Conversation

We know, we know. We obviously aren't mavericks when it comes to doing a listener news quiz on public radio, but we are jumping on the band wagon and bringing you a weekly news quiz! Ross Reynolds asks one lucky listener three questions from this week's news.

In 1964 documentary filmmaker Michael Apted started interviewing 14 children from a range of backgrounds in England. Every seven years the “Up” series checked back in with these people following their successes, failures, loves and losses. Apted’s latest installment, “56 Up,” is currently showing at Landmark's Guild 45th Theatre in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood.

With the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) coming out in May, hoarding is set to become an officially recognized mental disorder. To learn more about hoarding, Ross Reynolds talks to Karen Kent, clinical supervisor of behavioral health services at Evergreen Health.

Today marks yet another sink-or-swim deadline for bills in the state Legislature to make it out of committee. Which ones have the best chance of survival? It’s all part of our end-of-the-week update with reporters Austin Jenkins and Tom Banse. They will cover everything from sick leave, to education reform, to the State Supreme Court’s recent ruling that lawmakers should only need a simple majority vote to raise taxes. 

The average cost of a four-year public college shot up 6 percent last year to over $17,000 a year on average. Private colleges are up to over $35,000 a year (beer and togas not included.) So how do parents pay for college these days without going broke? Ross Reynolds talks with Kalman Chany, author of "Paying for College Without Going Broke," about the GET program and other ways to fund your child's higher education.

Not every rock song is poetry, but Pulitzer Prize-winning Irish poet Paul Muldoon argues that some are. Ross Reynolds talks with the New Yorker poetry editor and professor at Princeton about poetry, songs, his band Wayward Shrines, and his new book, "Word On The Street: Rock Lyrics."

The Washington Supreme Court threw out the voter passed initiative requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to pass higher taxes. The supermajority law has had a heavy influence on state government for 30 years. Ross Reynolds talks to lawmakers and lawyers about what this decision means for politics in Washington state.

Have you ever gotten an I Saw You or a missed connection? What happened? Did you connect? Psychology Today went through the missed connections on Craigslist, state by state, to see the most common places to be seen but not asked out. Here in Washington, the bus is the number one place to almost find love. In most of the other states it was Wal-Mart where cupid was most likely to draw back his bow. Ross Reynolds surveys the listeners about their thoughts on second chances at love at first sight.

As the date of the sequestration nears, fingers continue to get pointed, but what if political infighting is really the fault of the constituents? Ross Reynolds talks with New York Times Washington Bureau Chief David Leonhardt about why he thinks it is the constituents that are to blame for the looming across-the-board budget cuts.

Washington state lawmakers are considering ending a requirement that ferries be built in state. According to a recent state audit Washington is overpaying for ferries compared to other states. Ross Reynolds talks with ferry maker Brian Mannion about his thoughts on opening up state ferry production to outside competition.