WHYY’s arts and culture reporter Peter Crimmins first became interested in radio in the fourth grade, when he smuggled a contraband crystal-diode radio into the Boy Scout summer camp. Subsequent radio projects were more successful.
Crimmins has been reporting on arts and culture for WHYY News since 2010, as well as filing award-winning radio and print stories locally and nationally. He started his career in the San Francisco Bay Area, cutting his teeth at community station KALX and producing syndicated radio programming for Ben Manilla Productions. He lives in Fishtown with his wife and two dogs.
More from the Contributor
Cyrus Bustill baked for Washington’s army. Then he built Philly’s free Black Renaissance
Born into slavery, Bustill became an entrepreneur, a patriot and one of the founders of a thriving Black Philadelphia.
5 days ago
Listen 3:55
Anandibai Joshee came to Philly in 1883 to study medicine. Her tragic life is the grit of a South Asian American Digital Archive songwriting project.
1 week ago
Listen 3:39
Philadelphia museums are pooling resources — and telling bigger stories together
“Bodies and Souls,” by PAFA and the Woodmere Museum, highlights a rare moment of partnership among Philly institutions.
2 weeks ago
Listen 1:56
‘Seeking profit and power’: Seaport Museum exhibit traces the first U.S.-China trade
A newly independent America needed international trading partners. China was the big fish.
2 weeks ago
Listen 1:26
Pope Leo XIV to accept National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal this summer
The pope will attend the July 3 ceremony via live video link.
3 weeks ago
Listen 0:46
Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers is shutting down. Its closure will impact Philadelphia’s dance world
Kun-Yang Lin turned his headquarters in South Philly into a hub for dancers.
3 weeks ago
Listen 2:11
Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live files for bankruptcy
The University City concert venue owes millions of dollars in debt and is facing a possible shutdown and eviction.
3 weeks ago
Late WMMR DJ Pierre Robert to be memorialized in Rittenhouse Square
A bench in the Philadelphia DJ’s favorite park will be dedicated to him this spring.
4 weeks ago
Listen 0:55
ArtPhilly to launch a major citywide art festival in May
“What Now: 2026” will feature over 100 art events, including 35 commissioned works, examining the nation’s 250th birthday.
4 weeks ago
Listen 1:12
Philadelphia Museum of Art to experiment with pay-what-you-wish tickets on Friday nights
An earlier trial run proved to the museum that paying what you wish can actually generate more ticket revenue than standard pricing.
1 month ago
Listen 1:08
Philadelphia Flower Show 2026 gets rooted down this weekend
The nation’s largest and oldest horticulture show features fantasy tableaus about the origins and evolution of American gardening.
1 month ago
Listen 1:14
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is 150 years old. Here’s how it has evolved
What started as a showcase of industrial ingenuity at the 1876 Centennial Exposition has shape-shifted many times.
1 month ago
Listen 1:36