Ross Reynolds

  This year Washington voters could be voting on whether foods that have been produced using genetic engineering would have to be labeled as such. Trudy Bialic is the director of public affairs for PCC Natural Markets and a member of the campaign steering committee for Label-It-WA, the campaign that supports Initiative 522. Ross Reynolds talks with her about why she supports the labeling initiative.

In her new book, "Make Your Brain Smarter," Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman offers tools to customize your own brain fitness plan. She talks with Ross Reynolds about strategies and exercises you can do to train your brain to think smarter.

Bring us your tired metaphors, overused phrases and words that summon an unpleasant visceral reaction. Ben Zimmer, language columnist for the Boston Globe, explains why these words and phrases bother us so much. Sometimes a word variant sounds odd to our ear, even if it’s correct, such as “pleaded” rather than “plead.” Other problems arise when words reveal disparities, such as a lack of an equivalent term for the opposite gender. And jargon can become offensive when it migrates from its original community to more common use in mainstream media or by different age groups.

It’s the time of year when media outlets do stories on the top 10 news stories of the year. But we don’t live our lives in the news. What are the top stories from your personal life in 2012? A birth, a death, a graduation, a move? Did you finish that book, get that small business rolling? Learn to make sushi? What are the hallmark events of 2012 in your life? Ross Reynolds reviews the year with KUOW listeners.

To give or not to give? That's the question many of us face when encountering panhandlers on Seattle's sidewalks. Some people make up their minds about how to act and don't deviate from the script. For others, the ethical questions resurface with every encounter.

Now, it seems we're at a crossroads. Many people are still out of work. Yet social services will probably be cut even further next year. Will that change how you give?

Futurist and author Ray Kurzweil thinks we’re headed for a future where machines will become more like people, people will integrate computers and machines into their bodies, and we will live longer — much longer. Ross Reynolds talks with Ray Kurzweil about his latest book, "How to Create a Mind."

So many great interviews and call-ins to choose from! Novelist's Jennifer Egan and John Irving, William Broad on the science of yoga, Sam Harris on free will, Charles Duhigg on the power of habit, Portlandia's Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, director Lynn Shelton, actor Gary Oldman, our Sub Pop Records tour with Megan Jasper.

But if I had to boil it down to my top five (and I do!) here they are in no particular order.

Ross Reynolds talks about the future of higher education in Washington state with Rep. Larry Seaquist who heads the House Higher Education Committee.   Larry Seaquist is also a former US warship captain and Pentagon strategist who served for 32 years in the US Navy.

It’s estimated that in King County, around 700 people under the age of 25 don’t have permanent housing. Among adolescents in general, LGBTQ youths are more vulnerable to health and psychological problems than heterosexual youths. Many are victims of parental physical abuse, turn to substance abuse, and have both mental and general physical health problems.

Ross Reynolds sits down with three people currently living without permanent housing to talk about what issues they have had to deal with as homeless youth.

Novelist Zadie Smith’s most recent work, "NW," is named after the postal code for an impoverished neighborhood in London. It’s just been called one of the 10 best books of the year.

Zadie Smith talks with Ross Reynolds about "NW," the difference between pleasure and joy, and why it took her  a long time to appreciate Joni Mitchell.