Song of Philadelphia

How much remembering and forgetting happens in a city every day? Can you hear the past humming through the present on the streets? Julien Suaudeau came to Philadelphia from Paris in 2006 and started to hunt for sounds and stories. Now you can listen to his audio archive, Song of Philadelphia, an exclusive podcast from Hidden City.

Larry - Part 2: Is This Loud Enough? 07/24/2025

Larry - Part 2: Is This Loud Enough? In the season two finale, Julien spends one night at Fergie’s Pub, where the legendary Larry Robin hosts the weekly Moonstone readings. Larry talks about poets and poetry, poets read their work and talk about Larry, and everyone is wondering how to make it through political violence, climate change, global surveillance, and good old heartbreaks. An oral anthology of Philadelphian voices reflecting on the end of the world as we know it, with the city as the backdrop. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/37441350

Larry - Part 1: Contradiction is the Essence 07/10/2025

Larry - Part 1: Contradiction is the Essence At 83, Larry Robin sees a lot of ghosts in Philadelphia. In the first part of this season’s finale, the legendary bookstore owner, arts-oriented educator and anchor of the city's poetry scene drives around the neighborhoods of his life with Julien Suaudeau. As the two get lost and find their way time and time again, unsure of what they are looking for, Larry’s personal and Intellectual foundations come into focus, woven into the urban fabric: a Society Hill block where a lumberyard used to sit next to a luncheonette, the row home that houses the only remaining synagogue in South Philly, a boarded up textile mill on Lehigh Avenue. Back on 13th and Sansom, the longtime headquarters of Robin’s Books and Moonstone Arts Center, Larry reflects on aging, loss, political disillusions, love and death, and explains how self-sufficiency has been the driving force of his extraordinary journey. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/37333095

Kevin - Part 2: The Heartbeat of North Philly 06/05/2025

Kevin - Part 2: The Heartbeat of North Philly Kevin Dublin and Julien Suaudeau meet up during lunch break at the Behavioral Wellness Center at Girard. Kevin's workplace is also where his mentor Joe Frazier was admitted in 1971 after the Fight of the Century and where Kevin checked himself in to quit drugs 20 years later. At the Marion Anderson Recreation Center, on 17th and Catharine, Kevin steps into the ring to coach a sparring session and share life lessons. Back in North Philly, we take a virtual tour of Joe Frazier’s Gym and old voices of the neighborhood chime in on the fate of the building. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/36823255

Kevin - Part 1: Let Me See What You Got 05/29/2025

Kevin - Part 1: Let Me See What You Got With the dilapidated building of Joe Frazier’s Gym and the voices of Cambria Street in the background, former light heavyweight Kevin Dublin takes Julien Suaudeau through his old neighborhood and tells him how he met “Smoke” one night in the early 1980’s. Story after story, the other side of the world champion comes into focus, what happens in the ring reverberates in a young fighter's life, and much-stereotyped North Philly emerges in a new light. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/36717875

Kaia - Part 2: Following the Suns 05/15/2025

Kaia - Part 2: Following the Suns Kaia Chau takes Julien Suaudeau around Chinatown-by-night on Lunar New Year. Against a backdrop of firecrackers and lion dance percussions, Kaia and her mom Debbie Wei explain why transgenerational activism is the only way to fight off the relentless attempts to “revitalize” the neighborhood. The secret karaoke room of the No Arena coalition is revealed, a city council citation is given to the Ginger Arts cultural center that Kaia founded, and a block party is thrown on 10th Street to celebrate the big W for the community. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/36565960

Kaia - Part 1: Bluer than Indigo 05/01/2025

Kaia - Part 1: Bluer than Indigo In the season 2 opener, Julien Suaudeau takes a walk across Chinatown with his former Bryn Mawr College student, young activist and Ginger Arts founder Kaia Chau. Kaia talks about her formative years in the neighborhood, what is still there and what's gone, personal overlaps between Chinatown and South Philly, the commodification of Asian culture, and the relentless targeting of low-income and immigrant communities in the name of urban renewal. At home, the political and the personal merge as Kaia chats over breakfast with her mom, Debbie Wei, who co-founded the FACTS charter school and Asian Americans United. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/36372700

Season 2 Trailer 04/10/2025

Season 2 Trailer This season's theme is "Hanging in there". We walk around Chinatown on Lunar New Year with young activist Kaia Chau as she reflects on the No Arena fight, North Philly with former fighter Kevin Dublin as he reminisces about Joe Frazier and tries to find a way to save Smoke's gym, and Center City with Larry Robin as he continues to support Philly poetry and seeks a way to avoid a new civil war. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/36022115

It's All Going Sideways 01/16/2025

It's All Going Sideways In the season one bonus episode, Julien Suaudeau moves Song of Philadelphia to Paris and opens the portals between the two cities. It’s time to get personal – and Frenched. Author's note: This episode contains interviews of Parisians I bumped into on the street or the subway. Huge thanks to Bruno the cat, Mama Bijou, Ninon, Nourou, and to everyone at Pharmacie Vavin for giving me their time and talking with me. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/34849295

Farah: Nobody Gave Me a Cake 11/14/2024

Farah: Nobody Gave Me a Cake Farah Marasigan talks about given names, code-switching, suburban loneliness, street conversations in South Philly, the aikido community, and finding your voice as an immigrant. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/33920572

Chanelle : Sounds of Black Life Are Good to Me 10/31/2024

Chanelle : Sounds of Black Life Are Good to Me Chanelle Wilson talks about the joys of a West Philly childhood, growing up in a Black city, conflicting versions of Philadelphia, the utopia of equitable real estate, and finding peace by the river. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/33645412

Andrew: You Know Where People Are 10/17/2024

Andrew: You Know Where People Are Andrew Simonet talks about the broken and the beautiful, voices past and present of the public transit system, a politically-charged basketball hoop, what a shaking chandelier will tell you, and the load of grief you can bring to the Schuylkill River. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/33485227

Season 1 Trailer 09/10/2024

Season 1 Trailer How much remembering and forgetting happens in our city every day? Can you hear the past humming through the present on the streets of Philadelphia? Julien Suaudeau came over from Paris in 2006 and started to hunt for sounds and stories. Now you can listen to his audio archive, Song of Philadelphia, an exclusive podcast from Hidden City. /episode/index/show/7db1e97d-5372-4a5b-9e40-3691a168cbf9/id/33378107

Song of Philadelphia

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