Last week Tacoma lost one of its brightest lights. Matt Driscoll was a columnist for The News Tribune and the editor for the paper’s Opinion Section. But he was so much more than that. Rather than being a gatekeeper, he was an advocate for the less fortunate and less politically connected in our community. He made his column a forum for voices across the city, rather than a stale rotation of the usual suspects.

He also was a frequent guest on the show, so in tribute to Matt today we are re-releasing an episode of the podcast from 2018 where Matt joined me and Representative Laurie Jinkins in my classroom, for a conversation about evictions and housing solutions for our region and beyond. I think you get a real sense of the kind of man Matt was from this conversation.

 His unexpected passing leaves a massive hole in the paper and in our civic culture. 

A Go Fund Me has been set up to support Matt’s family.

More of Matt’s appearances on pod:

Covering Moral Panics – January 2024

Nerd Farmer Live – Summer 2023

Evicted #NerdFarmReads Bookclub – April 2018

Housing, Homelessness, and Political Protest – October 2017

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