Clara Jane is an alternative music-loving graduate fresh out of broadcast school in Detroit. Determined that she will be one of the lucky ones to make it in a competitive field, she lands her first job at a small market radio station in northern Michigan in the summer of 1992.

The station's hyper-local programming (featuring lost farm animal reports and radio obits) and its mix of light hits and great oldies is a far cry from the rock star glamour she craves, but it is all part of "paying her dues." Clara must adjust to small town life and to being the only woman in an all male airstaff.

 

Clara's biggest supporter is the recently-divorced morning man Seth Jones. Clara and Seth share a sense of humor and a mutual love of different genres of music. They develop a deep friendship that might become something more.

 

But just as Clara starts to become comfortable operating the board, the station is sold and staff members start to be replaced by automation. Will Clara find the radio fame she craves before the station goes completely robotic?

 

Saturn's Favorite Music is a fun voyage back to the days of analog radio with all of its skipping records and clashing egos. It is full of nostalgia and 90s music references, but its theme of technological change and what it means for messy human creativity and relationships is highly relevant in the age of AI.