Margo Vansynghel sometimes jokes that she’s the harbinger of doom. As the arts economy reporter for The Seattle Times, it's her job is to spell out the connections between the arts and the economy here in Seattle. 

She’s written about the Bellevue Art Museum's sudden closure last year. Along with SIFF’s recent announcement that it’s leaving the historic Egyptian theater on Capitol Hill.

In this episode, Margo gives us a temperature check on how Seattle arts organizations are doing overall and says it's not time to freak out just yet. She also shares simple, actionable ideas for things we can all do to support Seattle artists and arts organizations. 

In this episode we mention:

• The Seattle Symphony and its new music director, Xian Zhang
• Seattle’s 13 art walks, in neighborhoods like the Central District, Capitol Hill, Belltown and Hillman City. Along with the mothership art walk, First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square
• King County’s cultural funding agency, 4Culture
• The Seattle Public Library’s free museum pass program.
• Discount tickets to arts organizations, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Rep and Seattle Art Museum.   
• Local storyteller Emmett Montgomery
• The classic silent horror film Häxan (1922) at The National Nordic Museum.

MORE ON MARGO:

For more of Margo’s coverage of the arts and economy check out her articles about unexpected art experiences in Seattle and 12 ways to support the arts in Seattle. 

There’s also this visual story Margo wrote that explains 15 ways you can support local arts and artists. 

If you’d like to ask Margo for her arts suggestions based on your personal preferences, email: [email protected]

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend.

Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows. 

LINKS:

• SPORTS!!
  • Mariners!! - Thurs/Fri at home, (Sun/Mon in Toronto if needed)
  • Reign vs Utah Royals FC
  • Seahawks vs Houston - MNF!
• SIFF DocFest - starts Thurs 10/16, ends 10/23
• Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair
• Seattle Oddities & Curiosities Expo 2025
• Slack Key Seattle Festival
• Seattle No Kings - Oct 18
• No Kings - FULL MAP
• Seattle Opera - The Pirates of Penzance
• Northwest Record Show

SPOOKY STUFF:

• Haunted Skies | The Museum of Flight
• Hoot 'n' Howl | Northwest Trek Wildlife Park
• Zoo Boo | Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
• Family Mask Workshop at Dabble

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seen any good local movies lately? Take “M3GAN” and “The Boys in the Boat” for example. Two very different movies, very popular, which are set in Seattle, but they were not filmed in Seattle. That happens a lot. In fact, the film industry is largely absent from Washington state.

So what can be done to get more local productions off the ground? Well, we’ve got a few film experts on the show today to dive into this issue.

Other events:

• SIFF Downtown screening of Train Dreams - Oct 29th
• Seattle Film Critics Society PNW Awards - Oct 29 - Nov 23
• Oddmall Emporium of the Weird - Nov 8-9

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.

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend.

Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows. 

LINKS:

• Tasveer Film Festival
• SPORTS!
  • Mariners vs Tigers - Game 5 - Fri 10/10 5:08p
  • Seattle Reign - Fri 10/10 vs Bay FC
  • UW Husky Men’s Football - Fri 10/10 vs Rutgers
  • Seattle Sounders - Sat 10/11 vs Real Salt Lake
  • Seattle Kraken - Sat 10/11 vs LV Golden Knights
• Love Letters writing workshop
• Roller Boogie at Pier 66
• 2025 Cascadia Poetry Festival 9
• Cider 'n' Gold
• HAUNTED - Tacoma Art Museum
• Seattle Meowtropolitan  - Pumpkin Carving
• Halloween Train

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to https://www.kuow.org/donate/meet 

Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re hitting the books with Charlie Hunts, the owner of Charlie’s Queer Books. We’re catching up with this local bookselling bestie smack dab in the middle of banned books week. So, we’ll find out what readers at the store are vibing with and what the stakes are for booksellers during Banned Books Week. Plus, we’ve got banned book themed recommendations galore for you to get through it all.

 

Book’s that Charlie and readers at Charlie’s Queer Books are loving:

•  Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
• Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
•  Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
• Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
•  Cubs and Campfires by Dylan Drakes 

And… if you need some help filling that book shaped void, here’s Charlie and Katie’s Recommended If You Liked (RIYL) : getting through Band Books week at Charlie's queer books.

• Matilda (1996) 
• The books of George M. Johnson
•  Beloved by Tony Morrison
•  The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Visit and support your local bookstores and libraries

Event recommendations from this week’s episode:

The Bainbridge Book Festival on October 10th and 11th, Local authors making an appearance include David Gutterson, Moira Macdonald, Sonora Jha, Ijeoma Oluo, Daniel Tam-Claiborne, and  Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum. Get more information at bainbridgebookfestival.org 

 

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.

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend.

Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows. 

LINKS:

• Oktoberfest Northwest - Washington State Fair Event Center
• Oktoberfest - Leavenworth Washington
• OktoBEARfest - Woodland Park Zoo
• 2025 Tacoma Greek Festival
•  OysterFest
• The Northwest Chocolate Festival
• U District Chow Down & Street Party

HAUNTED HOUSES:

• Haunted Forest of Maple Valley
• Nile Nightmares Haunted House - Mountlake Terrace
• Georgetown Morgue - SoDo
• My Haunted Forest - Kitsap
• Stalker Farms - Snohomish
• Maris Farms Haunted Woods | Haunted Adventure in Buckley, WA

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to https://www.kuow.org/donate/meet 

Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The City of Seattle has invested a massive effort in rebuilding the city’s central waterfront, after removing the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Part of the city’s investment in the waterfront has gone towards public art.

We talk with Brangien Davis, arts editor at Cascade PBS, and the host of the Cascade PBS show Art by Northwest. She highlights a few of her favorite art pieces along the new waterfront - and explains why night time is the right time to visit those pieces. 

That includes an art installation by artist Ann Hamilton, called “Guests.” It features 42 large scale puppets, suspended from the underside of the pedestrian bridge between the Pike Place Market garage and the screen wall on the new Elliott Way. Brangien calls these new guests “the night puppets” in her excellent newsletter about the waterfront park.

Brangien also tells us about three carved cedar sculptures, titled “Family,” created by artist Qwalsius-Shaun Peterson. 

Qwalsius-Shaun Peterson is a Coast Salish artist and a member of the Puyallup Tribe who works in wood, glass, metal, and digital media.  

Brangien says, “This is a family and represents families that have been in this region for thousands of years.” The trio represents a mother, father and child and the figures stand between 10 and 12 feet tall, not including their bases. The figures face the water and are brilliantly illuminated at night. 

 

Also mentioned in this episode:

Roller Boogie at Pier 66, October 10 from 6-10pm; free, all-ages 

 

Xian Zhang is the new music director of the Seattle Symphony. She is also the first woman and the first person of color to direct the Symphony in its more than 120-year history. “Xian Conducts Rachmaninov” on October 2, 4 and 5, at Benaroya Hall. 

 

You can hear an interview with Xian Zhang on this episode of Seattle Now. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This summer, the KUOW Book Club read Seattle author and environmental journalist Lynda V. Mapes' love letter to old-growth trees, "The Trees are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests."

Mapes traveled across the country, visiting some of the oldest trees we know about and the people who study and protect them. The result was a book that intricately depicts the importance of old trees, the historic harm humans have done to them, and what's being done to reverse that pattern of destruction. Mapes sat down with KUOW Book Club curator Katie Campbell on August 27 in front of a live audience at the Seattle Public Library. They talked about her love for old-growth forests, the people working to save them, and how you - yes, you - can help.

This is the third and final conversation the KUOW Book Club hosted in partnership with the Seattle Public Library this summer. Ijeoma Oluo and Kim Fu also participated, and you can find their interviews in the feed.

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.

Meet Me Here listeners, if you still don't have any plans for this weekend, fear not. The Weekend Warmup is here to help with a whole bunch of ideas for fun things to do around the region this weekend. Hosted by KUOW's Jason Megatron Burrows. 

LINKS:

• SPORTS!!
  • Mariners vs Dodgers - Final games of the season! Fri/Sat/Sun
  • UW Huskies vs The Ohio State Buckeyes Sat 12:30p
  • Sounders vs Vancouver Whitecaps Sat 7:30pm
  • Reign vs NC Courage Sun 5pm
  • Kraken vs Calgary Flames - Preseason Game #2 MON 7pm
• Prosser Balloon Rally
• Festa Italiana Seattle
• Northwest Tea Festival
• Enumclaw BBQ, Brews, & Brats
• Bellingham SeaFeast
• Seattle Opera - Costume Sale
• Musical Migration - Crossings
• Danny Elfman's Music From the Films of Tim Burton with the Seattle Symphony
• Hitchcock Hotel 2025 — Can Can Culinary Cabaret
• Unicorn: Burn Relief Fundraiser | Neumos
  • Unicorn Staff Fire Relief Fund

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to https://www.kuow.org/donate/meet 

Meet Me Here is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are a lot of events over October 2025, but a few stand out to our Meet Me Here hosts. Dyer, Jeannie, and Katie share happenings they think are worthy of your attention. 

 

Jeannie suggests: “Refract: The Seattle Glass Art Experience,” Oct. 16-19, across the Seattle region. It features more than 70 glass artists at more than 60 events. The opening night kickoff party on Oct.16 is at Chihuly Garden and Glass at the Seattle Center and there will be glassblowing demonstrations, tours of the gardens, and more. You can also do a self-guided walking tour of glass art in downtown Everett. Or catch the Luminosity group show at Stonington Gallery and Kelsey Fernkopf’s neon sculpture show at Foster / White Gallery. 

Also, Seattle Art Museum’s REMIX on Oct. 31 (aka Halloween night). SAM Remix is a rare but wonderful event that takes over the whole building. Think of it as a combo of an after-hours party with DJs and performances, and a chance to see the museum’s art in a new way. 

Katie is looking forward to: An author talk with Cory Doctorow about his book called Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It. Doctorow will be at the Seattle Public Library on Oct. 22. The conversation will feature moderator/creative Whitney Beltrán, as well as Ed Zitron, host of the podcast Better Offline. The guests will discuss “how we can build a new, good internet that will serve as the nervous system for a 21st century as we are confronting genocide, environmental collapse, and fascism.”

Katie also suggests an Oct. 30 conversation with local author Sonora Jha. She’ll discuss her new novel Intemperance with Claire Dederer at Third Place Books in Ravenna. It’s about a middle-aged woman who holds a contest, based on an ancient Indian ritual, in which men must compete to win her love and attention. 

Dyer is stoked about: Shonen Knife — the band that your favorite bands love — which is currently on its Everyone Happy tour of the USA. Catch them at Star Theater in Portland on Oct. 24; at The Tractor Tavern in Seattle on Oct. 25 for two shows; and at Tacoma’s McMenamin’s Elks Lodge on Oct. 26. Shonen Knife has a serendipitous story that goes back to 1981 in Osaka, Japan, yet has a strong connection to the NW music scene (a connection that led to touring with Nirvana twice). 

Dyer also wants to point you to Washington State Horror Con, presented by Elvira, on Oct. 24-26 at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup. This is among a suite of pop culture events that have sprung up at the fairgrounds in recent years, all of which have proved quite popular. This event showcases all your favorite actors and artists from horror history spanning “IT” to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” masked monsters and more. 

Bonus November recommendation:

The SeaMeow convention is Nov. 1-2 at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. This is Seattle’s cat convention, featuring a range of cat influencers, cat cosplayers, and even a cat rapper, named MoShow. It’s a great place to adopt a cat, too.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.