Seattle Now

This week… Gen Z is trying hard to step into the home ownership game.  Amazon users got outraged over an abridged version of "It's a Wonderful Life."  And it's the first Casual Friday of 2026, so it's time to set some goals. Author and blogger Geraldine DeRuiter and Factal Editor Joe Veyera are here to break down the week. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This New Year's Day, we're bringing you a bonus episode from our friends at KUOW's arts and culture podcast Meet Me Here. Men are reading less. Reading less than women, not reading as much as before. But Author Daniel James Brown's book The Boys in the Boat broke through and to male readers. This week we’re getting lit with Author Daniel James Brown and tackling the ~discourse~ to find out how authors like him are writing authentic, complex men. Plus, we give you a ton of recommendations of books and authors that will make anybody want to read. If you need some help filling that book shaped void, here’s Daniel James Brown and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL):  The Wide Wide Sea by Hampton Sides Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Any books by author Tim Egan Some places we've seen the narrative that men are not reading: The Anxiety Plaguing Male Fiction Writers - Vulture Why Did the Novel-Reading Man Disappear? - The New York Times The Real Reason Men Should Read Fiction - The Atlantic We're Doing ‘Men Don’t Read Books' Discourse Again. Here's What We're Missing - GQ      We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed.  Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Conservative campaign has two ballot initiatives planned for 2026, Metro bus and light rail trips are free on NYE, and WA gets millions for rural healthcare. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Patricia Murphy. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy are getting closer… Including the fan-favorite sport of curling. Two members of Team USA Curling have Seattle roots, and they’re ready to compete for the gold. Ben Richardson and Luc Violette are here to talk about their time on the ice in Seattle, and now for Team USA. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New laws take effect on January 1st, Seattle-area Somalis say childcare providers are being doxxed, and Alaska Airlines has another IT outage. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Patricia Murphy. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’re going to get by in this world, understanding how money works can help a lot.  Yet, financial education is not a high school graduation requirement in Washington.  That could change under a new proposal from state lawmakers. KUOW’s Zaki Hamid talks with UW’s Helen Andrews about why the effort has been so challenging. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed.  Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A stretch of Highway 2 reopens, lawmakers want to fix a loophole in WA's plastic bag ban, and downtown Seattle's getting a retail shakeup. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Patricia Murphy. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the last week of 2025 and so much happened! Our summer was defined by a rogue rat mosaic in Cal Anderson Park. Starbucks closed its fanciest store in Seattle: the Capitol Hill Roastery. Seattle’s nude beach Denny Blaine now has a fence between the clothed and unclothed. And Seattle elected its youngest mayor ever while pushing out its more moderate incumbents. There’s a lot to reflect on, and thankfully our friends over at Week in Review took the time to look back on the year for their Year in Review event. Bill Radke hosted the panel of Libby Denkmann, Phyllis Fletcher, and Sandeep Kaushik. Mayor elect Katie Wilson and Attorney General Nick Brown were there too. We're bringing you an excerpt from the evening. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we’re bringing you the best from another KUOW show, Soundside. A lot has changed during Sara Nelson’s time in Seattle government. She was a centrist outlier on a progressive city council when she was first elected in 2021.  But the dynamics changed: Nelson ended up running the show as council president, after a moderate slate of candidates swept the 2023 election.  Now - her time in office is coming to an end. Next month, there will be a new, more progressive representative in the citywide Position 9 seat that Nelson’s held the past four years. Nonprofit leader Dionne Foster will take Nelson’s place after winning by a wide margin of votes in November.  Last week, Nelson spent an hour with Soundside to reflect on her tenure and the direction Seattle politics is moving. Listen to more Soundside here. Soundside is produced by Sarah Leibovitz, Jason Burrows, Gabrielle Healey, Hans Anderson, Jed Kim and Maleeha Syed. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we’re bringing you the best from another KUOW show, Booming. The cost of living is really high in Seattle. Whether it's housing or groceries, this town is a tough place to make ends meet.  Joshua McNichols and Monica Nicholsberg of KUOW’s Booming podcast talked to a researcher who sends armies of shoppers to find out why… And he gives some tips for making your dollar stretch as far as possible in this very expensive city. Listen to more Booming here. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's a special Christmas episode brought to your feed from KUOW's arts and culture podcast Meet Me Here: The holiday season means trees, cookies, family, spirituality, or presents to many. For Meet Me Here's Dyer Oxley, it means it's time to watch his favorite Christmas movie — "Die Hard." This 1988 action flick starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman has become a Christmas tradition for many. But not everyone agrees that "Die Hard" can be a Christmas tradition. Week in Review host Bill Radke is in that camp. He challenges Dyer's "Die Hard" opinion in a special holiday throwdown. Bill and Dyer debate a modern holiday question: Is "Die Hard" a Christmas movie? We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we’re bringing you the best from another KUOW show, Seattle Eats… The holidays are here—  The season for cookies, roasts, seafood… and wine. And if you want the best deals on good wine… Seattle Times food critic, Tan Vinh  says… head to Costco. On the latest episode of Seattle Eats, Tan sat down with Seattle Times politics reporter David Gutman to taste-test Costco’s best wines that are 20 dollars or less. Listen to more Seattle Eats here. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Communities in Washington are beginning their recovery efforts after flooding and landslides, Governor Bob Ferguson is joining Democrats in proposing an income tax on millionaires, and people who have season passes for the Stevens Pass ski resort are angry that the resort is not offering refunds. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Zaki Hamid. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we have an episode from our friends at Booming. The recent flooding in Washington is a reminder of the extreme weather impacts of climate change. But the Northwest has become a destination for people seeking a more livable climate. Climate migration is difficult to study, and even harder to predict. But some researchers say a historic population shift has already begun. On today's episode: is the Pacific Northwest ready for an influx of climate refugees? Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/boomingnotes. Booming is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. Our editor is Carol Smith. Our producers are Lucy Soucek and Alec Cowan. Our hosts are Joshua McNichols and Monica Nickelsburg.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Governor Bob Ferguson is mobilizing the National Guard to monitor levees, a University of Washington professor wins a case against the university over land acknowledgements, and Seattle's longest serving police chief has died. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Zaki Hamid. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed.  Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Atmospheric rivers can be very destructive. But they don’t have to be a surprise. There are weather scientists whose mission is to improve atmospheric river forecasting. Today, we’ll hear from one of those scientists. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed.  Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we’re bringing you the best from another KUOW show, Soundside…  It’s been a busy year for the Seattle Police Department.  A new chief was sworn in, the longstanding federal consent decree ended and the city reached a new contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild that changes how it can approach unarmed crisis response. Plus, a new mayor will take office in January. Mayor-elect Katie Wilson announced this week that she planned to retain Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes, despite some rumors to the contrary.  Soundside's Libby Denkmann talked with Barnes last week. Listen to more Soundside interviews here. The Soundside team includes Sarah Leibovitz, Jason Burrows, Hans Anderson, Gabrielle Healy, Maleeha Syed, and Jed Kim. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gov. Ferguson proposes new investments in roads, bridges, and ferries, the Seahawks clinch a playoff spot, and more snow is expected in the mountains. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Paige Browning. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week… Washington was rocked by what Governor Bob Ferguson is calling “one of the worst natural disasters in state history.” But luckily, people are stepping up to help. A West Seattle holiday light display is back on track after being knocked out by last year’s bomb cyclone. And the Stranger’s December issue is full of complaints about Seattle - we have some ideas. Film Critic Chase Hutchinson and Seattle Now Producer Vaughan Jones are here to break down the week. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flu season has arrived in WA, local farmers overwhelmed with flood damage, and Gov. Ferguson signs an executive order on housing. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Paige Browning. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.