Soundside

When you visit the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, you’ll see a red circular structure with a four-letter phrase written across the top: “This Is Native Land.” 

It’s the name of the museum’s permanent exhibit that opened in October. The phrase is a reminder that you’ve probably seen many times...

But don’t be lulled into thinking you’ll know what to expect. It has been...

For over 30 years (since 1995) Ira Glass has been one of, if not THE voice of public radio. 

His show, This American Life, has won Peabody awards, the first ever audio journalism Pulitzer. And it’s also shaped generations of listeners and audio makers. As an early adopter of podcasting (2006), the show was for many a first foray into digital listening. It spawned major hits like Serial, which led to a boom in documentary...

There’s not a lot of places like Seattle Center...

Where else can you take in the opera, a professional hockey game, and an iconic tourist attraction (y’know, the pointy one with a disk on top,) plus a world-famous radio station, and Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning on a six story movie screen… all in the same place?

The 13 square block campus draws over 10 million visitors each year, but supporter...

At the start of every week we talk about the most fascinating stories in the news and what they say about the Pacific Northwest. We call it Front Page.

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:

KUOW reporter Casey Martin

Related stories:

• ICE Ar...

Seismic activity at sporting events is nothing new to Seattle fans. 

Many of us remember Marshawn Lynch’s 2011 BEAST-QUAKE. Seahawks fans revel in Lumen Field’s reputation for noise when opposing teams are on offense… 

Even T-Mobile Park has experienced its fair share of shaking. Earlier this year when the Mariners made it to the playoffs, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network was on site to measure the...

In recent years, Washington state has made two major policy changes to keep more birth families together.

Since then, fewer kids in Washington have been taken from their birth families, especially infants. But over the same time period, more babies and children from families who’ve been investigated by child welfare workers have died.

That’s why critics say those changes have made children less safe and should be revers...

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 for efficiency’s sake, at the ...

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 49ers - Saturday 5pm
• Seattle Torr...

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 and invest system. That’s par...

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 enforcement agents deployed ...

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 state to do so.

For more than a ...

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 Services, updated its guidelines to ...

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 - KUOW News Anchor & Podcast ...

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 review the new laws we need to foll...

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 202...

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 especially packed year:  there...

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 Tuesday that Venezuela will turn ...

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 central to the government’s rat...

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 SIFF. For more, we're joined by...&n...