What do dwarf mallow and dandelion have in common? Sure, most people would consider both of these plants weeds, but they're also both found in Natalie Hammerquist's new book, Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest . Hammerquist is an expert forager who makes YouTube videos about plants in the PNW . We took a trip with her to sample a veritable salad bar growing in between pavers and along the path of the Beacon Food Forest. Guest: Natalie Hammerquist , herbalist, expert forager, and author of Ed...
Oct 22, 2025•15 min
Seattle hasn't had a two term mayor since Greg Nickels, who won a second term nearly two decades ago. Incumbent Mayor Bruce Harrell is trying to break the streak of one term mayors. He was elected to the position in 2021. He previously served on the Seattle city council for 12 years. His opponent is Katie Wilson. She founded the nonprofit Transit Riders Union and serves as its chair. Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/do...
Oct 21, 2025•45 min
Wanna scare an apple farmer? Just say one word: “ Honeycrisp.” We're kidding…. But they do make farmers' lives harder. That’s according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal calling the variety a “ farmer’s nightmare.” And that’s tough because they’re one of the most popular apples on the market. People can’t seem to resist their sweet, crunchy flavor. So there’s high demand for the apple… but honeycrisps are pretty demanding in return: They’re apparently thin-skinned. They bruise easily....
Oct 20, 2025•18 min
In a few months, Washingtonians on Medicare could see additional hurdles when it comes to getting approval for their procedures and care. . That’s because the Trump Administration is exploring the use of prior authorizations to assess whether medical services are necessary for a patient. If it isn’t, the procedures may not be covered. Prior authorization is a common practice in the insurance industry but not in Medicare. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says the tool will help...
Oct 20, 2025•12 min
Shelley Fairweather-Vega is a Seattle-based translator. She’s responsible for the English edition of Uzbek writer Hamid Ismailov’s novel “We Computers.” For that work, Fairweather-Vega is a finalist for a 2025 National Book Award in the translated literature category. She wrote in the afterword to “We Computers,” that she tried to find room in the plot for the poetry, and room for the poetry in the plot. We talk with her about her work and the community of translators around the Puget Sound. Gue...
Oct 20, 2025•28 min
Who will be Seattle’s next top lawyer? The city attorney enforces Seattle’s laws, prosecutes misdemeanor crimes and defends the city in court. After a summer primary, former assistant U.S. attorney Erika Evans emerged as the challenger to incumbent City Attorney Ann Davison. They debate at KUOW in front of a live studio audience. Guests Ann Davison, incumbent Seattle city attorney Erika Evans, candidate for city attorney Related links City Inside/Out: Seattle City Attorney Race Will Seattle reel...
Oct 16, 2025•43 min
Your weekend has arrived, we're ALL celebrating HUMPY, and we're anticipating that very first Mariners World Series... But, there are a bunch of other things happening, so let's get to it! LINKS: SPORTS!! Mariners!! - Thurs/Fri at home, (Sun/Mon in Toronto if needed) Reign vs Utah Royals FC Seahawks vs Houston - MNF! SIFF DocFest - starts Thurs 10/16, ends 10/23 Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair Seattle Oddities & Curiosities Expo 2025 Slack Key Seattle Festival Seattle No Kings - Oct 18 No King...
Oct 16, 2025•6 min
Demonstrators are gearing up for another nationwide No Kings Day Protest this weekend against President Donald Trump. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, here’s a tagline on the event’s website to catch you up to speed : “Reclaiming Democracy, Rejecting Authoritarianism.” For years, Americans on the left have called Trump an authoritarian. And for a lot of people, his second go in the White House has only reinforced these labels. In the past year, Trump has pardoned rioters who tried to ...
Oct 15, 2025•29 min
Two candidates are running to represent the city of Seattle in one of our two city-wide Council seats. And 2026 will be a big year for the council – we’ve got a looming budget deficit, potential federal funding cuts, and, of course, the continuous threat of federal troops being sent to our fair city. The first candidate is a familiar name – incumbent Sara Nelson was elected to the position 9 seat in 2021. She is the city council president, and a co-founder of Fremont Brewing. Her opponent is Dio...
Oct 14, 2025•42 min
Americans are reading less for pleasure these days. That’s according to research from the University of Florida and University College London. And it’s not a little dip - we’re talking a 40% drop in daily leisure reading for people 15 and older over the past two decades. This shift is especially prevalent for specific groups, like Black Americans, people with lower incomes, and people in rural areas. We dug deeper into the findings from this study... and took a closer look at Seattle's reading h...
Oct 14, 2025•21 min
It’s been quite a week for one Seattle scientist, after getting an unexpected late-night call from a Swedish phone number last week. That call turned out to bring good news: Dr. Mary Brunkow is sharing this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. She’s being honored for research she did decades ago; work that would eventually loom large in developing ways to treat autoimmune disease and cancer. We’ve asked Dr. Brunkow to reflect a bit on what that work looks like in hindsight, and what it ...
Oct 13, 2025•17 min
Two candidates are running to represent Southeast Seattle, including Beacon Hill, the Chinatown-International District, Columbia City, and Rainier Beach. The District 2 seat was left vacant earlier this year when former City Councilmember Tammy Morales left the role. It’s being temporarily filled by Interim Councilmember Mark Solomon, but he’s going to step aside once voters decide which candidate they want to represent their community. The current candidates for District 2 are campaigning on pl...
Oct 10, 2025•38 min
We open this weekend's warmup with a fun chat about the TASVEER FILM FESTIVAL. Soundside's Libby Denkmann spoke with Tasveer Executive Director Rita Meher about what everyone can expect for this year's festival, and what exciting things they've got coming soon! Then producer Jason Burrows takes it away with the standard issue warmup. LINKS: Tasveer Film Festival SPORTS! Mariners vs Tigers - Game 5 - Fri 10/10 5:08p Seattle Reign - Fri 10/10 vs Bay FC UW Husky Men’s Football - FRI 10/10 vs Rutger...
Oct 09, 2025•10 min
Vocal pro-Palestinian protests have been happening within one of the Seattle area’s biggest industries. Groups of tech workers at various companies have campaigned to end their employer’s relationships with the Israeli government. One such group, called No Azure for Apartheid, has occupied the Microsoft campus and disrupted corporate events. Guests: Hossam Nasr - former Microsoft employee and organizer with No Azure for Apartheid Relevant Links: The Guardian: Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its...
Oct 08, 2025•29 min
The news hit like a gulp of bitter cold brew: Seattle-based Starbucks announced last month the company would be closing hundreds of stores and laying off another 900 corporate employees. Tuesday, October 7th, it was reported that another 369 employees will be laid off here in Washington State in December due to store “closures.” This follows a restructuring plan laid out by CEO Brian Niccol. Here to walk us through the latest out of SBUX HQ is Heather Haddon. She covers restaurants for the Wall ...
Oct 08, 2025•15 min
Today marks two years since Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups carried out multiple coordinated attacks in Israel - killing over a thousand people . Around 250 Israelis were taken hostage. It was a day of unconscionable atrocities and hatred. And war has only made the horrors grow. Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to the United Nations. Last month the United Nations Human Rights Commission declared that Israel has committed genocide ...
Oct 07, 2025•32 min
Wildfire smoke is deadly and getting deadlier. A recent study published in Nature estimates that if warming continues at the current rate, smoke exposure could kill 70,000 Americans a year by 2050… and researchers expect that Washington could feel some of the biggest impacts. Some researchers say the study points to some of the strongest evidence so far that climate change is endangering people in the United States. Smoke pollution can cause coughing and throat irritation, but it can also lead t...
Oct 07, 2025•15 min
In a bid to make progress on homelessness during the pandemic, Seattle began housing people in a shelter at the Civic Hotel, just a few blocks from the Space Needle. The space offered wraparound services and, unlike some other shelters, didn’t require its clients to be sober. And all in all, it seemed like things were going pretty well. Then Seattle stopped sending people there. Rooms were empty, despite the fact that the city had committed millions of dollars to keep using the building. A new i...
Oct 07, 2025•17 min
Seattle Public Schools have only been back in session for about a month, but it’s already been a busy year for the district. We wanted to get caught up on what’s been happening, so we reached out to Interim Superintendent Fred Podesta for a conversation last week. We talked with him about school lunch protests, the budget, and a proposed pilot program to bring a school engagement officer back to one Seattle high school. Guest Fred Podesta , interim superintendent, Seattle Public Schools Thank yo...
Oct 06, 2025•16 min
Last week renowned primatologist Jane Goodall died at the age of 91. Goodall spent 65 years studying wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. Her work showed that chimpanzees make and use tools, and have emotions, empathy and their own culture. She changed our understanding of the world around us. But it went far beyond just that - in her later life Goodall was an advocate: for conservation, human rights, animal welfare, and a number of other issues. Myron Shekelle is a primatologist and senior instructor ...
Oct 06, 2025•17 min
We’re talking about the future of a big job today: King County Executive. Whichever candidate is elected to this position will oversee the sheriff’s department, manage public health, transportation, public housing, and jails… according to the King County website , they’ll lead one of the largest regional governments in the United States. The last time we had an open race for King County Executive, Barack Obama was about to become President. And everyone was talking about some new Washington-base...
Oct 02, 2025•35 min
The Major League Baseball playoffs started this week and the Mariners, once again, did not take the field. But this year, that’s actually a good thing. Your Seattle Mariners finished on top of their division for the first time in nearly a quarter century and have a first round bye in the playoffs. The team’s first ALDS game is Saturday. It has been an absolute rollercoaster of a season. Cal Raleigh led the charge and put up an impressive 60 home runs in the regular season. He’s one of the favori...
Oct 02, 2025•17 min
We didn't have time on the broadcast, but don't worry... Soundside producer Jason Megatron Burrows has all the events for you to enjoy this weekend. LINKS: Oktoberfest Northwest - Washington State Fair Event Center Oktoberfest - Leavenworth Washington OktoBEARfest - Woodland Park Zoo 2025 Tacoma Greek Festival OysterFest The Northwest Chocolate Festival U District Chow Down & Street Party HAUNTED HOUSES: Haunted Forest of Maple Valley Nile Nightmares Haunted House - Mountlake Terrace Georget...
Oct 02, 2025•5 min
Who is an apology for? The answer is more obvious when the person you’re apologizing to is standing in front of you. You want their forgiveness. Or for them to feel better. Or for you to feel better. But when the people who were hurt, or those who hurt them, are long gone – what does apologizing actually accomplish? That’s one of the questions behind a recent essay in the New Yorker. It’s called “The Ritual of Civic Apology,” by Beth Lew-Williams. Lew-Williams is a Professor of History and Direc...
Oct 01, 2025•26 min
It’s finally fall, which means the return of colorful flannels, blundstones, and the occasional raincoat. These are the clothes that have come to define Seattle fashion… which, if you haven’t heard, is bad. That’s at least according to a longheld stereotype about our city’s aesthetic. People like to make fun of the way Seattle-ites dress. They’ve labeled our fashion sense as Normie. Uninspired. Boring. We’re asking two local fashion experts to weigh in on whether Seattle is an unstylish city… or...
Oct 01, 2025•23 min
The federal government is headed for a shutdown. Congressional leaders from both parties met with President Trump yesterday at the White House. They failed to make progress towards a funding deal. Democrats say they want to reverse some Medicaid cuts that Republicans passed earlier this year – and extend tax credits for people on Obamacare plans. Meanwhile, Republicans falsely claim that their colleagues across the aisle are shutting down the government to fund healthcare for unauthorized immigr...
Sep 30, 2025•15 min
President Trump designated antifa as a domestic terrorist organization last week. He followed up with a memo directing the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force to investigate individuals and groups engaged in political violence and intimidation. Trump cited antifa as a reason to mobilize 200 Oregon National Guard troops , which are expected to arrive in Portland within the next week. The president claimed ICE facilities in the city “were under siege from attack by Antifa and other domestic terrorist...
Sep 30, 2025•21 min
When homicide detective Ian Carter arrives at the scene of a murder, the victim is posed to look like Ophelia from Hamlet . Not that any of the detectives on the scene realize that... The person who will crack open that clue, and other twisted literary references, is on the other side of their Oregon college town; English professor Emma Reilly. She’s struggling to get to class on time, and sensitive about avoiding the “absent minded professor” trope. It’s the beginning of the new novel “Murder b...
Sep 30, 2025•15 min
Rena Priest is best known for her poetry. As Washington’s poet laureate between 2021 and 2023, she traveled around the state doing readings and spreading awareness of poetry. She was the first Indigenous poet to hold that role and is a member of the Lummi Nation. Now, she’s bringing her keen observations and sharp wit to non-fiction. She’s the author of a new collection of essays, titled Positively Uncivilized. In the book Priest explores the history of broken treaties, battles over fishing righ...
Sep 29, 2025•17 min
Christian Sidor is a professor in the UW Department of Biology and curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Burke. And for the last 18 years, he’s been traveling back and forth to Zambia and Tanzania, collecting fossils from the Permian period. The Permian lasted about 47 millions years and ended 252 million years ago with the Triassic Period. Sidor has found a lot of Permian specimens. Last month he and his collaborators co-edited a series of 14 articles on the animals they’ve discovered durin...
Sep 29, 2025•16 min
