Soundside

A disturbing image shared by Senator Patty Murray has been reverberating across the internet. 

It shows a man’s torso, his right side covered in wounds - lacerations, scratch marks, bite marks - after he was mauled by an immigration agent’s canine. Blood splatters the sheets below him.

The man, Wilmer Toledo-Martinez of Vancouver, Washington, was detained outside his home last month by federal agents. 

Senator...

We could tell this next story with numbers. There is a lot of data. 

But at its core: This is a story about Native American kids. 

And how year after year, law enforcement and lawmakers in Olympia allow these children to be arrested and jailed at far higher rates than their white peers.

Those experiences as children have lasting consequences well into adulthood. 

State officials and lawmakers know there’s a pro...

It’s June 26th, 2020, and a group of protesters stands in the midst of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. They’re talking to another group of people, including a city employee, about city sanitation workers getting access to the area.

Towards the front of the group stands a 16 year old boy, wearing a grey baseball cap, a hoodie, and a surgical mask. He taps a protest organizer’s shoulder, so they’ll know he ...

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: Seattle Times city hall reporter David Kroman

TODAY'S...

GLP-1 drugs that are commonly used to treat diabetes and obesity, like Ozempic and Wegovy – are in big demand.

And they’re going to be more affordable. 

The Trump administration recently negotiated deals to lower the prices of these drugs. It seems like some details still need to be ironed out….  but from the looks of it, many Americans who use Medicare will be able to access GLP-1s at a fraction of the...

It’s already the first weekend of December, and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some holiday cheer to lighten up these cold, rainy days.

Thankfully, like Santa soaring past with his reindeer, here with all the stuff that’s worth doing this weekend is Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows!!

LINKS: 

• Year in Review 2025 | Town Hall Seattle
• WTO/99 - ...

Shortly after the shooting of two national guard troops in Washington, D.C., the Trump Administration said it was pausing asylum decisions and halting visas for Afghan immigrants. 

The alleged shooter is Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a Bellingham resident who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2021.

The motive for the attack is unknown. One victim – 20 year old Sarah Beckstrom – was killed in Wednesday’s shooting.

...

Have you ever wanted a pet raccoon? 

Well, here’s a possible sign that dream is slowly approaching:  a new study published in the journal Frontiers in Zoology suggests raccoons are getting closer to domestication. 

The study is not definitive yet, and more research is required. But it all has to do with researchers observing a shorter snout on the animals we affectionately refer to as trash pandas. 

GUEST

Seattle’s brand new Professional Women’s Hockey team, the newly christened Seattle Torrent, faces off against the New York Sirens tonight at Climate Pledge Arena… 

Tonight’s game is the third ever for the team, and their growing fan base has both high hopes and big expectations as the season gets started.

Soundside Producer Jason Burrows sat down with Libby Denkmann ahead of tonight's game to talk abou...

Twenty-six years ago, this week over 40,000 people came to Seattle to protest at the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference.

Labor organizers, farmers, and environmental groups planned and executed peaceful action against what many saw as anti-democratic elements of the WTO, and the profound risks from the unfettered expansion of global trade. 

At events from Memorial Stadium to the waterfront and marches in downtow...

Some rare bipartisanship is emerging in congress: it focuses on questions about the legality of a September 2nd U.S. strike on a boat in the Caribbean. 11 people were killed, including two men who initially survived the first strike, but were killed by a follow-up attack. This operation was the start of a campaign of strikes the Trump Administration says it is waging to protect Americans from drugs smuggled by narco-terrorists...

We have a new thing we’re trying out on Mondays on Soundside. We're calling 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 politics reporter Scott Greenstone.

TODAY'S TOPICS:

• National Guard Shooting in Washington D.C...

Dr. Robert Jones is the new president of our region’s largest educational and research hub. He took the helm at the University of Washington in August, and when we sat down recently, he shared a bit about his background and path to Seattle.

Jones says his parents were sharecroppers farming peanuts and cotton in southwest Georgia.

“Where most people would tell you the last thing you should have anything to do with if you...

On the show today, we’re getting you ready for Thanksgiving leftovers with a little leftovers of our own. We’re pulling some of our favorite segments from Soundside past out of the fridge, and warming ‘em up for you.

Up first: edible plants are all around us in the Pacific Northwest. We'll hear how one local author became obsessed with helping people identify tasty greens and stay safe foraging for mushrooms and l...

This week we’re going back into the archives to dig up some of our favorite Soundside segments.

And with Thanksgiving just days away, this episode is all about food and drink! 

We'll revisit conversations we had this year on the trend of people drinking less alcohol these days.... 

.... The sweet apple variety that has left a bitter taste in some farmers’ mouths (spoiler: it's the honeycrisp)....

...And the sh...

This week, we’re re-airing some of our favorite stories from the past year. 

First up on today's show: The Seattle Torrent played their very first professional women’s hockey game on Friday night, but before they even had a name, we talked with their General Manager Meghan Turner about bringing the team to the city.

Later, we’ll play an interview with the author of the literary mystery “Murder by the Bo...

A big controversy is gripping many Washington towns right now: automated license plate readers.

Flock Safety, a technology and surveillance company, operates cameras in cities and counties across the nation. 

Those license plate readers take pictures of vehicles and their license plates – pictures that can be used by police to solve crimes. 

But questions about who has access to the cameras is leading several jurisd...

Yes, turkey is an iconic centerpiece. But it’s a challenge. 

Turkeys take hours to cook (let alone, defrost!). The results can be dry, flavorless slabs of meat. 

If you believe online discourse, a growing number of bold omnivores are calling it quits on Thanksgiving turkey. 

And from an animal welfare perspective, there’s a lot of waste and carnage associated with "the national holiday of meat-eating."

We...

On Monday, Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez stood on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and fought her own party.

The subject of the disagreement? Whether or not a fellow Democratic member of congress, Chuy Garcia of Illinois, had crossed ethical lines and rigged the 2026 election for his chief of staff. By, among other things, announcing his retirement after the filing deadline. 

Gluesenkamp Perez introduced...