Weekday

It's beginning to look like that time of year: frantic gift shopping, wrapping paper paper cuts and collecting wish lists. Are you finding yourself stumped by the expansive toy market? Have no fear, we're here to help! Allen Rickert of Top Ten Toys and Katherine Johnson of the Pacific Science Center stopped by Weekday to share their top toy picks for 2012.

Allen Rickert's Top Toy Picks for 2012:

The holidays are approaching and toys are back in the spotlight. What are the best new toys of the year? Allen Rickert of Top Ten Toys and Katherine Johnson of the Pacific Science Center store join us in our studio, bringing toys of all kinds with them.

We’ll also hear what's on the wish list of a classroom at Garden International Preschool. Bring your inner child and join us at  206.543.5869 or weekday@kuow.org.

Marty Wingate, Greg Rabourn and Willi Galloway join us to answer your flower, vegetable and native plant questions. Things are getting wetter and colder. Our gardening panel takes a winter break after today, so this is your last chance until spring to have your questions answered. Call us at 206.543.5869 or email weekday@kuow.org.

Naomi Wolf, author of "The Beauty Myth," has written a cultural and scientific history of the intersection of sexuality and creativity. She joins us to talk about "Vagina: A New Biography."

Book commentator extraordinaire Nancy Pearl joins us with her picks for the best books of the year. Grab a pen, jot these titles down and save yourself the time of looking for your next great read. Need a recommendation for a holiday gift book? Call us at 206.543.5869 with a genre and Nancy will send you in the right direction.

Nancy Pearl's list of her favorite books from 2012.

It’s Friday — time to review the news with Joni Balter, Knute Berger and Erica C. Barnett. City Councilman Tim Burgess jumped into the Seattle mayor's race this week, Congress peered over the fiscal cliff and state officials got ready to implement Washington's new same-sex marriage and legalized marijuana laws. We'll wrap up these and other stories of the week with our panel and hear your take at 206.543.5869 or weekday@kuow.org.

The storm is over, but the recovery from Sandy will go on for months to come. This week the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut said they'd seek more than $80 billion in federal aid to rebuild and protect against another devastating storm. Meanwhile, some residents displaced by the storm are struggling with whether rebuilding is worth the cost. We check in for an on-the-ground update.

Puget Sound Energy owns and operates a coal-fired power plant out of Billings, Montana, that the Sierra Club calls "the dirtiest coal plant in the West." The Colstrip Plant meets EPA emission standards and PSE touts its green-energy portfolio, with plans to triple its renewable energy supply by 2020. How does coal fit into that equation? And with coal plants generating 42 percent of America's electricity, how much impact would closing one plant have? We take a look with PSE's Andy Wappler and Anne Hedges of the Montana Environmental Information Center.

Up to one-third of working adults in the United States are independent contractors. Do you have what it takes to make it on your own? Freelancers Union founder Sara Horowitz joins us to talk about how independent workers are changing the national job landscape and what you need to know before joining the ranks of the self-employed.