Cascade of History

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present archival audio from a panel discussion called "Evergreen Radio LIVE: The Past, Present and Future of Radio in The Pacific Northwest." The panel took place on April 25, 2015, which was the 107th anniversary of the birth of Edward R. Murrow. It was held on the campus of WSU in Richland, Washington. Panelists include broadcasters and broadcast e...

Feliks Banel's guests on this SECRET DRIVE-TIME TEST EDITION episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY include Clay Eals on his NOW & THEN column in this coming weekend's Seattle Times about the April 29, 1965 Seattle earthquake; a listen back to Edward R. Murrow's report on the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp from April 15, 1945; B.J. Thurlby of the Washington State Fruit Commission/Northwest...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with musician Scott McCaughey of legendary and influential band The Young Fresh Fellows about their upcoming shows (late April 2025) in Seattle and Portland, but mainly to get to the bottom of the famous "Beer Money" 45-rpm 7"-vinyl single, which was originally released in 1987. We also listen to a bootleg recording from April 1986 o...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Neil Hubbard, who was 19 years old when he and a friend produced a concert by New York protopunk band The Ramones at the Olympic Hotel in Seattle in March 1977. We go deep on the context, details and myth-like backstory of those distant years when Seattle was full of middle-class kids and was something of an incubator of organic...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present archival audio from a television program broadcast from the observation deck of the Space Needle on April 20, 2022. "SPIRIT OF '62: Celebrating the Seattle World's Fair" was produced and hosted by Feliks Banel for the Seattle Channel, and features an all-star roster of special guests, including the late Louis Larsen, fair executive; the late...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Scott Daniels, Reference Services Manager for the Oregon Historical Society (OHS), about upcoming introductory research library workshops being offered at OHS in Portland in April and May. For more information about the upcoming OHS workshops, please find links at the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page: www.facebook.com/groups/cas...

Feliks Banel's guests on this episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY include Jean Sherrard on his NOW & THEN column in this coming weekend's Seattle Times about the Cadillac Hotel/Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park; plus archival feature with the late Edward Saylor of Enumclaw, member of the famous Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942; and a conversation with Dr. Lindsey Swindall of the Stevens Institut...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Dr. Kenneth Landry, a retired dentist and naval officer. As a young man in the early 1970s, Dr. Landry made pen-and-ink drawings of many buildings in downtown Seattle, including the Virginia Inn – which reportedly will close later this month. CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 1...

Feliks Banel's guests on this episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY include roving correspondent Ken Zick with a live report from the soon-to-close Virginia Inn, and Nick Biermann from Save Ryan House with an update on preservation efforts in Sumner. We also hear highlights from recent bonus episode interviews with Albert Fisher on Seattle World's Fair Bubbleator history, and Justin McElroy, journalist fr...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Justin McElroy, longtime British Columbia resident, journalist for CBC Vancouver and diehard Toronto Blue Jays fan about the upcoming series in May 2025 when the Canadian MLB team will play a weekend series against the Mariners in Seattle. Will B.C. fans stay away this year - because of the political and economic situation - whe...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel digs into the archives for his 2016 conversation with the late Dan Morgenstern, legendary jazz scholar, about the 1952 Duke Ellington concert in Seattle. A recording of the concert was first issued in 1954 by RCA; Mr. Morgenstern wrote the liner notes for the 1995 reissue. The 1952 Seattle concert was held at the old Civic Auditorium, now M...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Chris McNaughton, a diver and amateur maritime archaeologist who got tapped by the Museum of North Idaho to help retrieve a priceless artifact from Lake Coeur d’Alene - a giant wooden rudder from a sternwheeler steamboat. CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle an...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Albert Fisher, who coordinated movies and TV for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, and who escorted the young actor Jay North around the fairgrounds one day during the festivities. Fisher shares his memories of North, who played the title character on TV's "Dennis The Menace" more than 60 years ago, and who passed way April 6, 2025...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with prolific author - and frequent guest - David B. Williams about the release of his new book "Wild In Seattle: Stories at the Crossroads of People and Nature” from Mountaineers Books. For more information about David B. Williams, his book, his blog and other activities - including a number of upcoming public events marking the rel...

Feliks Banel's guests on this special episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY – broadcast LIVE from the Museum of Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia – include Vivianne Gosselin, director of the museum; Coll Thrush, University of British Columbia (UBC) professor and author of the forthcoming book "Wrecked: Unsettling Histories from the Graveyard of the Pacific" from University of Washington Press; and...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel pays tribute to the late Chris Wedes, who played J.P. Patches on KIRO TV in Seattle from 1958 to 1981, and who remains one of the most beloved performers in the history of the Pacific Northwest. In this interview from 2010, Wedes looks back on what it meant to play J.P. for all those years, and how he continued to connect with Patches Pals...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with retired military and commercial pilot Lee Corbin, who happens to be one of the best military aviation and military infrastructure historians in the Pacific Northwest. Corbin talks about his years-long effort to research an Air Force plane crash that took place in Orting, Washington on April 1, 1959 - which inspired a UFO conspir...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel digs into the archives for his 2022 conversation with John Keister, who was host of "Almost LIVE" when that KING 5 TV program in Seattle pulled off the infamous - and still reverberating - Space Needle Hoax of April 1, 1989. CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallant...

On this bonus PLAY BALL! episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel digs into the archives for his 2016 interview with the late Bill Schonely, voice of the Seattle Pilots during their one and only MLB season in the Northwest in 1969. The team became the Milwaukee Brewers on this day - March 31, 1970 - 55 years ago. Schonely remained in the region and became the voice of the Portland Trailblazers....

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Josh LaBelle, executive director of the non-profit Seattle Theatre Group (STG) on the partnership announced Friday whereby STG will now manage the historic 5th Avenue Theatre in downtown Seattle - along with other STG venues including the Paramount Theatre and Neptune Theatre. CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nig...

On this bonus DOME-OLITION episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel marks the 25th anniversary of the implosion of the KINGDOME – Seattle and King County’s multipurpose domed stadium – by digging into his personal archives for this piece originally produced (with help from Jim Gates) for the KUOW Public Radio history series “THIS NOT JUST IN.” CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday ni...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY - on a day when rare and extreme weather is forecast for parts of Western Washington - Feliks Banel digs into the archives for this oral history montage about the deadly Vancouver, WA tornado of April 5, 1972. This montage was originally produced by Feliks for a Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau presentation. CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most...

On this bonus ERUPTION episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with John Erickson and Mike Beard who covered the first eruption of Mount St. Helens for radio station KGW in Portland, Oregon on March 27, 1980. Erickson was news director and Beard was a reporter who just happened to be airborne over the mountain on the day of that first eruption 45 years ago. The two worked together to ge...

Feliks Banel presents on this broadcast of CASCADE OF HISTORY tributes from the archives to the late Ralph Munro (former Washington Secretary of State) and the late Frank Chopp (former Speaker of the Washington House of Representatives), both of whom passed away in recent days. We also hear an excerpt from an interview last week with journalist and broadcaster Jim Dever, who recently announced he'...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel remembers former Washington legislator and longtime Democratic Speaker of the State House Frank Chopp, who passed away unexpectedly on March 22, 2025. In this archival interview from 2020, Mr. Chopp explains his role in preservation of an apartment complex in King County, and its conversion to public housing. As Mr. Chopp says in the interv...