Sound Effect

This episode originally aired on June 17, 2017. This week on Sound Effect , we head out to the islands. The Good Ship Issaquah Marsha Morse was one of the first women captains in Washington’s ferry system. She’s been navigating the waterways since 1975. And while she captains the ferry Issaquah , she considers her office the entire Puget Sound. The One Lonely Island All of the available islands in the San Juan’s were snatched up by homesteaders by 1919. All but one. A lonely, rocky, 15-acre dot

In this episode of Sound Effect, we’re featuring stories from this show and the KNKX newsroom that earned regional and national recognition. Youth and education reporter Ashley Gross talks about a quirk in state policy that is giving an artificial boost to graduation rates across the state. KNKX’s Will James dives into the turmoil that, up until recently, plagued the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office . Producer Posey Gruener shares the story of a beloved professional boxer whose life was

There is nothing like standing in the crowd, watching your favorite musician take the stage, playing your favorite song live right in front of you. Well thanks to a little global pandemic, going to a concert has been more or less impossible. Well, those of us at Sound Effect miss hearing live music, and we are willing to bet that you do to. Today on the show, we are going to bring the concert to you. We're going to be playing live music recordings that were performed and recorded just for Sound

Today on the show, we say goodbye to our host Gabriel Spitzer. This is the last show Gabriel will host, as he transitions to a new job in public health. He celebrates some of his favorite stories from past shows in this episode. We’ll meet a punter who thought he was a linebacker for a minute, a cowboy who “met” Bigfoot and a Balkan rock star who staged an antiwar musical in a war zone. Sound Effect contributors share emotional best wishes to wrap up his last show. Johnny Hekker is a punter for

This show originally aired on November 9, 2019. First, we learn about a map that shows the vast web of connections among Seattle bands. Then, we meet the chief of equity for Seattle Public Schools, whose work is informed by her own past experience as a black student in the district. We meet a performance artist who explores how expectations of beauty killed her mother . We travel to a ridgetop observatory where young adults are working out who they’re going to be. And we learn how a Tacoma woman

This show originally aired on October 26, 2019. This week on Sound Effect, our theme is “You Can’t Choose Your Family...Can You?” We’re bringing you stories of family ties that go beyond blood, but still help define who we are and where we come from. First, a middle-aged woman learns she was conceived using an unexpected sperm donor . A bookseller searches for someone to take over his business and learns something surprising about himself. A resilient young woman balances college and

This show originally aired on October 19, 2019. The theme of this week’s Sound Effect is “Gatekeepers” — stories about people with power over who comes and goes. First, we hear what it’s like for a prison guard to be locked in with the inmates. Next, a story of escape and betrayal in one of the world’s most repressive countries. Then, the chilling words of a man ready to confront his fate — and his complicated journey to execution. Finally, we hear from a woman who once was tasked with helping

This show originally aired on September 21, 2019. Collections come in all shapes and sizes. Whatever it is, a collection can take on a life of its own. And it says something about the person behind it. That’s our latest theme — The Collector: why we’re drawn to collect stuff, and what we’re willing to do in pursuit of it. First, the co-owner of a Tacoma bar shares how he came to acquire a small collection of glass art from Dale Chihuly. Then, we meet a woman who makes jewelry out of animal bones

We have all been dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in our own ways. And the Sound Effect team has been doing our best to cover it in a podcast called Transmission. Today on Sound Effect, we share some more stories that have stood out to us from the series. First, we make the rounds with Gino Jevdjevic — a Bosnian pop star-turned-punk-frontman-turned-social-services-provider — as he checks in on his clients with developmental disabilities. Then, we hear the story of Thomas Lopez , the beloved

This show originally aired on March 30, 2019. We start with a man translating traditional blues into Yiddish . Next, we join "the Jane Goodall of the whales," as she eavesdrops on orcas . Then, an effort is made to rethink how an endangered native language should look on the page. A lso, a story of a musician with autism who uses music as a language . Finally, a rabbi uses modern music to help save a language from extinction. Sound Effect showcases stories inspired by the place we live. The show