Seattle Now
Seattle Now is a smart, daily news podcast for a curious city, from KUOW and the NPR Network. New episodes every weekday morning and evening.
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Episodes
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Seattle Now: Fighting fire west of the Cascades
Seattleites often experience wildfire season through the suffocating smoke of blazes burning over in eastern Washington or British Columbia. But this weekend the Bolt Creek fire scorched nearly 8,000 acres here in western Washington. Former firefighter Amanda Montei says this is a shift, and we’ll have to expect more fires like this in the future.
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The Hawks v. Russell Wilson
The Seattle Seahawks play their first game of the season tonight. They’re getting the primetime Monday Night Football slot, because Former Hawks superstar Russell Wilson is suiting up for the other team. We’ll talk with sports columnist Jerry Brewer about what to look for tonight, and how the city can learn to live without Russ.
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Casual Friday with Esmy Jimenez and Justin Shaw
This week Seattle teachers went on strike. The Mariners invited fans to take their work to the ballgame. And Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird played her last WNBA game. We unpack it all with Esmy Jimenez of the Seattle Times and Seattle Weather Blog’s Justin Shaw.
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Seattle teachers on the picket lines
School was supposed to start yesterday. Instead of coming to classrooms full of students, Seattle public school teachers donned red shirts and took to the picket lines to strike. Teachers are striking for competitive pay, adequate classroom support, and a better teacher to student ratio for Special Education classrooms. In fact, Seattle's Special Education program has been a core issue at the bargaining table. We went to a few schools to talk with teachers and educators about why they are striking and the issues that are important to them.
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Coming soon: an Omicron booster
Early in the pandemic, Covid vaccines were all the rage, but after two years, some people are tuning out. Heads up: a new omicron booster is here. It may be available as soon as Friday and targets the most recent Covid strains. UW Medicine's Dr. Shireesha Dhanireddy is here to tell us why it’s different and when you should try and get one.
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An Accessible Guide to Hiking in Washington
If you live in the Pacific Northwest, chances are you’ve been on a hike. If not, you might go with a trail that’s considered “easy” to get started. But, easy for who? Trails labeled easy in many guides are still difficult or inaccessible for people with disabilities. We’ll hear from Syren Nagakyrie, the author of a new hikers guide for those with disabilities looking to experience one of Washington’s many hiking trails.
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Casual Friday with Jas Keimig and Andrew Walsh
This week, some teachers and students started a new school year. Others are on still trying to negotiate labor agreements with districts. The rest of us are debating what it really means to “quiet quit” your job. And just in case you want to get judgy on the internet, Pumpkin Spice season is officially here. Cue the hot takes. We unpack it all with The Stranger’s Jas Keimig and podcast host Andrew Walsh.
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Why is Seattle losing trees?
Seattle has lost 255 acres of trees since 2016 according to a newly released canopy cover assessment by the city.
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Will the Storm Win Another WNBA Title?
The Seattle Storm won a tense playoff game against the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, thanks to some late-game heroics from Jewel Lloyd. Game 2 is Wednesday night, and the Storm are looking to steal a second game on the road. We’ll hear from Storm color commentator Elise Woodward about this year’s playoff run, which doubles as a sendoff for the legendary Sue Bird.
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Here come the EVs. Are we ready?
Governor Jay Inslee announced last week that Washington will follow California in banning sales of new gas-powered cars after 2035. But the charging station network for electric vehicles in the United States isn’t ready for prime time. The Biden administration wants to add 500,000 new charging stations by 2030. Washington state wants to be part of that revolution, but if you want or need to make a long-distance trip soon, you’ll face some challenges. We talked to Aaron Blank, who shared insights from his EV trip from LA to Seattle and back this summer. Then we reached out to Anna Lising, a senior policy advisor on energy to Governor Jay Inslee.
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Reuniting a Seattle neighborhood
Every Seattle neighborhood has a unique feel and sound. For South Park, that sound includes freight trucks and highway traffic. And it isn’t just noise — State Route 99 cuts the neighborhood completely in half. Neighbors there are now trying to get the highway removed from their part of the city. Seattle Times transportation reporter David Kroman tells us about the fight to decommission the 99 in South Park.
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Casual Friday with Mike Davis and Rachel Terlep
This week our collective student loan debt got a little bit smaller, Downtown Seattle is trying to make its comeback, and things are getting less passive aggressive and a bit more aggressive-aggressive around here. Have you noticed? We’re breaking down the week with Rachel Terlep , the Senior Social Media Manager for the Washington Department of Natural Resources and Mike Davis KUOW's arts and culture reporter