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
-
For 50 years, Jean Walkinshaw documented the 'Northwest mystique' through everyday people
In 2013, an employee at KCTS — Seattle's PBS station — stumbled upon a box stacked in a hallway. Afraid that the rare tapes and reels would be thrown away, the employee tucked the box away. The decision saved an archive of Seattle's history considered so precious, the American Archive of Public Broadcasting added it to its collection, which also includes the Watergate hearings and interviews from the Stonewall uprising.
-
Changing the channel — San Juan locals propose new name for waterway
If you take the ferry from Anacortes to the San Juan Islands, you pass through the Harney Channel. But the history behind the channel's namesake -- William S. Harney -- holds a gruesome legacy. After discovering this history, two San Juan locals submitted a proposal to change the name to the Cayou Channel, after famed local Henry Cayou.
-
Bill Radke on having tough conversations, and how we understand one another
Subtext, hosted by Bill Radke, is a new short series from KUOW about the things that go unsaid. Bill joined Libby Denkmann to talk about how we understand each other, from the nuances of polarized politics to awkward family disagreements.
-
The lasting effect indigenous boarding schools have had on Washington state
Earlier this month, the Department of the Interior published a report on indigenous boarding schools in the U.S. These schools separated Native kids from their families, forced them to stop speaking their own languages, and often inflicted abuse in the name of "civilizing" indigenous children. The Interior Department says at one point the U-S supported at least 400 of these boarding schools across the country - including 15 here in Washington. The agency’s Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative also found at least 50 burial sites where children were left in unmarked or poorly maintained graves, and the department is still counting.
-
Puget Sound is full of old tires... on purpose?
Decades ago, states began putting bundles of tires on the sea floor as "artificial reefs." Their aim was to build new habitats for local marine life. Today, researchers have found those tires are toxic. So who's job is it to pull these tens of thousands of tires back up?
-
Recruiting young Seattleites to join a long-suffering club: Mariners fans
If you’re a baseball fan in Seattle, then you already know the heartbreak of watching the Mariners fall short season after season... The last time they made it to the playoffs was more than two decades ago! So, REAL TALK: For someone who wasn't even ALIVE the last time the Mariners were a championship team... why go to the ballpark at all? Soundside producer Jason Burrows went to find out.
-
Motherhood and domestic labor: How the pandemic showed women are 'still in a condition of servitude'
Seattle author Angela Garbes' new book is about domestic labor — and the huge amount of work that motherhood is, and the way society undervalues it. She also touches on its power to drive social change.
-
The latest culture-war clash could shape after-school activities for LGBTQ students in Marysville
Earlier this week, school board members in Marysville listened to parents, teachers, and students sound off on a proposed district policy that would require students to get their guardian's permission to join clubs.
-
This black hole has been a 'monster lurking' for decades. New photos expose it
While we were all going about our puny mortal existences on this tiny rock, an array of telescopes stretching from Hawaii to Western Europe to the South Pole captured the first-ever image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It’s called “Sagittarius A Star” – and it was first discovered back in February 1974.
-
New report shows that more people are dying in King County jails
King County has seen a spike in jail deaths during the first part of this year. And that’s raising questions about conditions and staffing at the facility.