Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler (R) is facing the fight of her political career from political science professor Carolyn Long (D) in Washington's 3rd District. Reporter Hal Bernton helps analyzes the district and the race.
Oct 11, 2018•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week, we heard from a proponent of Initiative 1631, Washington's proposed carbon fee. This week, a counterpoint from Dana Bieber, a spokeswoman for the 'No' campaign, who argues the measure lacks accountability and will raise gas prices.
Oct 04, 2018•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, an interview with Abigail Doerr, campaign manager for the Yes on I-1631 campaign, which would create a $1 billion a year carbon fee in Washington state.
Sep 27, 2018•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seattle Times education reporter Neal Morton schools The Overcast on Washington state's many teacher-contract battles, some of which are still raging.
Sep 14, 2018•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kim Schrier talks taxes, healthcare, Trump, and makes her case for becoming the first Democrat to be elected in Washington's 8th Congressional District.
Aug 30, 2018•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seattle Times chief politics reporter Jim Brunner breaks down the results of Tuesday's primary elections for U.S. Senate, Congress and the state Legislature.
Aug 10, 2018•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Environmental reporter Lynda Mapes delves into the story of a mother orca carrying her dead calf through the water for more than a week and explains why Puget Sound's resident orcas are in danger.
Aug 02, 2018•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the wake of an alleged hate-crime attack on Burien Mayor Jimmy Matta, Deputy Mayor Austin Bell discusses the tumultuous past year in the Seattle suburb's once-sleepy politics.
Jul 27, 2018•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has nominated Carmen Best to serve as the city's police chief. So what does Public Defender Association director Lisa Daugaard think about the pick and the process that preceded it?
Jul 20, 2018•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gene Balk's recent columns on crime perceptions, realities and trends across Seattle neighborhoods got a lot of readers talking – and contacting him with their opinions.
Jul 13, 2018•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tom Steyer joins the podcast to argue the case for impeaching President Trump, and tangles with Democratic leaders who have shied away from that fight. Is he being realistic?
Jun 12, 2018•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tina Podlodowski chairs the Washington Sate Democratic Party. She sits down with The Overcast to talk about races for Congress around Spokane and Issaquah, plus other topics.
Jun 07, 2018•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Caleb Heimlich is the Washington State Republican Party's new chairman and the youngest state GOP chair in the country. He talks to The Overcast about upcoming races for the U.S. Senate, Congress and state Legislature.
Jun 01, 2018•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Now that Seattle has passed a controversial $275 per employee head tax on larger businesses to pay for homelessness services and housing, what's next for the city and its relationship with Amazon and other businesses? Political reporters Jim Brunner and Daniel Beekman break down what happened and what's next.
May 18, 2018•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Amazon is threatening to scale back Seattle growth in response to City Hall's proposed "head tax" on larger employers to address homelessness. Downtown Seattle Association President Jon Scholes joins The Overcast this week to argue against the tax -- and say what businesses would prefer instead.
May 04, 2018•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Seattle City Council is considering a "head tax" on large employers that would raise $75 million per year for homeless housing and emergency services, and Councilmember M. Lorena González is a sponsor. She joins The Overcast to explain the plan and answer questions.
Apr 27, 2018•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seattle University law professor Dean Spade joins reporter Daniel Beekman of The Seattle Times and Simone Alicea of KNKX 88.5 to discuss the No New Youth Jail campaign, which has been trying to halt King County's construction of a new juvenile detention center in Seattle.
Apr 19, 2018•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seattle Times reporter David Gutman brings The Overcast up to date on a traffic jam of transportation news at City Hall. Mayor Jenny Durkan has halted streetcar and bike-lane projects and announced a plan to pursue tolls on downtown streets, and the City Council has eased parking regulations for housing developers.
Apr 12, 2018•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maxford Nelsen is the labor-policy director for the Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank that's been fighting with Washington state's public-sector unions. He sits down with The Overcast to talk about the state of play, and whether unions have benefits for workers.
Apr 05, 2018•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast City Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, elected in November to a citywide seat, joined The Overcast to discuss what she's working on, such as protections for domestic workers, and some headlines, such as a ruling against Seattle's first-come, first-served rental law.
Mar 30, 2018•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast J.T. Wilcox, a Yelm Republican, is the new minority leader in Washington's state house. He sat down with The Overcast this week to talk about the recent legislative session, relations with Seattle politicians and the upcoming midterm elections. Will a "blue wave" hit here as a rebuke of President Trump?
Mar 22, 2018•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Seattle police fatally shot his brother in 2016, Andrè Taylor began pushing to change a Washington law that's made it virtually impossible to prosecute law-enforcement officers for their use of deadly force. Last week, the state Legislature agreed to do just that.
Mar 12, 2018•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Todd Myers, an environmental-policy analyst with the free-market Washington Policy Center think tank, joins The Overcast to question the carbon-tax proposal under consideration by Washington lawmakers.
Mar 02, 2018•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Sightline Institute's climate-change expert, Kristin Eberhard, joins The Overcast to break down the carbon-tax proposal heating up the Washington Legislature and the initiative campaign waiting to pounce if lawmakers don't act.
Feb 22, 2018•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast SEIU 775 president David Rolf talks about his union's past victories and future agenda in Washington state and Seattle - and whether a looming U.S. Supreme Court ruling will further cut union membership.
Feb 15, 2018•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week, state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, a Seattle Democrat, joined The Overcast and attacked Washington's new school-funding plan as too reliant on property taxes and too burdensome for Puget Sound communities. This week, state Sen. Johh Braun, a Centralia Republican, tells his side of the story. Braun helped draw up the funding plan.
Feb 09, 2018•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Property-tax bills are set to be mailed next month and many homeowners in the Seattle area are expecting big increases. That's partly because state lawmakers passed a new schools-funding plan. Sen. Reuven Carylye, a Democrat, voted against the plan. This week, he explains why and what to expect next.
Feb 02, 2018•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seattle Times education reporter Paige Cornwell sent out a call to readers to ask when - or if - they learned about sexual consent. She got back 250 response from people of all ages. She explains what she learned and how Seattle-area schools are leading the way on teaching consent to students.
Jan 19, 2018•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Seattle is entering its PERIOD OF MAXIMUM CONSTRAINT. That's what planners are calling a span from 2018 to 2021 during which your ability to move through downtown will take a back seat to big infrastructure projects and super-charged growth. For Episode 65 of The Overcast, Seattle Times transportation reporter serves up an inside scoop.
Jan 11, 2018•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Democrats now control the Washington governor's office and both houses of the state Legislature. But their majorities are slim. What will and won't they be able to do with their new power? Sharon Nelson, the state senate's majority leader, tells The Overcast what she expects and tries to dodge questions about lawmakers making their correspondence public.
Jan 04, 2018•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast