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Libby Denkmann

Host, Soundside

About

Libby Denkmann has covered veterans' issues, homelessness, and local politics during her radio journalism career. She became the host of KUOW's Soundside in November 2021. Previously she was a producer, reporter, anchor, and host for stations KIRO, KFI, and KPCC in Seattle and Los Angeles. During a yearlong hiatus from journalism in 2011, she worked as a congressional staffer in Washington, D.C.. Libby was born in Seattle, grew up on the eastside, and graduated from the University of Washington. Her favorite things include soccer, video games, and her dog, Monty.

Location: Seattle

Languages: English, limited Japanese and Portuguese

Pronouns: she/her

Podcasts

Stories

  • caption: Department of Natural Resources firefighters start a prescribed burn in the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area in March 2022. DNR began its first prescribed burn season in 18 years in 2022 to combat the risk of increasingly severe wildfires in the region.

    Washington is starting new prescribed burns. Will they prevent bigger wildfires?

    It's been close to two decades since Washington state last did a "broadcast burn," a kind of prescribed burn that sweeps forest floors of potential fire fuel. Prescribed burns are gaining in use throughout fire-prone states as land managers look to imitate natural cycles and move away from a "no-burn" standard of management.

  • Facebook social media generic

    Washington judge finds Facebook violated campaign disclosure law

    Washington V. Meta, brought to court by Attorney General Bob Ferguson against Meta, Facebook's parent company, concluded that Facebook ran local political advertisements throughout Washington state without properly disclosing information about who ran them. In response to Facebook's argument that the disclosure law is unconstitutional, King County Superior Court Judge Douglass North called it "very constitutional."

  • caption: Throughout Georgetown and Sodo "eco-blocks" are being placed to keep vehicles and encampments from cropping up. Placing these blocks without a permit is illegal, though the Seattle Department of Transportation frequently struggles to know who is placing them.

    An increase in eco-blocks signals a battle between parking and encampments

    Ecology blocks are large slabs made from recycled concrete, with grooves on the top and bottom to help form retaining walls. But on city streets and sidewalks, they form a different kind of barrier: Deterring RVs and encampments, which have proliferated in Seattle during the pandemic.
  • caption: KUOW letters are shown before "That's Debatable: The Homelessness Crisis is Killing Seattle" on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019, as the sun sets at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute in Seattle.

    Sound it Out: Listeners sound off on ranked choice and approval voting

    One of our primary missions for Soundside is to make sure you're not just hearing US when you listen. You're hearing yourself, too. YOUR questions, YOUR thoughts - because you're our neighbors, you're the folks we make this for. This time, we're discussing the feedback you gave us two stories we did about potential changes to Seattle's voting system.

  • caption: A sailboat is shown in Elliott Bay as the sun sets on Monday, July 26, 2022, in Seattle. Temperatures are expected to reach 90 degrees this week in the Seattle area.

    Soundside's summer bucket list

    Schools are starting up again, Labor Day is this weekend, the sunset is inching closer to 7 pm. We can't deny it: fall is coming. So, in these waning days of Summer, the Soundside team hit the streets to record one activity we were hoping to accomplish before the rain and clouds show up. A "Summer bucket list" item that we can check off our lists.