This story originally aired on April 28, 2018. Mary, who has asked that her last name not be used to protect her grandchildren, has been married to her husband for over 50 years. He has a habit of collecting what she calls "old junker cars," which sit in her yard, her driveway, the street -- she has no idea how many cars he owns. And they aren't just cars -- they're storage units, piled high with stuff. To Mary, this has clearly crossed the line from collecting to hoarding. But her husband doesn

This story originally aired on April 28, 2018. Former Seattleite Carl Badgley has some experience with emergencies, having been an army medic and a 9-1-1 operator. But, in search of a simpler, slightly less intense lifestyle, he had moved to be near the beautiful tropical waters off of Kona, Hawaii. “The thing about being on the water is [it's] where my happy place is. I get to drive boats and am a scuba instructor and I get to do that and get paid for it. [It’s] where I go pretty much every day

This show originally aired on April 21, 2018. This week on Sound Effect, we pull up a stool and chat with some barflies. We meet up with Mike Lewis at the Streamline Tavern, and hear about how he physically moved the old bar to its current location. Then we talk to Clint Lanier about why no one seemed to notice the closing of what may be the oldest gay bar in America. Hanna Brooks Olsen shares an essay on what she learned growing up in bars. Brie Ripley introduces us to a “rude” juice bar . We

This story originally aired on April 21, 2018. When the print edition of the Seattle Post Intelligencer came to an end in 2009, the reporters who worked for the paper scattered off to other careers. Some picked up other gigs covering news, others went into public relations. Veteran reporter Mike Lewis bought a bar. Specifically, he bought his bar, a dive called The Streamline Tavern, where he and other reporters used to adjourn to after quitting time at the paper. “I took my severance and bought

This story originally aired on April 21, 2018. One of the realities about bars, like many other businesses, is that at some point, they will probably close their doors for good. This was the case in December of 2015, when a Pioneer Square bar called the Double Header called “last call” for the last time. This is significant, because the Double Header was one of the oldest, if not the oldest, gay bar in America. Clint Lanier is the co-author of the book “Bucket List Bars: Historic Saloons, Pubs

This story originally aired on April 21, 2018. An essay: I always joke that dark, divey bars are where I'm most at home because that's where I first learned how to talk to people. I mean, we learn speech at a young age, on the mats at preschool, or at home, mimicking our parents. But forming phonemes is different than talking to people. Most of my life, I've supported myself through talking: talking my way into AP classes, and talking myself out of a trespassing charge when I pretended to be a

This story originally aired on April 21, 2018. The most intimidating bar to walk into in Greater Seattle may not be a seedy dive downtown. It might just be a juice bar in an obscure strip mall in Shoreline. What makes Alive Juice Bar so daunting is its owner, Andrew Ho, who’s just as likely to curse out and humiliate his customers as he is to soothe their ailments with foamy fruit & veggie concoctions. Ho opened the shop eight years ago with his ex-fiance. In the beginning, it was tough. It

This story originally aired on April 21, 2018. All of Erica’s heroes liked to drink. Hunter S. Thompson, Molly Ivins … to be an edgy journalist, it seemed like alcohol was part of the job description. For Erica C. Barnett , alcohol did soon become a thread weaving through her work for magazines and alternative weeklies. “I loved being able to meet with people over drinks,” she said. “That is a wonderful way to get to know a source, over a couple, five, ten drinks. And it just made sense to me

This story originally aired on April 21, 2018. Years ago, not long after Mike Lewis lost his father, he made a pilgrimage to his dad's favorite bar--a place called The Ranch in Modesto, CA. When he got there, he found something he didn't expect: a stool that had been roped off. Mike asked about it, and was told it was in honor of Jack Lewis, "a guy who hung out in here who was really well liked." When Mike identified himself as Jack Lewis' son, he heard an outpouring of stories about the kind of

First, two KNKX moms share their experiences in the neonatal intensive care unit after the birth of their children. Then, a trip to a NICU, where we learn how to write lullabies . Also, we head to a business that bills itself as "everyone's barbershop." Next, a story of a young attorney who wanted to represent Cuban detainees in 1980 , only to realize she may have been out of her element. We learn about a locally made film featuring a retired police officer from Tamil Nadu, who vacations in