Residents of Altadena, California are facing difficult choices in the wake of the devastating Eaton fire, which started just over a month ago in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles. Rebuild, or sell their properties to developers and leave the neighborhood? Angela King is KUOW’s host of Morning Edition, and she grew up in Altadena.. She recently took a trip back to her hometown to take stock of the wildfire damage – and document the resiliency of the community. Check out Angela's full story h...
Feb 10, 2025•23 min
For over 50 years, the little theater at the corner of 50th & University Way has been showing movies to passionate filmgoers. And in that span, it’s changed owners, it was renamed, and for the past 20 years, has been the longest running completely volunteer run cinema in the country. But like all good things, the Grand Illusion’s time at its current location has come to an end. The owners announced back in 2023 that the site was for sale, and that they would not be extending the Grand Illusi...
Feb 06, 2025•6 min
He just may be the most celebrated travel writer and show host of our time. When he’s not touring the hidden gems of Europe, Rick Steves spends a lot of his days in Edmonds, his hometown since he was 12. Did you know he was in the Husky marching band in college? Steves may not have known back then that he would dedicate his life to travel writing, but there were hints. One was a journal he kept when he made a life changing trip in his 20’s. That journal has become a new book titled “On the Hippi...
Feb 06, 2025•21 min
U.S. foreign aid is in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. Workers at USAID woke up on Wednesday to an order putting nearly all personnel of the foreign assistance agency on administrative leave starting Friday. This follows a day-one executive order by the President to “reevaluate” foreign aid the United States sends so that it aligns with his “America First” agenda. Within the week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio put a stop-work order on all foreign aid. That was later amended to exemp...
Feb 06, 2025•15 min
After just a few years on the market, a new wave of GLP-1 drugs approved for weight loss have upended what we know about obesity. By now, these are household names: Mounjaro. Wegovy. Zepbound… and yes, Ozempic. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that one in 8 American adults reported trying a GLP-1 medication . “Body by Ozempic” has become a punchline on red carpets. Doctors and regulators have a strong body of evidence that GLP-1 drugs are remarkably effective at promoting weight loss and co...
Feb 06, 2025•36 min
On Tuesday the Senate Finance Committee voted to move forward with Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for Secretary of Health and Human Services. His nomination now heads to the Senate floor, where he’s expected to be confirmed. As the secretary of the HHS, Kennedy would have oversight over 11 agencies including the FDA, the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. Kennedy has come under fire from both Democrats and Republicans for some of his controversial beliefs – the most contentious being ...
Feb 05, 2025•15 min
The United States is drastically retooling its foreign aid to meet a new presidential administration's “America First” goals. The State Department will reportedly absorb the foreign aid agency USAID, which is also a target of Elon Musk’s government efficiency agency, DOGE. Democrats say this move by the Trump Administration is illegal and unconstitutional and congress would need to act to make major changes to the agency. This is only the latest in a series of steps to claw back money Congress h...
Feb 05, 2025•13 min
The threat of a trade war against the United States' nearest neighbors is off for now. Last week President Donald Trump said he was placing a 25% tariff on goods from North American trading partners Mexico and Canada. In an executive order, Trump said he was using the United States’ economic leverage to push the countries into better border enforcement. He also said he was seeking to balance out a trade deficit. The announcement led to widespread anxiety and confusion across US borders. However,...
Feb 04, 2025•22 min
When Brian Niccol took the helm as CEO of Starbucks last fall, his mandate was to reverse a decline in customer traffic. He’s been rolling out changes in recent weeks. Niccol announced last month that the coffee chain would be reversing its open-door policy as part of something called the “Coffee House Code of Conduct.” That means no more sitting on the coffee house WiFi or squatting at a table without purchasing something. And yes, this will include use of the company’s restrooms (just about th...
Feb 03, 2025•14 min
In his storied career, Paul Tazewell has dressed American revolutionaries, a scarecrow and a tinman, and witches with a penchant for pink and green. It’s hard to list all the projects the award-winning costume designer has been responsible for on Broadway, but here’s a sample: Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, The Color Purple musical, In The Heights, and Hamilton, for which he won a Tony. On screen, he won an Emmy for his work on The Wiz! Live . Tazewell has two Oscar nominations: One for 20...
Feb 03, 2025•19 min
Shon Barnes stepped into the role last week, officially taking the reins from interim Chief Sue Rahr. Barnes was previously the Chief of Police in Madison, Wisconsin. You may have seen him on the news late last year, when a shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison thrust the community, and its police department, into the spotlight. In Madison, Barnes was known for his advocacy for community policing, and body cameras. Now, Barnes will be leading in a city with a population almos...
Feb 03, 2025•14 min
For decades, the Hanford Site in central Washington produced plutonium for the United States’ nuclear arsenal. But since its operations were shuttered, starting in the 1960s, the site has become an ongoing headache for regulators in charge of cleaning up its radioactive waste. Today, there are 177 underground storage tanks housing 56 million gallons of the country’s most toxic radioactive waste at Hanford. It’s expected to cost billions of dollars over the next several decades to completely disp...
Jan 31, 2025•17 min
The weekend is tantalizingly close to being a reality, only a FEW hours away... So, why not get started making plans RIGHT NOW!? Fortunately, Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows is here as usual to give you a sneak peek at what's happening around town! LINKS: 5th Annual Fremont Soupocalypse - Thursday through Sunday Fatlesque Fest NW - Thursday through Saturday at the Triple Door Strange Brewfest - Friday & Saturday in Port Townsend Puppy Prov - Saturday at Comedy Sportz The Gits Seatt...
Jan 30, 2025•5 min
Sue Rahr’s tenure as Seattle’s Chief of Police is coming to an end. The interim chief took over the office during a rocky moment for SPD: she inherited a police officer staffing crisis and a workplace where senior staff had filed legal complaints over their treatment, alleging discrimination and sexism on the job . Rahr’s appointment to the position happened the same week, last June, as a deadly school shooting at Garfield High, setting off a series of discussions about public safety at schools,...
Jan 29, 2025•25 min
Happy Lunar New Year! Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Snake. And it’s an extra special Lunar New Year in Washington, because this year, for the first time, it’s a state holiday. Festivities have already been happening in many places, but the festival officially goes for the next 15 days, with celebrations all over the state. For Chinese and other Asian cultures, a critical part of these celebrations is lion dancing. Soundside went to 51-year-old lion dancing school Mak Fai Dragon an...
Jan 29, 2025•5 min
Journalists are struggling to keep up with the breakneck pace of major policy decisions coming out of the White House. At Soundside, we have to prioritize how our team approaches the firehose of news. And for the past week we’ve been asking you, the audience, to give us feedback about how you want the show to handle covering the Trump Administration 2.0. And boy, did you deliver. We’ve been flooded with calls and emails. Requests ranged from completely skipping coverage, to reporting in moderati...
Jan 29, 2025•22 min
Most of President Trump’s closest allies appear to be cheering on his major changes to immigration policy – which have been numerous. These include executive orders suspending America’s refugee resettlement program, ramping up and expediting deportations, halting asylum claims and canceling existing appointments, and more. But one program has exposed a major rift in MAGA world over the role of foreign workers, especially in tech: H-1B visas. Trump’s inner circle is feuding over the future of the...
Jan 28, 2025•37 min
In 2023, Seattle City Council waded into controversy by passing a long overdue tree protection ordinance. The law regulates whether homeowners can remove trees on their property and designates certain trees as “protected.” This is all amidst a city goal to increase tree canopy. But that “protected” label is often misleading, according to a new story out in InvestigateWest about how the city is counting its trees. Guest: Robert McClure, co-founder of InvestigateWest Relevant Links: InvestigateWes...
Jan 28, 2025•19 min
Former Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson has been sentenced to 16 years and 8 months in prison. The decision was handed down Thursday, after Nelson was convicted of second-degree murder and first-degree assault for the killing of 26 year old Jesse Sarey. And this represents a milestone: Nelson is the first Washington police officer to be charged and convicted for the use of deadly force while on duty since the passage of the law enforcement reform ballot measure, Initiative 940. Guest: Amy Ra...
Jan 27, 2025•15 min
What does it take to run a thriving business in Washington? Lately, for a number of business owners around the Sound , the answer seems to be “too much.” January has seen the closure of a number of long time Black owned businesses in the Seattle area – including Jackson’s Catfish Corner and Flowers Just-4-U in Seattle’s Central District, Plum Bistro in Capitol Hill, La Familia in Des Moines, and Nate Jackson’s Super Funny Comedy Club in Tacoma. When faced with a rising number of Black-owned busi...
Jan 27, 2025•16 min
Washington lawmakers are once again considering legislation to cap rent increases across the state. This year’s iteration would limit rent hikes to 7 percent over a 12 month period – with exemptions like new construction. A similar bill was introduced last year, it died in committee in the senate. Since then, a couple of those “no” votes have left office. And supporters say that this year is the time to finally pass a rent increase cap into law. But Republicans and trade groups argue that this l...
Jan 23, 2025•28 min
The week isn’t over, but I know a lot of us are wishing it were. Well, if we’re so focused on the weekend, why not get an early start making plans? Fortunately, Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows is here to give us an early look at what’s happening around town. LINKS: For Your Consideration - SIFF Cinema Downtown Napoleon Dynamite Live - Spokane Bellingham Folk Festival The Disabled List 3rd Annual Comedy Festival Lunar New Year Celebration at The Bellevue Collection Lunar New Year Celebr...
Jan 23, 2025•3 min
According to recent government reporting, Native Americans have medical debt that is double the national average. That’s despite the fact that the federal government is under a legal and moral obligation to provide healthcare to registered members of federally recognized tribes. In many cases, the debt stems from medical care the Indian Health Service was unable to provide but was supposed to pay for when members sought care elsewhere. The resulting debt damages credit scores and adds to health ...
Jan 22, 2025•16 min
The new documentary, Resident Orca , brings viewers inside the very personal work of Tribal elder Squil-le-he-le Raynell Morris and her allies as they fight for Sk'aliCh'ehl-tenaut's, also known as Tokitae, release. In recent years, people of the Lummi Nation tried to secure the return of the orca to her home waters, the Salish Sea. They consider her a family member. Sk'aliCh'ehl-tenaut's story gained national attention as efforts to get her home ramped up. And you may be familiar with the sad e...
Jan 22, 2025•33 min
At this hour, TikTok is once again available to its millions of U.S. users – brought back to life, for at least 75 days, by the President who once tried to kill it . It’s been a long and confusing road to get here. Congress passed a law last April to force TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell the social media app or face a ban in the U.S.. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld that ban, which was set to go into effect on Sunday. TikTok then went dark on Saturday, when users...
Jan 22, 2025•29 min
The state supreme court is right now weighing the future of high-capacity gun magazine sales in Washington. Last week, the court heard arguments in Washington v. Gator’s Custom Guns. At issue is whether a 2022 law banning magazines with more than 10 rounds is constitutional. Complicating the matter is a recent U.S. Supreme Court cases that sets out a new originalist rule for restrictions on guns. Guest: Jake Goldstein Street, reporter at the Washington State Standard Relevant Links: Washington S...
Jan 22, 2025•11 min
Twenty-four hours after returning to office, the Trump administration is already facing its first lawsuit from Washington state. State Attorney General Nick Brown says he has filed a challenge to President Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of unauthorized immigrants. It was one of dozens of orders President Trump signed during his first day back in the big chair, ranging from renaming a mountain, to pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement. Guest: ...
Jan 21, 2025•11 min
The University of Washington's Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team, or COASST, is a network of nearly a thousand volunteers who walk beaches in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California. Those citizen scientists are counting dead birds and their work has been critical to understanding the effects of warming ocean waters on the marine ecosystem. Guests: Julia Parrish, Associate Dean at the University of Washington's College for the Environment and founder of COASST Carl Haynie, COASST vo...
Jan 17, 2025•24 min
This month marks 10 years since the Kalakala was removed from the shores of Tacoma and demolished. The ferry, which looked a little like if the Titanic was mixed with a spaceship, was once the symbol of Seattle - a shiny, chrome vision of the future. While the Kalakala is gone, it’s far from forgotten. There’s even a song that follows the journey of the Kalakala: from its creation to its eventual demise. And the story of the song itself is filled with twists and turns. We sat down with the peopl...
Jan 17, 2025•8 min
As we prepare for the holiday weekend, some folks are heading out of town, while others are looking locally for ways to celebrate the life & legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr… Producers Jason Megatron Burrows & Brooklyn Jamerson-Flowers are here with an early look at what's happening this weekend! LINKS: Monster Jam - Tacoma Dome - Tacoma, Fri-Sun Seattle Sister Cities Soup Sampling - Capitol Hill, Saturday The Aluminum Show - Olympia, Sunday NAAM | Annual Martin Luther King Day Celebr...
Jan 16, 2025•4 min
