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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.