RadioActive

In May 2024, KUOW announced the station was ending RadioActive Youth Media, its long-running youth journalism program. For 20 years, RadioActive brought listeners the stories and perspectives of young people in the Pacific Northwest. Soundside producer Noel Gasca reflects on what the program has meant to the over 6,000 youth who participated — and what will be lost. 

Late last month, KUOW announced the station was ending its RadioActive Youth Media program. For 20 years, RadioActive brought listeners the stories and perspectives of young people in the Pacific Northwest. Soundside producer Noel Gasca reflects on what the program has meant to the over 6,000 youth who participated - and what will be lost.

Nine stories of teenagers navigating high-stakes decisions and forks in the road.  Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/choose-your-own-adventure-radio-nine-stories-by-seattle-teens [RadioActive Youth Media was KUOW's journalism and audio storytelling program for teenagers. It ran from 2013-2024.]

In this hour of youth radio, hosts Gavin Muhlfelder and Phillip Zhou present nine RadioActive Youth Media stories produced in 2023. They also talk with some of the youth producers about the time they spent at KUOW, what they learned, and what their stories mean to them now. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/an-hour-of-stories-from-radioactive-summer-2023

Soundside revisits a story produced by RadioActive alum Avery Styer back in 2016. Eight years ago, Avery took us to a space in Capitol Hill that had a special spot in their life - Lambert House, a community center for LGBTQ+ youth. Since that original story, Avery has aged out of the youth programs Lambert House currently offers, but that doesn’t mean they’ve moved on.

It’s been more than 20 years since the U.S. invaded Iraq. For Darren Fisher, it’s been more than 20 years since he said, "No" to that invasion. RadioActive’s Olivia Asmann has the story of one young Marine’s objection to fighting in the so-called war on terror. This story discusses the realities of the military and war. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/why-one-young-marine-refused-to-...

RadioActive’s Vivi Cardenas-Habell says the Seattle Fandango Project played a key role in her upbringing. But she didn’t fully appreciate it until Covid took it away. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/building-community-is-an-act-of-social-justice-at-the-seattle-fandango-project [RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. Th...

In the summer of 1972, the year before Roe v. Wade made abortion legal nationwide, Elaine Fichter was 16 years old and eight weeks pregnant. Fichter lived in Washington state where abortion was already legal, and she made the choice to terminate her pregnancy. Fifty years later, Fichter’s grandchild, RadioActive ’s Natalie Lahr, explores how her grandmother’s decision impacted both of their future...

Aaron Ton's grandparents and their children lived comfortably in southern Vietnam. But everything changed on April 30, 1975. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/my-grandfather-s-little-story-a-journey-through-war-and-prison-in-vietnam [ RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. This story was entirely youth-produced, from the writ...

Seattle is home to 10% of the Eritrean population in the United States. Many Eritrean immigrants found political asylum in the U.S. in the 1980s and 90s due to the Eritrean War of Independence. For some young first-generation Eritrean Americans like RadioActive's Alex Mengisteab, this history feels both close and slightly out of reach. So to better understand it, Alex talked to his family friend H...

A cancer diagnosis "sucks." And the hospital stays that follow don't make it any easier. 17-year-old Harry McGovern wanted to make a difference for other teenage cancer patients like him. So he started The First Night Project. RadioActive ’s Sidh Shroff has this story about his friend. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/the-first-night-project-makes-cancer-ward-stays-a-little-easier-for...

When RadioActive's Rediet Giday was three months old, her family moved to the United States — w ithout her. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/joy-and-happiness-was-left-behind-the-price-my-family-paid-for-the-american-dream [ RadioActive Youth Media  is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. This story was entirely youth-produced, from the writing...

A daughter reflects on the emotional and challenging journey her father, an Ethiopian refugee, made in order to save his life and pursue his dreams. RadioActive’s Eliham Mohammed has this story about her dad. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/walking-the-nile-in-his-shoes [ RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. This story wa...

BONUS EPISODE: "On Our Minds with Bree & James” is a podcast about mental health — produced by and for teens — from our friends at PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs.  RadioActive has been collaborating with Student Reporting Labs to produce "On Our Minds" this year, and we’re excited to share this special bonus episode with you. RadioActive's Frankie St. Pierre Nelson edited and mixed t...

George “Hot Dog” Moxley. A nickname born in the Jim Crow South and given to a boy who defied the unspoken laws of the time. RadioActive’s Nyla Moxley talked with her grandfather about the summer in Kentucky when he got the nickname. This story discusses racist violence. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/buying-hot-dogs-was-an-act-of-resilience-for-my-grandfather-in-the-jim-crow-south [...

Fatuma Yusuf faces and embraces the challenges of being a woman who wears the hijab in the modeling industry. Her sister, RadioActive’s Maymuna Yusuf, has her story. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/what-s-it-like-being-a-hijab-wearing-model [RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. This story was entirely youth-produced, from...

A lot of young people grow up thinking deeply about their racial identities. But what if your family's identity is mixed? It can be complicated. RadioActive's Gavin Muhlfelder tells his family's story. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/black-white-seattleite-my-family-s-experience-being-mixed-race-in-seattle [RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytelling pro...

Stephanie Hogan was born in America and raised Jewish. But after living abroad and watching senseless violent events unfold, she began to question and change her identity and beliefs. Now 'Ms. Hogan' teaches history at Mount Rainier High School, where she met RadioActive ’s Daniel Colindres. Daniel talked with Ms. Hogan about her lifelong process of self-discovery. Please note this story briefly r...

Not everyone has the same relationship with their hijab. Some people feel confident wearing the hijab at a young age, and others are still on that journey. For this personal essay, RadioActive ’s Jehan Hashi talked to her best friend, A, about how they both found power and freedom in wearing their hijabs. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/how-to-navigate-the-public-school-system-as-a-h...

Do you know what glossophobia is? You might have it. It's the fear of public speaking. RadioActive’s Josue Villalobos talks to his sisters about their shared anxieties, and how they overcome them. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/it-s-okay-to-be-afraid-of-public-speaking [ RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytelling program for young people. This story wa...

Seven years ago, Aaliyah and Najmah Messiah entered into Taniya Guster’s life. They started as housemates, but they quickly became like family.  RadioActive’s Taniya Guster has this conversation with two of the most important women in her life. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/pay-attention-listen-and-learn-a-15-year-old-gets-advice-from-two-of-her-role-models [ [RadioActive Yout...

For over a quarter of a century, Laura Moffitt dedicated her career to the elementary school library in the rural Washington town of Concrete. A lot of that time was spent trying to save it. And now, the library is no longer staffed.

As a kid, RadioActive's Phillip Zhou didn't know much about his dad's immigration story — they never really talked about it. But that all changed recently when Phillip learned about a big choice his dad made for their family. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/my-Chinese-immigrant-dad-s-love-kept-our-family-together [RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio journalism and audio storytell...

Many parents make sacrifices for their children. For immigrants, that may mean moving to the United States to fulfill the 'American dream.' But for one mom, that dream didn't come true. RadioActive ’s Redeat Debebe has this story about her family. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/my-mothers-courageous-and-isolating-experience-of-immigration [RadioActive Youth Media is KUOW’s radio jou...

Welcome to "The Human Show," the first-ever live radio program written by Artificial Intelligence. Don’t resist progress! Before it's too late... This is a fictional, satirical episode of the "RadioActive" podcast. This episode was written and produced by Olivia Asmann, Aaron Ton and Natalie Lahr. Episode webpage: https://www.kuow.org/stories/fiction-the-human-show-2033 [RadioActive Youth Media is...