Cascade of History

Feliks Banel's guests on this BONUS ENCORE EDITION of CASCADE OF HISTORY are FOX Weather meteorologist Scott Sistek, in a conversation recorded just after the 2021 Pacific Northwest "heatdome"; and longtime Seattle journalist Essex Porter reflecting on his career after his then-recent retirement from KIRO 7 News. Both interviews are from the archives of COLUMBIA CONVERSATIONS, for which Feliks was...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Ken Johnsen, one of the founders of the Yakima Valley Trolley in Yakima, Washington. This historic interurban railway in Central Washington is the last of its kind in the United States. On May 27, 2025, the Yakima Valley Trolley was named to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservations’ LIST OF MOST ENDANGERED PLACES. Ken Joh...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Alex Silverman, who recently left KNX News, the legendary commercial news radio station in Los Angeles. Silverman was serving as Director of News and Programming in January 2025 when a series of devastating wildfires struck Southern California. During that time, KNX provided its listeners with some of the best live and local rad...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with John C. Hughes on the eve of his retirement in a long and far-ranging conversation. Hughes has been a journalist and historian in the Evergreen State for six decades, including 42 years at his hometown newspaper - the Aberdeen World - and the past 17 years with Legacy Washington, collecting and publishing oral histories and biog...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Randy Dixon of the non-profit group in Pocatello, Idaho called Relight The Night - for Part 2 of a miniseries we like to call "The Mystery of the Giant Neon Baseball & Bat at Sicks Stadium." Mr. Dixon is our guide to a little-known world of neon collectors and experts in the United States, and offers his help to determine what m...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY Feliks Banel presents portions of a rare aircheck from KIRO Newsradio 71’s May 18, 1990 broadcast from atop Mount St. Helens. The tenth anniversary of the 1980 eruption inspired the station to mount an ambitious and expensive production, the likes of which aren’t seen much on the radio landscape these days. As described on the May 18, 2025 broadcast of C...

Feliks Banel's guests on this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY are Hannah Combs and Joe Gibbs of the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum, and explorer/diver Chris McNaughton. The trio shares the story of the recent discovery of a sunken mystery boat in a river/lake in the Idaho Panhandle, and about diving on the wreck, and researching its history. In this interview, Ms. Combs reveals th...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present audio from a presentation made by the late Daniel J. Evans, former governor and U.S. senator for the Evergreen State. The presentation took place in the McCurdy Gallery at the old Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle's Montlake neighborhood on June 14, 2001. Governor Evans was invited to share his views and ideas about what stories...

Feliks Banel's guests on this live broadcast of CASCADE OF HISTORY include Bill Yeend and Andy Ludlum, who were both working for KIRO Newsradio in May 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted; Bill was host of the morning news and Andy was managing editor, and they share their memories and recollections in this live conversation marking the 45th anniversary of the May 18, 1980 eruption. Then, Nick Bierm...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Howie Cohen, whose 40-year career at Seattle's beloved Bartell Drugs recently came to an end. Mr. Cohen shares four decades of Bartell memories, including the time he stirred up local pride (and little bit of controversy) with neighborhood-themed mugs; when he led the charge to create the mind-blowingly popular Fremont Troll Chi...

On this BONUS ENCORE EDITION of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present audio from a 25th anniversary commemoration of the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, which this year will mark 45 years since that momentous Sunday morning. Panelists include former public radio reporter Austin Jenkins, who (as a child) was rescued from an overnight camp near the mountain after the eruption; the late Grant Hal...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with David Eskenazi - the man who knows more about Seattle sports history and Seattle sports artifacts than anyone in the Universe - for Part 1 of a miniseries we like to call "The Mystery of the Giant Neon Baseball & Bat at Sicks Stadium." Be sure and visit the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page for rare photos of the giant neon baseb...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present audio from the Flight 293 monument dedication ceremony at Tahoma National Cemetery from June 3, 2023. Flight 293 was a military chartered Northwest Airlines DC-7C that disappeared in the Gulf of Alaska on a flight from McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washington to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. There were 101 souls aboard....

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Chris Moore, executive director of the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation (WTHP), for a look back at the recently concluded legislative session in Olympia - and the major impacts ahead affecting historic preservation in the Evergreen State. Moore also previews the WTHP's upcoming fundraising event, taking place in Seattl...

On this ENCORE EDITION of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present audio from a 60th anniversary commemoration of VE Day, the end of World War II in Europe, from May 2005. Panelists include Tuskegee Airman William Booker; US Army veteran John S. "Jack" Carver; and US Army veteran and former POW Dr. James Warren (who was also the former MOHAI director). The panel was part of a series produced and moderated b...

Feliks Banel's guests on this STAN BORESON-TENNIAL EDITION episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY include radio personality Tim Hunter, Steve Wilson of Almost LIVE!, and Stan Boreson's daughter Ann Boreson. The occasion is the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary entertainer and broadcaster Stan Boreson, born May 5, 1925. Stan passed away in 2017 at age 91. With new interviews with Mr. Hunter (who h...

THE STAN BORESON-TENNIAL fun continues with this BORESON BONUS EPISODE, courtesy of Tom McArthur, who produced this circa 1981 half-hour show featuring an interview with Stan plus lots and lots of deep cuts from the Boreson catalog. When Mr. McArthur shared this audio with CASCADE OF HISTORY, he wrote: “KPLU had a weekly arts magazine show, at the time - FM88 ArtsPlace - they were always looking f...

Feliks Banel's guests on this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY are authors (and brothers) Brian Antonson and Rick Antonson. Their book, “Slumach’s Gold: In Search of a Legend and a Curse,” is co-written with Mary Trainer, and is just out in a revised and expanded third edition from Canadian publisher Heritage House. The book details the more than 50 years the trio has spent exploring the myster...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Ted Van Dyk, who had a long career in politics and journalism, including working for Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and who grew up in Whatcom County. He also had breakfast one day back in the 1950s with Edward R. Murrow. CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle a...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY for Independent Bookstore Day 2025, Feliks Banel speaks with Tacoma-based historian and author Michael Sullivan about the 1941 Works Progress Administration (WPA) guide to Washington, the Evergreen State. Sullivan is a major admirer of the book - he has many personal copies! - and has studied its origins and archival history at the Washington State Histo...

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...