Mechanical Freak

This episode is proudly brought to you by Homely™. We discuss the absurdity of the Innovation Advisory Council by way of examining similar efforts in Boston, and delve into Durkan’s neoliberal impulse to avoid systemic change via the recent announcement of recipients to the Tech Matching Fund.

“what do robots dream about?” by Tomlija / (CC BY 3.0)

“Synth Gliss, A” by InspectorJ / (CC BY 3.0)

“Radio Chatter Soundscape” by Speedenza / (CC BY-NC 3.0)

“blackhawk flyby” by primeval_polypod / (CC BY 3.0)

“wilhelm scream” by Tomlija / (CC BY-NC 3.0)

Colin flies solo (without training) and tries to thread a narrative about stolen planes, smoke filled skies, the fight for the Showbox, the “charity” of the Pearl Jam Home Shows, and the black hole of displacement in Seattle’s new gilded age.

Mayor Jenny Durkan decides that Tech companies know best when it comes to solving the issues that plague late capitalist society, and forms the League of Extraordinary Tech Workers, or the “Innovation Advisory Council.” It’s, like, the future.

Greg and Colin have a big announcement, Spekulation parodies the municipal Macklemore lip sync, the looming destruction of the Showbox, the Mayor’s office bends the truth about the Streetcar project, the Mariners have a list of demands to renovate Safeco Field, the benevolent Amazon funds transit expansion at will, and the myth we are meant to believe about Jeff Bezos.

@spekulation’s SPD parody

A special conversation with journalist, activist, organizer, and all around fascinating Seattleite, Dae Shik Kim Hawkins Jr. We talk about the political climate in the wake of the Employee Head Tax repeal, marginalization (in its many forms), the uncredited impact of grassroots movements, Nikkita Oliver, and the power of billionaires in local politics.

Follow Dae on Twitter @daedaejr

Read Dae’s piece in the Atlantic “An App for Ejecting the Homeless”

It’s the Ron & Don show, the Slog’s own Katie Herzog white knights for Jordan Peterson and in so doing provides enough rope to hang herself and Don (or was it Ron?), and Kshama Sawant’s week of wild rumor.

Mr. Wilson Goes to China, KIRO’s Ron & Don believe in Paul Allen and the Stacks, and the “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity,” Amazon, “relentlessly jams its blood funnel into anything that smells like money” (this week it’s PillPack).

A new local currency courtesy @bezostown, Burger Failson, Saul Spady, defines 7 simple rules for 21st Century Seattle, The Atlantic groans at the insidious use of the city’s “Find It Fix It” app, Crime, or the lack thereof, and life at Sea…brook.

Alex gets blindsided on the road, the coming elections, and the state of the City Council, in the wake of the Employee Head Tax repeal, Desperado Jenny heads to the border following Brett Hamil’s Proximity Law of Seattle Politics, the agony and the ecstasy of summer in Seattle, and the Great Shake Shack Debacle.

Greg recounts a story from a typical Wednesday night, checking in with The News, and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Repeal of the Employee Head Tax.