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David Hyde

Reporter

About

David’s people-focused politics coverage tracks local and national races. At KUOW, David has also reported for our Hearken Team answering listener questions,and covered a variety of other topics ranging from vaccine hesitancy to climate change.

Previously David worked as talk show producer and also frequently hosted interviews and live call-in segments. David's education includes PhD ABD in U.S. History from Rutgers University and a BA in History from Reed College.

Location: Seattle

Languages: English

Professional Affiliations: Society of Professional Journalists

Stories

  • Untitled

    School Safety In The Age Of Gun Violence

    Designing safer schools doesn't mean turning them into military bunkers. That might have been an easy remodel back when schools were built like jails, filled with "cells" and controlled by bells. Today's schools are open, flexible spaces that allow students to combine and recombine into groups that learn from each other as much as they learn from the teacher.Perhaps it's counterintuitive, but school architect Kevin Flanagan says this openness doesn't make schools more vulnerable to gun attacks. He says safer schools are more open, more transparent. The more immediate danger schools face is unauthorized parents kidnapping their own kids. And he says the safety considerations that make kids safer from that danger would help reduce school shootings, too.Kevin's tips for making schools safer include:Minimize entrances so that visitors must check in at front office.Make halls and entrances visible from the front office using lots of glass. Glass can be laminated, which slows offenders down. The key is visibility: People should not be able to walk around the school unnoticed.Make electronic door locks controllable from the office.Install an intercom system for communicating with classrooms.Install blinds on exterior windows.Kevin Flanagan is an architect with NAC Architecture in Seattle and has designed many schools throughout Washington state. He speaks with KUOW's David Hyde.
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    Harvard Prof. Says Placebo Effect More Powerful And Useful Than We Imagine

    Before 1970, doctors used to lie to their patients all the time. They knew that some hypochondriacs became noticeably better when doctors gave them a sugar pill.This was called "the placebo effect." After 1970, we thought of placebos differently. Researchers decided that for a drug to be deemed effective, it had to outperform a placebo. But we never stepped back and took a good hard look at the placebo and why it worked.Harvard researcher Ted Kaptchuck has done that. He says the placebo effect can be administered like a drug, in different doses and achieve different results. He says the ritual of medicine — from the act of taking a pill, to whether the doctor stares thoughtfully into the distance while examining you — is far more than a placebo. This ritual can be used to increase the effectiveness of modern drugs.Medicine is not all in the mind; we can't heal broken bones by thinking happy thoughts. But medicine may be more mental than we realize. Ted Kaptchuck speaks with David Hyde.
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    What Do The Holidays Mean To You?

    Hanukkah has come to a close, and Christmas and Kwanzaa are still on the way. These are the three we hear about, but how do you celebrate the holidays? David Hyde takes calls from listeners and hears what the holiday season means to Seattle.

  • Why Don't We Eat Our Dogs?

    Why do most people love animals they consider cute, like puppies or panda bears, but they don’t have a lot of love for animals they consider ugly, like naked mole rats? Western Carolina University Psychology professor Hal Herzog explores the paradoxical relationship people have with animals in a new book, "Some we love, some we hate, some we eat: Why it’s so hard to think straight about animals."

  • Should Zoos Have Elephant Exhibits?

    Critics of Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo say that the elephants there are not being treated well and that they don’t do well in captivity. Defenders say zoos are key to global conservation efforts. Should zoos, including Woodland Park, continue to display elephants?

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    Seattle Writer Domingo Martinez On Coming Of Age In A Texas Border Town

    Seattle writer Domingo Martinez is the author of "The Boy Kings Of Texas," which was recently nominated for the National Book Award.  It’s about the cultural tensions he experienced growing up in the border town of Brownsville.  KUOW's David Hyde talks to Martinez about growing up in a border town, his family, why he moved to Seattle, and why he stayed. 

  • Untitled

    Your Surgeon May Be A Psychopath (But Don’t Worry)

    The psychopath Hannibal Lecter in the movie "Silence of the Lambs" is ruthless.  But he’s also charming, persuasive and highly intelligent.  Cambridge psychology professor Kevin Dutton says when psychopaths don’t turn violent they can become very successful as CEOs, surgeons, or in other professions. His latest book is "The Wisdom Of Psychopaths."This interview originally aired October 30, 2012.