catalogue search for “gay+music” and sat down in the stacks to read “Musicality, Essentialism, and the Closet.”
Amidst all the funny moments, let’s not forget the image of Donald Trump personally finding a portrait of FDR “in the vaults.”
November 22, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Amidst all the funny moments, let’s not forget the image of Donald Trump personally finding a portrait of FDR “in the vaults.”
Bit of a buried lede here that Mayor Parker reveals that she is “most excited” to give tax breaks to developers to convert closed public schools into apartments, just as the school district whose board she appointed is getting ready to close a bunch of public schools.
Mayor Parker successfully lobbied Harrisburg to allow the city to create a 20 year tax abatement for the conversion, and demolition, of underutilized buildings to residential uses. She says an affordability component will be part of her bill next year: www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...
20-year tax abatement to help turn schools into homes may soon be legal in Philly
Buried in the state budget is a provision allowing for the new abatement. It is now up to City Council and Mayor Parker to craft city legislation to support it.
www.inquirer.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Bit of a buried lede here that Mayor Parker reveals that she is “most excited” to give tax breaks to developers to convert closed public schools into apartments, just as the school district whose board she appointed is getting ready to close a bunch of public schools.
Philly’s own @repbrendanboyle.bsky.social out there voting for a right-wing Republican resolution throwing the new Democratic mayor of NYC—and many of his own constituents—under the bus. For what reason?
Handy list of Dems who need to be primaried. www.newsweek.com/full-list-of...
It rips my heart right out of my chest to see Ted Lieu's name here.
It rips my heart right out of my chest to see Ted Lieu's name here.
Full list of Democrats voting to condemn socialism as Zohran Mamdani comes to town
The House of Representatives voted on a resolution condemning socialism ahead of President Trump's meeting with Zohran Mamdani.
www.newsweek.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Philly’s own @repbrendanboyle.bsky.social out there voting for a right-wing Republican resolution throwing the new Democratic mayor of NYC—and many of his own constituents—under the bus. For what reason?
Going to be honest, I have a Naomi-style problem in telling apart Nuzzi, Munn, and Wilde. For some reasons Rodrigo is fine.
November 21, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Going to be honest, I have a Naomi-style problem in telling apart Nuzzi, Munn, and Wilde. For some reasons Rodrigo is fine.
My seminar tomorrow is talking about modernism and neoclassicism in the Trump administration, centered around the amazing “regional car dealership rococo” essay by @katewagner.wehwalt.net. mcmansionhell.com/post/7810945...
Bonus Post: The McMansionization of the White House, or: Regional Car Dealership Rococo, a treatise
Get more from McMansion Hell on Patreon
mcmansionhell.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:20 PM
My seminar tomorrow is talking about modernism and neoclassicism in the Trump administration, centered around the amazing “regional car dealership rococo” essay by @katewagner.wehwalt.net. mcmansionhell.com/post/7810945...
Grateful (hopefully) that more people will be able to move to my neighborhood some day.
“It’s a travesty that one deep-pocketed opponent has been able to block access to housing for over 100 families in my neighborhood for years.
It’s more expensive than ever to rent or buy here, and this project would be a welcome change to its current use as a derelict warehouse.”
It’s more expensive than ever to rent or buy here, and this project would be a welcome change to its current use as a derelict warehouse.”
West Philly affordable housing project could finally advance, almost 6 years after it was proposed
A Cedar Park neighbor of a planned 104-unit affordable housing development lost a lawsuit that challenged the city's zoning change to facilitate the project.
www.inquirer.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Grateful (hopefully) that more people will be able to move to my neighborhood some day.
Cleaning out my daughter’s backpack and found what I can only describe as a stack of loyalty oaths she seems to have made the younger kids at afterschool sign.
November 19, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Cleaning out my daughter’s backpack and found what I can only describe as a stack of loyalty oaths she seems to have made the younger kids at afterschool sign.
Random thought, but did Amy Gutman ever publicly weigh in on the past year’s attempts of billionaires and the Trump administration to destroy Penn/higher ed?
November 19, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Random thought, but did Amy Gutman ever publicly weigh in on the past year’s attempts of billionaires and the Trump administration to destroy Penn/higher ed?
I think this is the thing; when elites are worried about their security, they latch onto their weakest link (and bonus points if they have other unrelated conflicts with him) to take the fall.
He’ll probably be their designated sin-eater like Harvey Weinstein was Hollywood’s, there everything’s fine now
November 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I think this is the thing; when elites are worried about their security, they latch onto their weakest link (and bonus points if they have other unrelated conflicts with him) to take the fall.
I hope I’m wrong, but hard not to predict that Larry Summers will be the only public figure to suffer reputational and (hopefully!) material consequences from the Epstein scandal. Well-deserved, but there are so many more…
November 19, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I hope I’m wrong, but hard not to predict that Larry Summers will be the only public figure to suffer reputational and (hopefully!) material consequences from the Epstein scandal. Well-deserved, but there are so many more…
Bizarre ceremony, bizarre choices. As expected, Philly food scene is not well-suited to Michelin’s restaurant-as-bland-neoliberal-tourist destination model. Which is something to be proud of!
This Michelin ceremony is so bizarre; nobody involved seems clear as to what genre of event it is?
November 19, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Bizarre ceremony, bizarre choices. As expected, Philly food scene is not well-suited to Michelin’s restaurant-as-bland-neoliberal-tourist destination model. Which is something to be proud of!
This Michelin ceremony is so bizarre; nobody involved seems clear as to what genre of event it is?
November 19, 2025 at 12:35 AM
This Michelin ceremony is so bizarre; nobody involved seems clear as to what genre of event it is?
Annual reminder that there are few better weekend activities for children than going to a dog show and petting all the weird ass dogs.
November 15, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Annual reminder that there are few better weekend activities for children than going to a dog show and petting all the weird ass dogs.
I’ve been on a late 19th c novel kick this year; filling in gaps I never read for whatever reason—Trollope, Tolstoy, etc—and I’ve now gotten to Zola, and I have to say, wtf.
November 15, 2025 at 2:32 PM
I’ve been on a late 19th c novel kick this year; filling in gaps I never read for whatever reason—Trollope, Tolstoy, etc—and I’ve now gotten to Zola, and I have to say, wtf.
Just, you know, educating myself. www.congress.gov/crs-product/...
www.congress.gov
November 14, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Just, you know, educating myself. www.congress.gov/crs-product/...
Hard to not read this in a Robin voice.
Holy Eucharist
November 14, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Hard to not read this in a Robin voice.
The shame. The millennial shame. I should be better than this. I will do better than this.
November 13, 2025 at 9:16 PM
The shame. The millennial shame. I should be better than this. I will do better than this.
Jeffrey Epstein‘s approach to punctuation is driving me bonkers.
November 13, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Jeffrey Epstein‘s approach to punctuation is driving me bonkers.