Soundside

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This Valentine’s Day, find love in a stack of books Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

Have you tucked into a romance novel lately? If not, you might be in the minority of readers.

Romance sales are soaring. Last year, they grew twice as fast as the rest of the fiction market.

In the past, the genre’s commercial value was widely accepted - romance books have always been big sellers. But now, its literary merit is being recognized, too.

So this Valentine’s Day, there’s more reason than ever to find love in a stack of books. And we won’t leave you hunting.

GUESTS:

Charlie Hunts, owner of Charlie’s Queer Books in Seattle
Ren Rice, owner of The Romance Era Bookstore in Vancouver, WA
Jenna Zarzycki, a librarian with the King County Library System

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.

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Understanding Seattle's past and present, one walk at a time Feb 12, 2025

Show notes

Local author David B. Williams’ Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City leads readers through loops and one-way strolls, traversing terrain ranging pockets of downtown, to North and West Seattle.

Each walk tells a story, exploring how Seattle came to be the city it is today through both big and small details. But in the years since it was first published in 2017, the city has changed -- in more ways than one. Williams wanted his walks to reflect the history of that change too.

A new edition of Seattle Walks releases today with routes both new and familiar. To understand the changes in the book and on the ground, Soundside host Libby Denkmann joined Williams on one of his newly designed walks – a stroll through Seattle's Central District.

Guests:

David B. Williams, author of Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City.

Related Links:

Seattle Walks

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.

Pramila Jayapal says a government shutdown would be GOP's mess. "That's on them" Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

The Trump Administration’s moves to downsize the federal workforce and reshape agencies around the president’s “America First” agenda are repeatedly running into stop signs as challenges to these policies hit the courts.

But at least one federal judge says it’s not playing out that way in the case he’s overseeing – the Administration is not fully complying with his temporary restraining order to stop the freeze on federal grants.

It sets up a standoff between two branches of government.

Meanwhile, the third branch of government is gearing up for a fight.

Guest:

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal is a Democrat who represents Washington’s 7th District, including Seattle and surrounding areas from Shoreline to Burien.

Related Links:

White House Failed to Comply With Court Order, Judge Rules - New York 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.

Washington has a data center problem Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

For years, Grant County sat on enough clean hydroelectricity to power more than a million homes. Then came the tech companies, interested in the cheap and plentiful electricity. They built data centers all over rural Washington to help fuel the modern internet.

The data centers use so much energythat in the next few years, Washington state could struggle to keep up with local electricity needs.

Washington’s new governor, Bob Ferguson, has taken notice.

Last week, he signed an executive order to evaluate data centers’ impact on energy use, state tax revenue, and job creation.

The executive order follows a Seattle Times and ProPublica investigation into the impacts of the state’s power-guzzling data center industry.

The report looked into the sustainability of data centers, the jobs surrounding them, and a controversial tax incentive that helps them proliferate.

Guests:

Seattle Times investigative reporters Sydney Brownstone and Lulu Ramadan

Related Links:

WA governor orders team to study data centers’ energy, tax, jobs impact - The Seattle Times
Data centers guzzle power, threatening WA’s clean energy push - The Seattle Times
Gov. Bob Ferguson’s Executive Order - WA.gov

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.

The struggle to restrict cell phones in Washington schools Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

A growing body of research shows that cell phones inhibit learning and distract students in class. But should they be banned in schools? It’s a question that districts across Washington state are struggling with.

Last year State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal issued guidance that basically said… yes. It encouraged districts statewide to adopt policies that would restrict cell phone use by students.

But many districts have yet to adopt these kinds of uniform restrictions, leaving parents, students and teachers in the dark about how this issue will be handled. We speak with some of the lawmakers tangling with this and physician and documentarian who thinks this is a crisis we need to face head on.

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.

Guests: State Rep. Stephanie McClintock, State Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, Dr. Delaney Ruston

Relevant Links:

WA bill would limit cellphone use in schools

Banned from school? Teens picture life without cellphones

Screenagers documentary series

Away For The Day

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Meet Mark Solomon - Seattle's newest city councilmember Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

Mark Solomon might be a new name to you. But it’s time to get to know him if you live in Seattle. Because last month, he was appointed to fill the District 2 seat on the City Council.

He’s taking over from Tammy Morales, who stepped down in January - two years before the end of her term.

After five rounds of voting, Solomon beat out six other finalists for the seat. He will now represent an area spanning from the Chinatown-International District to Rainier Beach.

Solomon has said that he won’t run for the District 2 position in this November’s election.

So - why did he apply for this position? And what does he plan to do during his relatively short time in office?

Guest:
Interim District Two city Councilmember Mark Solomon

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.

KUOW's Angela King shares her visit to Altadena, CA Feb 10, 2025

Show notes

Residents of Altadena, California are facing difficult choices in the wake of the devastating Eaton fire, which started just over a month ago in the foothills northeast of Los Angeles.

Rebuild, or sell their properties to developers and leave the neighborhood?

Angela King is KUOW’s host of Morning Edition, and she grew up in Altadena..

She recently took a trip back to her hometown to take stock of the wildfire damage – and document the resiliency of the community.

Check out Angela's full story here.

GUEST: Angela King

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.

The lights go down... for now... on the Grand Illusion Cinema Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

For over 50 years, the little theater at the corner of 50th & University Way has been showing movies to passionate filmgoers.

And in that span, it’s changed owners, it was renamed, and for the past 20 years, has been the longest running completely volunteer run cinema in the country.

But like all good things, the Grand Illusion’s time at its current location has come to an end.

The owners announced back in 2023 that the site was for sale, and that they would not be extending the Grand Illusion’s lease beyond January 31st, 2025.

But that didn’t deter either the volunteers OR patrons from selling out the final week of screenings, with some intrepid fans waiting in the rain for HOURS before the final screening of 1985’s RE-ANIMATOR on 35mm.

And this isn’t the END of the Grand Illusion - the staff have been working hard to find a new location here in the U-District, and they’ve got a few events scheduled in partnership with the Northwest Film Forum and Central Cinema.

Soundside Producer Jason Burrows headed down the street to the Grand Illusion to find out how folks were feeling about the closing of this particular chapter of the storied theater’s history…

GUESTS:

Brian Alter - Executive Director
Richard Gilbert - General Manager
Spencer Sundell - Lead Projectionist
Trevor Brandt - Lead Programmer

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.

Rick Steves wants you to get out of your comfort zone - in more ways than one Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

He just may be the most celebrated travel writer and show host of our time.

When he’s not touring the hidden gems of Europe, Rick Steves spends a lot of his days in Edmonds, his hometown since he was 12. Did you know he was in the Husky marching band in college?

Steves may not have known back then that he would dedicate his life to travel writing, but there were hints. One was a journal he kept when he made a life changing trip in his 20’s. That journal has become a new book titled “On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu and the Making of a Travel Writer.” And it came out this week.

We’ve asked the travel guru, philanthropist and social activist to join us to discuss his career, his new book, and his view of geopolitics.

GUEST: Rick Steves

RELATED LINKS:

Istanbul to India by Bus
The Rick Steves guide to life - Washington Post

Book Tour Events:

Feb. 24 at Village Books in Bellingham
Feb. 25 at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park
Feb. 26 at 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.

Rep. Adam Smith on the legality of the foreign aid freeze Feb 06, 2025

Show notes

U.S. foreign aid is in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. Workers at USAID woke up on Wednesday to an order putting nearly all personnel of the foreign assistance agency on administrative leave starting Friday.

This follows a day-one executive order by the President to “reevaluate” foreign aid the United States sends so that it aligns with his “America First” agenda.

Within the week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio put a stop-work order on all foreign aid. That was later amended to exempt “life-saving” assistance like food and medicine, but employees and contractors say it isn’t clear which programs qualify for waivers.

It’s left organizations that provide services like HIV treatment, famine relief, and landmine removals scrambling to make sense of what comes next.

However, there are vocal critics of the new administration’s foreign aid policy. Democratic lawmakers rallied at USAID headquarters on Tuesday and are questioning the legality of the plan.

Guest:
Congressman Adam Smith of Washington’s 9th District and ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.