Soundside

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This researcher is working on a fentanyl vaccine to curb overdoses and addiction Dec 11, 2025

Show notes

Washington, like the entire country, has been hit hard by fentanyl.

So far this year, King County has recorded more than 650 overdose deaths involving the synthetic opioid, which can be 50 times stronger than heroin.

650 is a devastating number but it’s actually down from a peak in 2023, when more than 1,000 people died from fentanyl-related overdoses in the county. The drop mirrors a downward trend that we’ve seen across the entire country…

But the crisis is still overwhelming many communities.

A biotech company called ARMR Sciences is hoping to solve at least one piece of this very complicated puzzle: Instead of reversing these overdoses, they want to stop them from happening in the first place... through a fentanyl vaccine.

GUESTS:

Dr. Colin Haile, a research associate professor at the University of Houston and he’s also one of the co-founders of ARMR Sciences.

RELATED LINKS:

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Facing uncertain federal landscape, KCRHA looks to adapt Dec 09, 2025

Show notes

For weeks, King County homelessness service providers have been staring down a majorly disruptive change to how they currently operate.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development said in November that it intended to redirect billions of dollars in grants that house homeless people. This was in line with President Trump’s rejection of “housing first,” the practice that aims to get people stabilized in long-term housing before addressing mental health issues or addiction. It's guided policy in this region and across the United States for decades.

The Trump Administration’s announcement put $65 million in federal grant money for King County in doubt.
And it left local leaders scrambling. The county called providers together last week to discuss the change. Washington state and roughly 20 states sued, and later, so did King County and local homeless service providers.

But yesterday, 90 minutes before a court hearing, HUD withdrew the new requirements around grants.

Sounds like a rollercoaster, right? Providers in the area are breathing a sigh of relief. Though, the last-minute shift signifies the complicated task of planning homelessness response, one that relies on federal dollars, when massive changes are taking place in Washington, D.C.

GUEST:

Kelly Kinnison, CEO of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority

RELATED LINKS

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

'He wasn't resisting' - WA man mauled by immigration enforcement canine Dec 09, 2025

Show notes

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 Murray and Wilmer’s family are calling for his release – and calling out the violent treatment he received at the hands of immigration officers.

GUEST

Olia Catala is Wilmer Toledo-Martinez’s attorney, and the owner of Catala Immigration PLLC

RELATED LINKS

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why Native American kids are getting harsher prison sentences in WA Dec 09, 2025

Show notes

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 problem. But advocates say they haven’t done enough to stop it.

GUEST

Melanie Henshaw - Indigenous affairs reporter, InvestigateWest

RELATED LINKS

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New video found featuring victim of unsolved CHOP killing Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

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 wants to speak.

What you’re hearing is some of the last known footage of Antonio Mays Jr before he was shot and killed, just days later, in the CHOP zone.

That death contributed to the end of the Occupied Protest in 2020.

The video - was livestreamed by Omari Salisbury of Converge Media, and remained on Youtube all these years. The fact that it shows Antonio was only recently rediscovered, shortly before a civil trial that could shed more light on Antonio’s death .

That civil trial, stemming from a lawsuit the teen’s father filed against the City of Seattle, is set to begin this week.

Guests:

Omari Salisbury, founder of Converge Media

Will James, KUOW reporter and producer

Relevant Links:

Converge Media: Reflections on the Rediscovered Dignity of Antonio Mays Jr.

Converge Media: The Tape: Rediscovering Humanity in the Shadow of CHOP

KUOW: Victim of unsolved Seattle CHOP killing featured in newly unearthed video

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Front Page: ICE K-9 attack, what a new Montana windfarm means for WA, and the ongoing debate over Frank Gehry's MoPop Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

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 TOPICS:

ICE K-9 Attack
- Senator: ICE dog attack on WA man ‘should shock the conscience’ - Seattle Times
Energy troubles loom large
- As WA’s coal ban looms, Montana wind fills only some of the energy gap - Seattle Times
Frank Gehry Dies
- Frank Gehry, Titan of Architecture, Is Dead at 96 - NYT
FIFA World Cup schedule announced
- 2026 FIFA World Cup schedule: Seattle matches’ times, matchups unveiled - Seattle Times

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask a Doctor: Ozempic, Wegovy and GLP-1 drugs in general Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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 their original cost. According to one of the deals, some Medicare patients will be able to get GLP-1s for a $50 copay.

So it’s safe to assume as costs come down, these drugs are only going to get even more popular….

And we want to know more about them. In this latest “ask a doctor” segment, we’re asking two physicians to answer all of our burning questions.

GUESTS:

Dr. Scott Hagan, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who studies obesity.
Dr. Mara Gordon, a family physician based in Philadelphia. She also writes about the culture of medicine and authors the “Real Talk With a Doc” column for NPR.

RELATED LINKS:

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Soundside's "Weekend Warmup" - 12/4-8 Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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:

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"They're trying to reduce the amount of immigrants here" - Understanding state of immigration policy right now Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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.

The attack has prompted the Trump administration to supercharge restrictions on migrants from 19 countries, primarily ones in Africa and the Middle East. And it has left many others in this country fearful about their future as the federal government turns new scrutiny on green cards and asylee statuses that have already been granted.

We’re trying to get a sense of how policy actions may impact immigrant communities, so we’re speaking with Luis Cortes Romero. He is an immigration lawyer and managing partner at Novo Legal Group.

A note:

After our taping, on Tuesday evening, the Department of Homeland Security announced a pause for all immigration applications for people from 19 countries deemed "high risk."

Those are the same 19 countries Luis and I discussed that were under some previous restrictions: mainly African and Middle Eastern nations, including Sudan, Somalia and Iran -- also Venezuela, Haiti, and more.

DHS says this requires "all aliens meeting the criteria undergo a thorough re-review process."

GUESTS:

Luis Cortes Romero is an immigration lawyer and managing partner at Novo Legal Group.

RELATED LINKS:

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What the length of raccoon snouts has to do with domestication Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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