Seattle is a city made for listening to podcasts. Sitting in never-ending traffic on the I-5? Throw on a podcast. Riding light rail from UW to Westlake Station? Perfect amount of time for a podcast episode. Taking it easy in Cal Anderson or Green Lake? Put in your earbuds and catch up on a podcast.
There are plenty of great shows to add to your playlist but we wanted to call attention to a handful of Seattle-specific podcasts that you might be missing out on. Whether they focus on interviewing the people who our city interesting, talk about the news that's influencing what the day-to-day is like in our neck of the woods, or breaking down the factors driving where Seattle is going, each of them has something to say about what it means to be a Seattleite.
Despite our best efforts, it's not always possible to catch all of the news during the week. Week in Review does what it says and gets you caught up on the week that was in Seattle with host Bill Radke and a roundtable of writers and reporters. Recent episodes have focused on big stories such as he critical ST3 light rail vote looming as well as the controversy surrounding plans for a $149M North Seattle police precinct.
The Seattle Files with Chris Allen
Seattle is a city brimming with interesting history and fascinating stories waiting to be told. Isn't it always a little more fun to hear about these kind of things from comedians? From The Great Fire to D.B. Cooper to The World's Fair, all of the little nuggets of history that make up Seattle and the Pacific Northwest get covered and in a very fun way. It's a good time to jump aboard as they're able to record a live episode at Bumbershoot with John Keister (Almost Live!), Kate Jaeger (Jet City Improv), and local geology expert David B. Williams.
If you've a reader of Curbed, you know the rate of growth and change Seattle is going through right now is changing the city in a major way. The Seattle Growth Podcast is trying to figure out all of the issues involved and what it all means. Host Jeff Shulman, a University of Washington professor in the Foster School of Business, describes it as "an exploration of how one city’s growth affects everyone and everything connected to it." Shulman speaks with everyone from city council-members to business leaders to homeless people living on the streets.
If you've been waiting to listen to this show, you better hurry up. It's actually ending in October but don't fret because you've got 300+ episodes to catch up on. Launched in the summer of 2010, Air-Raid has become a go-to source for conversations with arts and cultural icons either from the Pacific Northwest or passing through for a gig or festival. You'll know the names of some and you'll have never heard of others, but that's part of the draw.
KPLU's podcast is all about stories. Stories about people and the many choices and changes, big and small, that make up their lives. Think of it as a This Pacific Northwestern American Life. Episodes might be about a local band just getting their start, the value of nostalgia when an iconic local establishment goes away, and what it's like to cover Seattle neighborhood news on a daily basis.
Know of any great Seattle podcasts that need to be recognized as well? Share them in the comments below.
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