Catastrophic flooding continues to threaten Washington. Around 100,000 people in Western Washington have been advised to evacuate. Hundreds of Washington National Guard members have been tapped to help with response efforts. And Gov. Ferguson declared a statewide emergency in response to the flooding. We talked to three KUOW reporters about what they're seeing on the ground and what we need to know about this weather event. CORRECTION: As of 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 11, approximately 100,...
Dec 11, 2025•34 min
Hey Soundside Listeners! Because our entire show was focused on flood coverage with the Governor's press conference, and live conversations with KUOW reporters Joshua McNichols, John Ryan, and Casey Martin, we decided to skip the Weekend Warmup on the air this week, and drop it here on the podcast feed instead. Stay safe, check KUOW.org for updates, and look in on your neighbors. With that said, please enjoy this podcast exclusive Weekend Warmup! LINKS: SPORTS! Seahawks vs Indianapolis Colts - S...
Dec 11, 2025•5 min
At 38 years old, Girmay Zahilay is King County’s youngest-ever executive. He’s coming in after the long tenure of his predecessor Dow Constantine, who ran the county for nearly 16 years. Zahilay was sworn in early to replace the temporary acting executive who’s been in charge since Constantine stepped down in March. He says he’s ready to “ completely change ” the office. The King County Executive oversees all kinds of important services like the sheriff’s department, public health, transportatio...
Dec 11, 2025•16 min
On Wednesday morning, we spoke with the mayor of Auburn and the city manager in Carnation about flooding in their cities and what they expect to happen next. GUESTS: Nancy Backus, mayor of Auburn, WA Rhonda Ender, city manager, Carnation, WA RELATED LINKS: ‘Catastrophic’ flooding expected in King, Snohomish, Skagit counties -The Seattle Times Western Washington faces 'catastrophic' flooding as two atmospheric rivers dump heavy rain - KUOW Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this s...
Dec 11, 2025•15 min
Washington, like the entire country, has been hit hard by fentanyl. So far this year, King County has recorded more than 650 overdose deaths involving the synthetic opioid, which can be 50 times stronger than heroin . 650 is a devastating number but it’s actually down from a peak in 2023, when more than 1,000 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses in the county. The drop mirrors a downward trend that we’ve seen across the entire country… But the crisis is still overwhelming many communities...
Dec 11, 2025•19 min
For weeks, King County homelessness service providers have been staring down a majorly disruptive change to how they currently operate. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development said in November that it intended to redirect billions of dollars in grants that house homeless people. This was in line with President Trump’s rejection of “housing first,” the practice that aims to get people stabilized in long-term housing before addressing mental health issues or addiction. It's guided ...
Dec 09, 2025•18 min
A disturbing image shared by Senator Patty Murray has been reverberating across the internet. It shows a man’s torso, his right side covered in wounds - lacerations, scratch marks, bite marks - after he was mauled by an immigration agent’s canine. Blood splatters the sheets below him. The man, Wilmer Toledo-Martinez of Vancouver, Washington, was detained outside his home last month by federal agents. Senator Murray and Wilmer’s family are calling for his release – and calling out the violent tre...
Dec 09, 2025•15 min
We could tell this next story with numbers. There is a lot of data. But at its core: This is a story about Native American kids. And how year after year, law enforcement and lawmakers in Olympia allow these children to be arrested and jailed at far higher rates than their white peers. Those experiences as children have lasting consequences well into adulthood. State officials and lawmakers know there’s a problem. But advocates say they haven’t done enough to stop it. GUEST Melanie Henshaw - Indi...
Dec 09, 2025•18 min
It’s June 26th, 2020, and a group of protesters stands in the midst of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. They’re talking to another group of people, including a city employee, about city sanitation workers getting access to the area. Towards the front of the group stands a 16 year old boy, wearing a grey baseball cap, a hoodie, and a surgical mask. He taps a protest organizer’s shoulder, so they’ll know he wants to speak. What you’re hearing is some of the last known footage of Antonio Mays Jr ...
Dec 08, 2025•40 min
Every Monday on Soundside we catch you up on the top stories that are fascinating right now – and what they say about the Pacific Northwest. 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: Seattle Times city hall reporter David Kroman TODAY'S TOPICS: ICE K-9 Attack Senator: ICE dog attack on WA man ‘should shock the conscien...
Dec 08, 2025•21 min
GLP-1 drugs that are commonly used to treat diabetes and obesity, like Ozempic and Wegovy – are in big demand. And they’re going to be more affordable. The Trump administration recently negotiated deals to lower the prices of these drugs. It seems like some details still need to be ironed out …. but from the looks of it, many Americans who use Medicare will be able to access GLP-1s at a fraction of their original cost. According to one of the deals, some Medicare patients will be able to get GLP...
Dec 04, 2025•26 min
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 Sa...
Dec 04, 2025•6 min
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 ...
Dec 04, 2025•29 min
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 Domesticati...
Dec 04, 2025•9 min
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 ...
Dec 03, 2025•7 min
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 ste...
Dec 03, 2025•34 min
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 Hous...
Dec 02, 2025•17 min
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...
Dec 01, 2025•20 min
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...
Dec 01, 2025•30 min
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 b...
Nov 26, 2025•51 min
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 late...
Nov 26, 2025•51 min
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 pla...
Nov 24, 2025•51 min
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 Ha...
Nov 21, 2025•22 min
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 migh...
Nov 20, 2025•7 min
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...
Nov 20, 2025•17 min
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 Torr...
Nov 20, 2025•5 min
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 a...
Nov 19, 2025•47 min
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: ...
Nov 18, 2025•14 min
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 ...
Nov 18, 2025•10 min
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 industr...
Nov 18, 2025•16 min
