Coming soon: “The Blue Suit,” a KUOW Shorts series hosted by local poet Shin Yu Pai
May 31, 2022
This month, KUOW launched KUOW Shorts, a new podcast dedicated to locally-produced short-run audio series. The first series is “Subtext,” hosted by Bill Radke, which will run until the end of June.
Today, we are proud to announce our second series will be “The Blue Suit,” hosted by local poet and museologist Shin Yu Pai. The series will debut on July 11 in the KUOW Shorts feed.
“The Blue Suit” is about our emotional kinship with everyday objects. Over the course of eight episodes, Shin Yu will explore how commonplace things that touch our daily lives can transform from the mundane into the remarkable – from the folded pages of a Chinese-American dictionary to a sequined red chador. Along the way, Shin Yu will introduce you to artists, activists, thinkers, and community leaders and the relics that they invest with meaning.
“I’d like listeners to come away with something they didn’t expect to from learning about these objects and to feel a kinship with these stories and their storytellers,” said Shin Yu.
“The Blue Suit” came through KUOW’s community podcast pitch program earlier this year. Out of 84 submissions, it was one of four shows to move forward to a full series pilot.
"By focusing on one object we’re allowed to spend more time exploring the deeper meaning behind that object and make room for Shin Yu’s gift as a writer as she brings these personal stories to life," said senior editor Jim Gates.
We cannot wait to share this special series with you, starting July 11. In the meantime, subscribe to KUOW Shorts wherever you get your podcasts.
ABOUT SHIN YU PAI
Shin Yu Pai is an award-winning writer, photographer, and editor based in the Pacific Northwest. A 2014 Stranger Genius Award nominee, Shin Yu is the author of eleven books of poetry. From 2015 to 2017, she served as the fourth Poet Laureate of the City of Redmond. Her work has appeared in publications throughout the U.S., Japan, China, Taiwan, The United Kingdom, and Canada.
In 2010, she became a member of the Macondo Workshop for Writers. Her essays and nonfiction writing have appeared in Atlas Obscura, Tricycle, YES! Magazine, The Rumpus, Seattle Met, Zocalo Public Square, Gastronomica, City Arts, The Stranger, South Seattle Emerald, Thought Catalog, International Examiner, Ballard News-Tribune, Seattle Globalist, and ParentMap.
ABOUT KUOW SHORTS
KUOW Shorts is a new podcast filled with curated, original short-run audio series produced by KUOW, Seattle’s NPR news station. KUOW Shorts is created in collaboration with local journalists, artists, storytellers, and community members. Start listening by searching for “KUOW Shorts” wherever you get your podcasts.