Conversation

Everyone who uses a computer these days likely agrees to many "terms and conditions" agreements every year. But what are you really signing? Ross Reynolds interviews director Cullen Hoback, who takes a closer look at questions of privacy and consumer rights in a new documentary.    

Jaron Lanier is a pioneer in virtual reality and the Internet. But in recent years he’s become more and more skeptical of the promises of the Web.  Ross Reynolds talks to Jaron Lanier about his new book, "Who Owns the Future."

Last night workers at dozens of Seattle fast food locations began a one-day strike over low wages. It’s the first in Seattle, but walkouts by fast food employees have been happening over the past several months in cities including New York and St. Louis. Alfonso Arellano, who works at the University District Taco Del Mar, tells KUOW’s Ross Reynolds his story.

There is a new documentary out about Wikileaks, Julian Assange and the American soldier Bradley Manning. It's called We Steal Secrets. Ross Reynolds interviews filmmaker Alex Gibney.

 State officials are predicting another challenging wildfire season this year. Fighting those fires may be more difficult due to the federal sequester, which slashed nearly 8 percent from the Forest Service’s budget. Ross Reynolds interviews Washington State’s Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark.

  When a homicide detective retires or is promoted, the unsolved cases are marked “cold.” Currently the Seattle Police Department works on about ten cold cases at a time. The majority of that work is done by a single cold case detective, Mike Ciesynski, who has been been working on cold cases for almost 10 years. Ross Reynolds interviews Ciesynski about the job.

 Do Americans feel that the proper measures are in place to deal with economic inequality in the United States? Ross Reynolds sits down with author Leslie McCall for a conversation about economics in America and her new book, "The Undeserving Rich: American Beliefs About Inequality, Opportunity, And Redistribution."

The AR-15 semi-automatic gun was used in the Aurora and Sandy Hook mass shootings. But Dan Baum writes in the latest Harper’s Magazine that the AR-15 is the gun Congress can’t ban. Ross Reynolds talks with author  Dan Baum about the aim and recoil of gun regulation. 

This hour on The Conversation we’re taking a long, strange trip through Seattle’s musical history. We’ll start before rock 'n roll was invented; when Seattle had a vibrant, professional music scene, thanks in part to powerful unions. We’ll learn about Jimi Hendrix’s early days when he got by as a backup guitarist for the likes of Little Richard. Also, author Charles R. Cross tells us how Ann and Nancy Wilson from the Seattle band, Heart, went from middle-class Bellevue teenagers to international stars.