This story originally aired on April 15, 2017. In the spring of 2014, Marilyn Roberts' son, Kevin, was 27 years old and struggling with bipolar disorder. One day, he called his mom to tell her that he was taking a bus to go to downtown Olympia, Wash., not too far from where he lived. "He was to a point where wasn't cognizant of what was going on, on a day to day basis," Roberts remembers. Kevin smokes cigarettes. At a bus stop in Olympia, he lit up in a non-smoking area. Kevin exchanged a few

This story originally aired on April 15, 2017. 28-year old Yemeni-American Mokhtar Alkhanshali loves coffee. In fact, h e is the first Arab certified Q-grader, the coffee equivalent of a sommelier for wine. Mokhtar grew up between the United States and Yemen. In his grandparents’ garden in Yemen, Mokhtar picked red coffee berries off the trees and laid them out on drying beds. His grandmother taught him when to harvest the berries, and later, how to brew coffee with spices like cardamom and

This story originally aired on April 15, 2017. Retired University of Washington astrobiology professor Woody Sullivan is obsessed with the concept of time. It's apparent the instant you walk into what he call’s his “man lodge," the little study behind his North Seattle home. It’s full of shelves of books with titles like “Empires of Time,” and “Time, The Familiar Stranger.” Plus, there are shelves of small, ornate sundials, some that can fit into the palm of your hand. Finally, across his

This show originally aired on April 15, 2017. This week on Sound Effect , stories of time and how it rules our daily lives. First, retired UW astrobiology professor Woody Sullivan shares how his 25-year love affair with sundials began and how he invented the first working sundial tattoo. Then Sound Effect contributor Hebah Fisher tells the story of how Alkhanshali braved a dangerous voyage for coffee. Then, a disability rights lawyer explains why dozens of people are waiting behind bars for

Local May Day marches have sparked some tension in recent years, but labor groups want to emphasize the day's historical roots. May 1 is International Workers Day.

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 driving the boat. You get turtles, you have

Living in illegal homeless encampments can be dangerous and chaotic. This is what hundreds of people experience every day in Seattle. This minimal type of shelter can also involve a lot of moving. Sound Effect’s Jennifer Wing recently visited the removal of an encampment under the Viaduct, across the street from the Washington State Ferry Terminal in downtown Seattle. The cleanup was being carried out by the city’s Navigation Team, the entity in charge of removals. “This is our fourth time. So,

If you close your eyes and picture Sasquatch, there’s a good chance you’ll conjure up a very specific image: a big, hairy humanoid, mid-stride, arms swinging, head turned to glance back over its right shoulder. In that iconic picture, the thing Bigfoot was turning back to look at was Bob Gimlin. Gimlin, along with Roger Patterson, gathered their famous film footage in northern California in 1967. Fifty years later people still pore over it, debating its authenticity and speculating on how it may

When Seattle writer, Tim Haywood was growing up in Auburn, he was the fat kid in elementary school. Most of the time, this wasn’t a problem, except for when it came to gym class. "I got teased a lot, you know all of the names, fatty two-by-four. I managed to compensate a little bit. I developed a sense of humor," Tim recalls. Tim dreaded gym. He was humiliated on "weighing and measuring day," when his weight was shared publicly in front of his classmates. Then, as if things couldn't get any

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't think there is a problem. Mary has had to