Whether you devour 50 books a year or haven’t picked one up in months, we all get into reading ruts. So, let’s fix that. 

Seattle Readers, it’s time to get into that reading groove and we’ve got you covered with tips, tricks, and a whole bunch of empathy. Seattle Public Library’s Stesha Brandon joins us for some literary hot takes, tips for getting out of a reading rut, and she explains why walking your cat is a perfect time to listen to audiobooks.

And… if you need even more help filling that book shaped void, here’s Stesha and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): getting into your reading groove

• The River Has Roots Amal El-Mohtar
• The Husbands by Holly Gramazio
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
  
• Jane Austen (anything)
•  In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• Mapping the Interior Stephen Graham Jones
• Hell Is A World Without You by Jason Kirk
• Out There Screaming by Jordan Peele
• Your Next Five via The Seattle Public Library
• Welcome to Night Vale, a podcast

Featured Book-ish Event from this week’s episode: Seattle Arts & Lectures \ A Conversation with R.F. Kuang 

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at [email protected] 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

Become a KUOW member today.

 

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Dance artist and instructor Alethea Alexander feels lucky to live in Seattle - in large part because the city offers so many venues and opportunities to dance. Alethea teaches dance at UW and Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University, and is the director of training at Dance Church, a free-form and all-levels movement class / dance party.

But if the thought of dancing next to other people makes you anxious, Alethea has a suggestion. Just dip a toe in. Try a class that interests you and see how it feels. She says the rewards are worth pushing through the discomfort. 

Here are some of the places Alethea suggests checking out - all are welcoming to anxious and first-time dancers. 

Afrodance Seattle

PNW Afro Dance Camp 2025 

Dance Church Seattle

Velocity Dance Center 

Drop Zone Dance

The Beacon Studio 

Salsa Con Todo

OmCulture 

 

More links from this episode:

Cannonball Arts

“Dance Yourself Free”, NPR’s Throughline episode about Chicago house music

 

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Leave us a message at 206-221-6100. Drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

Become a KUOW member today. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're a fan of the game Dungeons and Dragons, you know the thrill of rolling a 20-sided die in hopes of deploying a stunning attack or perhaps fending off an owlbear. But could those same skills help us recognize lies on social media? On the latest episode of Meet Me Here, find out how this nerdy role playing game might be the answer to combating disinformation with UW professor Jin Ha Lee and D&D enthusiast "Happy Tracker Meow Meow" aka Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs.  

Both our guests will be presenters at Pax West in Seattle Aug 29th-Sept 1st. 

Jin Ha Lee, Saturday - Aug 30th 10:30am

Secretary of State Steve 'Happy Tracker Meow Meow' Hobbs, Sunday - Sept 1 5pm

One other event recommendation from this week’s episode: 

• Dragonflight GameCon, Aug 22-24

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Leave us a message at 206-221-6100. Drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

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Horror doesn’t have to be horrifying. It can be romantic, historical, and even a little raunchy! If you’re into that sorta thing.

From haunted haciendas to demon possessed heroines, Seattle author Isabel Cañas is serving up Gothic horror with a twist. The genre bending author tells us a thing or two about how even scaredy cat readers can tap into the horror genre, plus we find out what keeps her up at night.

And… if you need some help filling that book shaped void, here’s Isabel and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL): Isabel's genre bending Horror/Romance/Historical Fiction

• Sinners
• Strange The Dreamer.
• The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
• A Haunting in Hialeah Gardens by Raul Palma
• Island Witch by Amanda Jayatissa
• Dracula Daily

Event recommendations from this week’s episode: 

• Isabel Cañas in Conversation on her upcoming book “The Possession of Alba Díaz”  with Sadie "Mother Horror” Hartmann on August 19th. Listen to Isabel's playlist for her latest book here.
• Writers with Drinks Town Hall Seattle on Thursday, August 14 at 7:30 pm PDT
• KUOW August Book Club: Lynda V. Mapes’ book The Trees Are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests discussion on August 27th 

 

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at [email protected] 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

Become a KUOW member today.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Want to learn about complete strangers' biggest passions and frustrations? Then you need to start exploring zines. Zines are patterned after magazines, but they're meant to be made by hand by one person, reproduced on a copy machine, and shared from person to person.

Our guest Vivian Li makes zines to share “a little bit of her soul with the world.” She’s a comics artist, illustrator, and web designer. And the 2025 innovator-in-residence at the Library of Congress. 

Vivian has made zines called “The Bike Collector," “Flower Patrol vs Hamburger Cat” and a mini-zine about chickens. 

But Vivian’s favorite zine she’s ever made was a collaboration with her mom who was super skeptical of making a zine, at first! It’s about Chinese cooking for the second generation.

In this episode, Vivian also spontaneously coaches host Jeannie Yandel through a brainstorming session about a zine Jeannie hopes to make, with a working title of “Mount Laundry.”

We mentioned these zine-specific experiences in this episode of Meet Me Here:

Photo Zine and Book Fair at Photographic Center Northwest on August 17. 

The King County Public Library’s zine meetup in Federal Way on July 31, August 14 & 28. 

The Seattle Public Library’s zine collection at the Central Library (open on Saturdays)

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art’s artists’ book collection  

Other event recommendations from this week’s episode: 

• Vashon Island Film Festival, August 7-10
• Henry Art Gallery, Spirit House Exhibition, July 2025 - January 2026
  
  

 

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Got an arts idea you want to pitch KUOW? Email us at [email protected] 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

Become a KUOW member today.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After Game Of Thrones became a hit TV show, people in Washington state started naming girls Khaleesi, the royal title for Queen Daenerys. This started in 2012, and between then and 2023, there have been 119 babies named Khaleesi born in Washington. (And depending on your view of that character’s storyline, some folks might feel differently about the name Khaleesi now. ) 

On this very personal episode of Meet Me Here, host Dyer Oxley brings his wife Nina into the studio along with two baby name experts to discuss if they should give their child a name from pop culture. 

Other event recommendations from this week’s episode: 

•  Surf X Surfwest - July 25-26
• Rocky Horror Picture Show and Hedwig and the Angry Inch double feature at The Showbox at the Market - Saturday Aug. 2 
•  Diary of a Man Child at Seattle’s Emerald City Comedy Club - Aug 1-3

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Leave us a message at 206-221-6100. Drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

Become a KUOW member today. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here’s a literary hot take: are you reading that book or just carrying it around from tote bag to tote bag? Right.

Seattle Readers, it’s time for a midyear reading round up, and we’re gonna find out what books this city of readers are actually devouring (so far). Elliott Bay Book Company’s Sofia Brekkan joins us for some literary hot takes, staff pick hacks, and a round of ‘would you rather’ that reveals Sofia’s controversial reading habits.

Check out some of the books mentioned in this episode:

• I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
• Sunrise on the Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel) by Suzanne Collins
• Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
• Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett
• Self Help by Lorrie Moore
• The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels 
• Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls
• Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
• Heaven by Emerson Whitney
• Moderation by Elaine Castillo
• Horror for Weenies by Emily C Hughes 

Check out all of staff picks from Elliott Bay Book Company here.

Other book-ish and artsy recommendations from this week’s episode: 

• KUOW July Book Club: Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu in conversation with Katie Campbell- July 30th, 2025 
• CID Reading Block Party - August 3rd, 2025
• Teo's Durumi, Author Elaine U. Cho at Elliott Bay - August 5th, 2025
• Extinction Capital of the World, Author Mariah Rigg at Elliott Bay on August 21st, 2025
• Urban Craft Uprising at Magnuson Park Hangar 30 on Saturday & Sunday, July 26th & 27th, 2025
• Jazz Night in Pioneer Square - Tuesday, July 29th, 2025

Did we miss a must read for 2025? Got a literary hot take Seattle readers MUST know? Hey, send us an email at [email protected]. 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

Become a KUOW member today. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seattle summers just make everything feel possible. You can see the silver linings a little better in the sunshine. And that makes it a little easier to enjoy some sad summer reads.  Right? 

If you want proof, check out Sequoia Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark, a speculative fiction masterpiece published in 2022 that still has Meet Me Here co-host Katie Campbell reeling.  

No one is feeding our desire for escapism fantasy on a hot summer day quite like Sequoia. And the guy has hot takes to match the heat. He joined us this week for a special bonus episode to talk about them.  

If you need some help filling the void after reading “How High We Go in the Dark,” check out Sequoia and Katie’s RIYL: 

• We Lived on the Horizon by Erika Swyler 

• Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler 

• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 

• The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel 

• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel 

• The Changeling by Victor LaValle 

• Anything by J.G. Ballard 

• The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino 

• Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino 

• Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 

• Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 

• Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers 

• Noumenon trilogy by Marina J. Lostetter 

• Good Morning, Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton 

• The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton 

• A House Between Earth and the Moon by Rebecca Scherm 

Event recommendation: 

• Sequoia Nagamatsu and Aram Mrjoian talk about the latter author’s debut novel, Waterline, at Elliott Bay Book Company on July 15, 2025 

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Art friends make life richer, according to arts community leader Leilani Lewis. 

She says art friends can help you “deepen your understanding of yourself and the people around you.”

If you want to make art friends, Leilani says take initiative and be willing to be vulnerable. 

“Go to the openings. Go to the programs. Go to Remix. Go to Wa Na Wari artist talks. Go and just dig yourself in and you’ll meet people. I guarantee it.”

Leilani says there are people in town she’s known for 20 years, that she met at art openings and whom she only ever sees at art events. 

“We give each other a hug when we see each other at the space. Then we carry on.”

 Leilani says there are plenty of cool things you can do with your art friends. Including creating your own art walk, starting at Arte Noir in the Central District and exploring the restaurants Communion and Marjorie.  

Or hitting up free museums like The Frye and The Henry.

Leilani also has a few tips for enjoying the Seattle Art Fair that happens July 17-20 at the Lumen Field Event Center.  For example: Dress comfortably, if not a little stylishly. Leilani is a fan of comfortable shoes with arch support.

And she says because the Seattle Art Fair is so massive, a little game might be in order. Her recommendation: creating a simple art fair bingo card for you and your art friends. You can populate the card with questions like, Which piece of art scared you? Which piece of art made you want to cry? What was the most colorful piece you saw? 

She says the bingo cards can be a fantastic way to dive into conversations with your art friends while you're hanging out at or after the event. 

Other event recommendations from this week’s episode: 

• The Grown-Ups, Dacha Theatre, June 28-Aug 3 
• Sandsations, Long Beach, WA, July 16-20
• Summer at SAM: Concert Night at Olympic Sculpture Park, July 24

 

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Leave us a message at 206-221-6100. Drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

Become a KUOW member today. 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When it comes to your all-time favorite bands, singers, artists, are there any of their albums that you consider “no-skip albums”? You know, an album where you’re gonna listen to every song.  

Although some albums are great all the way through, others, maybe not so much. That raises some questions as full-album concerts seem to be increasingly popular. Basically a band plays an album start to finish, live. Usually it’s an anniversary of some kind.

Is this a good idea? Are fans being taken advantage of? What does this say about our modern culture of music? 

KEXP's Lilly Ana Fowler produces Drive Time and the In Our Headphones podcast. She joins Meet Me Here producer Matt Martin and host Dyer Oxley to get into this debate. 

Other event recommendations from this week’s episode: 

• Geek Fest West - July 18-20
• Seattle Bon Odori - July 19-20 
• Washington Midsummer Renaissance Fair - July 19 through Aug17

Where’s your favorite place to meet up around arts and culture in the region? Leave us a message at 206-221-6100. Drop us a line at [email protected]. 

Your support helps create shows like Seattle Now, Soundside, and Meet Me Here! 

Become a KUOW member today. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.