KUOW Presents

Anxiety. Regret. But also happiness and hope. These are the emotions experienced by Iraqis as they try to find stability and safety for their families in post-Saddam Iraq. The BBC’s Hugh Sykes has reported on some horrific scenes in Iraq. Now, he returns to Iraq to reflect. And to try to understand how it is the Iraqis can, having seen so much, be so filled with laughter.

More stories from KUOW Presents, Wednesday, March 6:

Robert Glasper doesn’t want to be confined by musical genres. He’s a talented jazz musician, but he’s tired of replaying the old standards from the 1950s and 60s.

Instead, he’s turned to complicated modern pop songs that inspired him as a kid. “Jazz takes from its surroundings and makes something new," he explains. "It’s like a casserole.” Glaser hopes to turn a few of those pop songs into jazz standards, much like John Coltrane did with the once underappreciated Julie Andrews song, “My Favorite Things.”

Other Stories from KUOW Presents, Tuesday, March 5:

When most of people think of reenactors, they think of people dressing in costumes, marching across a battlefield while fake cannons go off. But for a few people around Monroe, Georgia, reenactments mean something completely different: a chance to revisit a historic lynching. They reopen this wound every year not to celebrate the crime, but to pressure local law enforcement to reopen a cold case and apprehend the killers who many believe live among them today.

Other stories on KUOW Presents, Monday, March 4:

People who hike through the wilderness know: it’s unwise to pack heavy foods. As delightful as it might be to play gourmet chef on top of a mountain, you’d spend more calories lugging a leg of lamb up the trail than you’d gain from eating it.  The great historic Antarctic explorers faced the same problem. They lived off biscuits and pemmican. And as they mushed across the ice, they dreamed of roasted penguins.

Historian Jason C. Anthony describes the lousy rations that fueled our greatest explorers today on KUOW.

Full list of stories on KUOW Presents, Thursday, February 28:

Ben Haggerty (Macklemore) had no idea his quirky songs would become, for several weeks anyway, the most popular music in America, but lightning has now struck twice. And Macklemore's become an unlikely defender of same-sex marriage and a critic of consumer culture. Macklemore talks about his unsual perspective and bringing politics to his music.

More stories from KUOW Presents, Wednesday, February 27:

Author Cheryl Strayed’s mother had just died. Like many in our region, she turned to nature for solace. And hiked a big part of the Pacific Crest Trail. The PCT is a place where you can keep on walking until your mind finds stillness, or at least until you're eaten by a bear.

Want more Cheryl Strayed? Hear Ross Reynolds interview her on KUOW.

Other Stories on KUOW Presents, Tuesday, February 26:

“Iranian State TV Declares 'Argo' Oscars Win A Victory For Iran.” That was the headline this morning on the satirical website known as the Pan Arabia Enquirer. But if the late Ayatollah Khomeini missed a posthumous Oscar for his role in the movie "Argo," he may have another chance coming up.

The author Salman Rushdie’s life is ripe for a screenplay. His story began when the Ayatollah effectively placed a hit on him. Then, it was into the attic for Rushdie. Hear the author tell his own story here, before Hollywood gets involved.

Other Stories From KUOW Presents, Monday, February 25:

Different periods in history have different swear words. How people throw them around says something about our who we are as a culture. Because we reserve the harshest epithets for the kind of person we most fear becoming.

Hear NPR’s linguist Geoffrey Nunberg get bleeped on the radio, today on KUOW Presents.
 

Full list of stories from KUOW Presents, Thursday, February 21:

Brian Banks spent five years in prison after being falsely accused of rape. After his release, he tried to return to the football career that had looked so promising before his conviction. But the electronic monitor on his ankle and the stigma of his crime proved insurmountable barriers.

Then, his former accuser suddenly tried to friend him on Facebook. She admitted she’d made the whole thing up and suggested they let bygones be bygones. Now, Brian only had to get her to admit the truth to a judge.

Other stories on KUOW Presents, Wednesday, February 20:

The "wild west" may have an undeserved reputation. If you believe what you see in old movies, you'd think gunslingers routinely shot each over for the slightest offenses. But according to historians, shoot-outs like the famous one at the O.K. Corral were rare, and towns like Tombstone, Ariz., and Dodge City, Kan., had some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation.

Other stories on KUOW Presents, Tuesday, February 19: