Skip to main content

Soundside

Get to know the PNW and each other. Soundside airs Monday through Thursday at 12 p.m. and 8 p.m. on KUOW. Listen to Soundside on Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Additional Credits: Logo art is designed by Teo Popescu. Audio promotions are produced by Hans Twite. Community engagement led by Zaki Hamid. Our Director of New Content and Innovation is Brendan Sweeney.

Mission Statement:

Soundside believes establishing trust with our listeners involves taking the time to listen.

We know that building trust with a community takes work. It involves broadening conversations, making sure our show amplifies systemically excluded voices, and challenging narratives that normalize systemic racism.

We want Soundside to be a place where you can be part of the dialogue, learn something new about your own backyard, and meet your neighbors from the Peninsula to the Palouse.

Together, we’ll tell stories that connect us to our community — locally, nationally and globally. We’ll get to know the Pacific Northwest and each other.

What do you think Soundside should be covering? Where do you want to see us go next?

Leave us a voicemail! You might hear your call on-air: 206-221-3213

Share your thoughts directly with the team at soundside@kuow.org.


Join the Soundside Listener Network

Enter your number below or text SOUND to 206-926-9955 to get your questions in front of local government officials and share your thoughts on issues in the Puget Sound region. We’ll text you 1-2 prompts per week, and your response may be featured on the show!



Sponsored

Episodes

  • law court legal justice generic

    What the potential end of the Indian Child Welfare Act could mean for tribal rights

    Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978 to help remedy a long history of atrocities committed against Native American families. But now three states and several individuals are challenging the law in the United States Supreme Court, arguing it's unconstitutional. The challenge mostly hinges on a major question: whether tribal membership is a political designation or a racial identity.

  • caption: Supporters wait for election results to appear on screen during a Republican Party election night gathering on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, at the Hyatt in Bellevue.

    What we learned from this year's elections

    Political reporters can finally stop refreshing results from Clark counties, Nevada and Washington. Several races are still too close to call. But the big national picture of the midterms is starting to come into focus.

  • caption: Seattle's Magnolia Bridge is seen in view of the Olympic Mountains Wednesday, April 30, 2014, in Seattle.

    New Seattle council district maps will reunify some neighborhoods, split others

    Every ten years, political district maps are reshaped based on the latest census data. Since 2013, that includes new district maps for Seattle City Council members. Growth throughout the city wasn't even, and in the case of Magnolia, some district lines won't fall evenly over traditional neighborhood lines.

  • caption: Students play during recess on Monday, September 26, 2022, at Jennie Reed Elementary school in Tacoma.

    What happens when a school levy fails?

    In February of this year, the Kennewick School district, in Southeast Washington, ran a levy on the ballot in their county elections. That levy didn’t pass.

  • caption: A view of the Bonneville Power Administration's Big Eddy-Knight transmission line. More renewable energy development and less room for energy conservation are two of the biggest changes in the draft of the new regional power plan.

    As Washington transitions off of fossil fuels, where will new power come from?

    Our energy infrastructure is increasingly stressed by growing demand, extreme weather and aging parts. In the Puget Sound area utilities are also ramping up to comply with a state law that will require all electricity to come from clean sources. Those demands are setting up a massive transition in where our energy comes from, and where it will go in the future.

  • caption: In this photo taken June 4, 2018, the downtown skyline is shown from the South Hill in Spokane, Wash.

    Spokane declares an emergency over its largest homeless encampment

    At one point this summer, Camp Hope swelled to more than 600 people. Today, it's shrunk to around 450 people living in tents, RVs and makeshift shelter on a dirt lot by I-90. Local and state officials agree the camp should be cleared eventually. But just how soon, and where residents will go, is at the center of a months long battle.

  • vote voting election ballot generic

    Election Day is finally here — have you cast your ballot yet?

    Your ballpoint pen may be getting a workout. Because today is Election Day. You have until 8pm tonight to get to a ballot box. And procrastinators, you are not alone – the Secretary of State’s office says statewide, just about 39% of ballots had been returned as of Monday. That’s lagging behind early voting numbers for the same day in the last midterm election in 2018.

  • caption: Elizabeth Kaye Sortun casts her ballot on Monday, November 7, 2022, outside of the Ballard branch of the Seattle Public Library in Seattle.

    What happens to your ballot after you vote?

    It is election day in Washington state, and while we'll have to wait for returns to answer big questions like will the state have a Republican US senator for the first time since 2001? Who will win the tight Eighth District House race? How many people will bother voting for those unopposed state supreme court justices?