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.
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Philadelphia museums revisit how America was built on botany
The Academy of Natural Sciences and the Mütter Museum have exhibitions about the role of plants in nation building.
2 months ago
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Philadelphia Museum of Art and PAFA assemble one of the largest American art exhibitions
In “A Nation of Artists,” the two institutions take different paths to represent 250 years of American creativity.
2 months ago
Why Yiddish is experiencing a grassroots revival in West Philadelphia
A rag-tag group of younger adults has rediscovered the West Germanic language and culture for heritage and politics.
3 months ago
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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.
3 months ago
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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.
3 months ago
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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.
3 months 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.
3 months 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 months 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 months 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 months 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.
3 months ago
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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 months ago
Listen 1:12