Sound Effect

This week’s theme for Sound Effect is “Wrong Place, Wrong Time,” stories of people stuck in circumstances they can’t control and what’s revealed by the choices they make.

Tacoma is a pretty special place. We don’t want to romanticize it — it’s complicated, like anywhere. But it does have this quality of openness, a willingness to let people in. That’s exactly what the Sound Effect team did on Saturday. Gabriel Spitzer hosted a special, live show from KNKX Public Radio’s new downtown Tacoma station, while strangers wandered around on self-guided tours of the space. And the doors will stay open long past Saturday's grand opening. The new station offers a place to

Host Gabriel Spitzer celebrates some of his favorite stories from past shows on today’s episode. We’ll meet a punter who thought he was a linebacker for a minute, a composer working in an empty 2 million gallon water tank , a cowboy who “met” Bigfoot and a Balkan rock star who staged an antiwar musical in a war zone.

This week on Sound Effect, producer Posey Gruener shares a few favorites from the stories she's produced this year. You'll hear a love story , visit a graveyard , and meet a rapping rabbi . You'll also hear a personal story .

This week on Sound Effect, producer Jennifer Wing revisits some of her favorite stories from the past few years. First, we hear from director, Steve Wilson on how he fell in love with making television when he went to the 1962 World’s Fair. Next, we’ll hang out with the over-50 women’s basketball team, the Port Townsend Drizzle . We’ll hear a profile of the late De Charlene Williams , who was an activist in Seattle’s Central Area and ran a beauty salon for decades. Then, we’ll hop on a bus with

In 2016, I interviewed Ira Glass. He was coming to Seattle to give a talk and KNKX was one of the event’s sponsors. It was late in the day. I was not at my best and I was nervous about asking questions of someone I admire — someone who is so talented at drawing out stories from others. The story we ended up airing from this conversation was perfectly fine. This story here is from the cutting room floor audio of that original conversation. It’s a peek at the edges of interviews. These bits are

This week on the show, Sound Effect producer Kevin Kniestedt hops in the host chair and shares some of his favorite stories that he has worked on for the show over the years. First, we hear Kevin in one of his earliest interviews, at the age of 3. Then, we hear how a Pierce County land developer became the host of the most famous radio show in the country. Next, a conversation with two friends who participated in a music video that paid tribute to their friend who was killed in a shooting at

This show originally aired on September 8, 2018. 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 . Next, a career dishwasher becomes an internationally renowned artist . Finally, how a man with a PhD in theoretical mathematics becomes homeless, an activist, and an occasional taxi driver. The full broadcast version of this week's show, available below, also includes:

This show originally aired on June 16, 2018. This week, stories of positive things coming from otherwise negative places. First, music journalist and author Charles R. Cross talks about how a bad economy helped produce the grunge music movement. Then, how the author of the light-hearted Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books actually had a pretty rough life. A mother finds a way to pay tribute to her artistic daughter who battled mental illness. We take a tour of a Seattle neighborhood that decades ago had

This show originally aired on June 9, 2018. This week, stories of cogs in the machine. First, how a kid felt like toys were missing some accessories, so he decided to start making them himself, and business took off. Then, a Vietnam veteran shares why he believes the willingness to die for a cause you don’t believe in is an example of how “the system” works . Also, a sperm donor is faced with the realities of meeting one of his offspring. Next, how Indian Island is slowly beginning to open up to