Friday Special Blend
Friday September 5th, 2025 with Susan Johnston. Micah Petti. Gianluca Petti.
Back to School. Music happenings this weekend. Author Su Chang and The Immortal Woman.

It's the end of the first week of school, and we're feeling the Fridays. Susan has some new music to share, and some bands playing in town this weekend. Gianluca has curated some fantastic pieces taking us to warmer places. At 08:30, author Su Chang joins us to talk about The Immortal Woman. About the book: A sweeping generational story of heartbreak, resilience, and yearning, revealing an insider’s view of the fractured lives of Chinese immigrants and those they leave behind. Lemei, once a student Red Guard leader in 1960s Shanghai and a journalist at a state newspaper, was involved in a brutal act of violence during the Tiananmen Square protests and lost all hope for her country. Her daughter, Lin, is a student at an American university on a mission to become a true Westerner. She tirelessly erases her birth identity, abandons her Chinese suitor, and pursues a white lover, all the while haunted by the scars of her upbringing. Following China’s meteoric rise, Lemei is slowly dragged into a nationalistic perspective that stuns Lin. Their final confrontation results in tragic consequences, but ultimately, offers hope for a better future. By turns wry and lyrical, The Immortal Woman reminds us to hold tight to our humanity at any cost.