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
Podcasts
Stories
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Block on Tacoma ICE facility inspections may soon be lifted
Washington state health officials may be on the verge of winning a yearslong fight to gain access to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. The Washington State Health Department has been trying to get into the center to investigate complaints about the conditions there. Federal officials and the private company that runs the site have blocked those efforts thus far, but a recent court ruling could change that. Lauren Jenks is the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Public Health at the state health department. She told KUOW’s Angela King about the latest facility’s latest happenings.
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Storyteller Glynn Washington talks 'Spooked' and his upcoming Seattle live show
It's not even October yet, but the Halloween decorations and fun-size candy packages are already filling store shelves. For those who can't wait to open the door and welcome trick or treaters with their best spooky voice, there's a spooky show coming to town. Snap Judgment and Spooked host Glynn Washington is bringing Spooked Live to the Moore Theatre. He told KUOW’s Angela King about the show.
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UW lab spinoff focused on AI-enabled protein design cancer treatments
A Seattle startup company has inked a deal with Eli Lilly to develop AI-powered cancer treatments. The team at Lila Biologics says they're pioneering the translation of AI design proteins for therapeutic applications. Anindya Roy is the company's co-founder and chief scientist. He told KUOW’s Paige Browning about their work.
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Plans for King County mental health crisis center in Seattle pass another hurdle
A King County Council committee voted unanimously yesterday to go forward with plans for a walk-in mental health crisis care center in Seattle. In effect, that serves as an approval to buy the proposed location at Broadway and Union, in the old Polyclinic building. Seattle Times engagement reporter Taylor Blatchford told KUOW’s Paige Browning about why plans to site the center there have been contentious.
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‘Strange but not illegal.’ Questions raised about lines between politics and governance at Seattle City Hall
Questions about who gets to work at Seattle City Hall came into focus recently when Seattle Times reporters Jim Brunner and David Kroman looked at why Mayor Bruce Harrell's campaign strategist ended up on the City Hall payroll. David Kroman told KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about what they found.
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Is the Google antitrust ruling a ‘big whiff,’ or an advantage for rivals like Microsoft?
In a closely watched antitrust case, a federal judge ruled this week that Google has to share search results and some data with rival companies. But the judge ruled Google does not have to sell off Chrome, its ubiquitous web browser. What could this ruling mean for our homegrown tech behemoth Microsoft, and other search engine rivals of Google? GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop looked into that and other questions in a new piece. He told KUOW’s Kim Malcolm what he found.
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Investigation into Mercer Island teacher’s resignation finds history of alleged abuse
A well-regarded Mercer Island High School teacher, Gary “Chris” Twombley, resigned his position earlier this year amid allegations of abusive relationships with some of his students.
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Seattle man says dropped murder, arson charges against him were result of ‘racist misidentification’
In early June, Susan Lisette Klee, 72, died after a fire engulfed her home in the Wallingford neighborhood. About a month later, with the help of security camera footage, Seattle police arrested a suspect, a 25-year-old Amazon software engineer named Letian Shi. Shi and his lawyers maintained he was not the arsonist. On Friday, King County prosecutors dropped their charges and released Shi, after nearly a month in jail. Seattle Times reporter Sara Jean Green has been covering this story. She gave KUOW’s Paige Browning this update.
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Environment reporter Lynda Mapes dove into Seattle’s Elliott Bay, and found some big changes
It's peak tourism season in downtown Seattle. Residents and visitors have been celebrating the $800 million dollar makeover of the waterfront. Is the same true for residents and visitors under the surface of Elliott Bay? To consider that question, KUOW’s Kim Malcolm reached out this week to environment reporter Lynda Mapes. The two took a shallow dive into Mapes’ most recent piece for the Seattle Times, "The vibrant world under Seattle’s new waterfront."
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Seahawks v. Former Seahawks. Preseason football kicks off
You know fall is around the corner when the NFL preseason begins. Thursday, the Seattle Seahawks will take on the Las Vegas Raiders in their first pre-season matchup. Coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith will be there, maybe a bit awkwardly for Hawks fans, on the Raiders side of the field. Carroll is the only coach who was able to lead the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title, and Smith helped them rack up winning records the past three years. To talk football, KUOW’s Kim Malcolm reached out to longtime Seattle sportswriter Art Thiel.
