Philly’s TIME Magazine Most Influential People of 2025 Winners

Kalaya owner Nok Suntaranon and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. Both just landed on TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025 list. (Photos: Michael Persico | Getty Images)

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The TIME Magazine Most Influential People of 2025 List Includes Two Philly Winners

As I’ve said many, many times before, we here at Philly Mag love lists. We love making lists. We love reading lists. And we love reading lists even more when those lists contain good news, as opposed to Philly has the worst this or the worst that.

Here’s our good news list of the week: TIME magazine just came out with its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People of the year. And Philly scored two winners.

First up, it’s Kalaya chef-owner Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon, who gave us this entertaining interview not long ago, defending her $95 tom yum soup. TIME tapped Philly chef extraordinaire Michael Solomonov to explain what’s so great about Nok.

“Before you ever even see her cook, let alone taste her food, you can tell very quickly that chef Chutatip ‘Nok’ Suntaranon is a special person,” Solomonov writes. “She’s wild and whimsical, and somehow immediately has an emotional impact on just about everybody she comes into contact with. Talking to Nok for even a few minutes can change the course of your entire day for the better. It’s clear everything she does is from the heart, and that certainly includes her cooking.”

And then there’s Eagles hero Jalen Hurts. “Sometimes people win, then exhale,” writes baseball great Derek Jeter in his summation of Hurts. “Jalen is not exhaling. He’s embracing the next challenge. Win or lose, Jalen’s resilience and determination offer all of us something to admire.”

The Hurts inclusion makes total sense. After all, we won the Super Bowl! And no one doubts Nok’s influence in Philadelphia. But does her influence really extend far beyond that? Featuring Nok as one of two people from Philadelphia might also make you think that there are a whole lot of people from Philadelphia who “should” be on this list, and you only need consult Philly Mag’s list of the 150 Most Influential People In Philly to find some shining examples.

That said, as the people who make the Best of Philly, Top 50 Restaurants, and aforementioned 150 Most Influential lists, we know that lists are made to be discussed, debated, and downright argued about. If everybody agrees with your list, it’s a horrible list!

Speaking of Lists

I try not to take too many digs at our friends over at the Inquirer. After all, it’s tougher than ever to be a media outlet. But the other truth is that I’m basically the only media critic in the city, so sometimes, I need to say what I need to say.

Last year, the Inquirer started Philly Favorites, which I will politely call a sad imitation of Best of Philly, the annual package that Philly Mag pioneered way back in 1974. Well, they’re back this year with a new list. And, I’m sorry, but it’s just a farce.

The main problem with Philly Favorites is that it has nothing to do with the expertise of the many fine journalists at the Inquirer. The Inquirer has an open nomination process, where you just nominate whatever you want to nominate in given categories, which even include used car dealers and personal injury lawyers. Later, the Inquirer publishes a list of the top nominees, and the public is invited to vote. Businesses, of course, promote the voting over social media … you get the idea. So it’s no surprise that the “winners” might make you raise a few eyebrows, even though you only have two.

Did you know that the Best All-Around Restaurant in the entire Philadelphia region is Maggie’s Waterfront Cafe? Or that the Best College/University in the region is LaSalle, followed by Widener and Ursinus? That the frigging Golden Nugget is the best casino in Atlantic City and the second-best resort and second-best hotel in Atlantic City?

I could give you a million other reasons why Philly Favorites is bunk. But I’ll just give you one: They don’t call the cheesesteak category Best Cheesesteak. They call it… Best Philly Cheesesteak. And any bona fide Philadelphian will tell you that you only refer to a cheesesteak as a “Philly cheesesteak” if you’re not from here. (While on the subject of cheesesteaks, leaving this process open to Internet voting instead of your trusted reporters is how you wind up with a treacherous place like Dalessandro’s on your 2025 Best Cheesesteak list. Years ago? Maybe.)

That’s not to say there aren’t some deserving winners, some fabulous small businesses that will hopefully get a boost. It’s just sad that they have to be on the same list as billboard lawyers.

“It’s a complete embarrassment,” one Inquirer staffer told me. “But they figured out a way to make a lot of revenue off of this. So it’s not going anywhere.”

RIP, Pope Francis

You no doubt woke up to the news that Pope Francis is no longer of this world. He made it through Easter Sunday. I was working for Philly Mag at the time of his visit to Philly in 2015. And there were so many memorable parts of this, from boy soprano Bobby Hill charming the world with his voice to the “urbanist utopia” that Philly became during the visit. It wasn’t all good, though. And speaking of how much we love lists, here’s one of the winners and losers from the pope’s Philly visit.

Morel Support

Yeah, sorry. Really bad pun. But if you’re a fan of mushrooms and particularly of morel mushrooms, it’s just about that time of year when you can find morels growing in the wilds of Philadelphia. You do have to know where to look and what you’re doing. Fortunately, this Philly chef has all the answers you need.

Over Yonder In Delco

People are fascinated with this abandoned boathouse, discovered by a drone enthusiast. I keep saying I need a drone. Eh, I would probably just get into trouble.

By the Numbers

3: Temple University students assaulted on Saturday night after a crowd of teens ran rampant on campus. And get this: the kids returned on Sunday to cause more problems. Police shut the second episode of When Teens Attack down right quick.

$0: What some Philly residents are attempting to spend as part of No Buy 2025.

0 percent: Chances that the Reading Terminal Market will employ the idea of timed ticketing for visitors on the busiest of days. Yes, someone actually suggested this. “I would be hung by my toes and swung through the market by the merchants,” RTM’s CEO said in response.

0: Days between Tuesday and Saturday that don’t get into the 70s. Perhaps we have finally turned the corner. (Now set an alarm for a couple of months from now when you can’t stop complaining about “The Three H’s” — heat, haze and humidity, in case you haven’t ever seen the local TV weatherfolk before.)

Local Talent

If you watched the Phillies lose on TV on Sunday, you probably noticed a familiar face: World Series MVP Cole Hamels. Sunday marked his debut in the Phillies booth. I recently had a chance to catch up with Hamels, who told me what it’s like being an Eagles fan in Dallas… and lots of other things. You can check out that interview here.