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Stories produced by students participating in our youth media program. Meet the current youth producers, and learn more about the intensive, fun and free introductory radio journalism workshops we offer throughout the year. 

caption: The summer 2023 class of RadioActive Youth Media.
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The summer 2023 class of RadioActive Youth Media.
KUOW Photo/Lila Lakehart

Episodes

  • caption: An illustration of a teenage girl surrounded by illustrations of a uterus, a condom, a packet of birth control pills, and an IUD.

    Changes are coming to Seattle Public Schools' sex education courses

    High school students in Seattle Public Schools are taught sex education once, in ninth grade health class. RadioActive's Lily Turner recently graduated from Nathan Hale High School, where she saw the lack of sex ed throughout high school cause confusion and misinformation among her classmates. But all this is about to change.
  • caption: A photo collage containing a mural painted by Y-WE participants in the summer of 2020 (left), a portrait of Aya Zouhri smiling among sunflowers in Auburn, Washington on August 12, 2022 (top right), and a portrait of Fatema Metawally in the Quad at the University of Washington in April 2023.

    Y-WE is a youth space for joy, support, and combatting injustice

    Young Women Empowered, also known as Y-WE, is a youth development organization that’s been around for about 10 years. Their mission is to cultivate the power of diverse young people to be leaders and changemakers. RadioActive’s Sadeen Al Ziyad has more about how Y-WE uplifts youth, especially youth of color, through programs that offer skill-building, joy, and a sense of belonging.
  • caption: A collage of portraits of the summer 2023 RadioActive youth producers. Top row from left: Aaron Ton, Alex Mengisteab, Daniel Colindres-Flores, Eliham Mohammed, Gavin Muhlfelder, Jana Le. Middle row: Jehan Hashi, Josue Villalobos, Maymuna Yusuf, Natalie Lahr, Nyla Moxley, Olivia Asmann. Bottom row: Phillip Zhou, Redeat Debebe, Rediet Giday, Sidh Shroff, Taniya Guster, Vivi Cardenas-Habell.

    Meet KUOW's Summer 2023 RadioActive Youth Producers

    KUOW's RadioActive Youth Media is proud to offer our 20th annual summer introductory workshop for teens. Eighteen teens, aged 15-18, will spend four and a half weeks learning about radio journalism and audio storytelling.

  • caption: Ari Whidbey playing a broom like a guitar onstage before a Rhapsody Project event at the Black and Tan Hall in Seattle, on March 5th, 2023.

    ‘Weirdos who play music together’: The importance of ‘third places’ during the pandemic

    It’s easy to slip into a cycle of going to work or school and then coming home, day after day. You might feel the need for another place to go, to get away from that routine. But during the pandemic lockdown, there were suddenly a lot fewer of these ‘third places.’ RadioActive’s Gideon Hall looked at one of his ‘third places’ – a Seattle music organization – and how they’re coming back from being online.

  • caption: Fabian Hernandez-Angel at the bus stop he uses to return home from school on April 20, 2023 at Seattle Pacific University.

    Public transit is now free for King County youth. But what happens when you turn 19?

    Last fall, King County Metro and many other Washington transit agencies made fares free for youth 18 and under. Fabian Hernandez-Angel is one of the young people who uses this program to get to and from school. But he’s turning 19 soon, meaning he’ll no longer be eligible for the program. RadioActive's Colin Yuen has more.
  • Conor.Gormally+Web

    RadioActive alum explores the lasting impacts of concussions

    According to the CDC, in 2020, approximately 12% of teenagers showed symptoms from experiencing a concussion. Conor Gormally was one of those kids -- in fact, he experienced multiple concussions throughout his teenage years, all of which led to differing kinds of symptoms.

  • caption: A photo of Amadou Gaye (right), May Gueye (middle) and Idrissa Gaye (left) at an amusement park in Dakar, Senegal, in 2011.

    The best of both cultures: How one teen embraces his Senegalese-American identity

    For many first-generation Americans, it can be hard to balance multiple cultures. Amadou Gaye was the first member of his Senegalese family to be born in the United States. Growing up, his mom stressed the importance of prioritizing his education while maintaining a connection to his Senegalese heritage. RadioActive’s Idrissa Gaye has this story about what he learned from his older brother.
  • caption: One of Mokihana Melendez’ hula students gives another student a piggyback ride after enjoying class together on Feb. 26, 2023.

    How one kumu keeps her hula lineage

    When you think of hula, you might picture dances you’ve seen in Disney movies, or on a summer trip to Hawaiʻi. But that’s just scratching the surface of what hula is. There’s so much more. And RadioActive Youth Media’s Terina Papatu is here to show you.
  • caption: Winona Hollins-Hague and Maya Angelou together during an Odessa Brown patient's monumental sickle cell transplant, an operation carried out by both Odessa Brown Clinic and Fred Hutchinson. Year unknown.

    The legacy of the Odessa Brown Clinic

    Growing up, RadioActive's Indigo Mays loved going to the doctor’s office. She went to the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in the Central District. But that location has been closed for more than a year. Now, Mays explores the history, recent controversy, and legacy of the Odessa Brown Clinic.
  • caption: Rogan Shannon (left) and Kellie Martin pose after the closing performance of Deaf Spotlight’s Short Play Festival at 12th Avenue Arts in Seattle, WA on March 5, 2023.

    Deaf creatives put a springtime spin on Seattle theater

    A festival featuring six plays written, produced, and performed by Deaf creatives is back. Deaf Spotlight, a Seattle arts non-profit, hosted its third Short Play Festival in March. It was in-person this year, after moving online due to the pandemic. RadioActive’s Dash Pinck takes us there.

  • caption: Digital art depiction of Rita Meher with a movie film strip in the background. Meher is the co-founder and executive director of Tasveer, a Seattle-based arts organization that hosts the largest South Asian film festival in the country. Meher recently went public with her experiences facing caste discrimination as an Adivasi person, helping galvanize change.

    Seattle leader ignites change in sharing caste identity

    In February, the city council voted to make Seattle the first city in the country to ban discrimination based on a person’s caste. The vote was a watershed for those who say that caste discrimination exists even in the United States. And for one supporter of the measure, it was a chance to open up about an identity that she had kept hidden.