Soundside

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Dec 4, 2025 · 5 min
Soundside's "Weekend Warmup" - 12/4-8
It’s already the first weekend of December, and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some holiday cheer to lighten up these cold, rainy days. Thankfully, like Santa soaring past with his reindeer, here with all the stuff that’s worth doing this weekend is Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows!! LINKS: Year in Review 2025 | Town Hall Seattle WTO/99 - Northwest Film Forum 21st Annual Urban Craft Uprising Winter Show Figgy Pudding Caroling Competition | PMSC-FB KRAMPUS BREMERTON Seattle SantaCon Scintillating sci-fi striptease Kraken vs Detroit - Sat 12/6 Kraken vs Minnesota - Mon 12/8 Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 4, 2025 · 29 min
"They're trying to reduce the amount of immigrants here" - Understanding state of immigration policy right now
Shortly after the shooting of two national guard troops in Washington, D.C., the Trump Administration said it was pausing asylum decisions and halting visas for Afghan immigrants. The alleged shooter is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a Bellingham resident who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021. The motive for the attack is unknown. One victim – 20 year old Sarah Beckstrom – was killed in Wednesday’s shooting. The attack has prompted the Trump administration to supercharge restrictions on migrants from 19 countries, primarily ones in Africa and the Middle East. And it has left many others in this country fearful about their future as the federal government turns new scrutiny on green cards and asylee statuses that have already been granted. We’re trying to get a sense of how policy actions may impact immigrant communities, so we’re speaking with Luis Cortes Romero. He is an immigration lawyer and managing partner at Novo Legal Group. A note: After our taping, on Tuesday evening, the Department of Homeland Security announced a pause for all immigration applications for people from 19 countries deemed "high risk." Those are the same 19 countries Luis and I discussed that were under some previous restrictions: mainly African and Middle Eastern nations, including Sudan, Somalia and Iran -- also Venezuela, Haiti, and more. DHS says this requires "all aliens meeting the criteria undergo a thorough re-review process." GUESTS: Luis Cortes Romero is an immigration lawyer and managing partner at Novo Legal Group. RELATED LINKS: Shooting of National Guard members prompts flurry of U.S. immigration restrictions - PBS Trump pauses immigration applications for 19 nations on travel ban list - Washington Post Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 4, 2025 · 9 min
What the length of raccoon snouts has to do with domestication
Have you ever wanted a pet raccoon? Well, here’s a possible sign that dream is slowly approaching: a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Zoology suggests raccoons are getting closer to domestication. The study is not definitive yet, and more research is required. But it all has to do with researchers observing a shorter snout on the animals we affectionately refer to as trash pandas. GUEST Marina Wang, freelance journalist RELATED LINKS Raccoons Are Showing Early Signs of Domestication - Scientific American Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 3, 2025 · 6 min
No icy reception for Seattle's new professional women's hockey team
Seattle’s brand new Professional Women’s Hockey team, the newly christened Seattle Torrent, faces off against the New York Sirens tonight at Climate Pledge Arena… Tonight’s game is the third ever for the team, and their growing fan base has both high hopes and big expectations as the season gets started. Soundside Producer Jason Burrows sat down with Libby Denkmann ahead of tonight's game to talk about how things are going! RELATED LINKS: Seattle Torrent lose PWHL debut to Vancouver Goldeneyes in overtime Seattle Torrent drop PWHL home opener to Minnesota before record crowd Seattle Torrent vs Minnesota Frost Inaugural Home Opener Post Game Press 365 HOCKEY GIRL | PWHL (@365_hockeygirl) • Instagram Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 3, 2025 · 34 min
The WTO/99 protests, filmed by those who were there
Twenty-six years ago, this week over 40,000 people came to Seattle to protest at the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference. Labor organizers, farmers, and environmental groups planned and executed peaceful action against what many saw as anti-democratic elements of the WTO, and the profound risks from the unfettered expansion of global trade. At events from Memorial Stadium to the waterfront and marches in downtown Seattle, advocates for the global south joined arms with American steelworkers, decrying the outsourcing of jobs. Ultimately, the “Battle of Seattle” pushed trade policy to the front page. But for many, the enduring memories from that week in Seattle are the clouds of tear gas deployed by police and broken windows at downtown businesses. A new documentary called WTO/99 tries to capture the events on the ground as they happened. It’s composed entirely of archival footage. And it highlights the way narratives around power and protest are shaped by media images. GUEST: Ian Bell, director, WTO/99 RELATED LINKS: Soundside's conversation with DW Gibson, author of "One Week to Change the World," about the WTO protests Where to watch WTO/99 Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 2, 2025 · 17 min
Who's responsible for 'double tap' boat strike? 'We want to find out,' says Rep. Adam Smith
Some rare bipartisanship is emerging in congress: it focuses on questions about the legality of a September 2nd U.S. strike on a boat in the Caribbean. 11 people were killed, including two men who initially survived the first strike, but were killed by a follow-up attack. This operation was the start of a campaign of strikes the Trump Administration says it is waging to protect Americans from drugs smuggled by narco-terrorists. GUEST: Representative Adam Smith (WA-09), ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee RELATED LINKS: NPR: Congress steps in as questions mount over who authorized a second strike at sea NPR: As strikes on alleged drug boats grow, so do questions about their legality and goal Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 1, 2025 · 20 min
Front Page: National Guard shooting, Seattle traffic gets worse, and pigeon poop
We have a new thing we’re trying out on Mondays on Soundside. We're calling it Front Page. It’s our chance to talk about the latest news with a rotation of plugged-in journalists and guests, taking a look at the headlines from the weekend and the stories that we'll be following as the week moves forward. GUEST: KUOW politics reporter Scott Greenstone. TODAY'S TOPICS: National Guard Shooting in Washington D.C. Noem says National Guard shooting suspect was 'radicalized' in the U.S. Seattle Traffic Why Seattle traffic got worse in 2024 Light rail’s push to Federal Way gives students, workers front-door access Pigeons Why Sound Transit is waging a ceaseless battle against birds Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 1, 2025 · 29 min
How the new UW President plans to navigate the challenges facing U.S. universities
Dr. Robert Jones is the new president of our region’s largest educational and research hub. He took the helm at the University of Washington in August, and when we sat down recently, he shared a bit about his background and path to Seattle. Jones says his parents were sharecroppers farming peanuts and cotton in southwest Georgia. “Where most people would tell you the last thing you should have anything to do with if you grew up as a son of sharecroppers. I was innately curious about science, and particularly became very curious about plants” It’s ultimately what set him on his academic path: Crop physiology. “And in my case, it was corn, and the whole goal was to understand the impact of environment on physiological processes that would be disrupted and cause a reduction in the yield of a major agricultural crops under a global climate change scenario. This was before the term global climate change was coined, and so that's what I spent 34 and a half years trying to understand, how do we make corn more tolerant to heat and drought stress? And that basic physiological research has led to what is now most of the major agricultural crops being able to withstand temperatures and drought longer than they ever had before in the modern history of production agriculture.” Jones spent more than three decades teaching and doing research at the University of Minnesota. He later led the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where the enrollment grew by 25% and they launched a new medical school during his tenure. The University of Washington has a similar enrollment size to Illinois – more than 60-thousand students and 30-thousand faculty and staff. So Soundside wanted to hear from the new university president… Roughly 100 days into his tenure, what’s his read on the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the school? We should note we are a self-sustaining service of the University of Washington, with editorial independence. GUEST: University of Washington President, Dr. Robert Jones Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 26, 2025 · 50 min
Producer Picks: Foraging in the PNW and Kennections
On the show today, we’re getting you ready for Thanksgiving leftovers with a little leftovers of our own. We’re pulling some of our favorite segments from Soundside past out of the fridge, and warming ‘em up for you. Up first: edible plants are all around us in the Pacific Northwest. We'll hear how one local author became obsessed with helping people identify tasty greens and stay safe foraging for mushrooms and leafy goodies. Also on the show: for over 60 years the quiz game show Jeopardy has been a beloved part of people’s lives. Washington native Ken Jennings says, growing up, the show sparked his love of trivia. It’s a passion that led him to a 74 game winning streak in 2004, and eventually a job behind the podium as host. Meanwhile he’s translated his trivia expertise into his own game - called Kennections. It’s a weekly puzzle he writes for Mental Floss. GUESTS: Natalie Hammerquist, herbalist, expert forager, and author of Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest and Medicinal Plants of the Pacific Northwest Ken Jennings, host of Jeopardy and author of The Complete Kennections: 5,000 questions in 1,000 puzzles RELATED LINKS: The many joys (and a few potential dangers) of foraging in the PNW Soundside "kennects" with Ken Jennings Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 26, 2025 · 50 min
Producer Picks: Drinking less, honeycrisps and the matcha shortage
This week we’re going back into the archives to dig up some of our favorite Soundside segments. And with Thanksgiving just days away, this episode is all about food and drink! We'll revisit conversations we had this year on the trend of people drinking less alcohol these days.... .... The sweet apple variety that has left a bitter taste in some farmers’ mouths (spoiler: it's the honeycrisp).... ...And the shortage of matcha, which has blown up on social media and dominated coffee shop menus lately. GUESTS: Emily Ritchie, executive director of the Northwest Cider Association. Malcolm Purinton, assistant teaching professor of history at Northeastern University. Bill Clark runs the Diamondback Acres farm with his wife, Angell, in Chelan. Jeannie Liu, owner of Miro Tea. Bettina Makalintal, senior reporter at Eater. RELATED LINKS: Liquor before beer, best to steer clear? Why people are drinking less these days Honeycrisp apples are the worst (just kidding, but they are tough to grow) A lot of people love matcha... And that's causing some problems Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 24, 2025 · 50 min
Producer Picks: PWHL Seattle, Murder by the Book, and POW!
This week, we’re re-airing some of our favorite stories from the past year. First up on today's show: The Seattle Torrent played their very first professional women’s hockey game on Friday night, but before they even had a name, we talked with their General Manager Meghan Turner about bringing the team to the city. Later, we’ll play an interview with the author of the literary mystery “Murder by the Book.” Finally, we’ll get a peek inside a Pow Wow through the lens of a kid who just wants to play his game! GUESTS: Meghan Turner - General Manager, Seattle Torrent Amie Schaumberg Joey Clift RELATED LINKS: No name, lots of game: Women's pro hockey comes to Seattle Spoiler Alert: Someone dies in Amie Schaumberg's "Murder by the Book" Filmmaker Joey Clift talks about the inspiration behind the animated short POW! Watch POW! via First Nations Experience - Pow! Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 21, 2025 · 22 min
Washington cities turn off Flock cameras after public records ruling and UW report
A big controversy is gripping many Washington towns right now: automated license plate readers. Flock Safety, a technology and surveillance company, operates cameras in cities and counties across the nation. Those license plate readers take pictures of vehicles and their license plates – pictures that can be used by police to solve crimes. But questions about who has access to the cameras is leading several jurisdictions to turn off their automated licence plate readers. GUESTS: KUOW producer Hans Anderson Flock Safety chief legal officer, Dan Haley Phil Neff, a research coordinator at the University of Washington Center for Human Rights Redmond Police Chief Darrell Lowe Beryl Lipton, a senior investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation RELATED LINKS: Washington Court Rules That Data Captured on Flock Safety Cameras Are Public Records - Electronic Frontier Foundation Redmond turns off Flock Safety cameras after ICE arrests - The Seattle Times Immigration agencies accessed WA law enforcement license plate data, report finds - KUOW Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 20, 2025 · 6 min
Sound It Out: Time to quit the Thanksgiving turkey?
Yes, turkey is an iconic centerpiece. But it’s a challenge. Turkeys take hours to cook (let alone, defrost!). The results can be dry, flavorless slabs of meat. If you believe online discourse, a growing number of bold omnivores are calling it quits on Thanksgiving turkey. And from an animal welfare perspective, there’s a lot of waste and carnage associated with "the national holiday of meat-eating." We asked Soundside's audience about whether they're moving on from turkey -- and what they might make instead. GUESTS: Marina Bolotnikova, deputy editor, Vox's Future Perfect Thanks to KUOW’s Paige Browning for all her help and hard work on this segment. RELATED LINKS: 8 million turkeys will be thrown in the trash this Thanksgiving Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 20, 2025 · 17 min
"You don't have to fight me on this" - Gluesenkamp Perez on being booed by her own party
On Monday, Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez stood on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and fought her own party. The subject of the disagreement? Whether or not a fellow Democratic member of congress, Chuy Garcia of Illinois, had crossed ethical lines and rigged the 2026 election for his chief of staff. By, among other things, announcing his retirement after the filing deadline. Gluesenkamp Perez introduced a nonbinding resolution to disapprove of the maneuver, to the apparent surprise of Democratic leadership. After speaking out, she was skewered by many of her fellow party members. One called her opposition a “cheap political stunt” Gluesenkamp Perez is known for bucking the party. Just last week she was one of only 6 House Democrats who voted to end the federal shutdown. She also represents one of the few purple districts in the country: Washington’s 3rd, which includes Lewis, Cowlitz, Clark and Skamania County. GUEST: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez represents Washington’s 3rd congressional district, which includes Lewis, Cowlitz, Clark and Skamania County RELATED LINKS: Scoop: House Dem infighting poised to get even worse - Axios After fierce fight, WA lawmaker secures US House rebuke of fellow Democrat - WA state standard End of shutdown ignites new round of sparring among WA’s congressional lawmakers - WA state standard Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 20, 2025 · 5 min
Soundside's "Weekend Warmup" - Nov 20-23 and Nov 28-30
While it has been so nice being back behind the microphone this week after a little time off, we’ve got Thanksgiving ahead of us! And since we won’t have a show NEXT Thursday, Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows is doing double duty this week with an extra large Weekend Warmup… THIS WEEK: Seattle Christmas Market Julefest 21+ Night Market Renegade Craft Fair - Seattle Winter Warren Miller's Sno-ciety | McCaw Hall Heart - Climate Pledge Arena NEXT WEEK: SPORTS PWHL Home Opener! Seattle Torrent vs Minnesota Frost - Fri 11/28 UW Men’s Football vs Oregon Ducks - Sat 11/29 Kraken vs Edmonton - Sat 11/29 Seahawks vs Vikings - Sun 11/30 Seattle Marathon - Sun 11/30 GeekCraft Expo NOVEMBER ART MARKET — Duwamish Tribe Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 19, 2025 · 47 min
From pizza to policy: how Katie Wilson won this year's mayoral race
In the week since Katie Wilson officially became Seattle’s mayor-elect, there have suddenly been a lot of think pieces about her from the national press. Editorial boards at the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal have taken a certain “doom mongering” stance on another socialist winning office. The President of the United States added his two cents, and called her a communist. Wilson’s election is making waves in a year when both democrats and democratic socialists scored high profile wins across the country. But let’s be honest: national reporting is usually scant here in the PNW, and pretty late to the game. KUOW listeners – many of them, have been clued into this race for weeks if not months. What we haven't heard is the inside story of the Wilson campaign – how the team took a newcomer to electoral politics – a policy wonk, whose style she herself has called “pretty dumpy” – and got her elected mayor. And what does the future look like for progressives in a city with a historically fickle electorate? Two key figures from the Wilson campaign team joined Soundside to share their view on how it all went down. GUESTS: Katie Wilson campaign manager Alex Gallo Brown WinPower strategies political consultant, and Katie Wilson’s consultant, Jake Simpson RELATED LINKS: Trump threatens Seattle’s World Cup, calls Mayor-elect Wilson ‘communist’ - Seattle Times Seattle’s coming socialist experiment - Washington Post Seattle Elects Mamdani West - Wall Street Journal Katie Wilson is the new mayor but confronts the same challenges - Seattle Times Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 18, 2025 · 14 min
Common PNW fish, uncommon feature: teeth on its forehead
Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Washington published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the spotted ratfish, sometimes called a ghost shark. It’s one of the most common fish you’ll find in the Puget Sound and it has teeth in an unexpected place. The study’s authors say that, not only is this unusual, but it also tells us something very interesting about evolution. GUEST: Karly Cohen, post-doctoral researcher at Friday Harbor Labs RELATED LINKS: PNAS: Teeth outside the jaw: Evolution and development of the toothed head clasper in chimaeras Smithsonian: This Deep-Sea Fish Has Teeth on Its Forehead—and It Uses Them for Sex University of Washington: This common fish has an uncommon feature: Forehead teeth, used for mating Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 18, 2025 · 9 min
How air traffic controllers are doing post shutdown
Air traffic controllers are getting paid again, now that the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is over. Air traffic controllers dominated headlines during the shutdown as they continued to work their stressful jobs without pay. Some of them took on side gigs to make up for lost income. And as the shutdown dragged on, controller shortages led to flight delays and cancellations around the country. Now things are slowly getting back to normal, as the FAA lifts restrictions on air traffic ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Steph Winder of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association tells us how controllers are doing now that they're out of shutdown mode. GUEST: Steph Winder, Northwest Mountain Regional Vice President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association RELATED LINKS: Trump Wants $10K Bonus for Air Traffic Controllers Who Didn't Call Out - Business Insider Air traffic controllers warn of ‘tipping point’ during shutdown : NPR FAA to Lift Government Shutdown-Related Flight Restrictions - WSJ Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 18, 2025 · 16 min
Is Rad Power Bikes powering down?
If you purchased or rode an e-bike in the last 10 years, there’s a good chance it was a Rad Power Bike. The company, based in Seattle, was one of the first to popularize e-bikes with the general public, and grew to be the largest electric bike company in North America. But now, the company is on the brink of collapse. A spokesperson told Geekwire last week that Rad faces potential closure as early as January due to “significant financial challenges.” After virtually building the e-bike industry, and seeing demand quadruple during the pandemic, what went wrong for Rad Power Bikes? And can they recover? GUEST: Geekwire editor Taylor Soper RELATED LINKS: The rise and fall of Rad Power Bikes: From breakout success to the brink of shutdown - Geekwire Rad Power Bikes faces possible shutdown as it tries to survive ‘significant financial challenges’ - Geekwire Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 18, 2025 · 17 min
What's happening in Sudan?
In 2023, Bellevue organizer Mubarak Elamin made the decision to bring his mother to the United States. At the time, she was living in Sudan, where a brutal war had broken out between the country’s army, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The situation deteriorated into what the U.N. has called one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. Thousands have been killed and millions displaced. Some regions are suffering from famine. In January, the United States declared Sudan was experiencing a genocide. And despite this upheaval, Mubarak says it seems like a lot of people don’t know what's going on in Sudan. GUEST: Mubarak Elamin, a Sudanese community organizer in Bellevue Nisrin Elamin, assistant professor of Anthropology and African Studies at the University of Toronto RELATED LINKS: Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening WA’s Sudanese community suffering amid war that’s displaced millions | The Seattle Times The State Of The Civil War In Sudan : 1A : NPR Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.