John O'Brien
Producer, Speakers Forum
About
John O’Brien produces Speakers Forum at KUOW. He learned to love radio as a child waking up one summer morning to the harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel. As a teenager, he would drive the back roads of Indiana and Michigan late at night listening to vintage radio theater. The question of whether or not he had the legal right to drive then remains a mystery. Only The Shadow knows. Inspired by a chance meeting with Noah Adams, he learned to make radio as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds. John has been recording talks for Speakers Forum since 2007. Early on he learned Seattle is a Mecca for any touring speaker because Seattleites read so much, support a wide variety of venues and ask smart questions. He says that makes his job easy and always interesting. John is a graduate of St. Johns College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Podcasts
Stories
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Speakers Forum
The power of self-deception: Why and how our brains deceive us
"In any given moment the human eye takes in about a billion bits of information. The brain discards the vast majority of that information, and processes about 40 bits of information."
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Speakers Forum
On Asian America: Living in the rural NW, historical and contemporary stories
‘And as she walked by, she said ‘In America, we say excuse me!’ She just looked angry, and I looked around. I was stunned.’
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Speakers Forum
On Asian America: Sex, gender and the 'exotic other'
From adult films to a portrait series on Asian men, stereotypes of Asian identity are being disrupted in surprising and creative ways.
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Speakers Forum
What’s overheating the planet? Kate Aronoff says capitalism is
‘For better and for worse, our choice now is between eco-socialism or eco-apartheid.’
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KUOW Newsroom
Glacier Middle School on alert to returning students' mental health
‘If it were up to me, each and every student would have access to a mental health counselor that they can talk to.’ -Counselor Chasmon Tarimel
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KUOW Newsroom
When theatres went dark, stagehands worked to keep their unique community protected
‘Every time you let out an ooh or an aah because you've seen something on stage, there's someone backstage who worked really, really hard to make that happen. They live for those moments.’
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Speakers Forum
Poet’s search for grace, justice amid historic and current anti-Asian hate
Brian Komei Dempster’s ‘poetry of remembering, and the reverberations of our ancestors.’
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Speakers Forum
Jess Zimmerman subverts the dominant monster myth paradigm
‘These are the bedtime stories the patriarchy tells itself.’
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Speakers Forum
Glowing bunnies and climate change denial. What could go wrong?
Nathaniel Rich considers ‘the horrific interconnectedness of all things’
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Speakers Forum
Raising boys the non-toxic way: a how-to manual
‘I want him to be able to have those qualities that I saw men wanting, but not being able to have. Like being able to cry.’