Soundside

Rena Priest is best known for her poetry. As Washington’s poet laureate between 2021 and 2023, she traveled around the state doing readings and spreading awareness of poetry. She was the first Indigenous poet to hold that role and is a member of the Lummi Nation. Now, she’s bringing her keen observations and sharp wit to non-fiction. She’s the author of a new collection of essays, titled Positively Uncivilized. In the book Priest explores the history of broken treaties, battles over fishing rights, and struggles with cultural erasure that compose the bedrock of the modern Coast Salish native experience. She also challenges the non-Native reader to experiment with perspective: for example, what if we maintained the kind of spiritual relationship with the natural world that put us in community with salmon, instead of above them?  The title of the book itself speaks to the types of stories Priest tells. “Uncivilized” is a term that was, for generations, used to denigrate native people. But also one that had been reclaimed by Priest’s family and used in a playful way. Priest is reading at Third Place Books Ravenna on Monday September 29 at 7:00 pm.  Guest: Rena Priest, author of Positively Uncivilized 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.

Christian Sidor is a professor in the UW Department of Biology and curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Burke. And for the last 18 years, he’s been traveling back and forth to Zambia and Tanzania, collecting fossils from the Permian period. The Permian lasted about 47 millions years and ended 252 million years ago with the Triassic Period.  Sidor has found a lot of Permian specimens. Last month he and his collaborators co-edited a series of 14 articles on the animals they’ve discovered during their field work. So, we wanted to go check out some of these new, ancient animals. Guest: Christian Sidor: professor in the UW Department of Biology and curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Burke Related stories: Fresh fossil finds in Africa shed light on the era before Earth’s largest mass extinction - UW News 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.

Congress is barreling toward a government shutdown and Democrats are weighing whether they should use their leverage in this negotiation. They want to extend Obamacare subsidies and potentially roll back some cuts to Medicaid. President Trump has threatened mass firings of federal workers in the event of a shutdown. All of this is going on as the country is grappling with a rise in political violence – and political rhetoric that blames the other side for the problem.  Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal joined Soundside to talk more about all of this. Guest: Pramila Jayapal, U.S. Representative for Washington's 7th Congressional District.  Related stories: Arizona lawmaker calls for WA congresswoman to be executed for urging Trump protests • Washington State Standard Vance says US 'headed to a shutdown' after meeting with Democrats | Reuters 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.

It’s crush season in Washington, a time when grape growers and winemakers are usually very busy, working insane hours to make new wine.  But a huge percentage of the state’s highest quality wine won't get made this year.  Sluggish wine sales have meant growers are letting some of their best fruit rot, sometimes right on the vine. And Washington growers and winemakers alike are concerned about the future of their businesses.  We talk about what's behind the wine glut. Guest Anna King, senior correspondent for Northwest Public Broadcasting  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 Mariners have made the playoffs as the AL West champs, and they're facing the Dodgers for the final games of the regular season, but hey... there's ALWAYS more to do this weekend! Check it out: LINKS: SPORTS!! Mariners vs Dodgers - Final games of the season! Fri/Sat/Sun UW Huskies vs The Ohio State Buckeyes Sat 12:30p Sounders vs Vancouver Whitecaps Sat 7:30pm Reign vs NC Courage Sun 5pm Kraken vs Calgary Flames - Preseason Game #2 MON 7pm Prosser Balloon Rally Festa Italiana Seattle Northwest Tea Festival Enumclaw BBQ, Brews, & Brats Bellingham SeaFeast Seattle Opera - Costume Sale Musical Migration - Crossings Danny Elfman's Music From the Films of Tim Burton with the Seattle Symphony Hitchcock Hotel 2025 — Can Can Culinary Cabaret Unicorn: Burn Relief Fundraiser | Neumos Unicorn Staff Fire Relief Fund 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.

This week, we're looking at the special election in Washington’s 5th Legislative District, which covers Issaquah to Enumclaw. State Sen. Victoria Hunt, a Democrat, was appointed to the seat and is running to keep her job this fall.  Republicans think they could flip this district. They’d like to claw back a little power from Democrats, who currently hold majorities in both the state House and Senate.   We talk with Sen. Victoria Hunt about her campaign.  Guest State Sen. Victoria Hunt, Washington's 5th Legislative District Related Links On The Ballot: Chad Magendanz, 5th Legislative District - KUOUW 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.

Did you catch Kimmel last night? It was his first night back after Disney pulled him off air about a week ago. Most likely, you only saw it after the fact. That's because Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns 38 ABC affiliates, including KOMO here in Seattle, announced earlier this week that they would continue to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live! until further notice. Kimmel’s show was suspended by ABC after he discussed the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during an opening monologue last week, stating that a “MAGA gang” were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” Sinclair had previously demanded Kimmel apologize for his statement, and donate to Kirk’s conservative nonprofit - Turning Point USA. We asked you how you felt about Sinclair’s decision to pre-empt Kimmel’s show on their stations 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.

After a few marathon public comment sessions last week, the Seattle City Council is considering the final version of a comprehensive plan. This is the document that dictates where and how the city will grow over the next two decades.  Over the last week, balancing tree canopy with growth emerged as one of the most controversial issues in the plan.  And there’s a history here: In 2023, Mayor Harrell and the Seattle City Council passed a so-called tree protection ordinance that would limit the amount of trees developers could cut down while building new housing.  But, according to tree-canopy advocates, two years since the law went into effect tree-cutting has only increased.  Just in August an average of 73 trees were being cut down each week.  So what went wrong? Or – is the law working exactly as intended?  Guest: Robert McClure is a journalist and co-founder of InvestigateWest Related stories: Developers’ tree-cutting pace surges under contested Seattle tree protection ordinance - InvestigateWest Seattle claims to ‘protect’ hundreds of trees that were never threatened - InvestigateWest 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.

NASA announced its next batch of potential astronauts this week. Out of 8,000 applicants, just ten were chosen to attend the two year training program, including Lauren Edgar from Sammamish. When those astronaut candidates complete the training, they will be eligible for missions to low earth orbit, the moon, and Mars. Guest: Lauren Edgar, NASA astronaut candidate Relevant Links: NASA Selects All-American 2025 Class of Astronaut Candidates  NASA Astronaut Candidate Lauren A. Edgar 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 happens when you become the target of hate, spread across wide swaths of the media? Of a movement that is as frightening and violent as it is just factually wrong? You might want life to go back to normal. But those who’ve experienced this know things can’t ever be the same. A Belligham resident told us about her experience. Guest: Jenn Mason, owner of WinkWink sex shop in Bellingham, sex educator, and school board director Related stories: Right-wing trolls harassed this Bellingham sex educator. Then she reached across the divide - KUOW 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.