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This week on Sound Effect, we tell stories of risks and rewards and why people make the decision to take the leap.

Getting people into space involves a lot of risks. From the explosive fuel needed to launch a rocket to the flecks of space dust that could poke a hole in an orbiting shuttle, astronauts are always prepared for the worst. Wendy Lawrence, a retired astronaut and naval aviator living in Washington state, understood the risks of her job even when seven of her colleagues were killed reentering the Earth's atmosphere in 2003. After the Columbia shuttle tragedy, Lawrence went right back to work,

After graduating with a degree in computer science, most people with that valuable diploma in hand, would head out into the world hoping to land a well-paying job in the tech world. Eric Barone did not do this. After graduating from the University of Washington in Tacoma with a degree in computer science, Barone could not bring himself to pursue a job at Microsoft, Google or Amazon. Instead, he took a part-time job at a Seattle theater and spent the rest of his time building a video game. He was

So when we get emotional about something, we often have to weigh the risks and rewards of acting on those emotions. If someone upsets us, we need to decide if there is enough of a reward in confronting that person, while potentially facing the risks of upsetting that person as well. I found myself in one of those situations at small-town bar in the middle of Washington, upset at a very, very famous young man, and wrote this essay. I feel like I never, ever get out of town. So when I do take some

There has been a lot of attention paid in recent years to the risks of playing professional football. While head injuries are nothing new to football, the National Football League implemented nine years ago, and has since constantly tweaked a concussion protocol, and has adjusted other rules to assist in player safety. But professional football players seem to be getting bigger, stronger, and faster every year, and despite the safety measures put in place, major injuries still seem to happen

A lot of bands have a very particular sound that is very identifiably them, and that often makes it easier to be marketed and defined. But Sebastian and the Deep Blue, from one song to the next, can sound like a completely different band. In fact, in their “about” section on their website, this is how they define themselves: “Sebastian and the Deep Blue is a Post punk inspired Chamber pop band with full brass and string section. A high-energy, horn-powered, afrobeat inspired alternative rock and

This week on Sound Effect , we celebrate our 100th episode by exploring the stories behind Northwest businesses with the address Suite 100.

The most difficult part of recovery from addiction can be taking the first step to get help. For hundreds of heroin and prescription pain medication addicts, that first step is a walk through the door of a methadone clinic in the South Sound called Tacoma Treatment Solutions. Every day people arrive at the clinic as early as 5 a.m. to get their daily dose of methadone. “Taylor,” who asked that we not use her real name, is in her 40s and definitely doesn’t fit the image of a down-and-out addict.

More than 23,000 people lost their lives following the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia. In response, the United States Geological Survey and the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance created the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program , to help prevent other volcanic eruptions from becoming disasters.

At one end of the long building that houses Hammond Ashley Violins in Issaquah, five students are getting ready for a violin class. In the middle of the building, luthiers are repairing violins and cleaning string basses. And up front, behind a door marked “Suite 100,” customers are coming in to buy or rent violins, and get them repaired. “In this industry, people work until they can’t drag their butt to work anymore,” says Bryce Van Parys, general manager of Hammond Ashley. “There are plenty of