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In the world we live in today, if a toaster breaks or those comfy sweatpants you bought for cheap from the markdown rack get a rip in them, you’d probably toss them. Replacing things quickly, with a tap on our phones or clicks on a keyboard, is so easy to do. This is why what’s going on at libraries across King County, Washington feels kind of radical. They are called fix it fairs, or repair cafes . People bring in busted toasters, stereos that have been silent for too long and pants that haven

Sara Jamshidi grew up in Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. She remembers when her mother could wear sunglasses and mini-skirts on hot summer days, before the new fundamentalist government made laws about what women could and could not wear. As an adult Sara became a journalist and wrote often about being a woman in a conservative Muslim society. She worked for newspapers that were shut down by the police, and worked for editors who were arrested and sometimes tortured for publishing

Iain Heath had just caught a break. As an early employee of the data visualization at Tableau, he stood to make a bundle when the company went public in 2013. And for the first time, Heath realized he could quit his day job to pursue his passions. He says he asked his boss whether he was planning on leaving, too. His answer: No. “[He said] ‘I don’t know what I would do with myself.’ I realized that a lot of people, their job defines who they are,” says Heath. “I had a list of things to do.”

Sara Jamshidi grew up in Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution . She remembers when her mother could wear sunglasses and mini-skirts on hot summer days, before the new fundamentalist government made laws about what women could and could not wear. As a teenager Sara found small ways to rebel against the dress code, and the morality police who enforced it: She wore high ponytails underneath her hijab that let her hair show through the scarf, and wore fitted manteaus that accentuated the shape of

Some people report to work purely for the paycheck. For others, the job itself plays a big part in their identity. Gregory Blackstock is a man who knows both sides of this coin. Blackstock is autistic and for decades, he eked out a living as a dishwasher at The Washington Athletic Club. It was a place that treated Gregory very well, but he found the work difficult to get through. "I just wanted to get away from drudgery," said Gregory. Today, at 72, Gregory Blackstock is an internationally

This week, stories of career paths and their unexpected twists. First, a man finds himself lucky enough to never have to work again, and decides he’ll pivot to being a LEGO artist . Then, an Iranian journalist is forced to leave her country and career behind, only to discover a new kind of journalism in Seattle . Next, a career dishwasher becomes an internationally renowned artist . Also, a man who used to be in the rock ‘n roll business ends up helping musicians recover from some of the vices

Growing up on Mercer Island, Mark Rose was captivated by rock n’ roll. And like most kids, he wanted to be a part of it. But unlike most kids, Mark did end up in the music business. He didn’t make it as a musician, but instead worked on the business side of things. But because of his close association with the musicians, he ended up living a lifestyle very much befitting a rockstar: drugs, alcohol, incessant partying. And like a lot of rock n’ roll stories, Mark’s had a burn-out ending that left

Wes Browning has held an impressive array of jobs at Real Change, the newspaper distributed mainly by homeless vendors: He’s been a columnist, an artist, circulation specialist, public speaker, and so on. He’s also been homeless three times and struggled with his mental health, so he understands the paper’s vendors better than most. But go back in time in Browning’s resume, and you find an even wider range of jobs: taxi driver, teacher, theoretical mathematician. Browning earned his Ph.D. in

If your primary mode of transportation is riding the bus, it's likely you've seen some nice bus stops, some OK ones, probably a couple of bad ones. The website Streetsblog USA holds an annual contest where readers from around the country nominate terrible bus stops, and then vote on them. The bus stop with the most votes gets crowned The Sorriest Bus Stop In America. And congratulations, Seattle: The 2017 title is yours. Alex Lew, a transportation planner in Seattle, nominated the bus stop,

This story originally aired on December 2, 2017. Todd Stabelfeldt drives a pretty dope ride. Those are his words -- describing his super-high-tech, “murdered-out … completely black-on-black” vehicle. It’s no ordinary ride: Stabelfeldt has quadriplegia, and his “whip” is a tricked-out wheelchair, an F5 Permobil equipped with a tongue-operated interface for navigating and controlling devices. Stabelfeldt is is paralyzed from the neck down, but he’s not only that. He’s also a husband and stepfather