Why is it that you are more revered outside of Philadelphia than in it? "I don't know, my dear brother," she says, with just a hint of a smile protruding. "I just don't know the answer to that." But the wheels are spinning somewhere behind that gentle smile. What could she be thinking? Perhaps it is simply this: That perception is about to change — my dear brother — sooner or later.

Any Wiki-student of criminal justice is familiar with the motifs of Girls on the Wall — the reality of human transformation, cycles of poverty and abuse, the draconian flaws of the modern prison system — but it takes Whitney, Rosa and Christina to make them anything but textbook abstraction.

Just over 10 years ago, Fumiko Ishioka, a teacher and executive director of the Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center, came across the story of Hana Brady, a Czech girl killed in Auschwitz who left behind a single possession: her suitcase.

She's zigzagged the globe, published a top-selling memoir and turned up regularly on This American Life and The Moth. On top of that, she's blonde and pretty and really funny. But what makes her any different than scores of young American authors? She doesn't touch caffeine or alcohol. Oh, and she's a virgin.

Though this film fits the documentary portion of First Person Arts' "memoir and documentary" mission, Magnetic Fields prime mover Stephin Merritt is memoir's antipode.

Reporter and actor Dan Hoyle left his liberal elite friends to spend three months in his van — sleeping in parks, front lawns and Walmart parking lots — talking with residents of the red-state small towns Sarah Palin calls "the best of America."

Just when you think you've figured out what's happening in shiFt/transFer, a different storyline pops into view.

For most gals, too much wiener-riding won't afford you much but an awkward gait and a bad reputation, but writer and comedian Robin Gelfenbien went doggie-style through America's Heartland and came back feeling like a brand-new woman.

Their book seeks to redivide the country along more delicate lines than the simple red state/blue state dynamic.

It's hard not to wonder if journalists are sometimes a little too comfortable with staring a bald-faced ... mistruth ... in the eyes and deciding, "Eh. Not my job."

What you Say

Attention Philadelphia bloggers: One day soon, the city's tax collectors may no longer be coming after you if you report to the IRS the few nickels you got from the seven Google ads clicks on your site last year. Ahoy, progress!

Rove quoted James Carville's well-worn statement that Pennsylvania is "Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between," but then amended it. "It's starting to look like Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Texas in between."

When news breaks, we make jokes.

The National Museum of American Jewish History fits in with Old City's monuments of democracy.

by Peter Crimmins

Nov. 16-20, $34-$58, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, annenbergcenter.org.

by Deni Kasrel

THEATER REVIEW: Lantern Theater Co.'s Uncle Vanya

by David Anthony Fox

Busy Bee Homestore & Design Center | Brahms Festival | Azure Ray | The Beaux' Stratagem

Michelangelo Pistoletto: From One to Many

by Robin Rice

Sun., Nov. 14, 3 p.m., $30-$65, Kimmel Center, 300 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999, kimmelcenter.org.

by Janet Anderson

Nov. 11-13, $20-$50, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900, annenbergcenter.org.

by Mark Cofta

Opening reception Fri., Nov. 12, 6 p.m., free, through Dec. 31, free, William Way Center, 1315 Spruce St., 215-732-2220, waygay.org.

by Laura Weber

Fri., Nov. 12, 8 p.m., free, Sailor Jerry, 116-118 S. 13th St., 215-531-6380, sailorjerry.com.

by Laura Weber

City Paper Grade: B

by Shaun Brady

Send repertory film listings to carolyn.huckabay@citypaper.net.

Wed., Nov. 17, 8 p.m., $20-$29, with Kate Nash, TLA, 334 South St., 215-922-1011, livenation.com.

by M.J. Fine

Wed., Nov. 17, 9 p.m., $10, with Bear in Heaven and Twin Shadow, Johnny Brenda's, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., 866-436-5711, johnnybrendas.com.

by John Vettese

Sun., Nov. 14, 8 p.m., $12, with Mountains, First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut St., 877-435-9849, r5productions.com.

by Shaun Brady

Sat., Nov. 13, 10:30 p.m., $15, with Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0978, tinangel.com.

by M.J. Fine

Sat., Nov. 13, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m., $18-$21, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

by Shaun Brady

Sat., Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m., $10, with Julie Peel, Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., 215-928-0978, tinangel.com.

by M.J. Fine

Fri., Nov. 12, 7 p.m., $10, with Brown Recluse, Reports and the England Belongs to Twee DJs, Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave., 877-435-9849, thebrbry.blogspot.com.

by Patrick Rapa

Ten years in the restaurant game is an eternity. Most restaurants fail. So how does a tiny BYOB that doesn't advertise, doesn't take reservations, won't accept credit cards and hasn't changed its core menu since the beginning survive? And thrive?

REVIEW: Circles

by Adam Erace

Greensgrow Farms Whole Hog Event | Wet Hot Rodeo at Johnny Brenda's | Philadelphia Phiz Festival | Land and Sea Dinner featuring David Ansill and Mike Stollenwerk

Khyber Pass Pub | Krispy Kreme | Chris' Taco Stand

Mouth breathers, last week was yours.

Sun., Nov. 14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., free with food donation, Jamaican Jerk Hut, 1436 South St., 215-545-8644, cohophiladelphia.wordpress.com.

by Julia West

Sat., Nov. 13, 9:30-11 a.m., $10 (pre-registration required), Fairmount Park Horticulture Center, Belmont Avenue and Montgomery Drive, 215-471-2200, philadelphia.extension.psu.edu.

by Caitlin Durkin

Sat., Nov. 14, 1-4 p.m., free with regular museum admission of $10, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South St., 215-898-4000, penn.museum.

by A.D. Amorosi

Thu., Nov. 11, 8 p.m., $7, Time, 1315 Sansom St., 215-985-4800, vintagemuse.tumblr.com.

by Eric Schuman