It hasn’t even been a month since President Donald Trump was sworn into office, but the sudden and drastic changes he – and Elon Musk – have ordered are being felt at every level of the federal government.  

Thousands of federal workers got notice over the weekend that they were being terminated – in departments ranging from the U.S. Forest Service to the CDC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

The judiciary has slowed some of the biggest Trump moves, like ending birthright citizenship or withholding billions in federal funding. But the President’s nominees have been largely confirmed and Musk personnel mostly continue to have access to critical government systems. 

So what can the Democratic Party do to put guardrails around this administration?

Guest: 

• US Representative Rick Larsen (Washington State’s 2nd Congressional District since 2001)

Links: 

• Rep. Larsen's website

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For decades, a Washington law has empowered prosecutors to pursue felony charges against those who assault healthcare workers. Which, on a base level, makes sense. Healthcare workers don’t want to be harmed while doing their jobs.

But some are worried that a potential felony charge – which would apply to both physical attacks, and typically minor offenses like spitting on someone – doesn’t prevent those attacks from happening and moves those with severe mental health challenges into a criminal justice system that worsens their condition. 

That’s led state lawmakers to propose an adjustment to the law broadening the penalties for those who assault healthcare workers – which would exempt people experiencing mental health crisis.

The bill – HB 1220 – passed out of committee last week and is now headed to the full House. 

Seattle Times’ investigative reporter Sydney Brownstone has been following the story. 

Guests:

• Sydney Brownstone, investigative reporter for the Seattle Times

Related Links: 

• Health care worker assault law could see reform this year | The Seattle Times
• A law to protect WA health care workers keeps patients in crisis | The Seattle Times
• Find HB 1220 here

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, there is a Spotify playlist for any genre, mood, or activity you could ever think of. But, in the not-so-distant past, you’d have to tune your AM or FM radio until you found a sound you liked. 

If you wanted to hear soul music in Seattle circa 1970, there was one local station that would never disappoint. It was called KYAC, and it was a true rarity at the time. The station was Black owned and operated from 1965 to 1981.

The small station has an outsized legacy in both our city and the country at large. It was the first station in Seattle to play a rap song — the iconic “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang. 

In fact, it was so beloved that when the station was eventually sold, listeners held a funeral for it. For Black History Month, producer Lauren Williams went back in time to 1970s Seattle to ask folks about what it was like to work at and listen to KYAC during its heyday. 

Guests:

• Vivian Phillips, founder of Arte Noir and former KYAC DJ
• Sheila Locke, event DJ and former KYAC DJ
• Jas Keimig, Seattle-based arts reporter. 

Related Links:

• How Seattle rap crashed the mainstream by swimming against the current — NPR
• For three decades, this Seattle DJ electrified the airwaves, paving the way for future Black radio personalities. — Black Arts Legacies
• Black History of the Northwest — KUOW

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW. You help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes.

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2019, the remote plains of Harney County, Oregon made national news. Scattered amongst groves of ponderosa pine were a handful of mutilated cattle. The cows had an almost surgical removal of their tongues and other organs.

But the most astounding thing is that the scenes where these cattle were found were pristine. No tracks. And not one drop of blood – the carcasses were drained dry. 

That detail became the inspiration for a documentary by co-directors Jackson Devereux and Lachlan Hinton, and reporter Anna King. Their documentary film – three years in the making – is titled “Not one Drop of Blood,” and it’s being announced as the headliner today for the Film Fort festival – part of Tree Fort in Boise.

Soundside was joined by Anna King, alongside co-directors Lachlan Hinton and Jackson Devereux, to discuss the film and the mystery haunting Harney County, Oregon. 

Guests:

• Anna King, senior correspondent for Northwest Public Broadcasting
• Jackson Devereux and Lachlan Hinton, directors of "Not One Drop of Blood."

Related Links: 

• Not One Drop of Blood
• 'Not One Drop Of Blood': Cattle Mysteriously Mutilated In Oregon : NPR

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Universities, cancer centers and hospitals will soon go under the knife, if the Trump Administration gets its way. Last Friday, the National Institutes of Health announced they would immediately slash four billion dollars of funding for research institutes across the country. 

This would directly impact at least 70 research facilities in Washington State. 

Critics of the plan have said it would severely hamper medical progress in the US that could be felt for decades. 22 attorneys general filed suit to stop the action, and on Monday a federal judge put a hold on the cuts for those 22 states, then made the pause nationwide. 

But the fate of this funding is still uncertain. 

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Guest(s):

Dr. Helen Chu, a board certified physician with UW Medicine and a UW professor of Medicine and Allergy and Infectious Diseases. 

Related Links:

Proposed NIH funding cuts leave WA research institutions fearing ‘fiscal chaos’

What’s at stake for Washington’s flagship research institutions in the legal battle over NIH funding

Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, 

So if you’re looking for a great idea for something to do with your sweetie, OR you just want to avoid the love-birds as much as possible, Soundside Producer Jason Megatron Burrows has you covered… 

EVENTS:

• Wonderland Gear Exchange — Pitch-A-Trailmate
• Psychic Medium: Travis Holp
• FUN & FLIRTY - The Crocodile
• Science After Dark: Valentine's Day at Pacific Science Center
• Mars Love Affair: A Night with Mary Roach | The Museum of Flight
• Noir City - SIFF Cinema Downtown
• Wild At Heart - Central Cinema
• Akira - SIFF Cinema Uptown
• Prom Date Mixtape: "Friday I'm in Love" - 8th Annual Valentines Ball at High Dive
• I'm Not Ok!: An Emo & Pop Punk Anti-Valentine's Day Dance Party at High Dive

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the campaign trail last year, Dave Upthegrove promised that if elected to Commissioner of Public Lands, he would preserve forests starting on day one. 

Well, Upthegrove is now in charge of the state’s Department of Natural Resources – sworn in last month – and he held true to his promise. On Jan. 15 – day one – Upthegrove announced he would be pausing logging sales on what the state calls “mature” forestland. These are forests that were last logged before World War II – not old enough to be designated “old growth, ”but host a diverse range of plants and animals. 

While considered a win by conservationists, his plan was met with concern from those dependent on revenue from public trust timber sales to fund schools and county services in the state – something mandated by the state’s constitution. 

Commissioner Upthegrove recently spoke with Soundside host Libby Denkmann about his plans to balance preservation with that mandate.

Guests:

• Dave Upthegrove, Commissioner of Public Lands

Related Links:

• Commissioner Upthegrove Calls “Timeout” on Harvesting Older State Forests | WA - DNR
• New WA lands commissioner orders pause on logging sales for some older forests • Washington State Standard
• Lands commissioner’s logging ‘pause’ upsets a careful calculation | The Seattle Times

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Urban Raptor Conservancy's Ed Deal and Patti Loesche are running a decades long study on the population health of Cooper's Hawks in Seattle.

What does that involve? Spending a lot of time looking for and observing the city's hawks.

This piece originally aired in October of 2024.

Guests:

• Patti Loesche, co founder of the Urban Raptor Conservancy
• Ed Deal, co founder of the Urban Raptor Conservancy

Related Links: 

• Urban Raptor Conservancy Website
• KUOW: What's that screeching? Maybe a hungry young Cooper's Hawk

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you tucked into a romance novel lately? If not, you might be in the minority of readers.

Romance sales are soaring. Last year, they grew twice as fast as the rest of the fiction market.

In the past, the genre’s commercial value was widely accepted - romance books have always been big sellers. But now, its literary merit is being recognized, too.

So this Valentine’s Day, there’s more reason than ever to find love in a stack of books. And we won’t leave you hunting.

GUESTS:

• Charlie Hunts, owner of Charlie’s Queer Books in Seattle
• Ren Rice, owner of The Romance Era Bookstore in Vancouver, WA
• Jenna Zarzycki, a librarian with the King County Library System

RELATED LINKS: 

• NPR producer shares her pick of romance novels from our annual Books We Love list — KUOW
• A surprising genre of romance novels is gaining popularity — KUOW
• The Romance Era Bookshop
• Charlie’s Queer Books

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW. You help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes.

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Local author David B. Williams’ Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City leads readers through loops and one-way strolls, traversing terrain ranging pockets of downtown, to North and West Seattle. 

Each walk tells a story, exploring how Seattle came to be the city it is today through both big and small details. But in the years since it was first published in 2017, the city has changed -- in more ways than one. Williams wanted his walks to reflect the history of that change too. 

A new edition of Seattle Walks releases today with routes both new and familiar. To understand the changes in the book and on the ground, Soundside host Libby Denkmann joined Williams on one of his newly designed walks – a stroll through Seattle's Central District.

Guests:

• David B. Williams, author of Seattle Walks: Discovering History and Nature in the City.

Related Links:

• Seattle Walks

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.