Soundside

Yesterday, a King County Judge ordered the city of Seattle to come up with a plan to end “nudity as constituted” at the park. Denny Blaine has been the city’s most well known nude beach for decades – and is a beloved LGBTQ+ community gathering space. This order follows a series of attempts by neighbors of the park to end nudity at Denny Blaine. And it’s a move supporters of the nude beach say would be a “sanitization of queer spaces” in an increasingly gentrified city. Guests: Seattle Times City Hall reporter David Kroman Related stories: Judge orders an end to nudity at Seattle’s Denny Blaine Park, for now - Seattle Times Community members give Denny Blaine Park play area proposal a dressing down - KUOW ‘I share your disgust.’ Texts show Seattle Mayor Harrell, rich neighbor discussing Denny Blaine - 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.

Actor Matthew Law has walked the halls of ABC's Abbott Elementary, piloted a spaceship in an episode of Star Wars: Ahsoka and played "The Cynic" in the  "This Is Me... Now: A Love Story” the Jennifer Lopez movie musical.  Law hails from Washington. He was born in Yakima and grew up in Seattle, where he attended Greenwood Elementary and Ballard High School. And he's a filmmaker too, directing and writing several short films for his “True Story” series.  Soundside caught up with him during a break in his shooting schedule.  Guests Matthew Law, actor Links  ‘Abbott Elementary’ actor Matthew Law on Seattle upbringing, ‘True Story’ -The 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.

King County’s health department has published innovative and educational comic strips about public health issues for more than 15 years. The county hires local comics artists to tackle issues such as long term covid, preparing for a natural disaster and how to deal with a failing septic system.  Meredith Li-Vollmer is the heartbeat behind this popular project, which she founded in 2008. She says the visual and hand drawn style of storytelling helps make potentially dry information palatable. The county has also found that comics are an effective way to communicate with people who speak English as a second language. In fact, some of King County’s comic books have been printed into more than 20 languages.  But the program almost didn’t happen. Had  Li-Vollmer listened to her high school art teacher who was unkindly critical of her artwork. Guest: Meredith Li-Vollmer, Risk Communication Specialist at Public Health - Seattle & King Countt Related stories: A comic-book approach to public health. King County's winning formula - KUOW King County Health comics 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 Seattle City Council recently approved a $2 million dollar loan for the city’s social housing developer. That’s a public development authority that will manage publicly financed housing in the city. It can serve people who make up to 120% of the area median income.  Voters overwhelmingly supported the creation of the social housing developer in 2023. They also approved a funding plan for the developer in February that pays for it by putting in place a new tax on companies with high income earners. Next year, the social housing developer is anticipated to receive an estimated $50 million dollars from that tax.  In the meantime, Mayor Bruce Harrell requested the $2 million dollar loan, saying the money would go towards keeping the organization running and potentially acquiring new property this year. As of now, the developer doesn’t own any. In its early stages, the developer has been dogged by concerns that it hasn’t proven it can get this money out the door and into housing and questions about whether it’s serving the city’s greatest need by using public money to provide housing for people making more than the median income for the area.  Guest: Roberto Jimenez, CEO of Seattle’s Social Housing Developer Links: KUOW: Why someone earning over $100,000 could qualify for Seattle’s affordable housing Seattle Times: Seattle’s social housing developer struggles with ‘growing pains’ 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.

Seattle hockey fans rejoice! There is a new professional women’s team to root for, starting this fall. The name of the team? Well … that’s yet to be determined, but there are many things we DO know about this upcoming third season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League. This year, for the first time, the league is expanding into the Pacific Northwest, with teams in Vancouver and Seattle. There’ll now be 8 teams total vying for the “Walter Cup.”  And things are moving FAST at PWHL Seattle: Players have been drafted, head coach Steve O’Rourke has been hired.  There’s still a lot to be figured out, and the person making many of those decisions will be the new general manager Meghan Turner, who was the assistant GM of the Boston Fleet before being tapped for the head job here in Seattle. Guest: Meghan Turner, General Manager of PWHL Seattle Related Links: PWHL Turns To Turner To Lead New Seattle Women’s Team  PWHL Seattle GM Meghan Turner working to ‘create a community’  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 is taking a break this week. Don’t worry - we’ll be back with new episodes next week. Until then, we’re bringing you some of our favorite stories from the show.  Relevant Links: Pacific Drive captures the creepy of the Olympic Peninsula Hear Ye, Hear Ye, there's trouble brewing at the Renaissance Faire! Touring the history of Black music at MoPop's "Never Turn Back: Echoes of African American Music" WEEKEND WARMUP LINKS: 2025 Queer and Trans Film Festival — Three Dollar Bill Cinema Ballard SeafoodFest NW Tune-Up Festival Japan Fair West Seattle Summer Fest Redmond Arts Festival Bluegrass From the Forest CID Celebration Summer Celebration 2025 | Mercer Island, Washington Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic 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 is taking a break this week. Don’t worry - we’ll be back with new episodes next week. Until then, we’re bringing you some of our favorite stories from the show.  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. Relevant Links: Can you solve the mystery of the Oakville blobs? The new food that has beekeepers "buzzing" How a Spokane woman became a hall of fame foosball player See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's summer vacation week on Sounside. But that doesn't mean we're out of your podcast feed. Senior producer Gabrielle Healy shares some of her favorite recent Soundside segments. We’re talking about everything from the unsung heroes of the early Seattle rap scene with music writer Novocaine132 to your rights if you encounter ICE. Plus, Seattle Eats talks about the Emerald City's best slice of pizza. Guests Novocaine132, author of "The Birth of Seattle Rap." Henry Hwang, a directing attorney for Northwest Immigrant Rights Project 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 is taking a break this week. Don’t worry - we’ll be back with new episodes next week. Until then, we’re bringing you some of our favorite stories from the show.  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. Relevant Links: Seattle's new Civic Poet finds parallels between political language and verse Deciding to See: The View from Nathan's Bus Those little red hummingbird feeders are driving the bird's evolution See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever walked into a bookstore, lonely and single, and hoped you’d meet the love of your life?  We know there are at least a few of you out there. That's part of the setup for Moira Macdonald’s debut novel “Storybook Ending.” It’s a story about loneliness, friendship, reading – and of course, the singular pleasure of spending time between the shelves of a cozy book shop in Seattle. The spot in question, titled “Read the Room”, is based on Ravenna’s Third Place Books, one of Macdonald's regular haunts.  We talk to Macdonald, the longtime Seattle Times arts critic, about writing her novel, her recommendations for great summer reads and Seattle's best movie theaters.  And a note - this conversation first aired in June. Guest Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times arts critic and debut novelist See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.