This story originally aired on December 2, 2017. Elk meat, eagle feathers, bear gallbladder. These are just a few of the items sold by wildlife traffickers in the Pacific Northwest. How bad is this black market? Washington state Fish & Wildlife detective Todd Vandivert wanted to find out. He and partner Sergeant Jennifer Maurstad went undercover as small business owners, risking their lives to bring in some of the largest animal traffickers in the region. But as Operation Cody continued to

This story originally aired on December 2, 2017. If you think your daliy commute is bad, please meet Daniel Bone. He maneuvers a large cement truck to the many different construction sites in the Seattle area. A few years ago, Bone's commute from an idyllic five-acre farm in Yelm, Washington, was daunting, but doable. "I'm 62 miles out from our home in Yelm, to where I work in Seattle. In the mornings I could drive it, an hour and ten minutes, comfortably. Coffee in hand. Well rested," Bone said

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

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,

When it comes to scientific arguments nowadays, there’s a good chance sooner or later someone will be compared to people who believe the earth is flat. Most would consider that an insult, but not Mark Sargent. The Whidbey Island resident spends much of his time promoting the belief that the earth is not round or spherical but actually, definitely flat. He’s not joking. And he claims that there is plenty of proof out there to prove him right. That is why Sargent created Flat Earth Clues, a series

This story originally aired on November 18, 2017. "You Can do anything in the Barbie Dream Hearse, except smoke” laughs Kat Taylor as we enter the world of white leather with pink accents. Perhaps you’ve seen it, The Barbie Dream Hearse, driving around Seattle, shuttling people around who might be watching a movie in the back, or pouring another glass of champagne from the ice bucket. The white hearse turned party limo is hard to miss. It all started with a play on words. “The words Barbie Dream

This story originally aired on November 18, 2017. If you go to the base of Point Defiance in Tacoma and look east, you'll see a finger of earth jutting into Puget Sound. It formed as toxic slag spilled from a copper smelter during the city's industrial heyday. For years, it was a foreboding sliver of black, glassy material. Today, workers and machines roam the peninsula as they transform it into a grassy park with Puget Sound views. Tacoma Metro Parks Commissioner Erik Hanberg has a space-age

This story originally aired on November 18, 2017. All Things Considered host Ed Ronco and Morning Edition producer Ariel Van Cleave came to learn their respective instruments after things didn't work out with their first choice. Ed started with the trumpet, but the combination of the smaller mouthpiece and a mouth full of braced turned out to be a painful experience. So he moved to the baritone horn, which had a larger mouthpiece, and never looked back. Ariel, on the other hand, just had a

This show originally aired on November 18, 2017. This week on Sound Effect, our theme is "Can’t Let Go." KNKX newsies Ariel Van Cleave and Ed Ronco reminisce about their obscure instruments. Then we talk to Jillian Venters, who gives advice to people of the gothic subculture , including those who are aging within it. Next, we head to Tacoma where a man is making an effort to celebrate author Frank Herbert. Then we take a ride in one of the oddest vehicles you’ll ever see: a hearse, decked out in

This story originally aired on November 18, 2017. When it comes to scientific arguments nowadays, there’s a good chance sooner or later someone will be compared to people who believe the earth is flat. Most would consider that an insult, but not Mark Sargent. The Whidbey Island resident spends much of his time promoting the belief that the earth is not round or spherical but actually, definitely flat. He’s not joking. And he claims that there is plenty of proof out there to prove him right. That