Soundside

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Soundside's "Weekend Warmup" - Nov 13-16 Nov 13, 2025

Show notes

Here at Soundside, we've got lots of plans this weekend. Paige Browning is playing in a Kickball tournament, while Jason is planning on cheering for her... Supervising Producer Sarah Leibovitz is doing LAUNDRY... What joy!

As for YOU, here are all your options from this week's Weekend Warmup...

LINKS:

SIFF Cinema Italian Style 2025
Sew, Quilt, Needlework, Craft, Expo & Festival in Puyallup
Gobble Up Northwest! - Urban Craft Uprising
Seattle International Auto Show
The 2025 DB Cooper Conference
Seattle Kraken vs San Jose Sharks
Gilman Village 2025 Winter Fest
Grit City Comic Show
UW Huskies Men’s Football vs Purdue
Death and Music | Town Hall Seattle

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.

Imagining a Seattle with fewer cars Nov 13, 2025

Show notes

Seattle has been a target of anti-car activism since at least the early 1960s, when the construction of I-5 carved up the Chinatown International District.

Washington architect Paul Thiry said the creation of the freeway signaled when Seattle started to lose its identity as a city.

But what would a less car-centric Seattle actually look like? Whom would it benefit? And is it even feasible?

The hosts of "The War on Cars" podcast join "Soundside" for more. They’ve co-written a new book: “Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves From the Tyranny of the Automobile.”

They’re both based in Brooklyn, New York, but joined KUOW's Paige Browning in our Seattle studio.

GUESTS:

Sarah Goodyear, host, The War on Cars podcast
Doug Gordon, host, The War on Cars podcast

RELATED LINKS:

What Comes After the ‘War on Cars’? - Bloomberg
‘Life After Cars’ with Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon - Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast

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.

Katie Wilson is likely Seattle's next mayor after latest vote count Nov 12, 2025

Show notes

Seattleites have been closely watching election results for nearly a week since polls closed. That’s because the city’s mayoral candidates were in a tight race. Longtime Seattle politician and current Mayor Bruce Harrell is trying to win a second term. His challenger is Katie Wilson, a Democratic socialist who has never held elected office before.

Last night’s vote tally gave more clarity about who is likely to lead the city next year.

GUEST: Cat Smith, KUOW Politics Editor

RELATED LINKS:

KUOW: Wilson’s lead increases in Seattle mayoral race, leaving Harrell further behind

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.

"Water Mirror Echo" explores the life, and legacy, of Bruce Lee Nov 11, 2025

Show notes

Bruce Lee holds a special place in Seattle’s heart – and Seattle played a key role in Bruce Lee’s life.

He attended the University of Washington. He taught martial arts around the city. And after his tragically young death, at the age of 32, Lee was buried at Lake View Cemetery on Capitol Hill.

A biography by author Jeff Chang traces this journey alongside the cultural and political context in which Lee was becoming the international icon he is today.

It’s called “Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America.”
In the book Chang shows how the rise of Bruce Lee mirrored the rise of Asian American identity and the ways that they each shaped each other.

GUEST:

Jeff Chang, author of "Water Mirror Echo"

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.

Everything we know about Ben Shuldiner, the lone finalist for Seattle Public Schools superintendent Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

After a monthslong search, the Seattle Public Schools district finally has a new superintendent.

The Seattle School Board voted to name Ben Shuldiner as the lone finalist for the role. Shuldiner is currently the superintendent of the Lansing School District in Michigan.

He’ll be the fourth superintendent in the last decade.

Back in March, former superintendent Brent Jones announced he was planning to step down from the position … and would have left in September. Instead, he went on medical leave in May and since then the role has been filled by an interim superintendent.

Shuldiner's appointment comes during a period of turmoil for the district, which has been facing a budget shortfall and grappling with issues around school safety. KUOW's Sami West tells us about her takeaways from her conversation with him this week.

Guest:

Sami West, KUOW reporter who has been following the ongoing search for a new superintendent at Seattle Public Schools.

Related Stories:

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.

Reign on me: Seattle's NWSL team heads back to the playoffs Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

Seattle's pro women's soccer team have returned to the National Women's Soccer League playoffs.

Seattle Reign play the Orlando Pride on Friday in a win-or-go-home match. But do the Reign have the potential to make a deep playoff run?

Soundside producer Gabrielle Healy gets into it.

Plus, everything you need to know about coach Laura Harvey and ChatGPTgate.

Guest

Susie Rantz, writer for Sounder at Heart covering Seattle Reign

Related Links

All even in Orlando, 1-1 - Sounder at Heart

The constant amidst chaos: Lauren Barnes’ Reign - Sounder at Heart

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Soundside's "Weekend Warmup" - Nov 7-10 Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

It’s weekends like these where you WANT a solid plan for what to do, so you’re not just stuck sulking about the weather.

And while Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows may be on his way to sunny Florida AS WE SPEAK for a weekend in Tampa, he still left us with a smattering of potential options:

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.

Tacoma homeless encampment ban expands, critics ask where people will sleep Nov 06, 2025

Show notes

It’s getting harder for unhoused people in Tacoma to find a place to spend the night. Last week, the city council there voted narrowly, 5-to-4, to expand buffer zones where encampments are not allowed.

The new ban, which went into effect this week, includes areas within two blocks of public schools, parks, libraries, and most of downtown and Hilltop. Critics say this only makes it harder for people to find a place to sleep.

Guest: Tacoma News Tribune reporter Cameron Sheppard

In a split vote, Tacoma council decides fate of homeless camping-ban expansion

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"HELP ME!!! HELP ME!!!" WA prison kept woman in dark while her husband was dying Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

In April, 25-year-old Alex Kuhnhausen died of a bacterial infection he contracted at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. This isn’t unheard of – last year, there were 39 deaths reported in Washington prisons.

But the details of Alex Kuhnhausen’s decline and death raise questions about decisions by prison officials and medical staff; decisions that many believe contributed to his death.

Guest: Reporter Brandon Block

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.

Anila Quayyum Agha, the artist behind the Seattle Asian Art Museum's latest exhibit Nov 05, 2025

Show notes

When you step into the Seattle Asian Art Museum’s new exhibit… you feel small.

You’re surrounded by light, blocks of color reaching across the floor, creeping up the walls. The art takes up space, immersing you in light and shadow, as though you’ve entered another world. Steel cubes carved with meticulous designs hang from the ceiling. Papercraft covered in embroidery line the walls. What looks like a giant doily hangs from strings by the entrance.

All lit to project intricate patterns across the space.

This is "Geometry of Light," an exhibit the museum opened in late August. The artist behind it is Anila Quayyum Agha, the first Pakistani American to ever have a solo exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum.

She talked to Soundside about her art, what it's like to be the first Pakistani American to have an exhibit at the museum and what she hopes people take away from "Geometry of Light."

Guest