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John O'Brien

Senior Producer, All Things Considered

About

John O’Brien is KUOW's All Things Considered Senior Producer. He spends his days setting up interviews with newsmakers on subjects from politics and public health to arts and culture. John learned to make radio starting in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds.

Location: Seattle

Languages: English

Pronouns: he/him

Stories

  • caption: Attorney Brittan Schwartz assists someone without representation after attending court with her client as observers sit nearby outside of an immigration courtroom at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in Seattle on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. 

    Fears of ICE arrests cause tension at Seattle immigration court

    At courthouses across the country, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been arresting people who show up for required immigration court hearings. Seattle Times staff reporter Catalina Gaitán spent time at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle yesterday, amid rumors ICE was planning to show up.

  • caption: Todd Torgeson kayaks from his home to where his truck is parked along on Francis Road, after flooding the previous day, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Clear Lake.

    Snohomish planners reflect on flood safety in wake of Texas tragedy

    The high death toll from the July 4 flood in Kerr County, Texas, has prompted questions about flood preparation across the country. Western Washington is one of the most flood-prone regions in the United States, according to the National Weather Service. To find out about preparations in Snohomish County, KUOW’s Paige Browning spoke to Emergency Management Director Lucia Schmit and Surface Water Management Director Gregg Farris.

  • caption: A paddle boarder crosses Portage Bay through heavy smoke from nearby wildfires on Sunday, August 20, 2023, in Seattle.

    As air quality worsens, UW scientist focuses on effects of wildfire smoke

    It’s been a relatively quiet wildfire season so far in the Pacific Northwest, with not much in the way of large fires or widespread smoke pollution — yet. But a recent study found that more frequent wildfires have been erasing air quality gains in the United States.

  • caption: Northwest African American Museum Juneteenth flyer

    Seattle celebrates Juneteenth with Black culture ‘unapologetically on display'

    Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. The tradition began in 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Texas received word, belatedly, of their emancipation. The celebrations have spread around the country, and in the wake of nationwide protests after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis in 2020, the day became a federal holiday. Marcus Harrison Green is the founder of the South Seattle Emerald, a columnist with The Stranger, and co-host of the new podcast In the Meanwhile. He talked to KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about holiday celebrations here in Seattle.