Sentence: Something of a phenomenon in the entertainment world, political...

Something of a phenomenon in the entertainment world, political satirists are admired by conservatives and radicals alike.
What does the above sentence mean?

Hello Sitifan,

You could rearrange it as:

  1. Political satirists, [who are] something of a phenomenon in the entertainment world, are admired by conservatives and radicals alike.

“A phenomenon” here implies “a significant phenomenon”, “a phenomenon that attracts people’s attention”.

The phrase “X is something of a Y” draws attention to a noteworthy characteristic of X, e.g.

  1. Bill is something of a cook.

MrP