Soundside

The government’s about to run out of money.There’s an ongoing, multi-fronted showdown in the courts over who has the power to cut federal spending after it’s been appropriated.And also a little bit of a trade war brewing with new U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel just announced.Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal shares her view from the House of Representatives with Soundside. *Note: since this conversation aired, President Trump has halted his plan to double tariffs on Canadian metals. Guest: Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal represents Washington’s 7th congressional district, which ranges from Lake Forest Park to White Center Related Links: Trump halts doubling of tariffs on Canadian metals, after Ontario suspends electricity price hikes - AP New deputy FBI director Dan Bongino previously called for imprisoning Democrats - NPR 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.

On March 10, 2025, Soundside aired a segment about a high number of deaths among people detained at the South Correctional Entity, commonly known as SCORE. After it aired, our staff was contacted by a SCORE official, who objected to two claims made in our broadcast.  One, was an assertion that reports regarding unexpected fatalities that occurred at the facility were not posted within the required timeframe and that some reports remained outstanding. After looking into the Washington State Department of Health website, including searches on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, it appeared that at least some, if not all, of the required reports had been posted in the weeks before our segment aired. The improper labeling of these reports by date of death instead of publication date on DOH’s website may have contributed to the oversight. Members of our team, including the show’s editor, had background discussions with the reporter we interviewed and the SCORE official who raised the issue, and were satisfied that our segment contained errors.  The second assertion was that the mortality rate quoted in the segment for detainees at SCORE was inaccurate, because while 11 deaths in a two year period is arguably high, according to the Department of Justice, it is not enough of a basis to extrapolate a statistically clear comparison with other rates. While the original reporting pointed out this caveat, our broadcast did not.  Because the central framing of our segment was that SCORE “has had over three times the average in-custody death for Washington jails,” we felt it was not possible to correct the errors and decided instead to remove the segment audio from our podcast feed and issue a clarification on the show’s site. We did not find reason to question the bulk of the reporting that originally aired on SCORE’s recent record of deaths in custody, concerns from family members of those who died, and the troubling reports of conditions at the jail from people who were held there and a former employee of WellPath.   We plan to address this on-air in an episode of Soundside in the near future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Artificial intelligence is starting to underpin everything we do, whether we like it or not. And at the highest levels, companies like Google and Open AI are saying their AI is on the verge of crossing a humanlike threshold that we’ve only seen in science fiction. This is prompting all kinds of conversations about sentience and the possible dangers of a superintelligent computer system.  But the definition of “Artificial General Intelligence,” or AGI, is controversial.  And many researchers aren’t even sure today’s programs have our common understanding of “intelligence” at all. They argue ChatGPT isn’t really thinking -- it's just really good at predicting the next sequence in a pattern (and copying someone else along the way).  So what makes something intelligent? Or alive, for that matter?  For Google’s Blaise Agüera y Arcas, the most interesting piece of examining AI breakthroughs has been how they connect to the evolution of life on earth. In his new book, What is Life? he argues for a broadened definition of “intelligence,” to include things like single celled organisms and even basic tools. And he says humans’ development of technology -- most recently, AI -- is part of a long history of symbiotic relationships that have pushed our evolution forward.  Guests: Blaise Agüera y Arcas, Vice President and CTO of Technology and Society at Google, where he leads a team called “Paradigms of Intelligence” researching the intersection of AI, biology, and philosophy. Author of What is Life, the first part of a broader work on intelligence at large.  Related Links:  What is Intelligence? | Antikythera 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 the end of the week for us here at Soundside, and we’ve been making our weekend plans.  That means if you’re searching for something to keep you occupied this weekend, you’re in the right place.  Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows is here in the nick of time to give you all the highlights. LINKS: Emerald City Comic Con Sequim Sunshine Festival Penn Cove Mussel-Fest Seattle Opera - The Magic Flute Carnival Of Cocktails Tacoma Beer Week 5th Annual Alki Beach Winter Beer Festival Asian Comics: Evolution of an Art Form Opening Party 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.

70,000. That’s the number of jobs the Department of Veterans Affairs will cut over the next six months. This comes from an internal VA memo leaked to the public this week. It’s the latest in a series of mass layoffs conducted by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. In a video released yesterday, VA Secretary Doug Collins said that the changes are necessary to make the department more efficient, accountable, and transparent. But, In another video released last month Collins promised that health care services and benefits would not be cut, and that 300,000 positions at the department had been labeled “mission critical” to ensure that services would not be interrupted. Hundreds of thousands of veterans in Washington state receive healthcare, disability compensation or pensions from the VA. The state has five VA hospitals in Seattle, Tacoma, Walla Walla, Spokane and Vancouver, as well as more than a dozen outpatient clinics. So now, many are wondering - what will these cuts look like, and how will they impact the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States. Guest: Orion Donovan Smith, DC Correspondent for the Spokesman Review Related Links: Trump administration to cut more than 80,000 jobs at Department of Veterans Affairs, internal memo says - Spokesman Review Mann-Grandstaff loses more VA workers as part of Trump administration’s downsizing plans - Spokesman Review 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.

In the 1980s, Seattle's music scene was hooked on disco. The success of "Saturday Night Fever" meant venues opted for groovy vinyl over live band performances, and songs like Chic's "Good Times" were on constant rotation. That made room for a similar but modified version of the song's simple breakbeat by a group called The Sugarhill Gang, who quickly brought "rapping" to a nationwide audience. As Ben Camp tells the story, “Rapper’s Delight” – rap’s first hit – made an imprint in Seattle and kicked off a vibrant local scene connecting Sir-Mix-A-Lot to Macklemore. Camp, who writes under the name of Novocaine132, has been covering music in the city since the 1990s – and he recently published his first book, “The Birth of Seattle Rap.” Soundside producer Alec Cowan caught up with the writer to hear more about the book and Seattle’s pre-grunge music scene – starting with why it was disco that gave way to hip hop.  Guests: Novocaine132, author of "The Birth of Seattle Rap." Related Links: The Birth of Seattle Rap: Novocaine 132 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.

Surge pricing. When there is a lot of demand for rideshares, fares can double or triple their usual rate – or even more.  But a first-of-its-kind bill is looking to slow the surge in Washington State. SB 5600 would cap surge pricing and make sure drivers get more of a share of those extra dollars.  The bill was inspired by the expected flood of attendees Seattle will be handling during the 2026 World Cup games, but it would also apply to other large events. Rideshare companies say this will only increase prices for everyone. But drivers, like Kyle Graham, think this will only benefit drivers and passengers.  Guest: Uber, Lyft and DoorDash driver Kyle Graham. 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.

On Sunday, comedian Bowen Yang joined other actors onstage at the Academy Awards, dressed in his costume from the movie 'Wicked' -- to praise the artist who dreamed it up. It’s hard to list all the projects the award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell has been responsible for on Broadway, but here’s a sample:  Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, The Color Purple musical, In The Heights, and Hamilton - for which he won a Tony.  On screen, he won an Emmy for his work on The Wiz! Live.  And now, Tazewell has an Oscar to add to his list of accolades. Soundside host Libby Denkmann sat down with Tazewell when he was in town back in February, and in light of his win, we thought we would revisit that conversation. He was here for a new production at the Pacific Northwest Ballet.... an organization he has a long history with. His costumes for Kent Stowell's Swan Lake, which debuted in 2003, are still in use. This time around, Paul Tazewell created the lavish costumes for the company's re-imagined Sleeping Beauty -- from ball gowns and dinner jackets to tutus. Guest: Costume Designer Paul Tazewell 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.

President Trump will address a joint session of congress tonight – it is his first major speech since his inauguration.  Washington Democrats have been reeling since he took office a month and a half ago. The latest issue they are sounding the alarm on is tariffs: taxes on Mexican and Canadian goods went into effect this morning. President Trump ordered a 25% tax levied on foreign goods from the United States’ two largest trading partners. The US also once again raised tariffs on its third largest trading partner, China, with an additional 10% tariff.  Meanwhile, Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency is continuing to fire thousands of federal employees.  Guest: Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland represents Washington’s 10th district and is a member of the Armed Services Committee. She represents areas like Olympia, JBLM, and parts of Tacoma.  Related Links: Washington Rep. Marilyn Strickland weighs in on cuts to federal programs, workforce - KOMO Strickland on MSNBC Politics Nation: Job Cuts, Loyalists, and Fear. This Is Trump 2.0 - MSNBC See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country in the center of Africa. It’s home to spectacular things, like: a majority of the Congo Basin rainforest, the second largest in the world, with magnificent flora and fauna found nowhere else on earth, and a population of one hundred million people belonging to 250 ethnic groups who speak more than 200 languages. The country also has an estimated $24 trillion worth of untapped minerals.  That fact has put Congo in the center of international conflict for generations. However, over the last few months, a rebel militia called M23 has taken control of multiple cities in Eastern Congo. These conflicts have reverberated far and wide, as Congolese people displaced by fighting have sought refuge around the world. For those escaping conflict, being granted asylum is only the first step in building a new life. Guests:  Floribert Mubalama, the founder and CEO of the Seattle-based Congolese Integration Network Francoise Milinganyo, the Executive Director of Congolese Integration Network  University of Washington lecturer Dr. Francis Abugbilla Related Links: Why Are Congo and Rwanda at War? —NYT Martin Gordon, Anglican bishop of Goma, calls for peace in the DRC —NPR Congolese Integration Network 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.