Today, Hidden City releases the trailer of season two of Song of Philadelphia, the podcast hosted by Julien Suaudeau that is creating a citywide sound mosaic. The new season will launch May 1 with an episode dedicated to Chinatown, as Suaudeau catches up with the Save Chinatown activist Kaia Chau. You can listen to Song of Philadelphia on Spotify and Apple and you can play the season two trailer right here.
“Aside from location changes, season two will feel different because it comes with a theme—hanging in there—that unifies the storylines of my three guests,” says podcast host Suaudeau. “Kaia Chau, Kevin Dublin, and Larry Robin all have a personal experience with adversity and trauma. And the three of them, in their own distinctive way, came up with a form of resilience that has implications for all of us Philadelphians.”
Suaudeau, a professor of Film Studies and French at Bryn Mawr, came of age in Paris. Song of Philadelphia is where the Paris in his mind and memory meets the Philadelphia of his everyday, and with microphone in hand. In this way the podcast becomes a reservoir of voices. “Aside from bringing structure and meaning to life, which is the purpose of stories for me, the joy of turning personal stuff into something universal, at least at the local level, is what drives me in the Song of Philadelphia adventure,” Suaudeau says. “What I want is for listeners to want to get to know my guests, be friends with them. I’m excited and honored to be the messenger of such compelling storytellers.”
Two cities reflected; Julien Suaudeau in Eagles green in Paris | Photo: Julien Suaudeau
“All season one guests were friends who kindly agreed to give me their time and to share their Philly memories to get the podcast started,” he says. “I cannot thank them enough for entrusting me with their personal stories. In season two, the setup was very different. I knew Kaia and Larry professionally, and I didn’t know Kevin. It was an amazing experience to establish a proximity with them as they mapped out their city and reflected on all things Philadelphia.”
“They embody the city’s endurance in different neighborhoods: Chinatown, North Philly, Center City. I see their ethics of loyalty and not giving up on Philly as a powerful inspiration to face the political moment that we are in,” he says.
Kaia Chau and other No Arena activists | Photo: Peter Woodall
In season two’s first episode, Kaia Chau reflects on the No Arena fight. “Chinatowns across the US are situated very uniquely, in downtown of whatever city you’re in,” she says. “They were built there in the late 1800s because downtowns were the least desirable place to live. It was a process of discrimination and segregation. But now downtowns have become prime real estate. This is why they are targeted for large development projects. Developers see Chinatowns as neighborhoods that are easy to take advantage of and to take over because a significant portion of their population doesn’t speak English and may not be documented. Pushback is not expected. With the No Arena coalition, we changed the expected outcome.”
Joe Frazier’s Gym, a monument itself to personal and communal resilience, is the subject of episode two. “Joe Frazier’s Gym was the heartbeat of North Philly,” says episode two’s guest, Kevin Dublin. “You needed help? You went to Joe. I don’t care if you were a fighter or not. I cannot count the times I saw him change a random guy’s tire. Fix an engine. He’d step out with his tools and pop the hood. A world champion!”
Dublin, who boxed there as a younger man, is leading the effort to save the building, which is empty now, having most recently housed a furniture store, and is in danger of being demolished. Says Dublin in episode two: “The man saved my life. He saw me in a street fight. ‘You fighting for nothing,’ he said. ‘Do you know you can get paid for this’ When I went back to the streets and ended up inside, he took care of my family. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Joe. That’s why I’m fighting for his legacy. It’s not just about a building. It’s Joe’s spirit. The city owes him more than we know.”
Making season one, Suaudeau says he was able “to to hear the multiple layers—subjective, temporal—that make up the thing we called Philadelphia. How many cities exist within the city? What is the best way to unfold them and make them audible to listeners? It felt less like a new knowledge than a very uplifting confirmation that I was on the right track with the podcast.” In season two, Suaudeau has evolved his interviewing technique to reveal more about the each episode’s guest, and the city, too. “People will remember more and be more fluent when they’re walking. I experimented with that in the bonus winterlude that I did in Paris during my father’s final months. Because you’re out there, you have to be quicker on your feet. Also, what you say is instantly woven in the fabric of the city, by contrast with the artificial blankness of a studio. Recording interviews on the go is a pretty tall order because of background noise and because the weather is often in the way. But I’m getting used to, and hopefully better at it.”
Larry Robin at Robin’s Bookstore, circa 2002 | Photo: Greg James
This comes to bear with episode three’s guest, the legendary bookseller and activist Larry Robin, founder of Moonstone Arts. “People don’t know how to talk to each other anymore,” Robin tells Suaudeau on the podcast. “This has nothing to do with political ‘polarization.’ I think we’re just losing our ability to articulate things—to have constructive arguments. And if language dies, what do you think happens to humanity, in this country or elsewhere? Polarization is not a problem when you know how to express yourself and how to listen. We can deal with it, as long as we’ve learned how to disagree without hating and killing. I see poetry as an attempt to understand each other. A way to avoid the civil war, really.”
