Editorial Staff

Nathaniel Popkin, Editorial and Research Director, is a writer of the American urban experience, a narrator of the messy and violent ambition of the city street.  Trained as a city planner at Penn’s Graduate School of Design (’94), Popkin’s writing often explores the space where the built environment meets the “metaphysical” city of culture, ideas, and religion.

His 2002 book Song of the City: An Intimate History of the American Urban Landscape (Four Walls Eight Windows) and his 2008 book The Possible City: Exercises in Dreaming Philadelphia(Camino Books) have garnered generous praise from scholars and writers alike. Philadelphia Inquirer book critic Carlin Romano called Song of the City “exquisitely literary…electric.” In Metropolitan Philadelphia: Living in the Presence of the Past, historian Steve Conn wrote that Song of the City is “the finest book about contemporary Philadelphia I have come across.”  His “Possible City” column, which ran on PhillySkyline.com from 2007-2009, reemerges here on the Hidden City Daily.

Popkin is currently the senior writer for the documentary film series “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment” and the editor of Hidden City, Dreams Revealed, a prospective work to be published by Paul Dry Books about the experience and impact of the Hidden City festival. He is currently at work on I Will Flood You, a novel about the tragic death of the painter John Lewis Krimmel. In 2009, Popkin was named a fellow by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Peter Woodall, Photo Editor and Art Director, is a graduate of the UC Berkeley School of Journalism, and a former newspaper reporter with the Biloxi Sun Herald and the Sacramento Bee.  He worked as a producer for Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane and wrote a column about neighborhood bars for PhiladelphiaWeekly.com.

As Hidden City’s Site and Community Relations Director, Peter finds and partners with sites for the 2013 Hidden City Festival.  He has been taking pictures of Philadelphia’s architectural and industrial heritage since 1995.  His work can be seen here on flickr

Stephen Currall, Editorial Intern, recently received his BA in history from Arcadia University. Before beginning doctoral studies, he is pursuing his interest in local history, specifically just how Philadelphians engage their vibrant past. Besides skimming through 18th century letters, Steve is also interested in music and travel.

Thaddeus Squire, Founder and Creative Director of Hidden City Philadelphia, is publisher of the Hidden City Daily.  He has been hailed as a “visionary” voice in the contemporary arts by David Patrick Stearns of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is a curator, consultant, writer, and producer. His diverse background in history and the performing arts has led him to a range of interests from contemporary curatorial practice, to new business and entrepreneurial models for cultural organizations.

From 2000 to 2004, Thaddeus was artistic and executive director of the contemporary music organization Relâche in Philadelphia, during which time he rebuilt the artistic profile of the twenty-year-old company. In 2005, he founded Peregrine Arts, which served the fine and performing arts, and heritage fields with integrated creative, management, production, and marketing support. Hidden City Philadelphia was incubated and its inaugural festival in 2009 produced under the aegis of Peregrine.

Thaddeus was subsequently the recipient of Philadelphia City Paper’s “Big Vision Issue Choice Awards ‘09” for his work as originator and producer of Hidden City, and he was recently featured on WHYY’s “This I Believe” talking about the origins of the festival concept. In 2010, he converted Peregrine Arts’ nonprofit organization into Hidden City Philadelphia under a new and expanded mission to continue the festival and undertake ongoing programs. He is also the Founder & Managing Director of CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia, a separate nonprofit service company, which provides management and administrative support to Hidden City and other diverse cultural organizations in the Philadelphia region. He teaches and publishes regularly and is a member of the Rittenhouse Club, The Musical Fund Society, and the Franklin Inn Club.