John O'Brien
Producer, Speakers Forum
About
John O’Brien produces Speakers Forum at KUOW. He learned to love radio as a child waking up one summer morning to the harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel. As a teenager, he would drive the back roads of Indiana and Michigan late at night listening to vintage radio theater. The question of whether or not he had the legal right to drive then remains a mystery. Only The Shadow knows. Inspired by a chance meeting with Noah Adams, he learned to make radio as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds. John has been recording talks for Speakers Forum since 2007. Early on he learned Seattle is a Mecca for any touring speaker because Seattleites read so much, support a wide variety of venues and ask smart questions. He says that makes his job easy and always interesting. John is a graduate of St. Johns College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Podcasts
Stories
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Speakers Forum
'Seismic' literature inspires and changes Seattle through story
“Literature is an unopened umbrella in the rain ... literature is a cathedral.”
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Speakers Forum
Pandemic parenting. It gets better? A tool kit
‘Kids need to feel safe, they need to feel secure, they need to be seen, and they need to be soothed. Talk to them about what make them feel safer, or what makes them feel soothed.’
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Speakers Forum
Claudia Rankine on the unbearable lightness of whiteness in America
‘The indifference is impenetrable and reliable and distributed across centuries, and I am stupidly hurt when my friends can’t see that.’
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KUOW Newsroom
A city of 'high ideals:' What's at stake for Seattle in the 2020 election?
‘Sometimes boomtowns end up as ghost towns.’
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KUOW Newsroom
Vashon Island ‘Band of Brothers’ program focuses on identity and healthy masculinity
‘One of the things that surprises me is how contagious vulnerability can be.’
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KUOW Newsroom
A personal, hopeful view of the enduring legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
‘The world has changed, partly because of her work, as an individual, as a lawyer, as a judge, as a feminist.’
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KUOW Newsroom
Coping amid disaster: How we can mentally prepare for a pandemic winter
Mental health professionals anticipate that roughly 3 million Washingtonians will have "clinically significant symptoms" by the end of 2020.
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KUOW Newsroom
Washington state’s new Teacher of the Year sees challenges, opportunities amid distance learning
‘I think teaching is an act of love.’
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KUOW Newsroom
When two civil rights eras collide: The stalwart and the newcomer
Larry Gossett and Girmay Zahilay reflect on leading communities through protests.
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Speakers Forum
It was an economic theory with little traction, then the pandemic hit
Modern Monetary Theory and you, with Stephanie Kelton