Arts & Life

New Music Recommendation
Are you stuck in a music listening rut? We are surrounded by new music and innovative artists. Branch out with new music recommendations every Tuesday at 9:20 a.m. KUOW’s Dave Beck focuses on William Henry Fry, a Philadelphia-born journalist, composer and outspoken advocate for American music.

Writing Nonfiction With Susan Orlean
Susan Orlean spends a lot of time working on her nonfiction. She spent 10 years researching her most recent book “Rin Tin Tin,” for example. Susan Orlean talks about her process and her passions and what it means to devote yourself to a subject for so long.

Understanding Cyber Security
A rise in the amount of cyber attacks has drawn concern over the safety of private information. Hackers will target anything from The Onion’s Twitter page to the processing systems of energy corporations. Their motivations range from political to criminal, be it stealing confidential information or debilitating essential operations.

In a world that relies more and more on technologies to run and store our lives, cyber security is a paramount concern. UW Professor Tadayoshi Kohno studies technological security and the methods of hackers. He joins us to discuss cyber security.     

The Weather And Hike Of The Week
Michael Fagin suggests a hike that matches the week’s weather forecast.

When it comes to musical talent, there's no shortage in Seattle. The city boasts a thriving indie rock scene, great jazz and classical musicians, and the country's most popular hip-hop act, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. 

But the string trio The Onlies are little outside the norm. For one thing, Sami Braman, Ryan Calcagno and Leo Shannon play fiddle-inspired old-time and traditional tunes. And for another, despite performing together for a decade, none of the three is old enough to have a driver's license.

This Week In Olympia
The state legislature begins its special session today. Everett Herald reporter Jerry Cornfield joins us with a  look at what to expect.

What Makes A Good Death?
Retired pulmonary and critical care doctor, Jim deMaine, has seen his fair share of good and bad deaths.  He shares his views on making a good and peaceful exit.  

The Music Of The Onlies
Samantha Braman, Riley Calcagno and Leo Shannon have been playing fiddle since they were 6, 4 and 5, respectively. Now 10 years later they’ve released their first full-length CD, "Setting Out To Sea." As freshmen at Garfield High School, The Onlies play their folk string music at concerts, festivals, weddings, dances; busking from Port Townsend to Portland, Ore. They’ve been a band for five years, creating original fiddle-driven music as well as traditional Celtic, old-time, American and Canadian inspired tunes.

Every year, the average American eats 70 pounds of sugar. The amounts of salt and fat are equally staggering. The processed-food industry thrives, raking in $1 trillion a year. Meanwhile, the costs to our health include obesity and diabetes.

Michael Moss talks about how companies use salt, sugar and fat to get us addicted to their products, and what we can do to fight back. He spoke at Seattle’s Town Hall on March 15, 2013. The talk was moderated by Chip Giller, president and founder of Grist.

Seattle Parks Plan
Seattle officials want to hear from you about the future of the city’s parks. They're holding meetings this month to get public input on a parks plan that will guide where the city directs its resources in the years to come. We hear more from City Councilmember Sally Bagshaw.

Art Of Our City
A new live music and film project explores the line between ambition and bad luck as it applied to the Donner Party. "We Are All Failing Them" is a new commission by Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum (teaser below). It’s a song cycle performed live to film. We talk with composer Robin Holcomb about the latest venture in her wide-ranging career.

Neal Thompson On Robert “Believe It Or Not!” Ripley
A 1936 newspaper poll declared Robert Ripley the most popular man in America. How did a young, awkward newspaper cartoonist become a worldwide adventurer synonymous with the strange and unusual? Official Ripley biographer  Neal Thompson joins us.

The Woodstock generation may be aging, but don't try to tell them they're not still cool. Poet Marjorie Manwaring's "Letter to Mick Jagger from the St. Paul Chapter of the Daughters of Norway" captures the dissonance between how we feel inside, and how we may appear to others.

One day when she was in eighth grade, Alyssa Cruz noticed something strange. She was in the middle of a basketball game. Here's how she's describes it:

I was putting my hair up and I noticed that there was this windy bald patch on the top right of my head. It was completely smooth, and I wondered what had happened, because it didn’t look like someone just cut it off while I was sleeping.

Seattle has seen record temperatures this week and more warm weather is forecasted this week. All the heat is making getting in the water very tempting, but The National Weather Service warns, low water temperatures and swift currents could make it difficult and dangerous to swim. In this segment Ross Reynolds interviews Brent Bower, senior service hydrologist at the National Weather Service,  about how to stay safe in the water.

Stephen Apkon says we live in a world of images but do not have the visual literacy to understand them.  His new book is "The Age of the Image: Redefining Literacy in a World of Screens." KUOW's Ross Reynolds chats with Stephen Apkon.