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
Ecologist Suzanne Simard’s life work is highlighted in ‘The Mother Tree’
‘Nothing should be lost. Everything has a purpose. Everything is in need of care.’
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KUOW Newsroom
Common cancer screening methods are less accurate for Black women. A UW doctor has made it her mission to change that
"I want Black women to know that it's okay to want to know what's going on with their body."
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Speakers Forum
Liberty’s white roots and the racial history of that idea
White Freedom: ‘The belief (and practice) that freedom is central to white racial identity, and that only white people can or should be free.’
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KUOW Newsroom
This hiker survived 9 days with a can of SpaghettiOs. Here's his story
What's it like to survive nine days in the wilderness? Andrew Devers knows. What was supposed to be a breezy day hike turned into a rescue mission when Devers disappeared while hiking near the Pratt River Trail in North Bend.
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KUOW Newsroom
Powerful moments mark reopening arts events
A garage band art installation, a history walk, and a streaming solo show highlighting Black culture.
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KUOW Newsroom
Heat wave lesson: Hydration is key, especially for older people
'My patients in clinic today are great examples. They get gradually sicker and sicker and then get into a spiral where they're unable to take in more fluids, for one reason or another.'
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Speakers Forum
It takes (escaping) a village: Sebastian Junger on the search for freedom, and community
‘Most nights we were the only people in the world who knew where we were. There are many definitions of freedom, but surely that is one of them.’
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KUOW Newsroom
Pouring mommy wine culture down the drain: Online group offers support
"I would make these promises to myself, 'I'm going to cut back,' or 'I'm not going to drink today.' Then I would find myself continuously breaking them. The guilt and shame that went along with that was just such a dark place to be."
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Speakers Forum
In 'On Juneteenth' Annette Gordon-Reed chronicles hardship and joy on the path to Black freedom
‘Origin stories matter, for individuals, groups of people, and for nations. They inform our sense of self, telling us what kind of people we believe we are, what kind of nation we believe we live in.’
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Speakers Forum
The power of self-deception: Why and how our brains deceive us
"In any given moment the human eye takes in about a billion bits of information. The brain discards the vast majority of that information, and processes about 40 bits of information."