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Soundside

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Get to know the PNW and each other. Soundside airs Monday through Thursday at 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. on KUOW. Listen to Soundside on Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Additional Credits: Logo art is designed by Teo Popescu. Audio promotions are produced by Hans Twite. Community engagement led by Zaki Hamid. Our Director of New Content and Innovation is Brendan Sweeney.

Mission Statement:

Soundside believes establishing trust with our listeners involves taking the time to listen.

We know that building trust with a community takes work. It involves broadening conversations, making sure our show amplifies systemically excluded voices, and challenging narratives that normalize systemic racism.

We want Soundside to be a place where you can be part of the dialogue, learn something new about your own backyard, and meet your neighbors from the Peninsula to the Palouse.

Together, we’ll tell stories that connect us to our community — locally, nationally and globally. We’ll get to know the Pacific Northwest and each other.

What do you think Soundside should be covering? Where do you want to see us go next?

Leave us a voicemail! You might hear your call on-air: 206-221-3213

Share your thoughts directly with the team at soundside@kuow.org.

Join the Soundside Listener Network

Enter your number below or text SOUND to 206-926-9955 to get your questions in front of local government officials and share your thoughts on issues in the Puget Sound region. We’ll text you 1-2 prompts per week, and your response may be featured on the show!


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Episodes

  • vote voting election ballot generic

    Election Day is finally here — have you cast your ballot yet?

    Your ballpoint pen may be getting a workout. Because today is Election Day. You have until 8pm tonight to get to a ballot box. And procrastinators, you are not alone – the Secretary of State’s office says statewide, just about 39% of ballots had been returned as of Monday. That’s lagging behind early voting numbers for the same day in the last midterm election in 2018.

  • caption: Elizabeth Kaye Sortun casts her ballot on Monday, November 7, 2022, outside of the Ballard branch of the Seattle Public Library in Seattle.

    What happens to your ballot after you vote?

    It is election day in Washington state, and while we'll have to wait for returns to answer big questions like will the state have a Republican US senator for the first time since 2001? Who will win the tight Eighth District House race? How many people will bother voting for those unopposed state supreme court justices?

  • caption: Karina Shumate, 21, a college student studying stenography, fills out a voter registration form in Richardson, Texas, on Jan. 18, 2020.

    College voters: Increased importance and expanding turnout

    Since the 2016 presidential election, voter turnout among college students has been steadily increasing. Take the last midterms for example: In 2018, 40 percent of registered college students voted. It’s too early to tell if that trend will continue during this midterm election, but what can this trend tell us about the power of college students as a voting block?
  • caption: Seattle Children Theatre's "The Boy Who Kissed the Sky" is inspired by the childhood of rock legend Jimi Hendrix, who grew up in Seattle's Central District.

    'The Boy Who Kissed the Sky' explores Jimi Hendrix's childhood

    We know a lot about the man Hendrix became: the paratrooper who played in a band during his free time, the backup player for musicians like Sam Cooke, BB King, and Little Richard, and eventually, the world renowned rockstar. But there’s a chapter of Hendrix’s life that has gone largely unexplored: his childhood. A new production from playwright and Seattle Children’s Theatre Creative Director Idris Goodwin is inspired by Hendrix’s childhood growing up in Seattle’s Central District. It’s called “The Boy Who Kissed the Sky.”

  • caption: Throughout her life, Delia Cano touched many parts of Seattle history. From the early days of REI, to the creation of Education for All Act.

    A 'force to be reckoned with,' remembering REI seamstress Delia Cano

    Today, REI has over 15,000 employees, but in the early 1960s, one employee, Delia Cano, a Peruvian immigrant to Seattle, was responsible for sewing many of their earliest products. She recently passed, and KUOW’s Soundside spoke with two of her children about her personal and professional legacy.

  • caption: Republican Matt Larkin is challenging Democrat incumbent Kim Schrier in the Congressional race for Washington's 8th District.

    A Northwest politics roundup as the 2022 election draws near

    We’re just under a week out from the 2022 midterm election on Nov. 8. You’ve got until Tuesday at 8 p.m. to get that ballot into a drop box, or postmarked and in the mail. And if you’re wading through debates, political mailers, and some pretty scary attack ads, don’t panic. KUOW politics reporter David Hyde is here to help.
  • computer code generic

    Hear it again: This AI learned to be ethical. Sort of.

    University of Washington professor Yejin Choi was recently named one of this year's MacArthur Fellows. This honor is commonly known as the "Genius Grant" and awards an $800,000 stipend for recipients to use on new research. Choi works on artificial intelligence, and earlier this year Soundside spoke with her about an AI she helped build called "Delphi."