The Blue Suit

The story behind the viral and historic blue suit that inspired this podcast.

Congressman Andy Kim was photographed on Jan. 6, 2021 picking up trash in the Capitol rotunda, in the aftermath of that day’s chaos. The indelible image of a congressperson in a blue suit, kneeling on the ground and tidying the detritus of an insurrection went viral.

The blue suit was donated to the Smithsonian, forever a physical marker of the values and actions on display that day. It also inspired Shin Yu Pai to make this podcast.

Join us for our free live event for The Blue Suit on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022 at McCaw Hall's Nesholm Family Lecture Hall. You can find more information at kuow.org/events.

Related Links

• Congressman Andy Kim’s twitter thread about the blue suit
• Congressman Andy Kim’s twitter thread about a national AAPI museum
• AP article from Jan. 7, 2021: ‘What else could I do?’ NJ Rep. Kim helps clean up Capitol
• NPR: A Blue Suit, Dusted By Insurrection, Goes To The Smithsonian
• Washington Post: Andy Kim and the politics of ‘humility’ in the midst of anti-Asian hate

We want to hear from you!

We’re wrapping up our first season of The Blue Suit and we’d like to hear your thoughts about the show. If you have a few minutes, please consider answering our brief survey here. Your feedback will really help us as we plan for future episodes. Thanks for taking the time to fill it out.

The Blue Suit is produced by KUOW in Seattle. Our host, writer, and creator is Shin Yu Pai. Whitney Henry-Lester produced this episode. Jim Gates is our editor. Tomo Nakayama wrote our theme music. Additional music in this episode by cloudcrush, Charm of Finches, and coldbrew.