Soundside

How comfortable are you with AI in your news?  The Tacoma News Tribune, Tri-City Herald, Bellingham Herald, the Olympian. For over a century all of these local papers have brought in-depth reporting and local news to their communities. But new policies instituted by publisher McClatchy Media have left reporters at the papers worried that the company is adopting artificial intelligence tools f...

Another week down, only... 50 left to go in 2026.  If you need a bit of distraction from your doom scrolling, we’ve got just the thing…  Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows is here with local events you can check out over the next few days, plus some really great stuff coming up to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day… LINKS: SEATTLE SEAHAWKS vs San Francisco 49e...

The state’s general fund budget is in trouble, as is its transportation budget. Inflation, higher than expected costs, lower than anticipated revenues, state services scheduled to expand. If you listen to KUOW, you’re probably aware of why the state is facing budget shortfalls.  This next segment is about a bright spot in the state’s budget: the money generated from the cap...

Tensions across the country remain high one week after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.  The shooting has sparked nationwide protests, including in the Seattle area. Accounts of what happened have split along political lines. Since the shooting, the administration is doubling down on its immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities. The number of federal immigration...

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments in two cases challenging state bans on trans athletes competing in girls' and women's sports. Twenty-seven states have bans on trans girls and women competing in school sports consistent with their gender identity.  But Washington passed a law in 2007 that protects trans athletes' participation in school sports. It was the first stat...

Doctors have long recommended regular cervical cancer screenings. Traditionally doctors perform these exams using a speculum, which often say is uncomfortable and, for many, quite painful.  Some recent developments could make a large number of these screenings easier. In early January, the Health Resources and Services Administration, which is part of the Department of Health and Human S...

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:  Paige Browning - KU...

From new transportation fees to requirements for closed captions in movie theaters, you might have already noticed the effects of several new laws and taxes with a January 1 start date.  And we’re about to begin a new legislative session on Monday, January 12th.  In Olympia, lawmakers are facing a yawning budget shortfall and uncertain funding from the federal government.  We...

We’ve reached the end of our first full week of 2026, and it’s time to get out there & do something FUN. LINKS:  2025 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour - Northwest Film Forum David Horsey | Elliott Bay Book Company OrcaCon Tabletop Games Convention   Seattle Travel and Adventure Show Great Train Show 2026 - Ridgefield, WA Seattle Bach Festival Jules Maes Saloon - Pro...

A lot has changed in Seattle in the last 7 days. The city has a new mayor, a new city attorney, two new council members, and, as of Tuesday afternoon, a new city council president. District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth won unanimous support yesterday from her colleagues to lead the council over the next two years.  The stakes of leading the city are always high, but this looks to be an...

Less than a week after the U.S. captured Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, the Coast Guard seized two oil tankers accused of violating U.S. sanctions. One of the vessels, seized in the North Atlantic, was registered in Russia. The Trump Administration is leaning on Venezuela to open up its oil industry to U.S. companies and oust the influence of Russia and China. President Trump said Tue...

It has been three days since the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in an audacious military raid.  It was a sudden and intense escalation of an ongoing campaign by the United States to oust Maduro. Maduro, and his wife Cilia Flores, appeared in a Manhattan court yesterday in an arraignment hearing over drug trafficking and weapons charges. Those charges were ce...

Being a movie buff in Seattle feels a little… unsettled right now. That’s because there’s been a lot of changes at SIFF, the Seattle International Film Festival, which has been the vanguard when it comes to all things movies. The organization announced Monday, it was undergoing an organizational restructuring, including some layoffs. This follows a somewhat tumultuous year for S...

There are plenty of headwinds affecting affordable housing construction and maintenance right now. Building costs are going up, and federal funding is uncertain. Affordable housing providers in Seattle and beyond have struggled as COVID-era rent subsidies disappeared. Colleen Echohawk has been thinking about these issues a lot. She is the new CEO of Community Roots Housing, a Public Development Au...

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: Geekwire contributing edi...

It’s New Year’s Eve. At midnight, many of us will be raising glasses, kissing loved ones, and trying to remember the words to “Auld Lang Syne.”  That song, if you don’t recall, begins with a question: “Should old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?”  We here at Soundside say, NO! We will remember.  This year, we brought on a co...

This week, we’re revisiting some of our favorite segments of the year.  And today, we're talking about transit. And translators.  A now-former King County Metro Bus driver tells us what passengers should know when they ride the bus. But more importantly, we got some insight into why the 8 in downtown Seattle is so often called the late bus. Plus, we sat down with a Seattle-based tr...

It’s the holidays and, to round out 2025, the Soundside team is sharing some of our favorite conversations we had on the show this year. For this episode, we devoted the entire hour to a conversation we originally aired last month on Bruce Lee.   This year, author Jeff Chang published an in-depth biography on Lee’s life. It's called “Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the...

Christmas Eve begins our holiday break here on Soundside. We’re taking some time off to enjoy the holidays with our friends and family… or to just eat lots of good food while staying indoors. But we’ve still got plenty of jam packed shows ready for you. Today - we’re focusing on local businesses here in the Pacific Northwest. RELATED LINKS: A tech startup helping the visua...

A lot has changed during Sara Nelson’s time in Seattle government. She was a centrist outlier on a progressive city council when she was first elected in 2021. But the dynamics changed: Nelson became the center of power, and ended up running the show as council president, after a moderate slate of candidates swept the 2023 election.  She helped oversee pandemic-era recovery, worked with...

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: Former KIRO-FM host Dave...

The holidays: a time to gather with friends and family, to enjoy one another’s company as we light candles or sit by a tree and contemplate the year’s passing. It’s also a time to argue with said friends and family about some really dumb stuff. Is Die Hard a holiday movie? Should Mariah Carey officially be crowned “Queen of Christmas?” Has there ever been a good Hanuk...

Seattle may have to say goodbye to a longstanding vintage shop in the new year.  Red Light Vintage & Costume sits in the heart of the University District. It has been a fixture in Seattle’s fashion scene since it opened in the mid 90s. Now the shop could close because owner Niz Marar is retiring. He’s hoping to sell the business before his lease expires at the end of January....

There are only a few weeks left in 2025. That means for those of you who resolved, at the beginning of the year, to do more reading — it's crunch time.  Did you actually put down your phone long enough to get through a book this year? It's not too late.  Many great books came out this year. If you need suggestions for something to read or to give to someone who really ought to be r...

The end of the year is just around the corner, and with the next two Thursdays each being holidays, this is the final Weekend Warmup of the Year! LINKS: TNF! Seahawks vs Rams Thurs 12/18 The 29th Annual Model Train Festival - Washington State Historical Society Opens Fri 12/19 - runs through Jan 1, 2026 2025 Winter Beer Fest – WA Brewers Guild   Fri/Sat - 12/19-20 Hell’s Belles at...