Conversation

Ross Reynolds talks with Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins about the latest legislative action on education, environment, guns and the death penalty.

States with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths, according to a study published this week in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers found that states with the most laws have a mortality rate 42 percent lower than those states with the fewest. So how does Washington state compare? Ross Reynolds talks with the lead researcher from Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Eric Fleegler.

Governor Jay Inslee spoke with Ross Reynolds on The Conversation Thursday about the proposed gas tax increase and his vision for Washington's transportation needs. Expiring federal funds, booming population and the need for more jobs create an urgency for the Legislature to come up with bipartisan solutions, according to the governor.

The Seattle Police Department reports that there were 2,022 instances of aggravated assault and 1,329 robberies on record in Seattle in 2012. Violent crimes in general have increased on the national level by 4 percent between 2011 and 2012. We hear figures like this all the time, and they sometimes get us worrying about our own safety. What can an individual do to stay safe? Ross Reynolds talks with personal safety and self-defense expert, Joanne Factor about the best ways to reduce risk and stay safe.

This Friday will be Washington Transportation Secretary Paula Hammond's last day on the job after 30 years with the state department of transportation. Ross Reynolds sits down with Paula Hammond to discuss her work as the head of the department, what it was like to lead an agency of 7,200 employees, the future of Washington transportation and her legacy. 

Last November, voters approved Initiative 1240 to establish charter schools in Washington state and today the governor announced who is going to sit on the commission that will review and approve charter schools applications. Ross Reynolds sits down with newly appointed commission member and former Seattle School Board member Steve Sundquist about how the commission will work.

Helen Keller said that, "Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people." Ross Reynolds discusses the malady currently affecting 50 million Americans with The New York Times and New Yorker writer Katherine Bouton, author of "Shouting Won't Help."

With the purchase of the Seattle Weekly and the Everett Herald, Sound Publishing now owns more newspapers in Washington than any other publisher. Ross Reynolds talks with Black Press Ltd. CEO Rick O'Connor about the future of newspapers in Washington state.

Does competition make us perform better? What does the science say? Ross Reynolds sits down with New York Times best-selling authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman to discuss the science of winning and losing, and what it takes to become the "Top Dog."